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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.
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.
Whatever else the feast of the Epiphany may be, whatever role it plays in the life of Jesus, and whatever place of honor it holds in the calendar of the Church, every child knows its true meaning: Christmas vacation is over, and school is back. As a kid, just hearing the word “epiphany” used to make my stomach scrunch and my pulse jump, as I felt the primal nausea shared by all students when, after a long and happy break, school once again closed its claws and snatched us away from our sleds and snowballs and, more importantly, our televisions.
Christmas is a time for families to be together. We have our Christmas dinner together; exchange gifts; we come here to church to celebrate the Eucharist; we visit our friends and relatives – the list is endless. We thank God for our families; they are God’s gifts to us.
In some of your homes under your Christmas tree, you might find one example of the recent spate of novels and biographies that seek to examine the founding fathers of our nation. It all started with the biography of John Adams and has created a cottage industry of research authors. You can now find out everything you wanted to know about Ben Franklin, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. These are the names of the men we think of whenever we see the tableaux of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
The year 1809 was a part of a period of history not greatly different from our own time. Military might was the dominant theme of the day. Napoleon and his armies held the upper hand and seemed destined to rule the world. Battles and victories made newspaper headlines. And most people thought that these were the truly important events of the day. This was naturally so because the armies were enormous and the battles were cataclysmic. This size and intensity fooled the world.
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.