January 17 Tuesday: St. Antony

Mark 10:17-21

I jumped the regular calendar today to read the Gospel that sent Antony into the desert.  I won't tell you the story, you can look it up.  The short version is that he heard this and sold everything, gave it away, and left for the desert.  A typical convert!  Didn't he have a priest to tell him not to be so literal?  Surely Jesus didn't mean to actually do that!  

No, Antony was looking for the whole deal.  He heard the call, and he followed.  He did not go alone, or first, as the legend says, but he went.  More remarkably, he stayed.  He deepened in prayer and in wisdom.  Over time others came for advice and inspiration.  Some followed the same call.  People are still doing it today.

Four years ago today Elizabeth and I made our first declaration of intent to enter religious life.  We felt a call, and we followed.  We didn't know one another, really.  We didn't know whether we could live together or work together, or how long our money would hold out.  All we knew was that we needed to move in together and pray to know what to do next.  We haven't been as thorough as Antony about giving everything to the poor, or leaving our families, but we have renounced private ownership and shaped our lives around the call to pray and to listen for God in one another.  And the path is a path of life.

Spend time with this reading today.  Ask yourself what Jesus is calling you to, and notice how you respond.  There is not one right way; we don't believe God likes our way better than the way of marriage and family.  The right way is the one that takes all you have to give and makes more life from it.  If you aren't living that way, ask God to show you your path.  Ask for the patience to keep listening and watching, and the courage to follow it when you see it.