{"id":27957,"date":"2025-08-17T01:10:47","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T01:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/?p=27957"},"modified":"2025-08-19T03:46:33","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T03:46:33","slug":"our-hearts-are-restless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/?p=27957","title":{"rendered":"Our Hearts are Restless"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In preparation for the feast of St Augustine on 28 August I ask myself what is it about Augustine\u2019s life story, as told in his Confessions<\/em>, that can still captivate modern readers, and no doubt frames the way of thinking for Pope Leo?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He lived in North Africa over sixteen hundred and fifty years ago and yet his contribution to Catholic thought, pastoral life and theology is second to none. Perhaps the most popular of his classics is Confessions, <\/em>his books on the Trinity andthe piece d\u2019 resistance, The City pf God<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ask myself why? How is it that we are still so fascinated by him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer may be found in Augustine\u2019s extraordinary honesty, his willingness to be vulnerable and share with us what it looks and feels like to search for God. He has an ability to look within himself and consider analytically his strengths and weaknesses. We are surprised and encouraged and wonder where did he find this courage. His search was intellectually vigorous, spiritually expansive and philosophically demanding. Augustine is a theological powerhouse. This resonates with us, and we can\u2019t help but admire his tenacity and pursuit of personal and religious truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emeritus Bishop of Lancaster, Michael Campbell OSA reminds us that: <\/em>Augustine lived in an age different in so many respects from our own, yet also with remarkable similarities. There were many dubious offers of salvation and happiness on offer, remedies which were and are ephemeral; yet none of them addressed or could satisfy the deepest needs of the human person, or the desire of the human mind for a truth which would not deceive. Augustine of Hippo stands as a witness to every age that in God alone do we find the answer to our most profound longings. That, I feel, is his outstanding contribution to subsequent generations both within and beyond the boundaries of the Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am continually drawn to St Augustine\u2019s exclamation on the first page of his Confessions<\/em>, \u2018You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Virginia Ryan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In preparation for the feast of St Augustine on 28 August I ask myself what is it about Augustine\u2019s life story, as told in his Confessions, that can still captivate modern readers, and no doubt frames the way of thinking for Pope Leo? He lived in North Africa over sixteen hundred and fifty years ago and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[38,45,26,44,24,55,8,32,50,41,25,51,34,54,47,31,42,39,48,46,52,40,37,35,28,43,53,36,27,33,29],"class_list":["post-27957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletter","tag-ancient-wisdom","tag-contemplative-prayer","tag-enlightenment","tag-guided-meditation","tag-inner-peace","tag-introspection","tag-lectio-divina","tag-lectio-divina-for-beginners","tag-life-transformation","tag-meditation-guide","tag-meditation-mastery","tag-meditation-tips","tag-mindfulness","tag-mindfulness-meditation","tag-mindfulness-practices","tag-mindfulness-techniques","tag-personal-development","tag-reflect-and-transform","tag-reflective-living","tag-sacred-reading","tag-self-discovery","tag-self-help","tag-soulful-journey","tag-soulful-living","tag-spiritual-awakening","tag-spiritual-growth","tag-spiritual-guide","tag-spiritual-insights","tag-spiritual-practice","tag-spiritual-reflection","tag-transformative-journey"],"aioseo_notices":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Augustine.jpg",600,309,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Augustine-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Augustine-300x155.jpg",300,155,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Augustine.jpg",600,309,false],"large":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Augustine.jpg",600,309,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Augustine.jpg",600,309,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Augustine.jpg",600,309,false],"menu-24x24":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Augustine-24x12.jpg",24,12,true],"menu-36x36":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Augustine-36x19.jpg",36,19,true],"menu-48x48":["https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Augustine-48x25.jpg",48,25,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Virginia Ryan","author_link":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/?author=2"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"In preparation for the feast of St Augustine on 28 August I ask myself what is it about Augustine\u2019s life story, as told in his Confessions, that can still captivate modern readers, and no doubt frames the way of thinking for Pope Leo? He lived in North Africa over sixteen hundred and fifty years ago and…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27957"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27959,"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27957\/revisions\/27959"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}