Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Recollection Guide: For The Month of
Recollection Guide: For The Month of
GRACE: __________________________
or
SUGGESTED SCHEDULE:
1
TEN CHARACTERISTICS OF AUGUSTINIAN SPIRITUALITY
A change of vision for Augustine from a sharp distinction between love of God
and of people, to, 'authentic love for a human being is at the same time love of
God'. 'Honor God in each other' is the worship of God. God is love; and love is
the same as our human love. Our love for a human being is far more concrete
than our love of God. It is harder to delude ourselves here, we become more
conscious of our failures.
2
neighbor (does not ask for a response) is the highest form of human relationship
(mutual love, loving and being loved.)
One of the great services Augustine renders to the spiritual life of his followers is
to bring them to Scripture and to help them develop a thirst for the Word of God.
Paul and John are the focus of much of Augustine's challenge from Scripture. The
words of Paul, "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ," burned within him.
7. Interiority
Augustine saw himself as a facilitator from without. The real teacher was within.
"To me your ears, to Him your heart, that both may be filled." [ John 1.7 ]
Augustine's conviction that a person must return to his heart if he hopes to find
God. Returning to your heart has different shades of meaning. First, it is a return
to your senses and stop wayward behavior. Secondly, it has to do with the image
of God within. Generally it deals with not being able to find God if one does not
find oneself. The God who dwells within is an active God.
Augustine never stopped searching for the Christ he found a first time in so
dramatic a way as the moment of conversion when he "put on the Lord Jesus
Christ." Augustine continued to find Him, to be possessed by Him more fully. If
Augustine can speak of Christians as other Christ, it is because he looks beyond the
birth of the Child Jesus for the full meaning of the Incarnation of Jesus into the
human race. Every Christian shares in the Incarnation. They are carriers of
Christ in every aspect of their lives.
9. Faith-Hope-Love
Augustine's theology of the theological virtues of faith, hope and love is really the
key to his entire spirituality. He sees these three virtues as both gifts and actions
of God, the Almighty acting in creatures in ways they are incapable of acting on
their own.
Through faith, God makes Himself present to human beings. This faith is bound
up with hope and love. These three virtues or powers are divine actions that have
their origin in eternity and their effect in time. They allow mere humans to be
transformed and achieve an initial union with God while continuing to live in and
be limited by the world.
3
Perfect love gives perfect freedom and both are the result of grace. Augustine
taught that every aspect of the spiritual life, every step of the way, is a gift of God.
This is the first meaning of grace for him. The second is that grace is a person:
Christ given to us that we may live.
Freedom comes to the faithful through grace. Christ makes people free. He is
God's love made present to humankind. The more He is allowed to take hold in the
lives of Christians, the freer they become. For Augustine, this freedom supersedes
freedom of choice. For him, the greatest freedom is to have no choice at all.