Workshop on Prayer

St. Augustine and the Pauline Letters

 Introduction
As we continue with our reflection on prayer.
We are invited today to reflect on the life of our
father, St. Augustine, and the importance of the
Pauline Letters to his conversion and teachings.
St. Augustine was acquainted with the Letters
of Paul during his Manichaean years, even as a
“listener,” though he followed the Manichaean
restriction on the canons.
The Manichaeans took away from the Pauline
corpus (context), and the entire New Testament,
all references or allusions to the Old Testament, as
they considered the Old Testament as written by
the god of darkness.
So when St. Augustine was converted, he
discovers the New Testament of the Catholic
Church, and within this, is the Pauline Corpus. To
better understand the writings of St. Paul, St.
Augustine had the two great masters to enlighten
him; namely St. Ambrose and St. Simplicianus.
Augustine gradually became identified with Paul
of Tarsus and his writings, thoughts, and theology.
Curiously despite comparing the experience of St.
Augustine with that of St. Paul ,(for both initially
were enemies of the Catholic Church and then
converted to the faith in Christ ), when speaking
of the change made by God in the heart of St.
Paul, Augustine doesn’t refer it as “conversion" ,
rather he refers this change as the "vocation" of St.
Paul.
For the Bishop of Hippo, Paul of Tarsus has his
vocation when he fell down to the ground on the
road to Damascus and meet Christ. He discovers
that his mission is not being a persecutor of the
Church, but their preacher and broadcaster. For
this reason Augustine refers to this event as a
vocation, not Paul's conversion.
Within the Pauline texts there are many cited by
St. Augustine in his works and letters which are of
importance at different moments. Thus, speaking
of the monastic life, the first letter to the
Corinthians is essential for Augustine. In the
controversy with the Pelagians, the discussions
revolved on the letter to the Romans. With the
Arians’ controversy the Letter to the Philippians
was important...
Therefore it is clear ,that reading the works of St.
Augustine , Paul's writings had strong influence
on him as well as his meditation and prayer were
continually marked with the texts of St. Paul.
Undoubtedly, along with the Gospels and the
Psalms, the most read, meditated and prayed for
by Augustine were the letters of St. Paul.
Finally, we must consider that only Augustine
devoted a full commentary to the letter to the
Galatians (Exposition on the Letter to the
Galatians), leaving us indelible and conclusive
pages regarding freedom and grace. Moreover St.
Augustine also wrote two unfinished
commentaries on the Letter to the Romans
(Epistulae ad Romanos inchoata expositio:
Started exhibit /work of the letter to the Romans,
Expositio quarundam Propositionum ex Epistula
Apostoli ad Romanos: Exhibits of some texts of
the letter to the Romans).
Both remained unfinished because St. Augustine
realized that the depth and the various issues
contained in this letter, required much time and
distracted him from his pastoral duties. However
the texts of the Letter to the Romans are
commented and cited throughout his work as well
as other Pauline letters. Hence Saint Paul is for
Augustine, a trusting/ persevering partner, to help
the Bishop of Hippo deepen the Christian
doctrine.
 Let us reflect with Pope
Emeritus Benedict XVI
I am convinced that humanity today stands in need
of this essential message, incarnate in Jesus
Christ: God is love. Everything must start from
here and everything must lead to here, every
pastoral action, every theological treatise. As St.
Paul said, "If I... have not love I gain nothing" (cf
I Cor 13: 3). All charisms lose their meaning and
value without love, thanks to which instead all
compete to build the Mystical Body of Christ.
Serving Christ is first of all a question of love. Dear
brothers and sisters, your membership in the
Church and your apostolate always shine forth
through freedom from any individual interest and
through adherence without reserve to Christ's love.
The young, in particular, need to receive the
proclamation of freedom and joy whose secret lies
in Christ. He is the truest response to the
expectations of their hearts, restless because of the
many questions they bear within them.
Only in him, the Word spoken for us by the Father,
is found that combination of truth and love which
contains the full meaning of life. Augustine lived
in the first person and explored to their depths the
questions that man carries in his heart, and
investigated his capacity to open himself to the
infinity of God.
In Augustine's footsteps, may you also be a Church
that candidly proclaims the "glad tidings" of Christ,
his proposal of life, his message of reconciliation
and forgiveness. I have seen that your first pastoral
goal is to lead people to Christian maturity. I
appreciate this priority given to personal formation
because the Church is not a mere organization of
group events or, on the contrary, the sum of
individuals who live a private religiosity.
The Church is a community of people who believe
in the God of Jesus Christ and commit themselves
to live in the world the commandment of love that
he bequeathed to us. Thus, she is a community
where one is taught to love, and this education
happens not despite but through the events of life.
This is how it was for Peter, for Augustine and for
all the saints. So it is for us.
Personal maturation, enlivened by ecclesial charity,
also makes it possible to grow in community
discernment, that is, in the ability to read and interpret
the present time in the light of the Gospel in order to
respond to the Lord's call. I encourage you to progress
in your personal and communal witness to active love.
The service of charity, which you correctly conceive
of as always linked to the proclamation of the Word
and the celebration of the Sacraments, calls you and at
the same time drives you to be attentive to the
material and spiritual needs of your brothers and
sisters.
I encourage you to pursue the "high standard" of
Christian living which finds in charity the bond of
perfection and which must also be expressed in a
lifestyle inspired by the Gospel, inevitably against
the tide by the world's standards but which must
always be witnessed to with humility, respect and
cordiality.