January 17

Anthony the Great, Charles Gore, and Mary Oliver

Author

David Barnhart
January 17, 2026

The view from The Church of the Beatitudes, 2019. Own photo.

Today is the Feast Day of Anthony the Great, the prototypical hermit of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. He went to live in the desert of Egypt after giving away all his possessions. 

Today is also the Feast Day, in the Church of England, of Charles Gore, an English theologian who died in 1932. He modeled a faithful approach to biblical criticism, emphasized social justice as a vital part of Christian faith and practice, and co-founded the Christian Social Union.

Today also marks the death, in 2019, of poet Mary Oliver, whose poems articulate a faith richer than dogma. . 

Reflection: 

In a sermon during World War I, Charles Gore preached words relevant for our time: 

“We are told to be distinctive, but we are to be distinctive for mutual service. That is the principle that has broken down. We see the spirit of exclusive nationalism in one very terrible and repulsive form in Germany; but unless we are blind we must recognize in ourselves and in all men of every nation, a similar forgetfulness of other nations, their wants and their rights. …No, there must be a change of spirit. And it is in this that the Church is intended by our Master to lead the way. The Church has to show men the way. In fact it did show men the way.”

Mary Oliver’s poem, “Praying”:: 

It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

Prayer: God, help us be attentive to the silence. Amen.