Fr Paul reads from Matthew’s Gospel (25: 14-30) in which Jesus tells his disciples the parable of the landowner who entrusts various amounts of money to his three servants to invest in his absence. After the Gospel, Fr Paul shares a little about the life of St Augustine, whose memorial we celebrate today.

Fr Paul says, Augustine, like his mother whose life we celebrated yesterday, was born in Tagaste in Africa in 354. He was brought up Christian, but as we learned yesterday, he left the Church early and spent some years searching for what he believed was the truth. Then, through his mother’s prayers and the teaching of St Ambrose, he came back to Christianity and was baptised in 387.

Augustine had a brilliant legal and academic career.  He was elected Bishop of Hippo and spent 34 years looking after his flock. He wrote an enormous amount and his work has left a permanent mark on both philosophy and theology.  He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1308.

Today, Fr Paul says, as we celebrate his life we pray, St Augustine, Pray for us!