- Jo's Postcards to You

Wednesday, May 6, 2009 : Baaaa Confessions.

So 3rd post in a few hours. This one religious. Read below for other updates.

This one has been with me for a while...probably 2 Sundays ago the priest quoted this for his sermon, and it was so beautiful. I have been itching to share it! :)

(based on http://www.osjmonks.com/saug.html)

St Augustine (c350-c430 AD) was one of the early Church fathers, and he did live a pretty sinful life for a very long time. (he wrote: "God, give me chastity and continence - but not just now." )

Eventually, with the prayers of his mother, (a saint) and the help of St Ambrose, Augustine returned to the faith, and later started a monastery -- serving eventually as the Bishop of Hippo in 396 , and fought numerous early heresies.

He's so important I even read him in my Political Thought class (alongside Locke and Hobbes...and yes, Aquinas)

The priest in his sermon, quoted this passage from Augustine's Confessions. So poignant.
How many of us are seeking and searching and looking everywhere. So easily sidetracked by other things.

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 have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness.
You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed you 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.

Imagine Augustine...seeking the truth, seeking the Lord, but being lost. And God found him. Flashed. Shone. Breathed. Pray that we are not so blind that we ignore the flashing lights.
We forget where God truly is...within us, coming to us every single Mass, in the Eucharist. in HIS Real Presence. No symbol. HIM. Body and Blood. He is with us, in us, we just have to believe and as that hymn goes, "taste and see, that the Lord is good." It took me a long time to see what the Sacrament meant. but here I am. I believe in what it is. I probably tried to ignored the flashing lights. The knocking at my door. How amazing is it, God does not give up on us? He keeps right on knocking. Or He finds the window and comes in. Or He sends us people who challenge us, lead us, inspire us. We just have to be willing to hear and see Him.

Which I guess brings me to this week's Sunday readings:
it was Good Shepherd Sunday. And the readings were about sheep and shepherds. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The Church does however, have shepherds to lead us along. and they are called and challenged to be good shepherds for their flocks. Do we the "sheep" act as good sheep? Sheep aren't stupid. Or just a mindless pack (remember, the reading is about the sheep dispersing/getting lost!). [this isnt going to be a post/rant about conformity thought...i am not going to get into it, but i think that stringent individualism is bad. I believe in community, in unity. Conformity can be good (as long as it doesnt clash with one's conscience i guess)]

Back to the SHEEP! We are called sheep because we are called to LISTEN. What does listening mean? It means to hear and obey. To internalize what we hear, to act on it.

That's what we are called to do! Hear. Act. Internalize. Listen. (woah. that spells HAIL how apt...)

O that today you would listen to his voice! Harden not your hearts.