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Augustine recounts a large period of his life he called “years of ignorance” when despite his success as a professional teacher, and a reader of the greatest books, he could not figure out anything meaningful about Him beyond his name, learned at home as a child. He would acknowledge Jesus was “a great man of extraordinary wisdom…but not God.” And could not understand either what a humble figure like Jesus would be capable of teaching him. Yet, it was precisely in that zone of spiritual blindness where the hidden power of the question opens all the possibilities.
We have to go one step further, as the woman did. Do we believe that God will help us in those times of our lives when we need help? Do we believe that God loves us enough to be involved in our lives? God may not wave a magic wand over our problems and change them, but God will be there to hold us up and give us the strength we need to get through the difficulties of life. He can help us, but the important faith is that God will help us.
This day, Christ says to us: “The bad things of this world do not last. The good things of this world do not last. But you can have me, always, without fail. You cannot have perfection, but you can have my faithfulness. You cannot live without pain, but you can have my mercy. You cannot escape every storm, but you can always have me by your side, a rock that will not crack, a beacon that never dims, a friend who does not vanish with the fair weather.”
The disciples of Jesus must have remembered that experience on Mount Tabor. Did they ever return to the Mount physically? We will never know. But they could have relived that experience on Tabor anytime they needed to do so to give them faith and strength in their Mission to carry on the message of the Gospel.
Jesus is enticing us. He knows humanity. He is one of us. He knows the appeal of wealth. Our ears perk up at the mere mention of it. Jesus uses such images to grab our attention. Once He has our attention, He redirects it to that which is true wealth, to what we truly desire, that is, “the kingdom of heaven.”
What am I doing to make this a better world? Am I a member of a small group which is dedicated to improve the corner of the world where God put me? Granted, I work hard for my family and myself, but am I doing anything for God? What proportion of my efforts and time do I devote to others?
Miguel Angel Keller, O.S.A.
Within the quite extensive bibliography on Augustine, there are two themes which are very important but which have only attracted the attention of Augustinian scholars in a special way since the second half of the past century: one is the Augustinian theology of religious life; the other is the pastoral perspective of the figure and teaching of Saint Augustine.