Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
(I
Thessalonians 1:1-5.8b-10; Matthew 23:13-22)
With good
reason many look upon cohabitation with grave concern. Today many young couples have little
reservation in sharing the same bed. The
result of serial sexual partners will hardly be a satisfactory permanent
partnership. More likely it will lead to
continual disappointment. Listening to the life story of Saint Augustine may
provide perspective and even some consolation for this development.
Augustine was
reared in northern Africa and educated in Carthage. When he was seventeen, he established a
relationship with a woman of that city.
They engendered a son who stayed with Augustine until the boy’s death at
sixteen years later. At one point
Augustine abandoned his lover to groom himself for an arranged marriage. But before he married, Augustine restlessly took
on another concubine. In the end, Augustine
never married. Instead, he became a
priest and eventually a bishop renowned for his preaching and theology.
Augustine’s
moral theology expressed great reserve over sexual relationships. He considered sexual relations outside of
marriage as always sinful. Even in a
marital relationship, sex was not to be used for satisfying desire but for
allowing procreation. Perhaps Augustine had
a harsh outlook on marital sex out of regret for his youthful exploits. Nevertheless, we can learn from Augustine the
need to resist sexual desires outside of marriage. They often lead to deep personal injury and to
tragic separation from the Lord.
