Thursday, August 28, 2014

Mastering the Will

Augustine of Tagaste, a city in northern Africa,  was an intelligent, strong-willed young man, who for years searched for Truth, and finally found it as a result of his mother's prayers, the dead-end roads he took with philosophy and some of the heretical movements of his time, and the convincing sermons of another strong-willed man, Ambrose, Bishop of Milan. These two met head-on, but along with the help of God's grace and his own "travel fatigue" Augustine "broke" when he picked up the scriptures and read, "Let us then throw off the works of darkness [and] put o the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry ad jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh." (Rm 13:12-14) Augustine  knesw these verses spoke directly to him and from that moment, bent his will towards baptism.
When he returned to Tagaste he established a kind of community of prayer and study, and soon after was, by popular acclaim, made Bishop of Hippo, where he turned his strong will and intellect to refuting the heresies of his day and serving the pastoral needs of the Church for 40 years.  His writings continue to influence the Church and challenge Christians to master their wills by turning them away from what fails to satisfy to the TRUTH!
Bro. Rene

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