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Meditation for Wednesday, August 28
Augustine of Hippo
Reading: John 14:5-14
Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’
Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
Meditation by Jeremy O’Neill
Talking about Augustine has always been a challenge for me, in part because of how prolific he was: over 100 books and treatises, over 200 letters, and over 500 sermons attributed to him have survived, and it is assumed he produced much more that has been lost since his death on August 28th, 430. There is so much to get through, and he lived quite a long life his time, as he was 75 when he died.
There is also the fact that people love to defend Augustine, and as someone who is more agnostic on whether or not I consider myself an Augustine fan, it can be difficult to feel ready to enter into that conversation. I’ve heard people claim that Anglican theology starts with Augustine, and I believe there are some aspects of his life that mirror very Anglican/Episcopal experiences. He was ordained a priest against his will, reflecting a certain theology of ordination requiring the approval and enthusiasm of the community and an exterior “call” rather than just a personal decision. His work was also greatly influential in the reformation despite his being revered in many Roman Catholic circles, which matches up with our Anglican emphasis on the “middle way” of being both Catholic and Reformed.
What strikes me about Augustine is the (in my opinion, very Anglican) call to conversation. Critics like to portray Augustine as a rigid dogmatist, and there is certainly writing of his that supports this description. I am more moved by the times he changes his mind or tries to explain something in a new way. Much of his writing is a conversation where he is reckoning with and in conversation with his mother, and various aspects of his work display a back and forth of ideas in his head.
The gospel appointed for Augustine’s feast comes from John 14. The simplest “point” one might take from the passage is that we should follow Jesus and do what God wants. You also hear people making claims that something is “against the will of God” or “as God would want,” but I believe this misses the point of our being in relation with God. Much of Jesus’s ministry, and indeed much of Augustine’s writing (most notably his conversations with his mother) is an act of conversation.
We are always discerning what the best course of our lives is. We are always discerning how to be closer to God or closer to God’s will for us. This is an ongoing process, and we must be prepared to get it wrong often. Discernment is conversation, and sometimes we say the wrong thing. Augustine sometimes says the wrong thing, or says things we might not agree with. I admire that he continues the conversation, and I hope that we are able to do the same in our lives.
Prayer:
Lord God, the light of the minds that know you, the life of the souls that love you, and the strength of the hearts that serve you: Help us, following the example of your servant, Augustine of Hippo, so to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, whose service is perfect freedom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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