Today we celebrate the feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury. He was sent in 597 from Saint Andrew's monastery in Rome by the pope, St. Gregory the Great, to preach the gospel in England. He was aided there by King Ethelbert and chosen bishop of Canterbury. He converted many to the faith and established many dioceses (including London). He died on May 26, about the year 605.
Augustine was a pastoral sort and not given to the details and intricacies of administration. He often sought the direct help of the pope in ruling his dioceses.
Our readings today would have us look at them from a very simple, pastoral point of view: as Jesus said: Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
The poor who have given up everything to follow Jesus are assured by him that in doing so they will have the mysteries of the Kingdom revealed to them: especially the "mystery of opposites": the more you give away the more you get; the more you lose, the more you gain; and the tough one: the more you suffer persecution, the greater your reward in heaven.
The "mystery" of the way this operates is really not all that complicated: Jesus showed us by his own life that one necessarily leads to the opposite. The key to the mystery is God himself. God alone can transform one thing into its opposite – really, truly and authentically!
The converse is true as well! The more you get now, the more you will have taken away later; the more you gain now, the more you lose later; the more you enjoy rewards now, the more suffering will take place later.
St. Peter in the first reading today tells the early flock of Christians to keep it simple – to aim for a life in hope based on the fulfillment of God's promises – to aim at holiness in every aspect of conduct: to be holy because I am holy, God tells us! This means that because I (God) am holy, and I made you, and you are a part of me, then you are holy too – and should want to cooperate in preserving and enhancing the holiness that is already within you.
A way to nourish and strengthen that holiness is to appreciate and use the great tool of our sanctification that the Church offers us: the Eucharistic Presence of the Body and Blood of Jesus. The bread we eat and the cup we drink increases grace within us, makes us holy and moves us to love of neighbor. It is indispensible for a member of God's family! It is the very food which he places on the table for us! And we are so grateful to have it!
O sacrament most holy! O sacrament divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine!
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