Today is May 2, the Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church.
We read at today’s Mass, “So now I tell you, have nothing to do with these men, and let them go. For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” (Acts 5:38-39)
These words, spoken by the wise rabbi Gamaliel in the Acts of the Apostles, were meant to temper the rage of the Sanhedrin against the apostles. But they also echo across the centuries as a prophetic defense of the Church itself. If the Church were merely a human project, it would have faded long ago. But because it is of divine origin — founded by the God-man Jesus Christ — it endures. And it is this truth that St. Athanasius, the great 4th-century bishop of Alexandria, spent his life defending.
Athanasius is most famous for his fierce and faithful defense of the Incarnation — that Jesus is truly God and truly man. At a time when this central mystery of our faith was under attack by heresy, Athanasius stood firm. His classic work “On the Incarnation” is one of the earliest and most beautiful explanations of why God became man and why the cross, far from being a sign of shame, is a monument to Christ’s triumph over death.
Having courage
He writes, “The death which they thought to inflict on him as dishonor and disgrace has become the glorious monument to death’s defeat.” This is the paradox of the Christian faith — that life was won through death, that shame was transformed into glory and that the cross is now our boast.
Athanasius reminds us that Christianity is not a vague spirituality or a noble philosophy. It is the bold claim that God entered time, took on flesh and bore our sins in his body on the cross. And he calls us to speak clearly, as he did, to know what we believe, and to have the courage to proclaim it.
Even in exile and persecution, Athanasius held fast. May we do the same, confident that if our faith is from God, it will never be overcome.
Let us pray,
Almighty ever-living God, who raised up the Bishop Saint Athanasius as an outstanding champion of your Son’s divinity, mercifully grant, that, rejoicing in his teaching and his protection, we may never cease to grow in knowledge and love of you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
