St Antony of the Desert — Leaving What Cannot Save Us

Today’s readings are about being called away from one way of life
and into another.

Not gradually.
Not hypothetically.

But decisively.

That makes them a fitting setting for the feast of
Antony of Egypt,
a man who took Christ’s call with absolute seriousness.

The first reading introduces us to Saul.

He looks the part.
He is tall, impressive, outwardly strong.

And God chooses him.

Samuel anoints him and says:

“The Lord has anointed you ruler over His people.”

But notice something important.

Saul has been chosen —
but he has not yet learned obedience.

Calling comes before formation.
Election before conversion.

That gap will matter later.

God can choose a man,
but He will not force his heart.

The Gospel gives us a very different scene.

Jesus sees Levi sitting at the tax booth.

Levi is not searching.
He is not preparing.
He is not improving.

He is compromised, comfortable, and excluded.

And Jesus says only two words:

“Follow me.”

Levi gets up and leaves everything.

No negotiation.
No delay.

He leaves what he cannot bring with him.

That is conversion.

The scribes object.

Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners.

And Jesus replies with a sentence that defines His mission:

“I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

This is not permission to remain in sin.
It is an invitation to leave it.

Jesus does not wait for Levi to change
before calling him.

But He does not call Levi
so that Levi can stay the same.

Grace precedes repentance —
but repentance must follow grace.

This is where St Antony enters the picture.

Antony heard the Gospel read in church:

“If you want to be perfect,
go, sell what you have,
give to the poor,
and follow me.”

And Antony did not explain it away.

He did not delay.
He did not reinterpret it safely.

He left everything.

Not because wealth is evil,
but because attachment enslaves.

Antony understood something many resist:

You cannot follow Christ
while clinging to what competes with Him.

Antony went into the desert
not to escape the world,
but to face himself.

The desert strips away distractions.
It exposes what we rely on besides God.

That is why Antony remains so relevant.

The desert is not a place.
It is a discipline.

It is learning to say no
to what dulls faith
so that we can say yes
to what gives life.

Placed together, the readings ask us something direct.

What are we still sitting at?

What tax booth remains?

What habit,
what attachment,
what comfort
keeps us from following Christ freely?

Jesus does not shout.
He does not argue.

He simply says:

“Follow me.”

And waits.

Saul was chosen,
but later resisted obedience.

Levi was compromised,
but responded immediately.

Antony heard the Gospel
and trusted it completely.

God still calls today.

Not everyone to the desert —
but everyone to conversion.

The question is not whether Christ is calling.

The question is whether we will leave
what cannot save us
in order to follow Him.