November 17
I do want to
faith shown to
be living by its love, steadfast by its perseverance, patient by its endurance
of delay, humble by its confession, strong by its confidence, reverent
by its way of presenting petitions, and discerning with regard to their
content -such a faith may be certain that in every place it will hear the
Lord saying: I do want to.
Pondering this wonderful reply, let us put the words together in their proper sequence. The leper began: Lord, if you want to, and the Savior said: I do want to. The leper continued: You can make me clean, and the Lord spoke his powerful word of command: Be clean. All that the sinner's true confession maintained with faith, love, and power immediately conferred. And in case the gravity of his sins should make anyone despair, another evangelist says this man who was cured had been completely covered with leprosy. For all have sinned and forfeited the glory of God. Since, as we rightly believe, God's power is operative everywhere, we ought to believe the same of his will. For his will is that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
| Augustine Day By Day | The Augustinians - St. Thomas of Villanova Province |
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
HTML text prepared by David P. Steelman