Power of God

STRONG WORDS FROM ST. AUGUSTINE TO THOSE WHO WOULD BE SHEPHERDS:

MSGR. CHARLES POPE

St. Augustine, reflecting on a text from Ezekiel, has some strong words for those who would be shepherds, be they bishops, priests, or deacons. Let’s examine two important observations he made during a longer sermon delivered to the priests and people of Hippo.

He begins with a lament over the failure of many shepherds to teach the truth:

After the Lord had shown what wicked shepherds esteem, he also spoke about what they neglect. The defects of the sheep are widespread. There are very few healthy and sound sheep, few that are solidly sustained by the food of truth, and few that enjoy the good pasture God gives them. But the wicked shepherds do not spare such sheep [from a sermon On Pastors by Saint Augustine, bishop (Sermo 46, 9: CCL 41, 535-536)].

St. Augustine speaks here of the fact that far too many are not “sustained by the food of truth.” The weak and unsound condition of the flock is evidence of neglect by the bishops, priests, and deacons of the Church. It is largely a failure to teach truth clearly and to rebuke error.

We are in the midst of one of the most shocking and rapid cultural meltdowns imaginable. We have seen the demise of marriage through divorce, cohabitation, contraception, and its very redefinition.

Here are just a few other examples: more than 50 million abortions since the Roe v. Wade decision, sexual promiscuity, rampant single motherhood (and absent fathers), widespread sexually transmitted diseases, sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults (including by clergy), sexual harassment, rampant pornography that is becoming ever baser, celebration of homosexual acts, and a sexual confusion that has led some to claim that there are more than 50 “genders” and that a male can make himself female (and vice versa) simply by declaring it to be so.

Add to this the deepening toll of greed and gluttony as well as a dramatic falling away of religious practice. Fewer than one in four Catholics attend Mass weekly, down from more than three in four in the 1950s and before.

In the midst of this demise—in which, just when it seems it can’t get worse, it does—many pulpits are strangely silent, as are catechetical programs, and nominally-Catholic universities and colleges. It’s still business as usual even though most don’t come to Mass anymore to know that. You’d never know that there was a tsunami raging outside the doors.

The fault here lies first and foremost with the clergy, but it also extends to parents, catechists, and lay staff in parishes. Parents fail to educate their children in the faith, warn them of sin and error, and protect them from it as much as humanly possible. Most clergy and parish staff have few, if any, plan to deal with the onslaught. There is little in the way of vigorous sermons that speak to modern confusions.

Catechesis does not address it. There are few focused bible studies, seminars, or lectures. Very little in the way of good literature is available in parish bookstores/libraries. Seldom are Catholics encouraged to read edifying Catholic books, watch Catholic programming, listen to Catholic podcasts, or make use of other good sources to refute modern errors.

Taking a moral stand is “controversial,” and too many Catholic leaders, both clergy and lay, are allergic to controversy. There is endless talk about being a “welcoming parish” but never the fuller development of that idea: all are welcome to come and hear the truth of Jesus Christ, repent of their sins, and thereby grow in holiness.

Listen to what St. Augustine says: “There are very few healthy and sound sheep, few that are sustained by the food of truth.” This is the fault of the shepherds.

A good shepherd sees the wolf (of untruth and error) coming and drives him away, but a bad one sees the wolf and hides while it devours the flock.

The bad shepherd fears controversy; he doesn’t want to risk his popularity or career. He hides, living off the fewer and fewer sheep who remain. We priests, bishops, and deacons need to take a good look at our ministries and honestly assess whether we are good or bad shepherds.

Parents and other church leaders need to do the same. The flock is in terrible health, and we cannot simply blame others; this has happened on our watch. Even reasonably good bishops and pastors ought to ask what they can do to be better, what concrete plans they can implement. Parents and other leaders need to do the same.

St. Augustine next turns his concern to a matter even more shocking than neglect: shepherds who actually attack the strong sheep who remain:

It is not enough that they neglect those that are ill and weak, those that go astray and are lost. They even try, so far as it is in their power, to kill the strong and healthy. Yet such sheep live; yes, by God’s mercy they live [Ibid].

There is a frustrating and hurtful dynamic today among many bishops and other clergy to excoriate the very Catholics who have stayed with us through thick and thin, who still come to Mass and believe the doctrines. Too easily they are dismissed as being troublemakers, extreme, and overly rigid.

Little attention is given to their concerns even when the matters involve serious doctrinal issues, liturgical abuses, or outright malfeasance. If such Catholics receive any reply at all from bishops or pastoral leaders, it is often terse and stern.

Meanwhile, much effort is expended by Church leaders seeking to placate dissenters and others who oppose us but who often show little or no intent to repent or to be converted. Prominent Catholics, including politicians and even clerics, publicly dissent from Church teaching and are seldom rebuked.

But let a young priest say a Mass ad orientem, chant too much Latin, or warn particular Catholics not to approach Communion, and he is often quickly rebuke even removed. Lay Catholics too are often selectively rebuked.

Traditional Catholics are often scolded and their concerns dismissed; dissenting Catholics and others like them are treated with great tolerance and seldom rebuked. They are even honored in our universities and other public settings.

It is obvious that this causes great grief among the faithful who have tried to remain loyal during this maelstrom.

At times this grief manifests as anger. While that anger is sometimes misdirected, we in the clergy ought not to so quickly forget that many of them have darned good reasons to be angry. Collectively, we have too often scorned them and/or dismissed their concerns.

The Church they love is in shambles, and it has happened on our watch. Yet, as St. Augustine observes, we turn on them as if to kill them, to kill the little hope they have left. This is not only wrong, it is foolish; they make up the larger part of the few who still do come to Mass, and their children attend our shrinking schools. Though our flock is sorely diminished, we turn on them, our own. It is a strange and sad dynamic.

One can only hope that the recent and ongoing sexual abuse scandal will humble us clergy and make us more grateful for the strong faith that God has given this remnant to see beyond our sins and foolishness and still find Christ.

They are still here, often in spite of us. As St. Augustine observes, “Yet such sheep live; yes, by God’s mercy they live.”

Yes, these are strong words from St. Augustine. Reaching back to the time of Ezekiel, whose text St. Augustine is commenting upon, the problem of bad shepherds seems a consistent one. Please pray for us shepherds. Much has been given to us; much depends upon us, and much is expected of us. We will face judgment one day. May our ministry not condemn us.

STRONG WORDS FROM ST. AUGUSTINE TO THOSE WHO WOULD BE SHEPHERDS:

MSGR. CHARLES POPE

St. Augustine, reflecting on a text from Ezekiel, has some strong words for those who would be shepherds, be they bishops, priests, or deacons. Let’s examine two important observations he made during a longer sermon delivered to the priests and people of Hippo.

He begins with a lament over the failure of many shepherds to teach the truth:

After the Lord had shown what wicked shepherds esteem, he also spoke about what they neglect. The defects of the sheep are widespread. There are very few healthy and sound sheep, few that are solidly sustained by the food of truth, and few that enjoy the good pasture God gives them. But the wicked shepherds do not spare such sheep [from a sermon On Pastors by Saint Augustine, bishop (Sermo 46, 9: CCL 41, 535-536)].

St. Augustine speaks here of the fact that far too many are not “sustained by the food of truth.” The weak and unsound condition of the flock is evidence of neglect by the bishops, priests, and deacons of the Church. It is largely a failure to teach truth clearly and to rebuke error.

We are in the midst of one of the most shocking and rapid cultural meltdowns imaginable. We have seen the demise of marriage through divorce, cohabitation, contraception, and its very redefinition.

Here are just a few other examples: more than 50 million abortions since the Roe v. Wade decision, sexual promiscuity, rampant single motherhood (and absent fathers), widespread sexually transmitted diseases, sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults (including by clergy), sexual harassment, rampant pornography that is becoming ever baser, celebration of homosexual acts, and a sexual confusion that has led some to claim that there are more than 50 “genders” and that a male can make himself female (and vice versa) simply by declaring it to be so.

Add to this the deepening toll of greed and gluttony as well as a dramatic falling away of religious practice. Fewer than one in four Catholics attend Mass weekly, down from more than three in four in the 1950s and before.

In the midst of this demise—in which, just when it seems it can’t get worse, it does—many pulpits are strangely silent, as are catechetical programs, and nominally-Catholic universities and colleges. It’s still business as usual even though most don’t come to Mass anymore to know that. You’d never know that there was a tsunami raging outside the doors.

The fault here lies first and foremost with the clergy, but it also extends to parents, catechists, and lay staff in parishes. Parents fail to educate their children in the faith, warn them of sin and error, and protect them from it as much as humanly possible. Most clergy and parish staff have few, if any, plan to deal with the onslaught. There is little in the way of vigorous sermons that speak to modern confusions.

Catechesis does not address it. There are few focused bible studies, seminars, or lectures. Very little in the way of good literature is available in parish bookstores/libraries. Seldom are Catholics encouraged to read edifying Catholic books, watch Catholic programming, listen to Catholic podcasts, or make use of other good sources to refute modern errors.

Taking a moral stand is “controversial,” and too many Catholic leaders, both clergy and lay, are allergic to controversy. There is endless talk about being a “welcoming parish” but never the fuller development of that idea: all are welcome to come and hear the truth of Jesus Christ, repent of their sins, and thereby grow in holiness.

Listen to what St. Augustine says: “There are very few healthy and sound sheep, few that are sustained by the food of truth.” This is the fault of the shepherds.

A good shepherd sees the wolf (of untruth and error) coming and drives him away, but a bad one sees the wolf and hides while it devours the flock.

The bad shepherd fears controversy; he doesn’t want to risk his popularity or career. He hides, living off the fewer and fewer sheep who remain. We priests, bishops, and deacons need to take a good look at our ministries and honestly assess whether we are good or bad shepherds.

Parents and other church leaders need to do the same. The flock is in terrible health, and we cannot simply blame others; this has happened on our watch. Even reasonably good bishops and pastors ought to ask what they can do to be better, what concrete plans they can implement. Parents and other leaders need to do the same.

St. Augustine next turns his concern to a matter even more shocking than neglect: shepherds who actually attack the strong sheep who remain:

It is not enough that they neglect those that are ill and weak, those that go astray and are lost. They even try, so far as it is in their power, to kill the strong and healthy. Yet such sheep live; yes, by God’s mercy they live [Ibid].

There is a frustrating and hurtful dynamic today among many bishops and other clergy to excoriate the very Catholics who have stayed with us through thick and thin, who still come to Mass and believe the doctrines. Too easily they are dismissed as being troublemakers, extreme, and overly rigid.

Little attention is given to their concerns even when the matters involve serious doctrinal issues, liturgical abuses, or outright malfeasance. If such Catholics receive any reply at all from bishops or pastoral leaders, it is often terse and stern.

Meanwhile, much effort is expended by Church leaders seeking to placate dissenters and others who oppose us but who often show little or no intent to repent or to be converted. Prominent Catholics, including politicians and even clerics, publicly dissent from Church teaching and are seldom rebuked.

But let a young priest say a Mass ad orientem, chant too much Latin, or warn particular Catholics not to approach Communion, and he is often quickly rebuke even removed. Lay Catholics too are often selectively rebuked.

Traditional Catholics are often scolded and their concerns dismissed; dissenting Catholics and others like them are treated with great tolerance and seldom rebuked. They are even honored in our universities and other public settings.

It is obvious that this causes great grief among the faithful who have tried to remain loyal during this maelstrom.

At times this grief manifests as anger. While that anger is sometimes misdirected, we in the clergy ought not to so quickly forget that many of them have darned good reasons to be angry. Collectively, we have too often scorned them and/or dismissed their concerns.

The Church they love is in shambles, and it has happened on our watch. Yet, as St. Augustine observes, we turn on them as if to kill them, to kill the little hope they have left. This is not only wrong, it is foolish; they make up the larger part of the few who still do come to Mass, and their children attend our shrinking schools. Though our flock is sorely diminished, we turn on them, our own. It is a strange and sad dynamic.

One can only hope that the recent and ongoing sexual abuse scandal will humble us clergy and make us more grateful for the strong faith that God has given this remnant to see beyond our sins and foolishness and still find Christ.

They are still here, often in spite of us. As St. Augustine observes, “Yet such sheep live; yes, by God’s mercy they live.”

Yes, these are strong words from St. Augustine. Reaching back to the time of Ezekiel, whose text St. Augustine is commenting upon, the problem of bad shepherds seems a consistent one. Please pray for us shepherds. Much has been given to us; much depends upon us, and much is expected of us. We will face judgment one day. May our ministry not condemn us.

⚜ THE VALUES OF SAINT AUGUSTINE:

If St. Augustine were to offer his own thoughts on what an Augustinian community should be like, he might suggest these themes and values:

⚜  INVITATION TO THE INTERIOR LIFE

“Do not go outside yourself, but enter into yourself, for truth dwells in the interior self.” 

Both Augustine’s personal life and his spiritual teaching are dominated by a continual call to interiority. 

He contends that it is “inside one’s self” where truth is found, and that only in reflection and silence is understanding achieved.

According to Augustine, the visual and the audible of the external world only serve as reminders to the individual, and that learning takes place in the interior world.

The interior activity of contemplation and a search for the Ultimate truth leads us to transcend ourselves to an eventual encounter with God. 
 

⚜  CULTIVATION OF HUMILITY

“Unless humility precedes, accompanies, and follows whatever we do, we will find that we have done little good to rejoice in. Pride will bereft us of everything." 

Humility is the root of true charity. It calls us to accept the sacred in ourselves and others. It allows us to recognize that we are human, to accept our place in reality neither making oneself more nor less than what one actually is, and to love all things, but in an appropriate way.

Humility teaches us to see others as equals. “Humility induces us to presume on our own strength and to trust in God.” 

Humility allows us to listen to others and to see the truth in them.

According to Augustine, the only way to reach an “abiding, active knowledge of the truth is through humility.” 

⚜  FORMATION OF COMMUNITY

“An Augustinian community is a place where the search for truth takes place in a climate of love and friendship, where one can experience that the ‘truth is neither yours nor mine, so that it can belong to the both of us.” 

In an Augustinian community, the purpose of life is to search for God, the Ultimate truth, not alone, but among friends, who are committed to the same journey. 

In such a community “love is at the center and the heart” of every act and interaction, and respect for each person, as children of God, is primary.

Members strive to live in harmony - in a quest for union of mind and heart, to mutual concern for and assistance to each other in every way possible, including fraternal correction, in a spirit of love and understanding.

Members look upon their work as an expression of one’s human nature, not as a burden, but in cooperation with the Creator in shaping the world and serving humankind.

Always conscious of the virtues of honesty, integrity, and compassion as fundamental to the Christian way of life, members seek in every effort to work for unity, making justice and peace, the fruits of love, a reality in the Church and in the world. 

⚜  CALL TO SACRAMENTAL LIFE

"Every good thing is sealed to us in the celebration of the sacraments." 

If “a Catholic community that reflects Augustinian traditions, it nurtures the development of religious faith and practice, develops moral and ethical perspectives and values of its members.” 

All in this community are invited into the sacramental life that is active participation in an outward expression of one’s faith. 

Exploration of religion and faith, participation in prayer, liturgy and other forms of communal worship are both respected and encouraged.

Those who have a desire to live an Augustinian life seek to make “unity and peace a reality in the Church and in human society.” 

It requires a particular expression of faith, of Gospel values - putting aside narrowness and selfishness and becoming “attuned to a broader social love, joining ourselves to others in such ways that we may have only ‘one mind, the mind of Christ.” 

⚜  OBLIGATION TO STEWARDSHIP

“The degree to which you are concerned for the common good rather than for your own, is the criterion by which you can judge how much progress you have made.” 

Stewardship of the common good requires that we willingly accept accountability for others through service to them, without control of them.

In the Catholic tradition, “the Beatitudes teach us the final end to which God calls us, and confront us with decisive choices concerning earthly goods. They teach us [how] to love...” 

“Love, when it is true, is always directed away from oneself.  It is transcendent. The two-fold commandment of love, therefore, translates into working for the common good, [and] working for the common good is service.” 

Service in an Augustinian context is done in the spirit of gratefulness and in recognition that the service owed to God must be rendered to humankind. 

Service is love in its dynamic dimension. 

Service gives expression to Jesus’ command, “Love one another as I have loved you.”
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