Justice And Peace With St. Augustine And The Augustinians

The Gospels tell us that Jesus fasted from food on several occasions.  Christians traditionally observe times of fasting, especially during the time of Lent.  St. Augustine preached that

• Fasting is good because it helps to prevent obesity.

• Fasting should be done rarely, because it can keep people from getting proper nutrition.

• Fasting is useless if it is not accompanied by almsgiving, mercy and fraternal love, especially for the poor who suffer from hunger.

• Fasting is an easy way to guarantee salvation.

St. Augustine, when preaching about poverty, emphasized that

• Poor people live in poverty as a punishment for their sins.

• Poor people need to work hard so that they can earn the food, clothing and housing which they need.

• Wealth is a sign that God loves rich people more than poor people.

• Christ chooses to be with the poor in a special way.

In his Letter to Darius, St. Augustine writes about war and peace.

• He praises Darius for winning an important battle against a non-Christian enemy.

• He condemns Darius for allowing the soldiers under his command. to commit atrocities during war.

• He praises Darius for negotiating a pledge of peace and thus avoiding the shedding of blood in war.

• He encourages Darius to be brave in battle in order to defeat the pagan enemy.

The Order of St. Augustine (Augustinian Order) is an accredited Non-Governmental Organization (N.G.O.) at the United Nations (U.N.).  The Augustinian presence at the U.N. has among its goals:

• To advance Gospel values, as taught by Jesus Christ and found in the traditional social teachings of the Catholic Church.

• To influence the formulation of polices which foster positive structural changes in society – a matter of justice – and thereby substantially reduce the need for acts of charity.

• To enrich the members of the Augustinian Order with global perspectives necessary for the renewal of the Church and the Order for effective ministry in today’s world.

• A, B and C

The Augustinian Order encourages schools to be part of a program of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (U.N.E.S.C.O.) which has formed a global network of more than 8.500 educational institutions in 180 countries.  Member institutions include pre-schools, elementary schools, high schools, vocational schools and universities.  They work to promote international understanding, peace, human dignity,  intercultural dialogue, sustainable development and quality education - values which resonate with Gospel values.  The name of this program is

• World Education Network

• Associated Schools Project Network

• Science and Culture Network

• Culture of Peace Network

Sixteen centuries ago, when the Roman Empire was crumbling, St. Augustine reflected, wrote and preached about how to build a peaceful society based on Christian values.  In his Commentary on Psalm 85, St. Augustine advised:

• “Do justice and you shall have peace . . . If you do not love justice, you shall not have peace.”

• “One is tempted to seek peace at all costs. But to have lasting peace, one must first crush the terrorism caused by the infidel barbarians who come to invade our homeland and destroy our Christian society.”

• “Fast from food each December and you will have peace.”

• “Concede to the barbarian enemies whatever they want. Then they will refrain from attacking you and you will be able to live in peace.”

In many areas of the world where Augustinian friars live and minister, poverty and  hunger are daily realities for far too many people.  For this reason, the Augustinian Hunger Campaign supports initiatives to reduce hunger not only by acts of charity - feeding those who are hungry - but also acts of justice - eliminating or changing those things that cause people to go hungry. One such initiative was taken in 2000 by every country belonging to the United Nations.  These countries committed themselves to help attain by 2015 eight goals, including reducing by half the number of persons who suffer hunger.  These eight goals are known as the

• Food Security Goals

• Millennium Development Goals

• Partners to End Poverty Goals

• World Summit Goals

Nearly every country in the world is affected in some way by the practice of humans being tricked, lured, coerced or otherwise removed from their home or country, and then forced to work with no or low payment or on terms which are highly exploitative.  This modern form of slavery is a violation of Catholic Christian moral values.  It is a sin against human dignity and human life.  To increase awareness of the suffering and harm that this practice causes and to encourage action in support of policies and initiatives that will eliminate or reduce this evil, the Augustinian Secretariate for Justice and Peace has begun an awareness campaign, which will run through 2011.  This campaign is known as the

• Augustinian Catholic Christian Moral Values Awareness Campaign

• Augustinian Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign

• Augustinian Human Dignity Awareness Campaign

• Augustinian Anti-Slavery Awareness Campaign

Augustinian Friars around the world, as well as all who identify with Augustinian spirituality, are  encouraged to observe in their communities, schools, parishes and other ministries seven International Days which promote Christian values.  Observances can include special prayer, education and/or actions.  These seven recommended International Days include

• International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (March 21) and International Day of Peace) September 21).

• International Day of Families (May 15) and World Food Day (October 16).

• Human Rights Day (December 10) and World Environment Day (June 5).

• A, B and C

Tie-breaker Question: For St. Augustine, Christ and his Church form together the “Whole Christ.”  St. Augustine did not believe that Christ would somehow be less than complete without his People.  Rather, St. Augustine said, Christ did not want to be without his People, his Church. (See Sermons 9 and 341) St. Augustine sees Christ as present in the community of the faithful, especially with the poor and downtrodden.  Since Latin was the common language in St. Augustine’s time, he wrote and preached in Latin.  The Latin term that Augustine used when writing or speaking about the “Whole Christ” is “_______  _______”.    (Two words)