28 August 2018 – Tuesday of 21st week of ordinary time – St Augustine of Hippo - Doctor of the Church – Matthew 23:23-26

       “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.”  By the opening statement of this morning’s Gospel reading, we know the message we are going to hear is very strong and harsh.  Jesus was upset in the hypocrisy he saw in the scribes and Pharisees.  He saw them worrying about outward appearances and insignificant things, all the while they ignored what was going on in their interior, ignoring what mattered most to God.

         We look at today’s Gospel reading through the lens of today’s saint: celebrate today: St. Augustine.  Augustine was the bishop of Hippo in North Africa.  He lived in the late 4th and early 5th centuries.  Augustine is not only a Doctor of our Church, but he is one of the main theologians who influenced the development of Western Christian theology in the early Church. Augustine’s influence is still strongly felt in our Church today.  In his writings, especially in the Confessions that he wrote, Augustine look at the hypocrisy that was present in his own life, as he compares the hollow joy he had in his reckless life before his embrace of Christianity to the true joy he has found in his faith.  Augustine writes: “During all those years of rebellion, where was my free will? What was the hidden, secret place from which it was summoned in a moment, so that I might bend my neck to your easy yoke? How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose! You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure, you who outshine all light, yet are hidden deeper than any secret in our hearts, you who surpass all honor, though not in the eyes of men who see all honor in themselves. . . . O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and my Salvation." 

       May the joy of Christ that St. Augustine radiates, may the joy we may find in looking at the hypocrisies in our own life and in trying to be faithful to living out the Gospel in our lives, be a part of our faith and hope that we place in Christ.