In the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit. Amen. Thanks once again to the thoughtfulness of a friend. I have been reading an interesting book about Saint Augustine of Hippo called Augustine the Bishop, translation from the Dutch, Vandermeer. I'm reading it in translation.
It's a fascinating book because it goes into great detail about the times and the circumstances, the church of Northern Africa in Carthage and in Hippo, the world in which Saint Augustine lived, and of course, it's thoroughly annotated. And thank goodness, they put the notes all together in the back. So, you have the trouble of trying to find them there. See, they don't put them at the bottom of the page because that's supposed to repel readers. Beyond me.
Anyway, I've been reading this book. And last night, it was very interesting. See, Augustine, this three fifty four to 04/30, Constantine, just just a little bit before his birth, had proclaimed Christianity, the state religion, and condemned idolatry. All the gods and the goddesses had to be thrown out. Their images destroyed.
Their services, worship forgotten. It was a capital offense. That didn't stop people from clinging to their old traditions. Because you know attached to these worship attached to the worship of these divinities or deities, there was a lot of fun. I mean fun.
And to have that all taken away from you was no They didn't take it lightly. Furthermore, it was the livelihood. Think of all the people who are making silver statues. One whole town practically existed on making silver statues. Anyway, Augustine had his hands full when he became bishop of Hippo.
He was not the most important bishop of Northern Africa. But anyway, here was the conflict between this relatively new religion coming in, and the imperial decrees condemning and ostracizing all forms of idolatry, proclaiming Jesus Christ the Lord and his religion exclusively to be maintained. And on the other hand, you had the remnants and sometimes extremely forceful remnants of the old paganism. Now, here's what struck me. When Augustine We have his writings, you see.
We're not This isn't fiction by no means. Augustine, in in his controversies with some of these defenders of paganism, records what they said. And one of the things they said that struck me last night was this. We know that these gods and goddesses, that's a lot of malarkey, but there is a God. And we must worship God, and we are all there with you.
That was well said. Well said. Today, even within the Catholic church, it's easy as I've said many times, to let religious practices come between you and God. It's very easy to let devotion, care of your neighbor, concern for his welfare or her welfare come between you and God. It's very easy to have little old gods and goddesses around you.
It's not difficult at all. Why do you think our Lord emphasizes taking this all this out of the old testament? He isn't really quoting the old testament. Deuteronomy, we've had it several days. Why?
Why is it the first commandment? Because it's so easy for men and women to forget it. That the first obligation we have in life is to our creator, to God almighty. I can't define him. I don't care what words you use.
Different languages have all kinds of different words for the for this supreme deity. But the point is we You say, well, ought to come naturally. It doesn't come naturally. As Newman pointed out, what comes naturally is to be attached to the things that we can see, and hear, and get a hold of, and enjoy the warmth of, and the light, and the beauty, and the pleasure, and the happiness, and the satisfaction. These are the things that grip us.
These are the things we have to become detached from. And believe me, that's no small trick. Because as long as you're in this world, as long as you're trying to fulfill your duties, you've got to use the things of this world. You've got to want them. You must even work and slay for some of them.
How can you not want them? How can you not be possessed by Because the things that you sacrifice for, the things that you desire and work for, are the things you're going to love. Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, has a sentence that struck me, and I've never forgotten it. With I can even remember the day I read it for the first time because it seemed to me to be so crazy. And in that famous novel, Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky has his main character say this.
At least the translation from the Russian I read. Because it varies. Isn't it strange, he says, how we love people for the good we do them, and hate them for the harm. That struck me as being absolutely crazy, and yet it's absolutely true. You can go out there and pick up a dog or a stone or anything you want, bring it into your house, wash it, and care for it, and polish it, and all that.
And you know, first of all, you're going to be bowing down and worship before the idol of your own creation. This is human nature. Don't be astonished. Don't be depressed. That's the kind of people we are.
We needed a savior. We needed someone to come and point out the way, the truth, and the life to us. And we got it in Jesus Christ. But it comes to us through human beings. The church, with all the panoply of of worship.
And these are all good things. To have a church and lights and music and and ceremonies. These are all good. They can come between you and God Almighty. Religiosity is a better word for it.
We can lose ourselves informed and forget the substance. Shadow and substance. So, folks, come back to the old anchor hold. There's one God. You're his creature, you owe him worship.
You owe it to him whether you like it or not. Don't tell me or say how much do I get out of it. Don't tell me to go to mass on Sunday, I get nothing out of it. I feel uncomfortable. In in the name of heavens, who said you were supposed to be comfortable serving God?
Whoever said that? To serve God is to be uncomfortable. Because you are aiming at something way beyond yourself. Way beyond yourself. It isn't something that we're going to be comfortable with when we're praying to the infinite almighty God.
The name of the father, son, holy spirit. Amen.