Every year, the feast of Saint Augustine is an occasion for us to remember and celebrate a person who is so dear to our hearts. Moreover, it is an opportunity to look with a renewed sense of appreciation, at the spirit and the passionate journey of faith which this Saint, whom we were given as our spiritual father, shared with his brethren in the Church. In his journey and in the profound experience which he lived, we find our identity both as baptised and as Augustinians. This is the spirit which not only inspires us to renew our particular vocation, but also encourages us in our belonging to the wider community of faith: the Church.
In his message for this year’s Feast, the Prior General reminded us of what Pope Leo XIV said to the Augustinian friars gathered in Pavia last June: “Saint Augustine is not ours, but belongs to the Church,” and he goes on to say that what should truly be ours is “the mission of bringing him to the Church.” Our responsibility, therefore, is first and foremost to allow the spirit, teaching, and profound experience of his life to fill us with enthusiasm in our journey following the Lord Jesus, so that, filled with Him, we may have something to share with one another and with the Church.
Certainly, if we are expected to bring the figure of Saint Augustine to others, then the Feast Day cannot pass without prompting within us a genuine reflection on what we are living at this particular moment in history, both on a personal level and at the level of the Maltese Augustinian Province. The Ordinary Provincial Chapter which we celebrated earlier this year brought with it much fruitful discussion and reflection. I feel that, although there are decisions and challenges which are far from insignificant, there are also many signs of hope, particularly in our presence within the Church and in society at large.
The experience of Saint Augustine also invites us to a more personal reflection. One of the aspects that strikes me most about him remains the fact that, behind the great contribution and wisdom which he passed on to the Church, there is a profound humanity which brings him very close to us, even sixteen centuries later. Saint Augustine remains the man who continually encountered his own human weaknesses, recognized his limitations, sought to discover the truth, longed for that which could give true meaning to his life, and above all, never gave up.
And if we consider ourselves among those who have already found God, Saint Augustine himself acknowledges that, the more he found and experienced Him, the more he realized how much there was still left to discover! This is the humanity which recognizes the greatness of God and continues to seek Him. Even though weighed down by its own weaknesses, it recognizes Him and seeks Him again; and the closer it draws to Him, the more it discovers that the heart is called to remain open to Him. This is a continuous process until, in the end, it comes to recognize that its true rest can be found in no one and in nothing other than Him.
From the depths of my heart, I wish that this Feast may encourage us, through the intercession and example of our Father Saint Augustine, to renew our journey in the following of Jesus and to recognize each day the mission entrusted to us: to own his experience and to bring Him to others. May this be the grace we receive on this day and every day.
Happy Feast!
Fr. Leslie Gatt osa
Prior Provincial