How many are die-hard Rays fans? Some baseball fans are passionate about their teams. A New York Post story, for example, covered two youngsters playing in Central Park. A big dog suddenly attacked them. Thinking quickly, the older boy grabbed some rope and lassoed the dog.
A Post reporter ran over and began to write, “Yankees Fan Saves Friend from Vicious Dog.” “I’m not a Yankees fan,” the boy noted. So, the reporter said, “Mets Fan Rescues Friend.” “I don’t like the Mets either,” the boy said. The reporter then asked: “What team do you root for?” “The Red Sox.” The reporter then wrote: “Ruth-less Child Almost Chokes to Death Beloved Pet.” Moral: don't say your a Red Sox fan in New York.
The word of God carries us back to the 6th century before Jesus (the 500s). Salvation, the author proclaims, is for all people who try their best to do the right thing. This shocked many Jews who thought salvation was exclusively theirs. The author challenges us to treat one another fairly and compassionately. Why? Because all of us are made in the image of God, so writes the author of Genesis.
Paul in today's letter speaks about his successful ministry to the Gentile Christians. Through Jesus's dying and rising, all people are called to be in relationship with God forever. Paul prays that his fellow Jews, God's special people, will see in Jesus their promised Messiah. Paul here may wonder what kind of missionary disciples are we?
In the Gospel according to Matthew, an assertive mother from Canaan seeks out Jesus. She wants her daughter healed and she'll do whatever it takes. This Gentile woman begs Jesus to heal her demon-afflicted daughter. At first Jesus seems to treat this mother harshly. Then there’s a startling turnaround. The mother utters a prayer: “Lord, help me.” Jesus replies: “Woman, great is your faith. Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the daughter was healed.
This faith-filled woman segues easily into the heroes and heroines in Christianity who can guide or coach us about the spiritual life and fundamental questions such as “what is my purpose in life?”
In their hearts, people yearn for something or someone beyond themselves that can give purpose or meaning to their lives. This longing can be satisfied in a variety of ways: through a family or a profession, a commitment to a cause like habitat for humanity and so forth. When a person finds something that gives transcendent meaning to their lives, that purpose awakens new energies. They become believers.
We are by nature believers. To be human is to live by faith. Think about the ordinary things we do: we sit in the church pew; we don’t expect it to collapse.
St. Augustine, whose feast day we celebrate in August, is one of many faith heroes in Christianity, a guide for us in the spiritual life. After many detours in his life, Augustine found his purpose. “God, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” In other words, no matter who we are, our true purpose is to be in relationship with God.
So who is Augustine? He was born in the middle of 4th century Africa (modern-day Algeria). The Roman Empire in the west was descending into chaos during his lifetime and finally collapsed in 476.
Although Augustine authored numerous writings, he's known for two classics: “Confessions” and “City of God.” “Confessions” is a spiritual autobiography, his dialogue with God; “City of God” is his interpretation of the Church, a community of saints and scoundrels, on pilgrimage to the heavenly City of God. Worthwhile reading.
Augustine symbolizes the search for God in one's own life; he passionately sought the truth. His “Confessions” is as relevant today for people adrift as Thomas Merton's “Seven-Story Mountain.” Both searched for true purpose in life.
Monica, Augustine's mother and a devout Christian, did her best to educate her catechumenate son in the essentials. But he drifted away from Christianity when he began his studies in Carthage. He excelled in rhetoric, the art of argumentation, and dabbled in fashionable philosophies. He soon became a famous teacher of rhetoric.
He also fathered a child out of wedlock; and lived with a mistress. One of Augustine's memorable quotations was, “God, give me chastity, but not yet.”
A question that haunted Augustine throughout his adult life was the problem of evil. How can there be an all-good God when there's such incredible human suffering. Eventually Augustine met Ambrose, bishop of Milan in Italy, whose persuasive homilies led Augustine to focus on the direction of his life. Augustine describes his conversion graphically in the “Confessions.” He went into his garden and just sat there...he heard a voice saying, “Take and read, take and read.” So, Augustine picked up the bible. And in his autobiography he wrote, “I seized, opened, and in silence read that section on which my eyes first fell: 'conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ....' No further would I read.... for instantly at the end of the sentence, by a light, as it were.... all the darkness of doubt vanished away.”
Augustine found his true purpose in life in that conversion moment. From that moment on, he became a passionate disciple, a major intellectual, spiritual and cultural icon in the Christian tradition. After Ambrose baptized him, Augustine went back to Africa in order to found a monastic community. But soon, acclaimed bishop, Augustine became a prolific author. He refuted the basic falsehoods that plagued Christianity. The universe, the work of God, he argued is essentially good and a provident God guides this universe to the fullness of the kingdom. The Church or community of disciples is holy but is made up of saints and sinners. Above all, human beings need God's grace to live the kind of life God wants them to live.
Augustine acknowledged that there’s something not quite right with human beings. Some people choose evil over good, wrong over right, falsehood over truth. Why? Because there's a tendency or pull within them to sometimes choose their worse rather than their better selves. He called this “original sin.” Human beings had fallen from grace and cry out for salvation.
Augustine looked beyond the world of things, to an all-good God who became “one of us” in Jesus and is alive by the power of the Spirit in human beings. By God's grace, Augustine argued, human beings are in relationship with God. But they must continually struggle against a tendency within themselves to choose wrong over right.
Augustine, a spiritual guide, a faith hero like the Canaanite woman, challenges us to focus on the quality of our life and our soul’s destiny. Both will be measured by our character: going the extra mile to help someone in need; being faithful in our relationships and responsibilities; doing ordinary things well; and trusting always in an all-good and compassionate God who is ever near and who will guide us safely to our heavenly dwelling place.
