of St. Augustine
Aug. 28, 2013
Collect
Provincial House, New Rochelle
In the Collect we prayed that we might be filled with the
“same spirit” Augustine had, to “thirst for” and to “seek” the Lord, “fount of
true wisdom” and “author of heavenly love.”
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| St. Augustine as portrayed in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin |
Augustine’s whole life was a thirsting for and a seeking of
wisdom and love. As we know, initially
he looked in the wrong places—in sensuality, from stealing pears to living in
concubinage; and in false philosophies and human learning.
But his search was sincere, and eventually he found the
beginnings of wisdom and love in his Creator and his Redeemer. That beginning wasn’t the end of his
searching. His thirst and his seeking
were insatiable, and he spent the rest of his life pondering the truths, the
mysteries, of the Faith in his reflections upon his own experience (the Confessions, works on sin and human
freedom), on the Scriptures (numerous commentaries and sermons), on the Creed
(works on the Trinity, on catechetics, and against various heretical
teachings), and on current events (The
City of God).
The Collect asked God to “renew in” his Church Augustine’s
spirit. Augustine’s pursuit of wisdom
wasn’t only for himself but for everyone.
He was no ivory tower theologian.
He was a shepherd: teaching his
clergy and others in his circle how to live as Christians (the roots of the
Augustinian monastic rule), engaging in extensive correspondence, offering a
liberal hospitality, taking great care of the poor with his personal funds and
those of the Church.
We might dare to call Augustine a contemplative in action, a
man whose love for God and study of divine truth led him to practical love of
neighbor—which, of course, is what the Gospel calls us to, and the radical
renewal of our own Congregation demands.
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