Sunday, October 1 : Saint Augustine

“Then all the trees of the forest shall leap for joy before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to rule the earth” (Ps 96[95],12-13). Our Lord came the first time and will come again anew. He came into his Church to begin with “on the clouds” (Mt 26,64). What are those clouds that bore him? Apostles, preachers…; he came, borne by his preachers to begin with, and he filled the whole earth. Let us not resist his first coming if we would not fear the second… What, then, should christians do? Take advantage of this world but do not serve this world. What does that mean? “Possess as if one did not possess.” This is what Saint Paul said…: “Brothers, the time is growing short. From now on… let those who weep act like those who do not weep, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning, those using the world as not using it fully, For the world in its present form is passing away. I should like you to be free of anxieties” (1Cor 7,29-32). Someone who is free of anxiety awaits the Lord’s coming with assurance, for can we be said to love our Lord if we dread his coming? My brethren, are we not ashamed? Do we love him and yet dread his coming? Is it he we truly love or do we not rather prefer our sins? Therefore, let us hate our sins and love Him who is to come… “All the trees of the forest shall leap for joy before the Lord, for he has come” for the first time… “All the trees of the forest shall leap for joy” when he comes again to judge the earth. Then, “because he has come”, he will find rejoicing all those who believed in his coming on the first occasion.

maronite readings – rosary,team