Message on the Feasts of St. Monica and St. Augustine for the Prior Provincial

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Augustinian Family,

This dual feast of Saints Monica and Augustine offer us some essential thoughts to reflect on. 

Stained-glass window of Sts Monica and Augustine. St. Augustine Church, Washington D.C.

Perhaps we can consider both saints to be a spiritual tag team.  Both saints worked hard to maintain patience, and persistence, in their own way, within their mutual relationship.  Monica was focused on the spiritual values of the Gospel pursuing St. Augustine while Augustine was pursuant of worldly values.  Monica’s patience and persistence won her wayward son over eventually.  Once Augustine let go of his temporal interests, he found the Truth that captured his heart.  He, in turn, tags us with his spiritual fervor reminding us that God has been with us the whole time. 

Restlessness has become a constant theme in our human adventure as we encounter one another on this common journey with “one mind and heart intent upon God.”

We bring to the Church, this gift of restlessness that reminds us to not remain complacent in our particular space but rather to actively search for God in community and service.  We find our identity as members of the Augustinian family in both.  They are two sides of the same coin. 

In his address to the Augustinians in 2013, Pope Francis says, "Augustine discovered that God was waiting for him and, in fact, never stopped looking for him first."  God tagged Augustine to move beyond his own ego and to realize his purpose to tag the Church with a profound depth of interiority of truth, wisdom and service centered in Christ Jesus.  This pulls us out of our comfort zones to search for Christ in unexpected people and places.

Every Christian, the Pope said, must "let yourself be restless for God" and, like St. Augustine, never tire of sharing the good news of God's love and promise of salvation with others who are as lost as he was.

The world as we know it is overwhelmingly broken and in great need of healing.  The good that we are and the good that we do channel the graces of Christ’s healing mercy to all who seek Him with a sincere heart.  Those who suffer and who call upon us to accompany them in their affliction channel those same graces to us as well.

May we have grateful hearts for 80+ years of service in our Province and continue to witness to the love and compassions of Christ.

Our Mother of Good Counsel, Pray for Us!

Anthony B. Pizzo, O.S.A.

Prior Provincial