27 May, Monday — Eternal Life

May 27 – Memorial for St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop

St. Augustine (d. 605) was a monk and abbot of St. Andrew’s abbey in Rome. He was sent by Pope Gregory the Great with 40 brother monks, including St. Lawrence of Canterbury, to evangelize the British Isles in 597. Before he reached the islands, terrifying tales of the Celts sent him back to Rome in fear, but Gregory told him he had no choice, so he went. He established and spread the faith throughout England; one of his earliest converts was King AEthelberht, who brought 10,000 of his people into the Church.

He was ordained a bishop in Gaul (modern France) by the Archbishop of Arles. He became Bishop of Canterbury, and was the first Archbishop of Canterbury. He helped re-establish contact between the Celtic and Latin churches, though he could not establish his desired uniformity of liturgy and practices between them. He worked with St. Justus of Canterbury. The Anglican Archbishops of Canterbury are still referred to as occupying the Chair of Augustine.

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Acts 19:1-8
Jn 16:29-33

“Go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

Today, we read of a familiar struggle, which is to follow Christ completely. It is just so hard to wrap our heads around to comprehend the response that Christ requires of us. It seems completely absurd and basically the reverse of most of what we are trying to do each day.

Especially the verse, “Go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” Who, in their right frame of mind, would ever do such a thing? What about our basic needs then? How are we going to survive?

Well, more than just taking it literally, it is really to know our purpose in life, the meaning of our lives, the reason why we work so hard, all the sacrifices. And I believe it’s deeper than wanting to lead a ‘comfortable’ life. We all long for something. Something possibly the things of the world cannot give. We can neither earn it, nor buy it.

We read in the first reading where it speaks about our inheritance as Christians, an inheritance won for all of us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The inheritance of salvation and eternal life. A place where we all belong, to a Father who awaits us and who will never leave us; a place filled with glory, joy and love; a place we can truly call home.

Christ calls us to live as such, not for us to suffer, but for us to not be distracted and to focus on the ultimate goal of our lives; and in trying to achieve that, to go forth and share this home, this inheritance with the rest of the world. Not to simply keep the commandments, laws and teachings of the church but to allow them to transform our lives so that we may be examples of Christ’s love, joy and peace to all.

Let us not confuse the riches of the world with God, such that we allow it to become the reason why we live. Let us use the riches that we are blessed with to show that God lives. And indeed He is alive, amongst us and within us — “and you are sure of the goal of your faith, that is, the salvation of your souls.”

(Today’s OXYGEN by Benjamin Mao)

Prayer: Dear Lord, we pray for faithfulness. For many times we replace you with many other worldly things and pleasures. Help us to keep our focus on the purpose and meaning of our lives and help us to build your kingdom here on earth, and for your will to be done in our lives. Amen.

Thanksgiving: Thank you Lord, for your inheritance which you have so generously shared with all of us despite our unworthiness. Thank you for helping us to see what really matters.