A Homily for the Memorial of Saint Anthony, abbot
Friday, January 17, 2025
Prince of Peace Catholic Church – 8:00 Mass
Brothers and sisters:
Draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.
Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm
against the tactics of the Devil.
For our struggle is not with flesh and blood
but with the principalities, with the powers,
with the world rulers of this present darkness,
with the evil spirits in the heavens.
Therefore, put on the armor of God,
that you may be able to resist on the evil day
and, having done everything, to hold your ground.
With all prayer and supplication,
pray at every opportunity in the Spirit.
To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication
for all the holy ones. -Ephesians 6:10-13, 18
Audio Recording
“For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.” Ephesians 6:12
Today we are using the readings for the Memorial of St. Anthony of the Desert, a Saint who struggled greatly with the powers of darkness throughout his life. He was called to the desert to live a life of poverty, solitude, prayer, and mortification. In that harsh desert landscape, the devil attacked him in countless ways.
This past Sunday I taught a class on the sacraments to our OCIA candidates and catechumens and their sponsors. In this presentation I opened by explaining that the Christian view of the world is a sacramental view, which is very different from the popular view of our culture today.
Our view of the world as Christians is SACRAMENTAL. This is a way of seeing the world that understands that there exists both a visible and invisible world, and the two are intrinsically intermeshed. In fact, the invisible world is actually greater, richer, larger and MORE REAL than the visible world. Sacramentality holds that the invisible world is clothed in and can be reached through visible things.
The popular secular view of the world is called SCIENTISM. SCIENTISM is a philosophical claim that nothing exists beyond what can be ascertained by the methods of natural science. The view that there is nothing beyond the physical world. Only that which can be measured, observed, weighed, or somehow shown to belong to the physical world is real. Anything not observable in these measurable ways, apart from abstract systems of thought like mathematics, must be non-existent.
Our sacramental view of the world is by no means at odds with the sciences. In fact, some of the greatest scientists in history have been Christians. What we do not believe, however, is that the only things that exist are those which we can experience by our senses.
We know that there is a very real invisible world inhabited by God and his angels and by Satan and his demons, as well as the souls the departed. We encounter this invisible world through our sacraments, which are visible signs of Christ in our material world.
All of our seven sacraments involve a material or tangible element through which this encounter with the invisible world takes place. In the Eucharist, for example, we encounter Christ and the invisible world through the bread and wine which is transferred into his body and blood. In baptism, are reborn as children of God when the water is poured over us. The bottom line is that we are a people who understand that there is more to life than that which meets the eye.
The idea of spiritual warfare St. Paul refers to in today’s first reading is at odds with the secular worldview that denies the existence of supernatural beings and therefore their involvement in human affairs.
Some Christians object to Scripture’s warfare imagery in these verses because it seems inconsistent with the “peace” Christ preached. I know of one priest who refuses to pray the St. Michael prayer because it doesn’t fit in with his “spirituality.” In my opinion, this is naive at best and dangerous at worst.
Temptations to evil thoughts and acts never come from God, they are always from the Evil One, who is indeed real, although invisible. We are clearly aided when we invoke angelic protection from the temptations and actions of the forces of evil.
While we must be careful to guard again the errors of superstition and fear that sees the devil everywhere, we must be aware of the reality of the invisible world and guided by Scripture’s sober and modest presentation of its existence, interpreted in the light of the Church’s experience over the centuries.
My dear friends in Christ, rest assured that our frequent participation in the sacramental life of the Church will safeguard us from the attacks of those principalities and powers in the invisible world who only wish to destroy us and rob us of the gift of eternal life. Always stay close to him and you have nothing to fear. He will give us joy and peace, even in times of trial and suffering.
St. Anthony, pray for us. God bless you.