Augustine, a Saint for Our Times.
Today we see that selfishness is one of the biggest impediments for some people to become members of the Church. We see that there some people that are very self-absorbed and self-important. They care for no one, but themselves and their own personal gratification. This gratification comes in many forms, but the most prevalent, in this hookup culture, is sex. This is exactly why Saint Augustine is a saint for our day. Saint Augustine had the same struggles 1600 years ago that we have today and thus knows the internal struggles, the longing and the grief. Saint Augustine’s mother prayed for years for his conversation and eventually, Saint Augustine stated to pray for his own conversation. It was not …show more content…
We see from his book “The Confessions”, that he struggled just like we do today and this is seen when Augustine writes, “I boldly thrust out rank, luxuriant growth in various furtive love affairs; my beauty wasted away and I rotted in your sight, intent on pleasing myself and winning favor in the eyes of men.” (The Confessions, 33). Here Augustine is admitting that he was involved in fornication, so that he would look manly in front of his buddies. Augustine knew Jesus because his mother was Catholic and taught him about Jesus, but Augustine rejected the teachings that were taught. This was so he could continue to live a lustful life of pleasures. Even though Augustine fails numerous times, he was having an internal struggle and starts searching for the meaning of life and soon thereafter he starts searching for God. We see this when he starts reading a book by Cicero in which “this book of his is called the Hortensius and contains an exhortation to philosophy.” (The Confessions, 46). He falls in love with this book because it has expert language and skills in rhetoric, but Augustine’s problem with the book is “that the name of Christ does not occur there” (The Confessions, 47). At this point Augustine continues his journey to find Jesus and happiness, but all along the way he cannot give up on his sins and continues with his sexual misconduct. Augustine is finally converted and at the age of about 33, he became Christian and renounced his previous life with a sense of peace that can only come through Jesus
Today we see that selfishness is one of the biggest impediments for some people to become members of the Church. We see that there some people that are very self-absorbed and self-important. They care for no one, but themselves and their own personal gratification. This gratification comes in many forms, but the most prevalent, in this hookup culture, is sex. This is exactly why Saint Augustine is a saint for our day. Saint Augustine had the same struggles 1600 years ago that we have today and thus knows the internal struggles, the longing and the grief. Saint Augustine’s mother prayed for years for his conversation and eventually, Saint Augustine stated to pray for his own conversation. It was not …show more content…
We see from his book “The Confessions”, that he struggled just like we do today and this is seen when Augustine writes, “I boldly thrust out rank, luxuriant growth in various furtive love affairs; my beauty wasted away and I rotted in your sight, intent on pleasing myself and winning favor in the eyes of men.” (The Confessions, 33). Here Augustine is admitting that he was involved in fornication, so that he would look manly in front of his buddies. Augustine knew Jesus because his mother was Catholic and taught him about Jesus, but Augustine rejected the teachings that were taught. This was so he could continue to live a lustful life of pleasures. Even though Augustine fails numerous times, he was having an internal struggle and starts searching for the meaning of life and soon thereafter he starts searching for God. We see this when he starts reading a book by Cicero in which “this book of his is called the Hortensius and contains an exhortation to philosophy.” (The Confessions, 46). He falls in love with this book because it has expert language and skills in rhetoric, but Augustine’s problem with the book is “that the name of Christ does not occur there” (The Confessions, 47). At this point Augustine continues his journey to find Jesus and happiness, but all along the way he cannot give up on his sins and continues with his sexual misconduct. Augustine is finally converted and at the age of about 33, he became Christian and renounced his previous life with a sense of peace that can only come through Jesus