August 28, 2026
Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Gospel: Matthew 25:1–13
Today is Friday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time. The Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church.The recently published Missal tells us: Saint Augustine (354–430) was born in Thagaste (in present-day Algeria). Moved by the good example of his mother, he embraced the Manichaean heresy in his early years and fathered an illegitimate child. At the age of thirty-three, he was converted by grace and received Baptism from Saint Ambrose in Milan. He later became Bishop of Hippo Regius (present-day Annaba, Algeria). Devoting his life to writing and preaching, he vigorously defended Faith, becoming one of the most influential Doctors of the Church. The rule of religious life he established continues to inspire Augustinian Canons Regular, Friars, and Nuns to this day.
Today’s Gospel passage from Saint Matthew continues to present to us Jesus’ parables concerning the Kingdom of Heaven. In this parable, we see a five-fold set of elements: the virgins, the bridegroom, the wedding feast, the lamps, and the oil. Though the relationship among these five elements may appear complex, it is quite clear to us, the people of the New Covenant.
In fact, the virgins (cf. Mt 25:1–5) refer to all brothers and sisters who, through the grace of Baptism in Christ, have been incorporated into Christ. They have crucified their mortal old self with Christ on the Cross, so that the body of sin might be destroyed (cf. Rom 6:6), and they are no longer slaves to sin. Led by the Holy Spirit, they have become children of God. Among these virgins, some are wise and some are foolish. They hold their lamps and await the bridegroom, who delays his coming (cf. Mt 25:5), so much so that they all become drowsy and fall asleep. The bridegroom they await is Christ. The lamps they hold are the virtue of hope, and the oil in the lamps is the penance they have done and all their good work. The wise virgins, while waiting for the bridegroom, have made ample preparation, so as to welcome Christ at any moment and enter the heavenly wedding banquet with Him. The foolish virgins are those who, though they long for the abode of eternal blessedness, fail to make ready. When the bridegroom arrives, they turn to the wise and prepared virgins seeking a remedy, and as a result, they forfeit the opportunity to enter the Kingdom of Heaven together with the wise (cf. Mt 25:6–10). For them, there is but one end: to be shut out of the Kingdom and cast into the outer darkness.
In the life of Saint Augustine, we see a living manifestation of the Kingdom of Heaven spoken of by Jesus. He too once lived in the darkness of the world; the prince of this world hindered him from turning to God. His mother, Saint Monica, never ceased to pray for his conversion. The merciful Lord kindled in Augustine’s heart the bright lamp of faith. Following the light of the Holy Spirit, he came to understand the word of God with the eyes of faith. Through Baptism into Christ, his life was perfectly united with the life of Christ, and his heart was made one with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He tirelessly proclaimed the Kingdom of Heaven to this passing world, and his work The Confessions lays bare the spiritual journey of his conversion.
Renew in your Church, we pray, O Lord, the spirit with which you endowed your Bishop Saint Augustine that, filled with the same spirit, we may thirst for you, the sole fount of true wisdom, and seek you, the author of heavenly love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,God, for ever and ever.
©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica
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