FROM THE DESK OF THE PASTOR

FROM THE DESK OF THE PASTOR      June 12, 2026

FEAST OF ST ANTHONY

This weekend, on Saturday June 13, we celebrate the Feast of St. Anthony. St. Anthony of Padua is the patron of our parish family Church of St. Anthony in Carnation.

We don’t usually get the opportunity to celebrate this feast on the weekend because most often the feasts of the Easter Season, Holy Trinity or Corpus Christi take precedence. But this year, the calendar allows us to celebrate it at St. Anthony at the Saturday evening 5pm Mass. This occasion gives us the opportunity to celebrate all the good work God has done in and through the people at St. Anthony -Carnation. Since 1914, St Anthony Mission has been a great witness of Catholic faith in the valley. It was said of the early Christians, “See how they love one another!” and that is certainly true of the parishioners of St. Anthony Mission. May God bless all those wonderful faithful who have lived out the Gospel there in beautiful way.

St Anthony of Padua was born in Lisbon around 1195 and died near the city of gates of Padua on June 13, 1231. So great was his reputation for holiness and the miracles attributed to him that he was canonized just one year later in 1232.  A few years ago Pope Benedict reflected on the preaching and teaching of St Anthony of Padua in one of his Wednesday audiences. Here is an excerpt of what he had to say of this great saint:

In these Sermons, St Anthony speaks of prayer as of a loving relationship that impels man to speak gently with the Lord, creating an ineffable joy that sweetly enfolds the soul in prayer. Anthony reminds us that prayer requires an atmosphere of silence, which does not mean distance from external noise but rather is an interior experience that aims to remove the distractions caused by a soul's anxieties, thereby creating silence in the soul itself. According to this prominent Franciscan Doctor's teaching, prayer is structured in four indispensable attitudes which in Anthony's Latin are defined as obsecratio, oratio, postulatio, gratiarum actio. We might translate them in the following manner. The first step in prayer is confidently opening one's heart to God; this is not merely accepting a word but opening one's heart to God's presence. Next, is speaking with him affectionately, seeing him present with oneself; then a very natural thing presenting our needs to him; and lastly, praising and thanking him…

…Anthony writes further: "Charity is the soul of faith, it gives it life; without love, faith dies" (Sermones Dominicales et Festivi II, Messagero, Padua 1979, p. 37).

It is only the prayerful soul that can progress in spiritual life: this is the privileged object of St Anthony's preaching. He is thoroughly familiar with the shortcomings of human nature, with our tendency to lapse into sin, which is why he continuously urges us to fight the inclination to avidity, pride and impurity; instead of practicing the virtues of poverty and generosity, of humility and obedience, of chastity and of purity. At the beginning of the 13th century, in the context of the rebirth of the city and the flourishing of trade, the number of people who were insensitive to the needs of the poor increased. This is why on various occasions Anthony invites the faithful to think of the true riches, those of the heart, which make people good and merciful and permit them to lay up treasure in Heaven. "O rich people", he urged them, "befriend... the poor, welcome them into your homes: it will subsequently be they who receive you in the eternal tabernacles in which is the beauty of peace, the confidence of security and the opulent tranquillity of eternal satiety" (ibid., p. 29)…

St. Anthony, in the school of Francis, always put Christ at the centre of his life and thinking, of his action and of his preaching…St Anthony writes: "Christ who is your life is hanging before you, so that you may look at the Cross as in a mirror. There you will be able to know how mortal were your wounds, that no medicine other than the Blood of the Son of God could heal. If you look closely, you will be able to realize how great your human dignity and your value are.... Nowhere other than looking at himself in the mirror of the Cross can man better understand how much he is worth" (Sermones Dominicales et Festivi III, pp. 213-214).

Prayers and Congratulations to Graduates

At this time of year, many of our young people are graduating from, 8^th grade, high school or college and moving on to new adventures in their lives. Congratulate on your accomplishments! We thank God for the blessings he has bestowed upon you. Let us all pray for them. Let us pray that God will bless them and guide them in their new endeavors.  Let us pray that they may use their gifts at the service of God and neighbor and that they may know the joy and peace that comes from following the Lord where he leads. Again, Congratulations to all who are graduating! May God be with you always!

Blessings on your week!

Fr. Johnson