Homily #080828 ( 08min) Play – Let us declare with the great St. Augustine that we have been late in loving God and yet we know that our hearts will be restless until they rest in Him .
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Homily #090621 ( 14min) Play – Using the analogy used by St. Augustine  of the two cities, the City of God and the City of the Devil, Fr. Ignatius explains the reading of today’s Epistle from I Peter 5:6-11 where the Devil prowl’s around like a roaring lion seeking the ruin of souls, trying to lure souls from the City of God using worldly pleasures and vanity and that we need virtues like faith and humility to fight against him. But further if we find ourselves lost in the wilderness of vice then the we can ask the Good Shepherd for help to get back to the fold, the Church, as in today’s Gospel.
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Homily #090827 ( 05min) Play – St. Monica prayed and shed many tears for the conversion of her wayward son, St. Augustine.
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St. Monica-Feast Day August 27th

her son, St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church-Feast Day August 28th

From “The Confessions” of St. Augustine

The day when she was to leave this life was drawing near – a day known to You, though we were ignorant of it – she and I happened to be alone, through (as I believe) the mysterious workings of Your will.

We stood leaning against a window which looked out on a garden within the house where we were staying, at Ostia on the Tiber; for there, far from the crowds, we were recruiting our strength after the long journey, in order to prepare ourselves for our voyage overseas. We were alone, conferring very intimately. Forgetting what lay in the past, and stretching out to what was ahead, we inquired between ourselves, in the light of present truth, into what You are and what the eternal life of the saints would be like, for eye has not seen nor ear heard nor human heart conceived it.

And yet, with the mouth of our hearts wide open we panted thirstily for the celestial streams of Your fountain, the fount of life which is with You. This was the substance of our talk, though not the exact words. Yet You know, O Lord, how on that very day, amid this talk of ours that seemed to make the world with all its charms grow cheap, she said, “For my part, my son, I no longer find pleasure in anything that this life holds. What I am doing here still, or why I am still here, I do not know, for worldly hope has withered away for me. One thing only there was for which I desired to linger in this life: to see you a Catholic Christian before I died. And my God has granted this to me more lavishly than I could have hoped, letting me see even you spurning earthly happiness to be His servant. What am I still doing here?”

What I replied I cannot clearly remember, because just about that time – five days later, or not much more – she took to her bed with fever. One day during her illness she lapsed into unconsciousness and for a short time was unaware of her surroundings. We all came running, but she quickly returned to her senses, and, gazing at me and my brother as we stood there, she asked in puzzlement, “Where was I?”

We were bewildered with grief, but she looked keenly at us and said, “You are to bury your mother here”. I was silent, holding back my tears, but my brother said something about his hope that she would not die far from home but in her own country, for that would be a happier way. On hearing this she looked anxious and her eyes rebuked him for thinking so; then she turned her gaze from him to me and said, “What silly talk!”

Shortly afterwards, addressing us both, she said, “Lay this body anywhere, and take no trouble over it. One thing only do I ask of you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be”. Having made her meaning clear to us with such words as she could muster, she fell silent…

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Quotes from St. Augustine of Hippo:

He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.

Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.

If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.

O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams.

Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.

Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee.

To seek the highest good is to live well.

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Late have I loved you,
O Beauty ever ancient, ever new,
late have I loved you!

You were within me, but I was outside,
and it was there that I searched for you.
In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created.

You were with me, but I was not with you.
Created things kept me from you;
yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all.

You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness.
You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness.
You breathed your fragrance on me;
I drew in breath and now I pant for you.

I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more.
You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

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Homily #090828 ( 05min) Play – St Augustine was restless in his heart until he found his rest in God and became a great pastor and defender of the faith.
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No Apologies #122 –  ( 05min) >>> Play

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Pelagius denied the existence of original sin. All men are born into the world in the exact state that Adam was, and as such are perfectly capable of living a completely sinless life by our own will power. Knowledge of this heresy can be helpful in dealing with those who view infant baptism as unnecessary or un-scriptural.

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Ave Maria Meditations

John is the voice, but the Lord is the Word who was in the beginning. John is the voice that lasts for a time; from the beginning Christ is the Word who lives forever. Take away the word, the meaning, and what is the voice? Where there is no understanding, there is only a meaningless sound. The voice without the word strikes the ear but does not build up the heart.

However, let us observe what happens when we first seek to build up our hearts. When I think about what I am going to say, the word or message is already in my heart. When I want to speak to you, I look for a way to share with your heart what is already in mine. In my search for a way to let this message reach you, so that the word already in my heart may find place also in yours, I use my voice to speak to you. The sound of my voice brings the meaning of the word to you and then passes away. The word which the sound has brought to you is now in your heart, and yet it is still also in mine.

When the word has been conveyed to you, does not the sound seem to say: The word ought to grow, and I should diminish? The sound of the voice has made itself heard in the service of the word, and has gone away, as though it were saying: My joy is complete. Let us hold on to the word; we must not lose the word conceived inwardly in our hearts.

Do you need proof that the voice passes away but the divine Word remains? Where is John’s baptism today? It served its purpose, and it went away. Now it is Christ’s baptism that we celebrate. It is in Christ that we all believe; we hope for salvation in him. This is the message the voice cried out.

Because it is hard to distinguish word from voice, even John himself was thought to be the Christ. The voice was thought to be the word. But the voice acknowledged what it was, anxious not to give offence to the word. I am not the Christ, he said, nor Elijah, nor the prophet. And the question came: Who are you, then? He replied: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord. The voice of one crying in the wilderness is the voice of one breaking the silence. Prepare the way for the Lord, he says, as though he were saying: “I speak out in order to lead him into your hearts, but he does not choose to come where I lead him unless you prepare the way for him.”

What does prepare the way mean, if not “pray well” What does prepare the way mean, if not “be humble in your thoughts” We should take our lesson from John the Baptist. He is thought to be the Christ; he declares he is not what they think. He does not take advantage of their mistake to further his own glory.

If he had said, “I am the Christ,” you can imagine how readily he would have been believed, since they believed he was the Christ even before he spoke. But he did not say it; he acknowledged what he was. He pointed out clearly who he was; he humbled himself. He saw where his salvation lay. He understood that he was a lamp, and his fear was that it might be blown out by the wind of pride.

St. Augustine

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(Romans 8: 26)    Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

 The Desire of Your Heart Constitutes Your Prayer

In the anguish of my heart I groaned aloud. There is a hidden anguish which is inaudible to men. Yet when a man’s heart is so taken up with some particular concern that the hurt inside finds vocal expression, one looks for the reason. And one will say to oneself: perhaps this is what causes his anguish, or perhaps such and such had happened to him. But who can be certain of the cause except God, who hears and sees his anguish? Therefore the psalmist says: In the anguish of my heart I groaned aloud. For if men hear at all, they usually hear only bodily groaning and know nothing of the anguish of the heart from which it issues.

Who then knows the cause of man’s groaning? All my desire is before you. No, it is not open before other men, for they cannot understand the heart; but before you is all my desire. If your desire lies open to him who is your Father and who sees in secret, he will answer you.

For the desire of your heart is itself your prayer. And if the desire is constant, so is your prayer. The Apostle Paul had a purpose in saying: Pray without ceasing. Are we then ceaselessly to bend our knees, to lie prostrate, or to lift up our hands? Is this what is meant in saying: Pray without ceasing? Even if we admit that we pray in this fashion, I do not believe that we can do so all the time.

Yet there is another, interior kind of prayer without ceasing, namely, the desire of the heart. Whatever else you may be doing, if you but fix your desire on God’s Sabbath rest, your prayer will be ceaseless: therefore, if you wish to pray without ceasing, do not cease to desire.

The constancy of your desire will itself be the ceaseless voice of your prayer. And that voice of your prayer will be silent only when your love ceases. For who are silent? Those of whom it is said: Because evil has abounded, the love of many will grow cold.

The chilling of love means that the heart is silent; while burning love is the outcry of the heart. If your love is without ceasing, you are crying out always; if you always cry out, you are always desiring; and if you desire, you are calling to mind your eternal rest in the Lord.

And all my desire is before you. What if the desire of our heart is before him, but not our groaning? But how is that possible, since the groaning is the voice of our desire? And therefore it is said: My groaning is not concealed from you. It may be concealed from men, but it is not concealed from you. Sometimes God’s servant seems to be saying in his humility: My anguish is not concealed from you. At other times he seems to be laughing. Does that mean that the desire of his heart has died within him? If the desire is there, then the groaning is there as well. Even if men fail to hear, it never ceases to sound in the hearing of God.

+St. Augustine

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The Redemption All Were Awaiting…

The maker of man, He was made man, so that the director of the stars might be a Babe at the breast; that Bread might be hungry, and the Fountain thirsty; that the Light might sleep, and the Way be weary from a journey; that the Truth might be accused by false witnesses, and the Judge of the living and the dead be judged by a mortal judge; that Justice might be convicted by the unjust, and Discipline be scourged with whips; that the Cluster of grapes might be crowned with thorns, and the Foundation be hung up on a tree; that Strength might grow weak, eternal Health be wounded, Life die.

 It was in order to endure these and similar indigni­ties for our sake; in order to set free those who had forfeited all dignity, though he deserved no evil but endured such terrible evils on our behalf, and we deserved no good, but received such splendid goods through him; so it was for these reasons that the one who was before all ages the Son of God, without beginning of days, was prepared in these last days to become a son of man; and that the one who was born of the Father, not made by the Father, was made in the Mother whom He had made; so that He might exist here for a time, being born of her who could never and nowhere have existed except through Him.

 + St. Augustine

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Homily #120828 ( 12min) Play -St. Augustine was a giant.  God pulled him out of a life of sin to live a life of grace with his mother, St. Monica and mother Church.   The vurtie of Chastity was very difficlut for him to live, but through casting all his cares on the Lord, putting  on the Lord Jesus Christ, He became what he was by God’s grace.
Ave Maria!
Mass: St. Augustine of Hippo – Mem – Form: OF
Readings: 

1st: Jn.  4:7-16

Resp.: Pa.  119:9-14

Gospel: Mt.  23:8-12

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