ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA (APOSTASY & HERESY):

The 13^th day of June, the Church celebrates the memorial of a great and loyal son Anthony of Padua who fought heretical teachings (division and separation from the One, Holy, Catholic & Apostolic Church) against the Mother Church (Catholic; Mtt.16:18-19) during his days by standing on the TRUTH (JESUS; Jn.14:6) without submitting to intimidations from secularism and the ruling authorities just like Job in the scripture who refused to yield to the advice of his ‘friends’ thus “far from admitting you to be in the right, I shall maintain my integrity to my dying day” {Job 27:5} and this helped to strengthen the faith of most members of the church both the clergy and the lay-faithful in accord with the words of Christ to St. Peter “Simon, Simon! Look, Satan has got his wish to sift you all like wheat; but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail and once you have recovered, you in turn must strengthen your brothers” (Lk.22:31-32) hence the tongue of this loyal son of the Church is still alive till today as a sign of continuous witness to the truth which is the fundamental purpose of our existence here on earth (“…I was born for this, I came into the world for this, to bear witness to the truth and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice…” Jn.18:37) because ‘you will come to know the truth and the truth will set you free’ (Jn.8:32) and as the bones of Elisha raised a dead man to life (2 kgs.13:20-21), the intercessory role of St. Anthony of Padua before Christ the Head of the Church (Eph.5:23) has not stopped finding lost things especially on the cases of apostasy (giving up freely on ones faith because of odd circumstances like search for marriage partner, death of loved ones, lack of understanding about the doctrines of the church, persecutions from neighbors, misdemeanors on the side of the priests, financial/career problems, heretical teachings from outsiders e.t.c) and heresy thus

THE CHURCH:

As members of the Church are we at the level of “it does not matter” slogan in our sharing of the word and lifestyles as against the injunctions of Christ ‘God is spirit and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth’ (Jn.4:24) and ‘…and there will be only one flock, one shepherd.’ (Jn.10:16)?

As members of the body of Christ; the Church are we at the level of giving up on the fight (Gal.5:17, Eph.6:12) against heresy and apostasy because of persecutions and trials as against the admonitions of Christ ‘many false prophets will arise; they will deceive many and with the increase of lawlessness, love in most people will grow cold; but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved’ (Mtt.24:11-13)?

As people opportuned to be born and bred within the Church are we at the verge of submitting to apostasy and heresy because of problems, persecutions and trials as against the words of Our Lord Jesus “Jesus said to him Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Lk.9:62), ‘do not desert an old friend; the new one will not be his match. New friend, new wine; when it grows old, you drink it with pleasure’ (Sirach 9:10) and “then turning to his disciples he spoke to them by themselves, blessed are the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see and never saw it; to hear what you hear and never heard it” {Lk.23-24}?

As people who were not bred within the Church, life of sacrifice (Christianity; Jn.15:13) without sacrifice is a contradiction thus ‘the Lord says this, stand at the crossroads and look, ask for the ancient paths: which was good way? Take it and you will find rest for yourselves. But they have said, we will not take it’ {Jer.6:16} though this seems difficult or humanly impossible (“for nothing is impossible to God” Lk.1:37).

RIGHTEOUSNESS:

As people called to uphold righteousness in all ramifications (‘let the Word of Christ in all, its richness find a home with you. Teach each other and advise each other in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God and whatever you say or do, let it be in the name of the Lord Jesus, in thanksgiving to God the Father through him’ Col.3:16-17) are we gradually giving in to the slogan of ‘anything can go/ man is not a stick’? while we are admonished thus “flee from sin as from a snake, if you approach it, it will bite you” [Sirach 21:2], ‘do not get heated about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. Quick as the grass they wither, fading like the green of the fields’ {Ps.37:1-2}, “do not take pleasure in what pleases the godless; remember they will not go unpunished here below” (Sirach 9:12), ‘my brothers, never slacken in doing what is right’ (2 Thess.3:13) and “be careful that no one is deprived of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness should begin to grow and make trouble; this can poison a large number” [Heb.12:15] in essence we should watch closely the slogan or scriptural passage we use to back-up our misdemeanor.

Are we at the verge of giving up on righteousness for any reason at all? ‘righteousness exalts a nation, sin is a reproach to the people’ (Prov.14:34) because immediately you succumb to that temptation; yourself, immediate family, neighbors, friends, extended family, company, school, church and the world will feel its effect directly or indirectly thus submitting to a quickie/fling in the office with the Area manager happens on a day the Branch manager decided to pay an unscheduled visit to the Area office and you are caught in the act, insulted and humiliated. Your husband/wife/children/school/church will be made to share in the shame and scandal with you (1 Cor.15:34), for those who are single; you are tagged ‘whore for life’ (1 Cor.3:16-17), neighbors/colleagues/friends/family relations will be tempted to call you names even as they reflect on ways of indulging in the same act without being caught (Mtt.26:24), company/institution will spend resources/time meant for its growth to convene an emergency board meeting to decide your fate (Jude 1:23), the world temperature in sin will be increased trampling on the Son of God, treating the blood of the covenant which sanctified us as if it were not holy as well as insulting the Spirit of Grace (Heb.10:29).  

Are we already attuned to sin because the scripture said ‘all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory’ forgetting this “what if some of them were unfaithful? Do you think their lack of faith could cancel God’s faithfulness? Out of the question! God will always be true even if no human being can be relied on. As scripture says: that you may show your saving justice when you pass sentence and your victory may appear when you give judgment” (Rom.3:3-4), ‘if after we have been given knowledge of the truth, we should deliberately commit any sins, then there is no longer any sacrifice for them. There is left only the dreadful prospect of judgment and of the fiery wrath that is to devour your enemies’ {Heb.10:26-27} and “the Lord made everything for its own purpose, yes even the wicked for the day of disaster” [Prov.16:4]. Nobody goes by the nomenclature unfaithful/enemy/wicked but we can modify these passages by replacing our names and personality with the ones stated above.

Are you above correction because you are a priest (‘everyone no matter how firmly he thinks he is standing, must be careful he does not fall’ 1 Cor.10:12, “I know about your behavior: how you are reputed to be alive and yet are dead” Rev.3:1b), posses a spiritual gift/ servile talent hence should segregate from the Church {‘so with you, as you are eager to have spiritual powers, aim to be rich in those which build up the community’ 1 Cor.14:12, “but in case I should be delayed, I want you to know how people ought to behave in God’s household_ that is, in the Church of the living God; pillar and support of the truth” 1 Tim.3:15}, do not preach to me about separation from the One Church of Christ, the Trinity, decency in speech, thoughts, friendships, behavior and dressing, abortions, habitual lying e.t.c because we are not of the same faith [‘there is one Body, one Spirit, just as one hope is the goal of your calling by God. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, over all, through all and within all. Eph.4:4-6], your sharing the Word will be time wasting since we are not of the same religion (‘so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father’ Phil.2:10-11, “since human beings die only once, after which comes judgment” Heb.9:27).

Let us implore the intercessory role of St. Anthony of Padua before God for the grace to conquer these weak aspects of our Christian vocation since he is among the company of saints in heaven whose prayers ascend the throne of God’s presence as pleasing incense (Rev.5:8, 8:4) for us their brethren through our communion with the saints (Heb.12:1, 22-24).

St. Anthony of Padua………….Pray for us.

Anthooo…………………………….Padua.