Gary Topping–
Last week, probably unknown to most of us except those who can attend daily Mass, the Church celebrated the memorial of St. Anthony of the Desert. As the glittering façade of Greco-Roman civilization crumbled into violence, despotism and desperation, St. Anthony was one of many who, as early as the second century, began to flee into the deserts of Egypt and Syria, regarding pagan society as “a shipwreck from which every single individual . . . had to swim for his life,” as Thomas Merton put it.
Although they lived, for the most part, alone as hermits, those desert monks were no misanthropes. In fact, they were highly social people whose society was grounded in love as opposed to secular society “where,” to quote Merton again, “then as now, it was every man for himself.”
I appreciate, as most of us do, the benefits of civilization. I relish fine music, fine art, fine literature and fine wine. Few of us, though, contemplating the course of history since the decline of the Roman empire, any longer expect civilization to achieve a perfect social order, as Classical peoples did. We enjoy the good things of civilization, but we look elsewhere for salvation. There are times, in fact, when civilization appears closer to shipwreck than to smooth sailing, and it is at those times that I think of St. Anthony.
This is one of those times. Civilization has become uncivil. Science is fighting for its life, as indeed is Truth itself. We see an egregious maldistribution of wealth, and health care is seen more as a privilege than a right. We no longer rattle sabres, but rather nuclear bombs. Racism is out in the open and unapologetic, as are intolerance and national chauvinism. Greed, egotism and materialism are seen as good things to be promoted rather than shunned. Shall I extend the list?
So I’m thinking of St. Anthony. I do not propose to follow him out into the desert. But I do propose to emulate his example by redoubling my commitment, within my own narrow sphere of influence, to love, to truth, to humaneness and civility.
St. Anthony, pray for us!
