The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Memorial of Saint Augustine of Hippo, urge us to accept the grace of God to love more and activate our talents to build the Kingdom of God.
Building the Kingdom
The reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians exhorts us to live in mutual charity.
Love more and more.1
Psalm 98 praises the Judge of the World.
* [Psalm 98] A hymn, similar to Ps 96, extolling God for Israel’s victory (Ps 98:1–3). All nations (Ps 98:4–6) and even inanimate nature (Ps 98:7–8) are summoned to welcome God’s coming to rule over the world (Ps 98:9).2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches the Parable of the Talents.
* [25:14] It will be as when…journey: literally, “For just as a man who was going on a journey.” Although the comparison is not completed, the sense is clear; the kingdom of heaven is like the situation here described. Faithful use of one’s gifts will lead to participation in the fullness of the kingdom, lazy inactivity to exclusion from it.3
Nicky Santos, S.J. comments that if the master represents God, then the hearers (us) are invited to ask ourselves which perception of God we believe in. If we perceive God as being harsh and exacting, we act out of fear and our creativity is curtailed. We are more concerned about following the law and our individual salvation and are quick to judge ourselves and others. On the other hand, if we perceive God as being caring, loving, and forgiving, then we act out of love and our creativity is enhanced.
We emulate a caring, loving and forgiving God by choosing to be caring, loving, and forgiving people especially concerned about the least among us (something that the remainder of chapter 25 alludes to). In so doing, we make more visibly present, and in fact, multiply, God’s care, love, and forgiveness that is revealed to us in Jesus. Unfortunately, often in our lives, we choose to believe in a God who is harsh and exacting and judgmental. As we celebrate the memorial of Saint Augustine today, may we be strengthened through the intercession of Saint Augustine, to choose the God that Jesus reveals to us: a God of care, a God of love, a God of mercy, a God who is concerned about the least among us and who invites us to be likewise.4
Don Schwager quotes “Eternal Joys,” by Gregory the Great (540-604 AD).
"All the good deeds of our present life, however many they may appear to be, are few in comparison with our eternal recompense. The faithful servant is put in charge of many things after overcoming all the troubles brought him by perishable things. He glories in the eternal joys of his heavenly dwelling. He is brought completely into the joy of his master when he is taken into his eternal home and joined to the company of angels. His inner joy at his gift is such that there is no longer any external perishable thing that can cause him sorrow." (excerpt from FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 9.2)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 25:14-30 comments that Matthew sandwiches this story between two parables about the Second Coming. The first praises the wise virgins, who were ready, their lamps filled with oil, when the bridegroom arrived (Matthew 25:10). The second compares the sheep and the goats, who are judged on the basis of their care for the “least ones” (25:45). And between these two sits the parable of a king who praises his industrious servants: “Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities” (25:21, 23).
Not many of us can do big things for God, but we can all do small things. God sees even our tiniest efforts, and he values our faithfulness in doing them well. Jesus praised the poor widow who gave two coins (Luke 21:2). He saw her heart, her faith, and her faithfulness. And he sees yours. He sees the prayers you lift up when nobody is looking. The dishes you wash for the hundredth time. Your early morning commute to provide for your family. Your phone call to your elderly parents. He promises, “You were faithful in small matters. . . . Come, share your master’s joy” (Matthew 25:23). “Lord, help me to be faithful in the small things today.”6
On the feast of St Augustine, Anthony Meredith SJ explores the life and works of the man who left a great legacy to the Church in the form of his seminal writings and the theological vision he expressed in them.
The Sermon on the Mount stresses the importance of inwardness in religion that Augustine describes. Membership of the church as both the body and bride of Christ, important though that is, does not by itself guarantee our ultimate membership of the City of God. Not only are we forever on pilgrimage to the promised home of heaven, a theme insisted upon by Augustine in the City of God, we need to be reminded that the ultimate criterion of membership is not the external demands of membership - true teaching, a moral life and the reception of the sacraments - but we need also to be controlled by the love of God to the contempt of self, rather than the opposite [City of God 14:28].7
Franciscan Media comments that in his day, Saint Augustine providentially fulfilled the office of prophet. Like Jeremiah and other greats, he was hard-pressed but could not keep quiet.
Augustine is still acclaimed and condemned in our day. He is a prophet for today, trumpeting the need to scrap escapisms and stand face-to-face with personal responsibility and dignity.8
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the advice in Paul’s parenesis as he encourages the Thessalonians to live a tranquil life and attend to their affairs. We need to work for our own upkeep and not to accumulate riches. Friar Jude connects the Parable of the Talents to our need to increase our faith in prayer and good works.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that without a sense of the inherent sacredness of the world—of every tiny bit of life and death—we struggle to see God in our own reality, let alone to respect reality, protect it, or love it. The consequences of this ignorance are all around us, seen in the way we have exploited and damaged our fellow human beings, the dear animals, the web of growing things, the land, the waters, and the very air. His good friend and co-author Patrick Boland invites us to experience Christ in nature.
What difference would it make to the quality of our lives, I wonder, if we spent a little more time in nature? Would paying attention to the life cycles of animals or the annual changes of landscapes give us an increased sense of respect for the environment? How would eating seasonal local food affect our patterns of consumption and our health and well-being? Ordinary experiences of nature can renew our sense of reverence and remind us of how deeply interconnected we all are.9
The work and life of Saint Augustine expressing the great talents he received by the grace of God inspire us to attend to the prompting of the Spirit to grow our faith and works.
References
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