Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year A
Governments and their forms change, national boundaries change, social conditions change, cultures and civilizations change, but the problem does not change. What is God’s, what is Caesar’s? Jesus’ real answer is given in response to the question of which commandment in the Jewish law was the greatest. “You shall love the Lord your God,” Jesus said, “with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22:37-38). Jesus spent his whole life and ministry interpreting this law for all times and places and situations. The two great commandments in the Jewish law, he said, are inseparable. You cannot fulfill the first if you are not fulfilling the second. Loving God and not loving your neighbor is a contradiction.
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year A
Governments and their forms change, national boundaries change, social conditions change, cultures and civilizations change, but the problem does not change. What is God’s, what is Caesar’s? Jesus’ real answer is given in response to the question of which commandment in the Jewish law was the greatest. “You shall love the Lord your God,” Jesus said, “with your whole heart, with your whole soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22:37-38). Jesus spent his whole life and ministry interpreting this law for all times and places and situations. The two great commandments in the Jewish law, he said, are inseparable. You cannot fulfill the first if you are not fulfilling the second. Loving God and not loving your neighbor is a contradiction.
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year A
Why? Why kill the messenger? For that matter, why is the invitation unwelcome? Why would anyone want to go to a farm rather than a palace, why would anyone want to go to work instead of a feast? A party with the king means “a feast of rich food and choice wines,” music and dancing and laughter. What’s not to like?
Feast of St. Thomas of Villanova | From the Desk of Fr. Rob
October 10, 2023 Dear friend of the Augustinians, This week, we remember and celebrate in a special way Saint Thomas of Villanova, patron of our Province and our university, patron of studies for our Order, and patron of many other Augustinian ministries all around the world. Thomas of Villanova was known as the Father of […]
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year A
It has been said that “indifference, not hate, is the fabric of inhumanity,” and this echoes perfectly with the message of Isaiah. We can fall into this, and look at the national level and throw there all the attention, and forget that each of us is baptized, each of us has been given gifts to use for building the Kingdom of God, and yet we often fail to do anything, remaining indifferent or simply frozen by being overwhelmed, to advance the cause of life, of justice, of peace.
Brewin’ Peace Coffee Cart Makes Its Debut at the National Shrine of St. Rita of Cascia
On September 21 (the International Day of Peace) the Augustinians officially launched the Brewin’ Peace Coffee Cart, a new Augustinian ministry co-sponsored by the National Shrine and St. Rita of Cascia and the Augustinian Defenders of the Rights of the Poor which seeks to support formerly incarcerated people (returning citizens) as they prepare to re-enter […]
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year A
Prayer is the foundation for a genuine response to the Love of God. As is humility, beautifully articulated today in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. When I pray, I learn to sense the presence of God in myself, and in the events of my life. Prayer helps me to weigh the evidence that is unseen which exercises caution when things seem too good to be true, and offers hope to those in need of a second chance. Prayer is also the primary way to help discern the difference between those who talk the talk from those who walk the walk.
Watch Live as Bishop Robert Prevost , O.S.A. Becomes a Cardinal
A member of the Order of Saint Augustine, Archbishop Robert Prevost, O.S.A., will be among 21 bishops who will become cardinals on September 30 during the Vatican Consistory. As to his new appointment, Cardinal-designate Prevost recalled the words of Saint Pope Paul VI, saying that “being a cardinal is a mission of love with Christ, […]
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year A
Whenever we began to follow Christ, whether as infants, children, or adults, we still hold back. We don’t show up at dawn ready to throw our whole lives into the task of following Christ. Rather, we say, “Lord, I’ll give you everything, everything but this desire, everything but this one fault, all I have except this one deceit, this single sin, this precious pleasure.” As many years as we have lived, as many miles as we have followed Christ, we have still hardly started to live and work and love as Christ commands.
William Howard McGraw, O.S.A.
1931 – 2023 (September 15) William Howard (Howie) McGraw, O.S.A., was born on March 19, 1931, in Watertown, New York, the son of Lawrence H. and Melina M. (St. Louis) McGraw. He had two sisters. He was baptized on June 28, 1931, at Saint James Minor Catholic Church, Carthage, New York. He attended Carthage Elementary […]