Today, June 13, as our Church celebrates the Memorial of Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor, our Church first invites us to reflect on a Scripture passage from the book of Joshua (10:1-14; 11:15-17), entitled "The people of God take possession of their own land". Our treasure, which follows, is from a sermon by Saint Anthony of Padua, priest.
Saint Anthony was born and raised by a wealthy family in Libson, Portugal in 1195. He died in Padua, Italy in 1231 at the age of 35. He was respected by his contemporaries for his powerful preaching, expert knowledge of scripture, and undying love and devotion to the poor and the sick, he was one of the most quickly canonized saints in church history, being canonized less than a year after his death.
St. Anthony of Padua is one of the Catholic Church's most popular saints. Saint Anthony of Padua, patron saint of lost and stolen articles, was a powerful Franciscan preacher and teacher.
St. Anthony of Padua's life is what every Christian's life is meant to be; a steady courage to face the ups and downs of life, the call to love and forgive, to be concerned for the needs of others, to deal with crisis great and small, and to have our feet solidly on the ground of total trusting love and dependence on God. St Anthony is beloved throughout the world and is responsive to all people and all needs. His intercessory powers before our God are awesome.
In 1946 Pope Pius XII officially declared Saint Anthony a Doctor of the Universal Church. It is in Saint Anthony's love of the word of God and his prayerful efforts to understand and apply it to the situations of everyday life that the Church especially wants us to imitate St. Anthony.
The Book of Joshua presents a narrative of the way Israel took possession of the land of Canaan, making it the land of Israel. This process is swift and inexorable, and is followed by an orderly division and disposition of the land among the twelve tribes, with a concluding ceremony of covenant renewal.
The theological message of the book is unmistakable. God has been faithful to the promise of the land. If Israel relies totally on the Lord for victory; if Israel is united as a people; if the law of herem is kept and no one grows rich from victory in war—then and only then will Israel possess the land.
The Israelites are led by Joshua, the successor of Moses, and the book is at pains to show not only how Joshua carries on the work of Moses but how the "conquest" of Canaan is continuous with the exodus from Egypt. This is seen in the repeated insistence that, as the Lord was with Moses, so he is with Joshua; and, especially, in the crossing of the Jordan River, which is patterned after the crossing of the Red Sea.
