Wednesday, March 6 : Saint Augustine

When he came here from another country, Christ found nothing here but what there is in abundance: afflictions, sorrows and death. That is what you have here; that is what there is here in abundance. He has eaten with you what is to be found in abundance in the poor house of your misfortune. He has drunk vinegar, he has tasted gall (Jn 19,29): this is what he has found in your poor house. Yet he has invited you to his splendid table, his table in heaven, to the table of angels where he himself is the bread (Jn 6,35). Coming down to be with you and finding misfortune in your poor house, he was not too proud to be seated at your table, such as it was, and promised you his own… He has taken away your misfortune; he will give you his own happiness. Yes indeed, he will give it you: he has promised us his life. And what he has accomplished is yet more unbelievable: he has given us his own death in pledge. As if he were to say to us: “I am inviting you into my life, to the place where none dies, where true happiness is to be found, where the food never stales, where it revives, where it never lacks but satisfies all. See, this is where I am inviting you: to the land of angels, to friendship with the Father and Holy Spirit, to the meal of eternity, to my brotherly friendship. In sum, I invite you to myself, to my own life. Are you unwilling to believe that I will give you my life? Take my death as your witness.”
maronite readings – rosary,team