The Soul And Body Of The Augustinian Apostolate

Introduction

The body and soul are two fundamental parts of the human person. The relationship between the body and the soul is such that without the soul the body cannot exist, and the soul also needs the body for several manifestations. The soul is the substantial form of the body; it is so united to the body that through it the body receives and possesses subsistence and life. From the union of these two realities, there results in a single substance, a person. The union of soul and body does not, then, mean a confusion of the two, but requires only that they complete each other. As the single substance that results from the union of soul and body constitutes an individual of a rational nature, this union constitutes not only substantial unity but also personal unity.

Just like is found in the human person, the Augustinian apostolate also has a body and a soul. The two form fundamental parts of the Augustinian apostolate and together form not two apostolates but the Augustinian apostolate. We can, therefore, speak of the soul of the Augustinian apostolate and the body of the Augustinian apostolate. The soul of the Augustinian apostolate is incomplete and would always manifest a lack without the body of the Augustinian apostolate. It is at the level of the synthesis of these two dimensions that the greatness of the Augustinian apostolate becomes manifest and fruitful.

The Soul of the Apostolate 

The Augustinian Order has a lofty soul, gifted with great qualities and values as handed down from Saint Augustine of Hippo as inspirations and doctrinal teachings. The soul of the Order of Saint Augustine is enshrined in our Rule and Constitutions, and can also be referred to as our Augustinianness, given that it speaks of our identity. The knowledge and understanding of these documents link us with Saint Augustine. According to Balbino Gundin, “The study of Saint Augustine… must be the bond which links us to Saint Augustine”. This link that connects us with Saint Augustine is at the cognitive level- at the level of the soul.

The soul of the apostolate concerns our search for and discovery of God. It involves constant and attentive listening to the Inner Teacher who speaks to our hearts and gently instructs us. Through this, we daily acquire a conscience that is clearer and more aware of the living presence of God within us. It is in this encounter that we find true peace as we seek God’s will in every matter of our lives. This journey within is aided by contemplation, meditation and the reading of the Scriptures. The encounter lights a light within us and helps us to grow in maturity and adulthood in religious life.

The Body of the Apostolate

The body of the apostolate manifests itself in community life that is lived out according to the quality of the soul’s union with the Interior Master. Community life is where as Augustinians we think, feel, live and act in such a manner that is only sustainable through our rootedness in Christ. The Rule (No. 3) and the Constitutions (No. 27) consider this communion of minds and hearts, which involves communication and participation, as the most important dimension of our Augustinianness.

The Rule of Saint Augustine holds that: “The main purpose for you having come together is to live harmoniously in your house, intent upon God in the oneness of mind and heart” (1. 3). It further teaches: “Let all of you then live together in oneness of mind and heart, mutually honouring God in yourselves, whose temples you have become” (1. 9). Our brotherhood is a fundamental structure and a basic organization of the Order of Saint Augustine. It is through the community that we expand the spiritual limits of the soul of the apostolate; it is also through community life that we contribute to the spiritual union and heritage that we share as brothers. It is through the community that one experiences a life of self-emptying and total submission to the will of God.

The Unity of the Soul and Body of the Apostolate

The foundation of the unity of the apostolate is found in the person of Christ who is both God and man. In Sermon 261, while preaching during the feast of the Ascension, Saint Augustine taught that since Christ is both God and man, God (the soul of the apostolate) and the neighbour (the body of the apostolate) are found in Christ. This is a consequence of the incarnation that has made Christ our neighbour. While teaching Deo-Gratias, the Carthaginian deacon, Saint Augustine wrote, “The most reason for Christ’s coming was that people might know how much God loves them. Further, knowing in this way the extent of God’s love for them, people might begin to burn with love for him who loved them first, and, following Christ’s commandment and example, they might love the neighbour” (De Catecgizandis Rudibus 4.8).

Teaching further in his De Doctrina Christiana (1. 71-72), Saint Augustine teaches that it was the love that was in Christ- the soul, that made him take upon himself the human flesh. In taking upon himself the human flesh, Christ became our neighbour. Augustine uses the images in the Good Samaritan story to convey his concept of neighbour. While the man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho and was attacked by brigands represents ourselves, the Good Samaritan represents Christ who shows himself a neighbour in the mercy of his incarnation and redemption and makes us his neighbours. Above all, Christ teaches us how to treat our neighbours.

If Christ made us his neighbour and he our neighbour, what becomes of this neighbourhood now that he has ascended into heaven? To respond to this question, Saint Augustine had recourse to the gospel of Matthew. In Sermon 389. 5, he writes that the story about the last judgment in the gospel of Matthew Chapter 25 tells us who our neighbour is even amid Christ’s ascension. Jesus teaches: “When you did it to one of the least of mine, you did it to me” (25:40). The point that Augustine intends to make is that even though the members of Christ’s body are living outside of the time of Christ, they are not deprived of the presence of Christ who has become our neighbour in our brothers and sisters.

In this theological paradox that presents Christ as both in heaven and on earth, we gain a great lesson from our Holy Father Augustine and the Scripture. The realm of the heavens is the realm of the spiritual- the soul; the realm of the earth is the realm of the physical, the body. If we find God in the soul of the apostolate, we must complement this discovery by serving him the body of the apostolate, our neighbour.