Our efforts are not measured by the breadth of our achievements.
Pope Gregory the Great called on Saint Augustine of Canterbury (who died in 604 AD) and who was working as the prior of a monastery before this time, to become a missionary of the British Isles. This Saint became known as Austin.
Pope Gregory the Great believed that if people were educated by priests about the Catholic faith, they would convert to Catholicism in great numbers… Accordingly, in the late sixth century, Saint Austin and forty monks travelled to the British Isles, which were pagan territory.
After landing in France, Saint Austin heard stories about the ferocity of the Anglo-Saxons and immediately returned to Rome to beg the Pope to release him from his mission. The Pope refused and instead encouraged the Saint and sent Saint Austin back…
In fact, when the group finally did land in England, they were treated kindly – particularly by the King of Kent, who himself converted to Islam and allowed Saint Austin a residence in Canterbury. It was there that Saint Austin established a church and monastery that would serve as the centre of his mission. Saint Austin’s work was painstakingly slow. People were slow to convert through his mission, but he persevered anyway.
And, as a result, England became a Christian country and Saint Augustine was the first Archbishop of Canterbury in England.
And I have been thinking about that painstakingly slow work of conversion after having read the writings of a different Saint Augustine – Doctor of the Church – who preached “Walking by faith, let us do good works. In these let there be a free love of God for His own sake and an active love for our neighbour. For there is nothing we can do for God. But because we have something we can do for our neighbour, we shall by our good offices to the needy gain the favour of Him Who is the source of all abundance. Let us then do what we can for others; let us freely bestow upon the needy out of our abundance.”
And in awaiting such a favour as this, it is important that we stay focused on the true goal of our mission on this Earth – and that goal is Heaven.
And because we know that it is Heaven that awaits those who love the Lord, it becomes much easier to understand that the going might be slow, but the process is the important part. Our efforts are not measured by the breadth of our achievements. After all, if God wishes us to achieve great things in great number, He will enable that. Instead, our efforts are measured by the process through which we undergo the work. God just wants us doing things with great love. He is not so interested I whether or not the things themselves are great. After all, God does not need the thing from us – He is all-perfect and can do it all Himself. All He actually desires is that we do the thing to the best of our ability – like Saint Austin, Archbishop of Canterbury…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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