Augustine, Saint, Sinner & Son
“Our heart is restless until it rests in You.”
When we speak of Saints, not meaning to be disrespectful,
we sometimes say, they were sinners who became Saints. If there is
one, the world knows most for that distinction, it would have to be
Saint Augustine. But he is so much more.
We talk of touchability and we think of this Saint. If we’re
not careful, we ignore his strength, and become comfortable in
his weakness. We speak of conversion, and he comes right to the
forefront of our minds. It’s so reassuring; St. Augustine had 30 years
to reform his life. We like that idea; convert me, Lord, but can You
wait ‘till tomorrow!
But as we travel deeper into his life, we discover not only
the son Augustine, we encounter the Saint of Prayer, that relentless
petitioner, his mother Monica. He led her to her sanctification, as
she led him to his. This is a story of a priest and his mother. It’s
a story of love, powerful, unconditional, untiring love. It’s not too
popular a story, in our present age, because: number one, it’s true;
number two, it’s about hope; number three it’s about faithfulness;
number four, it’s about conversion; number five, it’s about love and
a mother’s love, at that. This all adds up to that very unpopular message of the Gospel. But I think, it’s time for the Gospel. It’s
time for Miracles. It’s time for sinners to turn into Saints. It’s time
for you and me.
“Our heart is restless until it rests in you.” This, probably
the most quoted statement of St. Augustine’s Confessions, speaks
clearly of man’s struggle on earth and his search for God. We are
told, by Jesus, the road is narrow; yet, not listening, we insist on
taking that wide road which is so broad, we do not notice when we
veer off.
God wastes nothing. As He is creating us, He is already
formulating a plan, His Dream for us. Everything He places in us,
every precious ingredient, including that most precious of all, free
will, is a preparation for our complete life with Him in Heaven.
Those of us who are parents remember our joy, as we planned, before
our babies were born, the hopes and the dreams we had of what they
would be like; what course they would take; what kind of life they
would lead. We hold our breath until they are born, praying. When
we see these little ones, for the first time, we just know they have to
be the most perfect (outside of Jesus and Mary), ever born.
We hear the words, “He delighted in His creation. He was
well pleased. It was good.” Do we ever think how He, our God,
feels, when we throw the gift of ourselves, He so carefully fashioned,
back to Him, discarding His creation for the plastic substitute the
world offers? Thank God, He has generously given us a Heavenly
Mother, and an earthly mother like St. Monica, who beg Him for
mercy for us, for just a little more time.
When we wrote of Mother Mary and her many faces, we
called it a love story, a story of a Mother of unconditional love,
who, over the centuries, has been intermediary between us and Her
Son, and Her Son and us. Parents, as you read this chapter, bring
your children, as St. Monica did before you, to the foot of the Altar.
Children, read this chapter as your very own. You may find yourself
within the pages of this Saint, sinner, and son, Augustine.