These two excerpts from the writings of St. Augustine come from a nice little booklet called Augustine Day by Day. It contains readings on different subjects for every day taken from the writings of the saint. I will be posting occasionally the readings from this book that I feel either worth sharing or commenting on. I will also put the readings from the booklet for each day on the sidebar.
Brothers and Sisters at Peace
Bad brother or sister, quarrelsome brother or sister, you are still my brother or sister. You say, just as I say, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” Why, then, are we not together in one?
It is not a friend, not a neighbor, who orders us to be in harmony, but rather he to whom we say, “Our Father.” We have together one voice before our Father. Why do we not have one peace together? — Sermon on John 26, 11
Prayer
Forgive us, Lord, all these things in which we have been led astray. Help us to resist being led away. —Punishment and the Forgiveness of Sins 2, 4
…
If I may expound the words of the saint, the unity to which St. Augustine exhorts us here is not the unity that false ecumenical ideals would have us believe in, where we “join” non-Catholics, holding fast to what we have in common and making our differences, and as a consequence, The Church, of no import. He is not of the opinion that Christ is found in the same manner within The Church as outside of her among those who bear the “Christian” name because we hold some things in common (The Enchiridion, 5).
Rather, he is speaking about our unity as Catholics, we who at Mass say the Creed and the “Our Father” and partake of the Holy Eucharist, we who while being together in one voice before God and being within the bosom of his Holy Church, still have no peace and unity among ourselves. This lack of peace and unity may be seen in several areas but in particular, it is seen in those doctrinal issues where The Church has granted us a certain liberty to choose between legitimate views on a given subject. One often sees fellow Catholics fight each other and call each other’s faith into question because one accepts evolution and the other is a creationist or because one is a Thomist and the other a Molinist or because of some other doctrinal point on which different views are allowed by The Church.
But if The Church allows us to embrace differing points of views on some issues, why then is there no peace among us on these very issues? Why is there contention about those issues if we are still Catholics in good standing? It is right and necessary, both for his own benefit and that of others, to correct a fellow Catholic who with no malice says something contrary to the faith, be it because he is ignorant of what The Church teaches or because he is misinformed about it. But it is not right to condemn a fellow Catholic because he holds a view that, while different from our own, The Church allows him to hold. In such cases it is well to discuss things in charity, so as to arrive at a mutual understanding. We should not try to pass, as is often the case in these things, our own preferred view as the view which The Church holds to the exclusion of all others. Some are prone to “impose” their view as the dogmatic stance of The Church when she has not taken such a view and then seek to condemn others who do not share it.
People who do this are not of one mind with The Church and instead seek, by becoming an authority of their own as it were, to distort the teaching of The Church to suit their own preference. We should be of one mind with The Church and if she does, we should allow our fellow Catholic to embrace that view which sets his heart and mind at peace and which helps him better embrace the faith, as long as what he embraces is not contrary to the faith and does not ends up endangering his soul.
It too happens that, some Catholics who are well educated in the teaching of the Church, boasting as it were of their knowledge, show contempt for their fellow Catholic who is less learned or slow to learn. This attitude is harmful to unity, and besides the sin of pride, also makes the other feel less loved or accepted by God. Instead the faster, keeping in mind that he has no good of his own of which he can boast (something St. Augustine repeatedly insists upon) should “slow the pace so as not to abandon the slower companion” because otherwise “the slower will not succeed in following” (Commentary on Psalm 90 (2), 1) and so the faster since he is able, should aid the slower walking the path that both are in.
Therefore, let us be not just of one voice but also of one mind before God, who through his Church nourishes our souls by giving us the Holy Ghost. For as St. Augustine states, “we too receive the Holy Ghost if we love the Church, if we are joined together by charity, if we rejoice in the Catholic name and faith. Let us believe, brethren; as much as every man loves the Church of Christ, so much has he the Holy Ghost.”“the salt of the earth” (Sermon on John 32, 8). And it is when we are joined together by charity that we can allow The Church to shine as “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13-14) and so inspire others to be part of that unity, found in the Catholic Church, for which Lord Jesus prayed for (John 17:20-23).
I will be posting there bits from the Day to Day readings, as much as the lenght of Twitter messages permit and will also include additional quotes. Here is the link to St. Augustine on Twitter: