St. Augustine Makes Clergy Squirm

If I were a bishop or even a priest,  I might be tempted  to use the alternate  Office of Readings for every saint’s memorial that occurs between September 16th and 28th. It would mean avoiding nine out of twelve days of reading “99 Ways a Bishop is Likely to End up in Hell.”, otherwise known as St. Augustine’s sermon on Pastors. Yesterday he called out shepherds who do not make the effort to go after sheep who stray. On Sunday, it was shepherds who do not do what they can to strengthen the weakest of their flocks against temptation. Last week, there were warnings for those who downplayed some of the hard truths of the gospel for fear of offending others, or who gave bad example by the way they live their lives: the shepherd who lives a wicked life before the people kills the sheep under his care. Let not such a shepherd not deceive himself because the sheep is not dead, for though it still lives, he is a murderer…

As a layperson reading this, I have come to a few conclusions:

1. I’m really glad I’m not a bishop or a priest.

2. I can’t imagine anyone wanting such a responsibility.

3. Since Augustine’s warnings apply, to a lesser degree, to priests as well, it reminds us what an awesome (as in awe-full, or awful) responsibility they have as well, and how we laity have a very serious responsibility to pray for them as well as our bishops. A lot.

4.  I’ll bet this yearly dose of Augustine on Pastors, thought not pleasant, does good bishops and priests a lot of good. A yearly reminder to pray hard, work hard, be humble, and daily throw themselves on Christ’s mercy.

5. Don’t even want to think about not so good bishops and priests who read this and ignore it, or pat themselves on the back imagining that they are in no danger of the faults Augustine describes.

6. Even back in the early centuries, the clergy and hierarchy must have been an extremely mixed bag if this is what St.Augustine felt he had to tell them.

7.St. Augustine gave really long sermons.