Word to the Wise
Wednesday, August 28, 2024 - Wednesday in the 21th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Thess 3:6-10, 16-18 and Matt 23:27-32]For you know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you. [2 Thessalonians]
AUGUST 28 ST. AUGUSTINE, bishop and doctor of the church
[2 Thessalonians 3:6-10, 16-18 and Matthew 23:27-32. These scriptures will vary at Dominican locations.]
St. Paul was a passionate and driven man! The Thessalonian community was one of the first Christian communities that he founded and he kept an affection for it. His two letters to that community are the oldest of the New Testament documents. With the possible exception of the Gospel According to Mark, St. Paul's letters are all older than the gospels and are a precious resource for understanding the growth and development of Christian theology to this very day. St. Augustine was like him in many ways - a convert and passionate preacher and writer whose influence is felt everyday in Christian tradition.
Along with his classics - THE CONFESSIONS and THE CITY OF GOD - his sermons and his "rule" are foundational for Christian life. St. Dominic was originally a Canon of St. Augustine before he founded the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) and on the advice of Pope Innocent III he and his first followers adopted the Rule of St. Augustine as the guiding basis for Dominican life. Christian faith owes the idea of "original sin" to St. Augustine and his teachings on marriage and human sexuality continue to shape the church's teaching to this day. St. Thomas Aquinas constantly quotes him in his Summa Theologiae. Campus ministers continue to recommend his Confessions to students struggling with their faith. His life (and ours) can be summed up in one line from his Confessions: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you." AMEN