Today is the feast day of Anthony of Egypt who some declare as the founder of Christian Monasticism. Anthony inherited great wealth from his parents who were Christians. One Sunday morning at worship, as the story goes; today’s text from Mark’s Gospel was read and had a profound effect on Anthony. Making sure his sister was well cared for; Anthony sold all of his inherited possessions, gave the money to the poor and headed out into the desert for some twenty years living as hermit. Out in that fiery furnace, Anthony dedicated himself to a life of prayer, reading and manual labor.
Around the year 305 CE, Anthony was encouraged to organize a group of believers who lived in the desert praying constantly for the welfare of all Christians, worshipping God, and providing for the poor through manual labor. Later in his life (335 CE), Anthony returned to Alexandria to argue passionately against the heresy of Arianism and converted many persons to the Christian faith.
There have been a number of times in my ministry when persons have come to speak with me about this particular passage from the Gospel of Mark (usually in stewardship season). “Do I really have to give up all of my possessions to follow Jesus? That sounds a bit rash, don’t you think?” I am always grateful for those moments and questions because it is clear that the Spirit is wrestling with that person and inviting them to enter more deeply into the journey of faith.
I do not believe that every one of us is called to sell all of our possessions and recklessly head off into the desert in search of God. This was for Anthony and many others their particular calling to follow Jesus. Materialism, if we are honest, can be stumbling block for many of us and must be looked at with clarity and not vagueness if we are to speak with integrity about our faith.
The Master could see that the young man’s possessions in the Gospel story were hanging him up from a real and authentic experience of the living God: hence, the challenge from Jesus. But, for you and for me, the call to follow Jesus may be very different from what this young man experienced; yet just as sincere and meaningful.
The question that I take away from this lesson and from the story of Saint Anthony is simply this: What items, possessions, feelings, or desires get in the way of my faithfully following Jesus? In my own life journey, what are the goods, the baggage that I have acquired along the path that needs to be shed? Perhaps you and I will have to get rid of many of our possessions. Perhaps you and I need only cleanse ourselves of one or two things. Each disciple of Jesus is different and each of us must individually decide from our own life experiences what must be given up so that we follow Him faithfully.
Love One Another - Brian
Forgiveness and Love
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. It is impossible even to begin the act of loving one's enemies without the prior acceptance of the necessity, over and over again, of forgiving those who inflict evil and injury upon us.
Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act. It means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship.
Source: Strength to Love
Mark 10:17-21
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’
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