Daily Gospel Reflection
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August 28, 2025
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
whom the master has put in charge of his household
to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.
Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’
and begins to beat his fellow servants,
and eat and drink with drunkards,
the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day
and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely
and assign him a place with the hypocrites,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
There’s an especially lovely scene in the film Lady Bird where the eponymous protagonist sits down with Sister Sarah Joan, her principal, to talk about college applications and the essay she’d written about her hometown.
“You clearly love Sacramento,” the principal says. “I was just describing it,” Lady Bird protests before finally admitting, “I guess I pay attention.” The principal presses, “Don’t you think maybe they are the same thing—love and attention?”
Sister Sarah Joan echoes Jesus in today’s gospel. He asks us to stay alert, to pay attention to how, when, and in whom God might appear. But in a culture that increasingly competes for and divides our attention, it can be hard to pay attention to anyone long enough to love them.
If we look closely at each other, what will we see? If we listen deeply, will we hear God in prayer and on the phone with a difficult family member? If we stand still, will we be moved with compassion for the neighbors on our block and across the world? If we ask good questions, will we find humanity even in our least favorite politicians and coworkers?
If we stay awake, is there anyone we can’t love? Let’s find out.
Prayer
Lord God, your ways are mysterious and we are easily distracted and lulled to sleep. Help us to be alert, and not to be presumptuous of your mercy. Enlighten us that we may recognize the danger of drifting through our days and being overtaken by our own negligence. Wake us and enable us by your grace. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Among the thinkers and writers who have articulated the Christian faith, St. Augustine is a giant.
He was born in 354 in north Africa, and at 17 went to Carthage to study rhetoric. He excelled at school out of vanity and ambition, but was consumed by the pleasures of the world. He entered into a relationship with a woman there, who bore him a son.
His mother, Monica, whose feast day was yesterday, prayed without ceasing for his conversion and reform. He began to find disillusionment in his studies and worldview and sought teaching positions elsewhere, ending up in Milan. There he came to know the bishop, Ambrose, who was well-educated and eloquent. Augustine attended Ambrose’s sermons out of pure curiosity, but the preaching began to leave a mark on his heart and mind.
At the same time that he began to see truth in Christiantiy, he was intimidated by the difficulty of living a Christian life and did not have the will to convert from the pleasures of his loose living. His famous conversion experience, detailed in his work, Confessions, happened when he was filled with shame after talking with friends about the heroism of saints. He had a sudden urge to seek guidance from the Bible. Reading Paul’s encouragement to put aside drunkenness and to put on Christ, Augustine was surrounded by peace and his anxiety and hesitation disappeared. He told his mother immediately, who rejoiced and praised God; he was baptized soon after.
Augustine grew in his faith and was eventually named bishop. His contributions to religious life and the advancement of spirituality and theology cannot be overstated. His works still form the bedrock of much of theological study. He died on this date in 430 amid the political and social turmoil of the fall of the Roman empire.
Part of the human condition is the struggle to direct our will towards ultimate goodness. The good things of this world—the pleasures of the body such as good food and drink—are certainly of God, but they are limited goods. If they take a central place in one’s life, they can become a distraction, as Augustine experienced, because they replace God for us instead of pointing us to God.
Augustine finally mastered his own will after years of letting it run free among the world’s pleasures. May we find the same order in our lives and receive the same grace, that we might also love the ultimate and lasting good, God, with all of our hearts.
St. Augustine is named a doctor of the Church, a title given to 38 saints who are known for elucidating the faith by their words or example; he is known as the Doctor of Grace for his understanding and cooperation with God’s grace. St. Augustine is the patron saint of brewers, printers, and theologians.
Relics of St. Augustine rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. In the top image, St. Augustine appears in a statue above the southeast entrance to Dillon hall. He holds a quill, to signify his foundational writing, and a heart, which represents the subject of much of his thought—the nature of love. He is also depicted in the Basilica in several places, as well as in this stained glass image from the chapel in the Eck Hall of Law.
St. Augustine, you explored the depths of human and divine love—pray for us!
To learn even more about Saint Augustine, watch this video lecture from the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame.