21st Week, Thursday, August 28; St. Augustine

 21st Week, Thursday, August 28; St. Augustine

1 Thess 3:7-13 / Matthew 24:42-51

Paul prays for the Thessalonians; May God make your love grow.   

 

James Baldwin is a topflight author.   His books include Nobody Knows My Name, Fire Next Time, and Go Tell It on the Mountain. During a TV show based on his childhood, Baldwin said: “My father said I was the ugliest child he had ever seen.   He told me that all his life   and I believed him. ...   And I accepted   that nobody would ever love me... . But do you know, nobody cares what a writer looks like. ... For me writing...   was an attempt to be loved.”   God intended love to be the Christian’s gift not just to one another but to everyone especially those who need it most.   

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How loving are we in our daily relationships with people, especially those who need special attention and affection?   “There is more pleasure in loving than in being loved.” Thomas Fuller  

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In the first reading, Paul congratulates the Christians of Thessalonica for their loyalty to the Lord and asks them to hold on to the faith and to have world-wide charity, so as to be prepared for the Lord’s coming.

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Riddle: What is it that you cannot touch or see and yet it can be broken? Two possible answers to it. One is silence. The other is a promise. In our baptismal promises, we pledged to renounce evil in all its forms and professed our faith in God. So, our faith is also about our promise to God that we will be faithful to Him and that we cannot keep silent or hide our faith. Others should be able to see our faith in the good works that we do and they should also be touched by our faith. 

In the 1st reading, St. Paul wrote this to the Thessalonians: Brothers, your faith has been a great comfort to us in the middle of our own troubles and sorrows. He continued by saying, "Now we can breathe again, as you are still holding firm in the Lord." So the faith of the Thessalonians was a faith that was like a bright light that touched others and brought comfort and relief to St. Paul.

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Faith can also be said to be like an active and alert servant who is ready for the coming of his master. That is how Jesus put it in the gospel parable. So as much as faith is a great gift from God, yet it also has its duties and responsibilities. Today's readings tell us that faith should be alive and active, it should bring comfort and relief to others. In other words, our faith should point others to Jesus. We cannot be silent or hide our faith. By our faith, Jesus will be made present.

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Especially to the leaders of the community, the Lord says that at his coming, he should find them doing what they are supposed to do, that is, serving the community in love.

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Prayer: Lord our God, we affirm that we believe in you, but we are in danger of forgetting that deeds have to prove the sincerity of our faith. Help us to be wise and faithful servants of steadfast faith and fervent love, who follow the example of Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord forever. Amen

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Saint Augustine

Feast Day August 28

In his famous autobiography Confessions, Augustine tells of his struggle to find God. He was born in what is now Algiers in North Africa. His mother, Monica, was a devout Christian. His father, Patricius, was an ill-tempered pagan. Augustine excelled in school when he wanted to, but he also went with a bad crowd and got into many worthless activities. When he was older, he began living with a woman whom he never married, but who bore him a son. For a while, he also followed a heresy called Manichaeism.

After he finished school, Augustine was first a speech teacher in Rome and then a professor in Milan. His mother followed him to these places, pleading with him to return to the Christian faith. In Milan, Augustine often listened to the sermons of St. Ambrose, the local bishop. Through them, he first learned to read Scripture prayerfully. He enrolled as a catechumen but wavered back and forth about being baptized.

Then one day while Augustine prayed to be free from his sins, he heard a child’s voice chanting, “Take up and read.” Augustine opened the Bible and read the first thing his eyes fell upon, Romans 13:13-14, which told him to give up his life of sin. Augustine was baptized at Easter and began reforming his life. With his mother he planned to return to Africa, but Monica died.

Augustine reached home and gave away all he had. Then he lived a quiet, prayerful life with a group of friends. This changed when Augustine visited the city of Hippo in 391. Valerius, the local bishop, was preaching on the shortage of priests. The crowd began shouting, “Let Augustine be our priest.” Augustine became a priest and then took Valerius’ place when he died.

As bishop, Augustine worked tirelessly for his people. He fought false religious teachings, protected the people from corrupt officials and invaders, and cared for the sick, the poor, and those in prison. His many sermons, letters, and books reflect the ever-deepening love he felt for God. He wisely observed: “You have made us, O God, for yourself, and our hearts shall find no rest until they rest in you.”

He wrote and advised bishops, popes, and councils. His influence on the Church and his fight against heresy were exceptional. He was loved by many, for he had struggled much and could help others who were struggling.

In 430 Vandals invaded the province. For three months Augustine inspired Christian hope in his people. Then he died of a high fever.

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Augustine’s Prayer:

Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! Lo, you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you, and upon the shapely things you have made I rushed headlong – I, misshapen. You were with me, but I was not with you. They held me back far from you, those things which would have no being, were they not in you.  You called, shouted, broke through my deafness; you flared, blazed, banished my blindness; you lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for you; I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst; you touched me, and I burned for your peace. Amen