Poverty means “God is my everything”

The Feast of St Anthony the Abbot, also known as St Anthony of Egypt or St Anthony the Great, was celebrated with a Triduum at St Anthony’s Chapel. The chapel, which was extensively renovated in 2016, also marked its 52 years of existence.

Fr Anthony Heng CDD was the preacher for the three days, from Jan 12 to Jan 14.
Parish Administrator Fr Patrick Tyoh concelebrated the 8.30pm Mass with Fr Heng, Jan 13.

The homily was preached in Mandarin and Fr Heng used slides in both English and Mandarin to show the significance of poverty.

Fr Heng said the saints always sought poverty in their lives. All the saints were willing to live in poverty. He then asked the assembly, “Why poverty?” Because poverty makes us realise that our whole life belongs to God and God is always with us.

Touching on the patron saint of the church, Fr Heng said St Anthony the Abbot never stopped seeking poverty as he lived a simple life. “So how do we emulate this? Being poor doesn’t mean giving up everything, but it is to follow the Lord completely.”

Fr Heng stated that we can use the Ten Commandments to follow the Lord. Why the Ten Commandments? Because they teach us to be humble. Many have replaced God’s Kingdom with smartphones, instead of the Ten Commandments. Fr Heng gave an example: Christians, nowadays, when dining, do not say grace before meals. Instead, they take photos with smartphones and post them on Facebook. He reiterated that we must focus on God. “If we don’t, we will not have love for God or for others. We end up loving ourselves.”

After Mass, Fr Tyoh invited the students who had done extremely well in their recent public examinations to come forward to receive angpows. He also thanked Fr Anthony Heng, CDD, and all those who assisted in organising the triduum.

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online