Augustine is always current

…and relevant. I love reading what he wrote and said, in that ‘scholastic, dialectic’ style.

My son pointed out recently that when I talk or give a talk (actually, I do this on the air all the time on radio, so…) I frequently throw out a statement, follow up asking “Why?”, pause, then proceed to answer my own question. He laughed, said he liked that style and found it interesting. I said it’s St. Augustine’s, and though he was captivating that way, perhaps I’m sort of talking to myself…

Anyway, today is Augustine’s feast day. Of all the paintings and other art around the world that depicts St. Augustine, the one on the cover of Fr. Benedict Groeschel’s book is my favorite.

Carl Olson has some interesting reflections and links over at Ignatius Insight on the great saint and Doctor of the Church.

Like this quote from Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s Salt of the Earth:

“With Augustine, however, the passionate, suffering, questioning man is always right there, and you can identify with him.”

Or this snip from the former Cardinal Ratzinger’s Co-Workers of the Truth:

Throughout the centuries, there has been hardly another saint who has remained as close to us, as understandable, as Saint Augustine. In his writings, we encounter all the depths and heights of the human spirit, all the questioning and seeking and searching that we also experience today. Not without reason has he been called the first modern man.

Check out the man through the writings on those links….including this one.

(And thanks, Carl, for the earlier link to the post on better blogging.)(below)