Your Light Must Shine Before Others June 13

Piety

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St. Anthony, patron of the poor, bless us on this day when we celebrate your life and work. Bless our lives and work so that we may not place our lamp under a bushel or lose the flavor which spices up our lives and our world.

Be with us to assure that our words and deeds serve the Lord as Elijah and you did in your preaching, teaching and deeds. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/061306.shtml

“For the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’” 1 Kings 17:16

“Your light must shine before others.” Matthew 5:16

Elijah came to announce Christ’s coming and to suffer as Christ would. Elijah went where the Lord directed and completed the work that the Lord required. His role in salvation history prefigures the role that John the Baptist would play in Christ’s lifetime.

By proclaiming God’s word and actions with the widow in the first reading from today, Elijah influenced the world of the widow…assuring that she and her son would be able to eat for the year. The reading underscores the need for both food that satisfies physical needs with food that satisfies spiritual needs just like Jesus promised the woman at the well in John’s Gospel.

In the famous reading from Matthew, we learn that by our deeds borne from faith, we – like Elijah – are to influence the world for good. As cursillistas and Christians, we can no more escape notice than a city set on a mountain. If we fail in good works, we are as useless as flavorless salt or as a lamp whose light is concealed.

Today, with this great reading on the salt of the earth as our guide, the Church also celebrates the life and work of a saint who truly did not let his light shine under a bushel – Anthony of Padua, a doctor or the church. One sermon by Anthony of Padua in the year 1226 revealed:

“Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak. We are full of words but empty of actions, and therefore are cursed by the Lord, since he himself cursed the fig tree when he found no fruit but only leaves. Gregory says: " A law is laid upon the preacher to practice what he preaches. " It is useless for a man to flaunt his knowledge of the law if he undermines its teaching by his action.

As Anthony of Padua taught and as cursillistas know, prayer and study must both inform faith in order for a stable spiritual experience and relationship with God.

Action

http://www.stanthony.org/donate/stanthonybread.asp

A tradition on St. Anthony’s feast day is to buy small loaves of bread. The reading from Kings also gives us the story of Elijah providing bread for the poor on this feast day.

St. Anthony bread is a term used for offerings made in thanksgiving to God for blessings received through the prayers of St. Anthony. Sometimes the alms are given for the education of priests. In some places parents also make a gift for the poor after placing a newborn child under the protection of St. Anthony. It is a practice in some churches to bless small loaves of bread on the feast of St. Anthony and give them to those who want them.

Different legends or stories account for the donation of what is called St. Anthony Bread. By at least one account it goes back to 1263, when it is said a child drowned near the Basilica of St. Anthony which was still being built. His mother promised that if the child was restored to her she would give for the poor an amount of corn equal to the child’s weight. Her prayer and promise were rewarded with the boy’s return to life.

Another reason for the practice is traced back to Louise Bouffier, a shopkeeper in Toulon, France. A locksmith was prepared to break open her shop door after no key would open it. Bouffier asked the locksmith to try his keys one more time after she prayed and promised to give bread to the poor in honor of St. Anthony if the door would open without force. The door then opened. After others received favors through the intercession of St. Anthony, they joined Louise Bouffier in founding the charity of St. Anthony Bread.

For whom can you buy a loaf of bread?