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Stephen Baker, O.S.A., Villanova University
Journal of Catholic Education - Volume 19 | Issue 3
This article addresses the Augustinians' response to the challenge to keep the Order's mission of education alive and thriving in the 21st century.
This article, published in the Journal of Catholic Education, is made available by Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School.
Anthony Banks, O.S.A.
We share a common purpose with many parts of the Order of St Augustine throughout the world in seeking an Augustinian identity for the parishes we hold as our own in perpetuity or the parishes we staff pro tem.
Augustinian Spirituality for Parochial Ministry
North American Augustinians
From the Introduction:
Before all else, dear brothers, love God and then your neighbor, because these are the chief commandments given to us.
Happy Dependence Day! That’s right, it’s Dependence day, not Independence Day. Let me explain.
It seems easy to judge and target James and John, as well as the other apostles upset at them, for they all wanted the same thing: to stand out and be “on top” with a sense of success and superiority. After all, hadn’t they learned anything about discipleship and self-giving? Jesus journeyed at length with them and had just told them for the third time that in his mission, he was going up to Jerusalem where he would suffer, die and be raised on the third day. But the apostles never seemed to get it! Their energy was taken up-as it can be for any of us-in the business of comparison and climbing.
In general, there are three sorts of questions we encounter daily. First, there are things that sound like questions, but really aren’t. Second, things that don’t sound like questions, but really are. Third, there are real questions.
For instance, when we walk by someone we know in an office hallway or on campus or at the store, one of us says, “Hi! How are you?” Usually, we don’t want a real answer. If the person we have greeted stops and starts telling us about his recent medical exam, or about her mother in Altoona, generally we aren’t happy about it. It wasn’t a real question.
Can you imagine what those final words of Jesus that we hear today might have meant to the people gathered in the little synagogue of Nazareth on that Sabbath day two thousand years ago! In fact, if we were to have continued reading we would have heard that initially their reaction was very positive. They spoke highly of Jesus and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. But they were also a little puzzled, for these were his neighbors; they had watched him grow up; he had played with their children; they knew him well and so wondered what this carpenter, the son of Joseph and Mary, could mean by “this passage is now fulfilled!”
We live in very uncertain times. Where are we going as a world, as a nation, as a church? Our political environment at this time is very charged, to say the least. The debates about the direction of our country have, at times, been fierce, even to the point of incivility.
There was a popular movie released several years ago called Finding Nemo. One scene in it was when Nemo, a young clown fish, ends up in someone’s aquarium. As the “new fish on the block,” he had to prove himself worthy of living in the tank with the other community of fishes. To do so, during his first night, he was awakened by the other fishes and told that he had to go through the ritual that would initiate him into the group. This ritual required him to have the strength and courage to pass through a difficult part of the tank that had a strong current and forceful air bubbles. Determined to be a member of the group, he collected himself, thrust himself forward, went through the strong waters, and successfully passed the test.
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.