St. Anthony is popularly known as the patron saint of lost items. I myself, have asked for his intercession many times. But if we only asked St. Anthony to help us with lost articles, we would miss discovering all the love and knowledge he could share with us. I have to admit St. Anthony is one of my favorite saints. His outstanding preaching and sermons attracted the crowds as he demonstrated his great love of Christ and extensive knowledge of scripture. He spoke with passion on conversion and repentance and was known as "the hammer of heretics" and "the miracle worker". I will say more about this in a future writing because today I want to talk about St. Anthony as he is often portrayed--holding baby Jesus in his arms.
St. Anthony is portrayed this way because it is said that while he was writing one of his sermons, a man saw a bright light coming from his closed door. Curiously, the man peered through the keyhole and was astounded to see the light coming from the beautiful Christ child as St. Anthony played with Him!
I love this story. I love imagining what Jesus must been like as a child. Imagine little Jesus with His hand wrapped around your finger or His smile as you said hello. Do you ever imagine yourself laughing and playing with Jesus? Today let's take our cue from St. Anthony. Let today's prayer time with Jesus be fun and spontaneous. Think of something that would make both of you laugh and imagine Jesus laughing with you. Spend a few minutes rediscovering your child-like joy for Christ!
-Susan
