Weekly Newsletter: August 2020

Friday 28 August 2020

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)

Mersey Leven Catholic Parish

OUR VISION

To be a vibrant Catholic Community

unified in its commitment

to growing disciples for Christ

Parish Priest: Fr Mike Delaney

Mob: 0417 279 437

Email: mike.delaney@aohtas.org.au

Assistant Priest: Fr Steven Smith

Mob: 0411 522 630

Email: steven.smith@aohtas.org.au

Priest in Residence: Fr Phil McCormack

Mob: 0437 521 257

Email: pmccormack43@bigpond.com

Seminarian in Residence: Kanishka Perera

Mob: 0499 035 199

Email: kanish_biyanwila@yahoo.com

Postal Address: PO Box 362, Devonport 7310

Parish Office: 90 Stewart Street, Devonport 7310

(Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10am - 3pm)

Office Phone: 6424 2783 Email: merseyleven@aohtas.org.au

Secretary: Annie Davies Finance Officer: Anne Fisher

Mersey Leven Catholic Parish Weekly Newsletter: mlcathparish.blogspot.com.au

Parish Mass times for the Month: mlcpmasstimes.blogspot.com.au

Weekly Homily Podcast: mikedelaney.podomatic.com

Archdiocesan Website: www.hobart.catholic.org.au for news, information and details of other Parishes.

PLENARY COUNCIL PRAYER

Come, Holy Spirit of Pentecost.
Come, Holy Spirit of the great South Land.
O God, bless and unite all your people in Australia
and guide us on the pilgrim way of the Plenary Council.
Give us the grace to see your face in one another
and to recognise Jesus, our companion on the road.
Give us the courage to tell our stories and to speak boldly of your truth.
Give us ears to listen humbly to each other
and a discerning heart to hear what you are saying.
Lead your Church into a hope-filled future,
that we may live the joy of the Gospel.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, bread for the journey from age to age.
Amen.
Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us.
St Mary MacKillop, pray for us.

Parish Prayer

Heavenly Father,
We thank you for gathering us together
and calling us to serve as your disciples.
You have charged us through Your Son, Jesus, with the great mission
  of evangelising and witnessing your love to the world.
Send your Holy Spirit to guide us as we discern your will
for the spiritual renewal of our parish.
Give us strength, courage, and clear vision
as we use our gifts to serve you.
We entrust our parish family to the care of Mary, our mother,
and ask for her intercession and guidance
as we strive to bear witness
to the Gospel and build an amazing parish.
Amen.
Our Parish Sacramental Life
Baptism: Arrangements are made by contacting Parish Office. Parents attend a Baptismal Preparation Session organised with a Priest.
Reconciliation, Confirmation and Eucharist: Are received following a Family–centred, Parish-based, School-supported Preparation Program.
Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults: prepares adults for reception into the Catholic community.
Marriage: arrangements are made by contacting one of our priests - couples attend a Pre-marriage Program
Anointing of the Sick: please contact one of our priests
Reconciliation:  BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

THE FOLLOWING PUBLIC ACTIVITIES ARE SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Eucharistic Adoration Devonport, Benediction with Adoration Devonport,
Legion of Mary,

DAILY AND SUNDAY MASS ONLINE:
Please go to the following link on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MLCP1
Sun 30th Aug Devonport 10:00am – ALSO LIVESTREAM
Mon 31st Aug No Mass
Tues 1st Sept Devonport 9:30am ... ALSO LIVESTREAM
Wed 2nd Sept Ulverstone 9:30am
Thurs 3rd Sept Devonport 12noon ... St Gregory the Great – ALSO LIVESTREAM
Fri 4th Sept Ulverstone 9:30am
Devonport 12noon
Sat 5th Sept Ulverstone 9:30am
Ulverstone 6.00pm
Sun 6th Sept Ulverstone 10:00am

If you are looking for Sunday Mass readings or Daily Mass readings, Universalis has the readings as well as the various Hours of the Divine Office - https://universalis.com/mass.htm

Your prayers are asked for the sick:
Delma Pieri, Allan McIntyre, Marlene Clarke, Val Laycock, Lauren Lloyd, Vinco Muriyadan, & …

Let us pray for those who have died recently:
Joy Carter, Sr Julianne Tapping, Fr Michael Wheeler, Geoffrey McCall, Helen Hendrey

Let us pray for those whose anniversary occurs about this time: 26th August – 1st September, 2020
Michael Cassidy, Jack Page, Tom Jones, Robert Lee, Rita Stokes, Dulcie McCormack, Lynette Otley, Maurice Van der feen, Robert Sheehan, Mary Adkins, Margaret Newell, Laurance Kelcey, Terry McKenna, Warren Milfull, Dorothy Leonard, Margaret Hayes, Theodore Clarke, Maxine Milton, Audrey Enniss, John Coad

May the souls of the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen

PREGO REFLECTION ON TODAY’S GOSPEL:
As always I come gently to my prayer, taking the time to relax my body and mind so that I can be fully present to my God. What grace do I wish for today?
When I am ready, I take up the Gospel text, reading it slowly a couple of times.
Perhaps I can be present to Jesus, who having faced opposition, is now contemplating his journey to Jerusalem. As he shares this with his disciples, do I consider how he feels … ?
Or am I a disciple in denial?
Perhaps, like Peter, I rush to remonstrate rather than reflect upon Jesus’s words? In what way do I want to please rather than ponder more demanding truths?
In my own life, what things have I lost by holding onto them too tightly?
I turn to the Lord, asking him to enable me – with him alongside – to look clearly and peacefully at my life.
I end with gratitude for the human example Jesus has set in accepting his cross.

Mersey Leven Parish would like to wish

Marie Knight a very happy 99th Birthday, on Monday 31st August.
and
Doris Hall, a very happy 101st Birthday on Tuesday 1st September.
God bless you both on your special day and may it be filled with Love, laughter, family, friends and wonderful memories.

Weekly Ramblings
Greetings from Flinders Island (for the last time)

Well at least I think it will be the last time but according to the Weather Forecast we are due to get the same damaging winds and wild weather that the NW Coast is due to get today (Thursday) - I hope the plane flies tomorrow.

My time on the island has been relaxing but I am a little wary about the long term benefits. In my reading and reflection I came across an article that suggested that the value of any break or time off is determined by what you do when you return to work and whether you maintain the same work practices as before the break. And that’s why I am wary because I’m not sure if I know how to change and there in lies my biggest challenge.

Whilst we have not returned to what we thought was the usual before Covid-19 raised it’s ugly head back in March here in Australia - and I’m not sure that anyone would call the time since in any way a ‘break’ - the question of what we do and how we do it when restrictions are finally lifted is an important question. We already know that there have been significant changes in the way we do things and I’m sure that we will need to make even more changes into the future - exactly what they will be are not yet known.

What is important though is that we need to look at things a little differently. I hope some of you might remember that my 1st Message series for 2020 was simply - 2020 Vision. In that series I was inviting us to look at, and listen to and hear the Word of God with a new and deeper understanding. The series I conclude this weekend - What’s Next? - is a reminder that the call of the Gospel, the invitation to the disciple, is a call to know that what we have today is the launching pad for tomorrow not the end point of our journey.

Take care and stay safe, stay sane and stay warm.


KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS MEETING
The next meeting of the Mersey-Leven Branch of the Knights of the Southern Cross will be held this Sunday 30th August at the Sacred Heart Church Community Room, Ulverstone at 5pm. Members and any interested men of the Parish are invited to attend. Contact Giuseppe Gigliotti on 0419 684 134 if you have any questions.


SICK AND AGED PRIEST FUND APPEAL:
The Sick and Aged Priest Fund was established to ensure that all diocesan priests incardinated into the Archdiocese of Hobart would receive adequate accommodation, health care and support needed in their retirement, or should they become ill. The Sick and Aged Priest Fund helps to meet the following needs of our diocesan priests: A modest monthly allowance, Nursing home and hostel care for frail priests, Assistance in transitioning to retirement, assistance with out of pocket medical and dental expenses, assistance with board and lodging expenses, motor vehicle costs.

Please support our diocesan priests through the Sick and Aged Priest Fund Appeal during September. Your donation can be placed in an envelope which will be available from Mass Centres.

CONCERNED CATHOLICS TASMANIA INC (CCT)
You are invited to join the launch of Concerned Catholics Tasmania Inc (CCT). We share a vision for an inclusive Catholic Church that is welcoming of all in the spirit of the Gospels. Members seek to find mutual support, opportunities for spiritual growth, and an effective role and voice in responding to Christ’s mission in today’s world.
Date: Saturday 10 October 2020 10.00am for 10:30am to 12:30pm
Where: The Tailrace Centre, 1 Waterfront Drive, Launceston.
COVID restrictions prevent us serving refreshments, but the Centre's Coffee Shop will be open before and after for breakfast/coffee/lunch.
Guest Speaker: Francis Sullivan AO (by Zoom) former Chief Executive Officer of the Catholic Church in Australia's Truth, Justice and Healing Council (2012-2018)
Registration is necessary to meet COVID safety requirements - please register by email to Donna McWilliam donna_mcwilliam@yahoo.com.au by Wednesday 7th October. Donations welcome at the door.

SOCIAL JUSTICE SUNDAY

We celebrate Social Justice Sunday this weekend. This year, the Australian Bishops’ Social Justice Statement is titled: To Live Life to the Full: Mental health in Australia today. The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the mental health of many members of our parishes, schools and communities. Understanding mental health will help us to be aware of those who need our support. The Bishops invite us all to reject stigmatisation, to work for the transformation of social determinants of mental ill-health, and to call for policies and service provision that meets the needs of the poorest and most marginalised members of our community. Download the Statement at http://bit.ly/SocialJustice_2020 .

At-One-Ment, Not Atonement

This article is taken from the Daily Email sent by Fr Richard Rohr OFM from the Center for Action and Contemplation. You can subscribe to receive the email by clicking here

The Franciscan view of atonement theory is a prime example of our alternative orthodoxy. The Franciscan School was dissatisfied with the popular theological idea that Jesus came to Earth as a necessary sacrifice to appease an angry God. As human consciousness advances, more and more people cannot believe that God would demand Jesus’ blood as payment for our sins. It seems to be inevitable that our old logic needs to break up before we can begin to grow up.

The most common reading of the Bible is that Jesus “died for our sins”—either to pay a debt to the devil (generally believed in the first millennium) or to pay a debt to God (proposed by Anselm of Canterbury in the 11th century and holding sway for most of the second millennium). But even in the 13th century, Franciscan philosopher and theologian John Duns Scotus (1266–1308) agreed with neither of these understandings.

Duns Scotus was not guided by the Temple language of debt, atonement, and blood sacrifice, which was understandably used by the Gospel writers and by Paul. Instead, he was inspired by the cosmic hymns in the first chapters of Colossians and Ephesians and the Prologue to John’s Gospel (1:1-18). While the Church has never rejected the Franciscan position, it has remained a minority view.

The terrible and un-critiqued premise of many “substitutionary atonement theories” is that God demanded Jesus to be a blood sacrifice to “atone” for our sin-drenched humanity. As if God could need payment, and even a very violent transaction, to be able to love and accept God’s own children! These theories are based on retributive justice rather than the restorative justice that the prophets and Jesus taught.

For Duns Scotus, the incarnation of God and the redemption of the world could never be a mere Plan B or mop-up exercise in response to human sinfulness; Jesus’ birth, life, and death had to be Plan A, the proactive work of God from the very beginning. We were “chosen in Christ before the world was made” (Ephesians 1:4). Our sin could not possibly be the motive for the incarnation! Only perfect love and divine self-revelation could inspire God to come in human form. God never merely reacts, but supremely and freely acts—out of love.

Jesus did not come to change the mind of God about humanity. It did not need changing. Jesus came to change the mind of humanity about God! God is not someone to be afraid of but is the Ground of Being and on our side. [1]

The Franciscan minority position, our alternative orthodoxy, is basically saying that no atonement is necessary. Some call it “at-one-ment” instead of atonement. There is no bill to be paid; there is simply a union to be named. Jesus didn’t come to solve a problem; he came to reveal the true nature of God as Love.

The Invitation To Courage
This article is taken from the archive of Fr Ron Rolheiser OMI. You can find this article and many others by clicking h ere

Courage isn’t one of my strong points, at least not one particular kind of courage.

Scripture tells us that as John the Baptist grew up he became strong in spirit. My growing up was somewhat different. Unlike John the Baptist, as I grew up I became accommodating in spirit. This had its reasons. I was born with what Ruth Burrows would describe as a “tortured sensitivity”, an over-sensitive personality, and have never been able to develop a tough skin. That’s not the stuff of which prophets are made. When you’re a child on the playground you better have the raw physical strength to challenge a situation that’s unfair or you better let things alone so as not to get hurt. You also better develop razor-sharp skills at avoiding confrontation and in the art of peacemaking. As well, when you aren’t gifted with superior physical strength and challenging situations arise on the playground, you quickly learn to walk away from confrontation. On the playground the lamb knows better than to lie down with the lion or to confront the lion, irrespective of the prophet Isaiah’s eschatological visions.

And that’s not all bad. Growing up as I did didn’t make for the tough skin and raw courage it takes to be a prophet, but it did give me an acute radar screen, namely, a sensitivity which at its best is a genuine empathy (though at its worst has me avoiding situations of conflict). Either way, it’s hasn’t particularly gifted me with the qualities that make for prophetic courage. I want, habitually, not to upset people. I dislike confrontation and want peacefulness at almost any cost, though I do draw some lines in the sand. But I’m no John the Baptist and it’s taken me many years to learn that, admit it, and understand why – and also to understand that my temperament and history are only an explanation and not an excuse for my cowardice at times.

In the end, the virtue of courage is not contingent upon birth, temperament, or mental toughness, though these can be helpful. Courage is a gift from the Holy Spirit and that’s why one’s temperament and background may only serve as an explanation and not as an excuse for a lack of courage.

I highlight this because our situation today demands courage from us, the courage for prophecy. We desperately need prophets today, but they are in short supply and too many of us are not particularly eager to volunteer for the task. Why not?

A recent issue of Commonweal magazine featured an article by Bryan Massingale, a strong prophetic voice on the issue of racism. Massingale submits that the reason we see so little real progress in dealing with racial injustice is the absence of prophetic voices where they are most needed, in this case, among the many good white people who see racial injustice, sympathize with those suffering from it, but don’t do anything about it. Massingale, who lectures widely across the country, shares how again and again in his lectures and in his classes people ask him: But how do I address this without upsetting people? This question aptly expresses our reticence and, I believe, names both the issue and the challenge.

As Shakespeare would say, “Ah, there’s the rub!” For me, this question touches a sensitive moral nerve. Had I been in one of his classes I would no doubt have been one of those to ask that question: but how do I challenge racism without upsetting people? Here’s my problem: I want to speak out prophetically, but I don’t want to upset others; I want to challenge the white privilege which we’re so congenitally blind to, but I don’t want to alienate the generous, good-hearted people who support our school; I want to speak out more strongly against injustice in my writing, but I don’t want multiple newspapers drop my column as a result; I want to be courageous and confront others, but don’t want to live with the hatred that ensues; and I want to publicly name injustices and name names, but don’t want to alienate myself from those very people. So this leaves me still praying for the courage needed for prophecy.

Several years ago, a visiting professor at our school, an Afro-American man, was sharing with our faculty some of the near daily injustices he experiences simply because of the color of his skin. At one point I asked him: “If I, as a white man, came to you like Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and asked you what I should do, what would you tell me?” His answer: Jesus didn’t let Nicodemus off easily just because he confessed his fears. Nicodemus had to do a public act to bring his faith into the light, he had to claim Jesus’ dead body. Hence, his challenge to me: you need to do a public act.

He’s right; but I’m still praying for the prophetic courage to do that. And aren’t we all?

Augustine's Thinking Faith

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. Anthony Meredith SJ teaches Theology at Heythrop College, University of London.
This article is taken from the ThinkingFaith.org website where you can find a wide range of articles by clicking here

The extraordinary man whose feast we keep on August 28, died on that day in 430 in the city of Hippo, as the Vandals were besieging the city of which he had been bishop for nearly 35 years. Augustine’s biographer, Possidius, tells us that as he died he consoled himself, not as we might expect with some words from his favourite New Testament writer, Saint Paul, but instead with a sentence from a third century Greek philosopher, Plotinus: ‘One that sets great store by wood or stones, or…. by mortality among mortals cannot yet be the Sage, whose estimate of death must be that it is better than life in the body’ [Ennead 1:4:7].

Augustine’s faith was essentially a thinking faith, endeavouring to bring together the belief of his heart and the abilities of his mind. This is well illustrated by the fact that his favourite verse from scripture was a [mis]quotation from Isaiah 7:9, ‘If you do not believe, then you will not understand.’ Faith seeks understanding: faith first, understanding afterwards. This is the leitmotif of his 15-book work, On the Trinity, and is especially prominent towards the end of book 7.

We are better informed about Augustine than about any other figure in the ancient world, and this is above all because he did something which no other ancient writer, with the possible exception of the great orator and letter writer Cicero, ever did: he wrote an autobiography. The Greeks abhorred autobiography; however, Augustine’s Confessions, composed between 397 and 400, began a trend that surfaced above all in Rousseau and later in John Henry Newman with his Apologia pro vita sua.

‘Confessions’
In Confessions, which is a wonderful mixture of self-exploration and praise of God - the word confession, as the present pope indicated years ago, is a fusion of both ideas – we are brought face to face with the author. We learn of his indifferent father, Patrick; of his very strong-minded mother, Monica; of his brother, Navigius; of his youthful lusts and misbehaviour; of his unnamed mistress and the son she bore him; of his superb education in rhetoric; of his mental problems; of his five year residence (383-388) in Italy; of his intellectual conversion with the help of Plotinus and of his moral conversion with the help of Saint Paul; and of his baptism by Saint Ambrose on Easter Day 387.

What must strike the reader about this amazing work is its linguistic, rhetorical force. Through the memorable character of his prose, Augustine was able to powerfully express his theological vision. Towards the very beginning of book 1 of Confessions, Augustine writes: ’Thou hast made us, O Lord, for thyself and our heart is restless till it rest in thee’. In book 8, he asks of God: ‘Give me chastity, but not yet.’ A prayer repeated three times in book 10 is particularly notable: ‘Give what you command and command what you will.’ This particular line caused great upset to the British writer, Pelagius and began a debate which would continue for decades. Pelagius thought it quite possible to be morally upright without being religious - a view which Augustine did not share.

During the course of his episcopacy Augustine delivered a very large number of sermons – 500 at a conservative estimate – which were taken down by shorthand writers or note-takers across his diocese. Like his writings, his sermons fuse together his powers of rhetoric and his theological vision. A particularly striking vision is delivered in sermon 341, which deals with the three modes of the presence of the Word of God: he is present with the Father from all eternity, he is present in Christ to whose human nature he was united at the Incarnation, but he is also present in his body, which is the church, at the same time his bride.

If we add to the above more than 150 sermons on the psalms, 124 homilies on the fourth gospel and his 250 or so letters, presumably either dictated or written, we gain a glimpse of Augustine's extraordinary industry and versatility. Consider also his pastoral care for the faithful of his diocese - in another sermon [340], Augustine tells his hearers that he is responsible for them as their bishop, but at the same time is a Christian with them - and we gain some insight into the energy and minute care which characterise this remarkable man.

But our amazement is increased when we recall the other literary works Augustine produced, as distinct from the administrative activities he fulfilled. To the 35 years of his episcopacy belong; 1] his controversy with Pelagius and his successors on the vital subject of grace and freedom, to which is allied his advocacy of the doctrine of original sin; 2] his 15-volume work On the Trinity, written over a period of some 15 years; 3] his debate with the Donatists until their official condemnation by the state in 411, regarding the holiness of the clergy and other members of the Church, and 4] last, but not least, his masterly City of God, written over a period of some 13 years, a work which endeavours to account for the sack of Rome by the Goths in the summer of 410 and to answer the charge made by the pagans that the fall of the city was the result of its abandonment of its traditional religion and gods.

In all of these areas, Augustine made a contribution to developing a thinking faith, a legacy which is still with us today. In fact it is sometimes claimed that the major theological differences which separate East and West derive from his influence. Two points in particular are singled out: Augustine’s teaching on the divine unity: and his teaching on original sin. He always challenges us, even if we may not feel completely comfortable with the solutions he proposes. He is easy to portray as an either/or man, whereas he is in fact a both/and one. It is not a question of contemplation or action in this life, but both; not faith or works, but faith and works; or again, not faith or reason, but faith and reason, with the important proviso that we must make sure that first things come first.

But behind our analysis of all his varied positions, there lies a challenging and fascinating question: underneath or beyond Augustine’s concern with the unity of God, the primacy of grace over nature and of religion over morality, the nature of the City of God and of the city of this world, and the importance of the sacraments as distinct from the morality of the clergy, it is possible to isolate a vision of God which holds all these insights together?

Augustine’s Theology
At the centre of Augustine’s attempts to understand the divine nature is the central thought that God is beyond the range of the human mind. In a famous sermon [52], he writes ’If you think you have grasped him, it is not God you have grasped’ - si comprehendis non est Deus. Yet, while always recognising the inevitable mystery of God. Augustine does not let the limitations of the human mind deter him from his pursuit of a greater understanding of God, and there are many examples of this.

In his wrestling with the problem of evil, Augustine does not simply say. ‘It is a mystery’ and leave it at that. In book 7 of the Confessions he relies on the arguments of Plotinus to prove that evil is somehow unreal. In his discussion of divine justice as described in Romans 9, where he wrestles with the intractable problem of divine election, Augustine refuses to measure divine justice by human standards, yet he still asserts that God is just. Unlike other early Christian writers Augustine does not try to fit God into a moral mould derived from human experience. The divine goodness, mercy and power are not to be equated with our own. So, in answer to the question of why some are chosen to have faith and salvation and others are not, Augustine’s answer is effectively that God’s ways are not our ways; he warns against try to imprison God in manmade categories.

Revelation presents us with a God who is both one and three, one God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But three into one will not go. Now Augustine could have said simply, ‘This is a mystery; just accept it and don’t try to understand and master it ‘, but the whole drift of his 15 volume work on the Trinity is a serious attempt to come to terms with this mystery. He argues that as we are made, according to Genesis 1:26, ‘after the image and likeness of God’, we should be able to discover by introspection certain reflections of the divine nature. In book 10 of the work he argues that as we are one, yet also have a threefold character in us – memory, understanding and will – so too there are three persons in God, all equal, but not the same. Another example of Augustine’s thirst for understanding, but acceptance of the mystery that is the object of his faith.

One of the most challenging and at the same time disturbing elements of Augustine’s approach is the emphasis he places upon the condition of the heart as vitally distinct from external action. The emphasis on the heart is central in the writing of Confessions, where the heart is thought of less as the emotional centre of the human being than as the centre of all conscious activity. His consciousness of the inwardness of true religion, as distinct from its external manifestations, finds expression in book 3 of Confessions with the following words with which he addresses God: ‘You were more inward than my most inward part and higher than the highest element within me.’ This sums up a constant element of the thought of Augustine, echoed again in his treatise On Free Will: ‘Do not go outside.’

This aspect of his thought also betrays two of Augustine’s major influences, as it echoes the Pauline understanding of grace and the Plotinian notion of the presence within all of us of the One. For Saint Paul, grace is the freely given and at the same time necessary power, without which salvation is impossible: ‘By grace we are saved’ [Ephesians 2:5]. A favourite verse of Augustine is from 1 Corinthians 4:7: ‘What have you that you have not received?’ Plotinus also has a not dissimilar view, though applied to the ever-presence of the absolute in each one of us, when he writes, ‘All is within. There is no need to search for it outside of yourself.’ [cf Ennead 1:6:8] The influence of this passage on Augustine is particularly marked by his treatment of Luke’s parable of the Prodigal Son in Confessions 1:18:28.

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].

In Saint Augustine we meet one of the most fascinating figures in the whole history of the church. Together with Jerome, Ambrose and Gregory the Great, he forms the group known as the Latin Fathers. Yet despite his intellectual distinction it is not always easy to find him coherent, as he deals with the deepest mysteries of his faith. How can God be both eternal and yet both create and become part of time? How can we be totally dependent on grace and yet also free? Augustine points us to these mysteries, beyond himself. May he help us on his feast day to be as serious and humble as he was.

A Church always on the defensive,
which loses her humility and stops listening to others,
which leaves no room for questions,
loses her youth and turns into a museum.
Pope Francis, Christus Vivit, 41

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A)