Saint Augustine
Bishop and Doctor of the Church, Memorial
Liturgical Cycle: A, B, C | Lectionary Cycle: I, II
Introduction
Some need half of a lifetime to discover that they were wrong – or perhaps to have the courage to be honest enough with themselves and to face God and themselves. Like Augustine. He had a restless heart; he was a seeker. Once he had found this courage and his rest in God, he reflected deeply on his faith. He became a brilliant theologian, yet a simple man accessible to the simple people and a model of love to those around him.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
St. Augustine experienced
that he was not only trying to find you
but that you were looking for him.
Lord, make us see how much you love us
and how you want us to find happiness.
May the prayers of this great saint help us
to be clear-eyed to your love and care
and to respond to your search for us
with an unconditional answer of deep love.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
First Reading
God Is Love
Beloved, let us love one another because love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
Those who do not love have not known God, for God is love.
How has the love of God appeared among us? God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us first and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Beloved, if God’s love has been shown to us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is made complete in us.
How can we know that we live in God and he in us? Because he has given us his Spirit.
Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world.
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.
We have come to know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 119:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
R. (12) Lord, teach me your statutes.
How shall a young man be faultless in his way?
By keeping to your words.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
With all my heart I seek you;
let me not stray from your commands.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Within my heart I treasure your promise,
that I may not sin against you.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your statutes.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
With my lips I declare
all the ordinances of your mouth.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
In the way of your decrees I rejoice,
as much as in all riches.
R. Lord, teach me your statutes.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You have but one Father, in heaven;
you have but one master, the Christ.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
But you, do not let yourselves be called Master, because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters.
Neither should you call anyone on earth Father, because you have only one Father—he who is in heaven.
You should not be called Master, because you have but one master, the Messiah.
Let the greatest among you be the servant of all.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Prayers of the Faithful
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
you come to satisfy our hunger
for your Son Jesus Christ and his good news
at the table of the eucharist.
Let Jesus quench our hunger and thirst
for all that is good and true and beautiful
with the gift of himself and his Spirit.
Let us become new in him
and love him deeply
as our Lord and Savior for ever.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
we ask you on this feast of St. Augustine
that you may become to us as to him
our light deeper and brighter
than any other light,
our truth that gives us some of your vision,
our strength that sustains us.
Make us capable of loving you
with all that is in us.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.