Freedom and Submission

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

January 17, 2020: Remembering St. Anthony, the Abbot

1 Samuel 8: 4-7,10-22; Mark 2: 1-12

It seems to be a human tendency to look for something or someone, to which or to whom, one can submit oneself! Whether by force or by choice, a form of legitimate dependence or extraordinary obsession, habit of blaming someone or positively seeking someone's counsel... we are always looking to submit ourselves to someone or something! The point to be noted here is this: whatever be the form of submission, and whatever be its reason, it makes us dependent or subservient. 

The first reading reminds us of this human tendency and before we judge the people of Israel of those historical times, let us understand how we ourselves fall into the same category! How many persons, things, habits, attitudes keep us under their control and we willingly submit to them!

The only submission that gives us a sense of freedom and a sense of self-worth is the submission to God's authority - because God dwells in us and a submission to God, as God's children, is a reinforcement of our dignity, our self-worth and the sovereignty that God has placed within us, as human persons. Get up, pick up your stretcher and walk - that is truly a reinforcement of personal dignity that comes from God to God's sons and daughters.

St. Anthony of the desert, the third century saint we remember today, reminds us of this, in and through his life lived totally in submission to God and God's authority! He was one of those who pioneered monastic life in the Church and lived his life in a desert depending on God and God alone!

Let us realise that God has the ultimate authority over us, and thus we will experience the greatest of all freedom: the freedom of the children of God.