The Brilliance of the (formally) Uneducated - St. Anthony!

To educate means to "lead out," presumably from the darkness of error and ignorance. It should, therefore, open the mind and fine tune the senses to see and discern goodness, truth, and beauty. What a pity it is then, that so many persons with papers framed on their walls consider themselves more educated than the man who comes to pick up their garbage! All that hard work and privilege has somehow elevated the educated person above the rest. After all they revel in debating the use of anthropomorphism, the cause of fall of Rome, the intricacies of neuroscience, or how to get a good picture of Mars... such wonderful knowledge to make the world a better place!

But, is it really more valuable than being able to fix a leak? Operate a welding torch? Put out fires? Raise children? Paint a beautiful picture? What has gotten into our minds that elevates one genius over the other? Or that demands that we be genius at all?

The real genius, and here I borrow from someone who I can't recall ---- oh, yes, St. Max! ---- is the saint. Because the saint is the one who leads souls from darkness. They lead us out of our own confusion and pride - that wicked, blinding attribute. This is why St. Francis was quite hesitant, even afraid, to have his friars formally educated! It took such prayer and intercession for St. Anthony (the man of the hour) to be able to teach and preach.

Holiness must come first, and then our education will do the world some real good. Now, the strange thing is that one can be holy and become wise through the spirit. But no one who was brilliant ever became wise without holiness. In fact, with St. Francis I would argue that this brilliant intelligence may very well impede wisdom.... for one falls back on acquired knowledge and remains stuck. But, with St. Anthony I will remain standing. There is a necessary place for education of the mind - leading the intellect from darkness to the light of all that is True. A real, solid education, therefore, makes one humble.

Those of us with degrees of all levels, and possible degrees in the future, and near degrees but for a few units, let us not fool ourselves. They are valuable, to be sure, but only in proportion to the humility gained in the knowledge of God. In the end, then, they are no more valuable than the contractors license, or the waste collectors permit, or the officer's badge. But, if this be God's will for us, they are very valuable indeed.... in fact, worth a Kingdom!

St. Anthony, pray for us!