Homily, 8-24-23; Memorial of St. Augustine:
Today we hear the first scriptural reference to the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. St. Paul tells the Thessalonians: “We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ”. One commentary on this passage states: “Faith encourages men to do good, charity to endure pain and effort, and hope to resist patiently.”
We are called to practice the theological virtues, but the starting point, the key, is faith. Without faith, why would we endure pain and effort to be charitable? Without faith, why would we resist patiently in hope? In hope for what?
So, if faith is the starting point for our charity and hope, where does it come from? In yesterday’s gospel, Jesus tells Peter: “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” Peter’s faith was not a product of human testimony. It was a gift from God. And so it is for us. It is a gift, however, that we must be open to receive. We must be open to the Holy Spirit as the Thessalonians were as St. Paul tells them: “For our Gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.”
Today is the memorial of St. Augustine, a saint who lived a troubled and immoral life, but who eventually, through much prayer by his mother St. Monica, was touched by the Holy Spirit and became one of the greatest Catholic philosophers. In his autobiographical book, Confessions, Augustine tells of a key moment in his faith journey. He wrote: “I was saying these things and weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart, when suddenly I heard the voice of a boy or a girl I know not which–coming from the neighboring house, chanting over and over again, ‘Pick it up, read it; pick it up, read it.’ Immediately I ceased weeping and began most earnestly to think whether it was usual for children in some kind of game to sing such a song, but I could not remember ever having heard the like. So, damming the torrent of my tears, I got to my feet, for I could not but think that this was a divine command to open the Bible and read the first passage I should light upon….So I quickly returned to the bench [where Alypius was sitting,] for there I had put down the apostle’s book when I had left there. I snatched it up, opened it, and in silence read the paragraph on which my eyes first fell: ‘Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.’ I wanted to read no further, nor did I need to. For instantly, as the sentence ended, there was infused in my heart something like the light of full certainty and all the gloom of doubt vanished away.”
Faith is a powerful gift that comes in power and the Holy Spirit to those open to receive it. Let us pray for an increase of faith for ourselves, and for our loved ones as St. Monica prayed for Augustine. A strong faith will encourage us to do good. It will give us the reason for our hope when we confront the challenges in our life. It will give us the reason for being charitable.