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| Reflections for the Week of August 24, 2008 from the Reverend M. Dion Thompson
This week we remember the life
and witness of St. Augustine of Hippo. It is impossible to overestimate the
influence this son of Africa has had on the development of Christian thought.
For better or worse, and there are proponents on both sides, Augustine still
casts an influential presence. There is no way of getting around him. Born on
Nov. 13, 354, in the North African city of Tagaste, he was skilled in rhetoric
and philosophy. He never sought the priesthood, rather the priesthood sought
him. Here is an excerpt of what happened. It is from the Catholic Encyclopedia
and can be found at www.newadvent.org.
“Augustine did not think of entering the priesthood and, through fear of the
episcopacy, he even fled from cities in which an election was necessary. One
day, having been summoned to Hippo by a friend whose soul’s salvation was at
stake, he was praying in a church when the people suddenly gathered about him,
cheered him, and begged Valerius, the bishop, to raise him to the priesthood. In
spite of his tears Augustine was obliged to yield to their entreaties, and was
ordained in 391.” Thus began the career of a man who is without question one
of the greatest Christian theologians of all time. His “Confessions”
provides a fascinating look at his life, thought and development. The book is
rightly considered a monument of human achievement. In his opening he writes:
“Let me see you, Lord, by praying to you and let me pray believing in you;
since to us you have been preached. My faith prays to you, Lord, this faith
which you gave to me and with which you inspired me through the Incarnation of
your Son and through the ministry of the Preacher.” Augustine, who went on to
become Bishop of Hippo, died on Aug. 28, 430, at the age of 76. He was a
prolific writer and left behind sermons, treatises and other works that have
inspired, infuriated, fascinated and fed men and women for 1,600 years. Here is
the Collect for his feast day: “Lord
God, the light of the minds that know you, the life of the souls that love you,
and the strength of the hearts that serve you: Help us, following the example of
your servant Augustine of Hippo, so to know you that we may truly love you, and
so to love you that we may fully serve you, whom to serve is perfect freedom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.” In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we are asked to pray for the Dioceses of Gloucester in Canterbury, England; for the Diocese of Grafton in New South Wales, Australia; and for the Diocese of Grahamstown in South Africa. “I appeal to you therefore,
brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not
be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so
that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and
perfect. ----- Romans 12: 1-2
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