The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass.
Saint AugustineRead
The entire life of a good Christian is in fact an exercise of holy desire. You do not yet see what you long for, but the very act of desiring prepares you, so that when he comes you may see and be utterly satisfied.
Interpretation
Desiring something good is a crucial part of spiritual growth, preparing us for fulfillment.
Saint Augustine emphasizes that the essence of a good Christian life is rooted in the longing for a deeper spiritual connection. This desire not only shapes our character but also prepares us for the eventual satisfaction that comes when we realize our spiritual aspirations, suggesting that the journey of yearning is as significant as the destination.
In practice
In a sermon to encourage congregants to embrace their spiritual aspirations.
The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass.
There is no health in those who are displeased by an element in Your creation, just as there was none in me when I was displeased by many things You had made. Because my soul didn't dare to say that my God displeased me, it refused to attribute to You whatever was displeasing.
Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.
Who can map out the various forces at play in one soul? Man is a great depth, O Lord. The hairs of his head are easier by far to count than his feeling, the movements of his heart.
Whatever skills I have acquired, whatever gifts I have been given, I place them at Your service.
Everyone who observes himself doubting observes a truth, and about that which he observes he is certain; therefore he is certain about a truth. Everyone therefore who doubts whether truth exists has in himself a truth on which not to doubt.... Hence one who can doubt at all ought not to doubt the existence of truth.
Most damage that others do us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion.
The private interest of the individual would not be sufficiently provided for by reasonable and cool self-love alone; therefore the appetites and passions are placed within as a guard and further security, without which it would not be taken due care of.
As for begging, it is safer to beg than to take, but it is finer to take than to beg
opened the door a crack wide enough for the entire world to pass through .
The root of humanly caused evil is not man's animal nature, not territorial aggression, or innate selfishness, but our need to gain self-esteem, deny our mortality, and achieve a heroic self-image. Our desire for the best is the cause of the worst.
Allies never trust each other, but that doesn't spoil their effectiveness.
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