Today is the feast of an Italian Benedictine monk who became
known as the “Apostle to the English”.
Though early missionary attempts were made, the Gospel, Christianity
failed to take root amongst in England, except in small pockets of Celts.
Around 595, Pope Gregory the Great sent a delegation of
forty monks including Augustine.
Augustine and his band of monks heard stories of the
ferocious Anglo-Saxons and the treacherous waters of the English Channel. Augustine promptly made a “u-turn” back to
Rome, where Pope Gregory the Great assured him and the other monks that his
fears were groundless.
They constructed a church and monastery at Canterbury, on
the site where the present and famous Canterbury Cathedral now stands.
Augustine was consecrated its first Bishop.
And by 597, thousands of people were coming to actively seek
baptism.
Most of us do not receive letters from the Pope telling us
to go evangelize particular nations and regions, but all of us have received
the commission of our Lord to go and make disciples of all nations, all of the
baptized have the vocation of laboring for the spread of the Gospel.
We also live in a culture much like that which Augustine
found upon his arrival to England: vestiges of the Christian faith mingled with
pagan elements.
In a letter to Augustine, Pope Gregory the Great wrote:
"He who would climb to a lofty height must go by steps, not leaps."
The task of evangelization might seem like a lofty mountain,
and there will often be that temptation to return home out of fear with our
task incomplete, but we can make great inroads through small steps:
conversations with non-Catholics, small acts of charity towards strangers,
imitating Christ in all of our attitudes and choices.
Through the prayerful intercession and holy example of St.
Augustine of Canterbury may we be faithful to all the Lord calls us to this day
for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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