Today is the Memorial of St. Anthony the Abbot and the readings for the celebration are taken from the Memorial rather than the daily reading. St. Anthony lived during the third century and for a period survived as a wandering hermit in the Egyptian wilderness. Anthony decided to follow the gospel exhortation in Matthew 19: 21, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven.” Anthony gave away some of his family’s lands to his neighbors, sold the remaining property, and donated the funds to the poor. He then left to live an ascetic life in the wilderness. An account of his life was written by St. Athanasius of Alexandria and became a best seller in its day. What has fascinated readers artists is his frequent encounters with temptation. Depictions often show him surrounded by debased creatures who gather to lure him into sin by offering the devil disguised in various ways, such as a woman, objects of wealth, power, and worldly pleasures. The “temptation of St. Anthony” has been a popular topic, taken up by painters such as Bosch and Salvador Dali.
No doubt, St. Anthony was familiar with our first reading:
“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.” (Ephesians 6:10-13)
While Anthony’s temptations were directly from demons, ours are less direct and come from the culture – the worldly powers – that surrounds us. Turn a page, change the channel, surf the net, live your life – we seem to live in a tempest teapot, a cauldron of temptation. So often in the confessional I hear people say that they pray that God will remove the temptation from their lives. St. Paul asked the same thing and God’s reply was essentially “no” as He told Paul “My grace is sufficient for you.” (2 Cor 12:9). As it says in the first reading: “hold your ground.”
We are not abandoned, but I remind the penitent that the armor of God is prayer “so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the Devil.” But the prayer is not to remove the temptation, but rather to always be mindful that every temptation comes surrounded by God’s grace. It’s up to us to choose at the moment. I am reminded of Moses addressing the people before they move into the promised land – reminding them that they are in covenant with God: “I have set before your life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life.” (Dt 30:19)
In those moments of temptation, put on the armor of God in prayer to remind yourself to choose Grace. It is the power of God.
Image credit: The Temptation of Saint Anthony (c. 1521–1525) | Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo | Timken Museum of Art – San Diego | PD-US