|
|
|
October 2008 VOICE OF SHALOM |
|
PASS ON THE HOPE Augustine of Hippo was called out from the assembly by the Bishop and constrained to receive ordination for the exercise of the priestly ministry in that city. Looking back on that moment, he writes in his Confessions: "Terrified by my sins and the weight of my misery, I had resolved in my heart, and meditated flight into the wilderness; but you forbade me and gave me strength, by saying: 'Christ died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves but for him who for their sake died' (cf. 2 Cor. 5:15)". Christ died for all. To live for him means allowing onself to be drawn into his being for others. For Augustine this meant a totally new life. He once described his daily life in the following terms: "The turbulent have to be corrected, the faint-hearted cheered up, the weak supported; the Gospel's opponents need to be refuted, its insidious enemies guarded against; the unlearned need to be taught, the indolent stirred up, the argumentative checked; the proud must be put in their place, the desperate set on their feet, those engaged in quarrels reconciled; the needy have to be helped, the oppressed to be liberated, the good to be encouraged, the bad to be tolerated; all must be loved." "The Gospel terrifies me" - producing that healthy fear which prevents us from living for ourselves alone and compels us to pass on the hope we hold in common.
Pope Benedict XVI
Spe Salvi (#29) | |
- END - © Copyright Shalom 2008. All rights reserved. | |