Homily: August 28, 2023, Monday of the twenty first week in Ordinary time (Past sins- St. Augustine

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 "And how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to await His Son from heaven." 

Thessalonica was a Greek city. Before the people encountered St. Paul’s preaching, they were practicing idol worshipping, they had numerous deities which they turn to for their needs and wants. They made statues to worship and accorded much superstitious powers to these statues of various deities. 

They believed that many of their wishes and requests were answered through these. Such worship gave them much sensual satisfaction and immediate gratification. These heightened the worshippers’ reliance on the deities.

As such, it was not easy for the people to give up idol worship. Although St. Paul’s preaching about Christ and the good news of eternal salvation were powerful in converting some of the Thessalonians, he could not remove them completely from the old habits of idol worshipping. They were living in the city which was still very much practicing the old ways.

Even though they had converted, the temptations to fall back into old habits were all around. The memories of those worships and the satisfaction they received lingered with them. So here we see St. Paul reminding them of what they had decided for their conversion.

Old habits die hard. It is so for anyone, and for us, similarly for the great saints we know.

Today we celebrate one of the greatest saints in the Catholic Church, St. Augustine. We know about his powerful conversion story, but do we know about his continued struggles even after his conversion?

Many years after he converted totally to the Lord, St. Augustine wrote his book "Confessions".

He wrote about his struggles. The vivid memories from his intensely lustful past continued to haunt and tempt him till his last days. It was most difficult to overcome it since he was still living in the body which carried the effects of those sins in the past.

St. Augustine wrote, “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”

It is naïve to think that after conversion, we will not struggle with sin anymore. The truth is, the struggle is a sign that conversion is on-going, that holiness is now fighting with sinfulness. The strategy is simply not to give up. Give the battle to the Lord and let Him fight with us and for us. Faith is believing our Lord has won.

St. Augustine could not forget those memories of his past, he was full of guilt, but he was also full of faith. So great were his sins, but greater is the mercy of God. And with that, he became a saint and a doctor of the Church.

So can we.

If we insist on standing on the side of the Lord and let Him lead us in the battle against our own sins and fight all temptations.

St. Augustine can intercede for us because he understands.

St. Augustine, pray for us! Amen.


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Homily, Wednesday,January 5, 2022, Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop

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