13 June 2022
Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Today is the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, the 13th century Franciscan, commonly invoked for his aid in finding lost items. After the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, St. Anthony is the saint most commonly depicted holding the child Jesus. This after the infant came to him in a mystical experience, which was witnessed by others. The statues and paintings of this event convey a moment of love, connection, and tenderness.
And it is this connection with love and tenderness that the world sorely needs. It’s perhaps what Jesus is getting at when in today’s gospel he says, “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.” Returning evil for evil only makes it grow in power and prominence. I don’t believe Jesus is inviting his followers to become willful victims of gratuitous abuse. He is inviting us, rather, to participate in the revolution of tenderness, which Pope Francis has talked about: a response to violence, to hurt, and to evil that surprisingly and significantly jolts the system, prompting every human heart to return to its origins of love, connection, and tenderness. In a world that often seems to have lost these virtues, let us pray, through the intercession of St. Anthony, to find these in the eyes of one another.