St Anthony of Padua: Paradoxes in lifePublished on Thursday, 13 June 2013
10:50St Anthony is one of the most revered saints in the Church calendar.
During his lifetime he faced several startling paradoxes. A paradox is defined
as, ‘a situation or event that appears to be of one value, perhaps negative,
but then in time it is seen to be something positive.’ It can happen the other
way, too. Let us look at St Anthony and what happened in his short life. As an
Augustinian monk in Lisbon in the year 1221, Anthony met some Franciscan friars
who were returning from Morocco with the remains of other friars who had been
martyred for preaching the Gospel to Muslims. Anthony was so deeply moved by
what he saw and heard of these Franciscan martyrs that he begged and received
permission to enter the Franciscan Order. In a short time, he was allowed to
make his own journey to the Mideast so that he could preach and perhaps die a
martyr for Christ. What a noble intention he had! But it never happened. The
ship he was on ran into a terrible storm, and he ended up in Sicily. Why would
he run into such bad luck? Paradoxically, he met other friars about to leave
for a meeting in Assisi called by St Francis. Anthony, who was new to so many
friars, had no assignment and asked the provincial minister from northern Italy
to take him into his province. Anthony had studied Scripture and theology for
nine years, bringing to his studies a brilliant mind. All Anthony wanted was to
learn more about the Franciscan life. He never mentioned his background. And so
he was assigned to cook in the kitchen ~ to which he did not object. What an
apparent waste of talent! But, here again, we see another paradox. A Dominican
friar was ordained a priest, and Anthony went with his whole fraternity to
attend the celebration following the ordination. The superior asked one of the
friar priests to give a short sermon, but all declined since they were not
prepared. The superior then told Anthony to preach, figuring that no one would
expect much from him. “Just say something simple,” was the command.
Paradoxically, what happened was that Anthony preached from his heart and,
because of his knowledge of Scripture and theology, the listeners realized that
Anthony was so talented that he needed to become a preacher for the Order. But
we must remember that more than his preaching, it was Anthony’s personal
holiness that attracted people. Paradoxes are part of all our lives. Think back
to moments which you thought were the worst you could experience ~ perhaps a
crisis that seemed so terrible. Yet now, looking back, you realize that that
crisis changed your life in a very positive way. Negative experiences ~ even
sin itself ~ can be a moment of growth and the beginning of conversion. You
see, sometimes, when we fall we actually fall forward. And when we get up,
paradoxically, we are further ahead than when we fell. All that is part of the
mystery of God’s grace and providence. We sometimes think that when we are
good, God is near us and when we are bad, God leaves us. Not true at all. God
never leaves and paradoxically, sometimes it takes a total blunder in our lives
to wake us up to God’s love and our need for Him.Our past can be looked at with
unproductive regret. But, more importantly, in faith and trust, we can come to
understand the mysterious paradoxes of our lives and our journeys on earth.The
Feast of St Anthony, the Patron Saint of the Goa Capuchin Province, is
celebrated every year on a grand note by the friars, school teachers, boarders
and friends who gather on the hill-top, Monte de Guirim. As we celebrate the
feast, may we learn that the paradoxes in our lives are signs of God’s love and
can reveal God’s plans. Happy feast! Fr Steve Rodrigues, OFM Cap, Monte De
Guirim [H]
