June and July 2026 Reading on St. Augustine

Let us seek the one who is to be found; let us seek the one who has been found. In order to seek the one who is to be found, he is hidden; in order that, once found, he be sought again, he is immeasurable. Hence it is said somewhere “Always seek his face” (Psalm 105:4). For he satisfies the seeker to the extent of his capacity, and he makes the finder more capacious in order that he might seek to be filled yet again when he begins to be able to receive more. (Homily 63,1 on John’s Gospel.)

If you understand it, it is not God. (Commentary on Psalm 85, 12).

We know is God revealed in Christ, through the history of Israel, in the Sacraments and,
importantly, in our personal encounters with him in the course of our lives. The Church
provides us with the outlines, the contours of the truth about God and the world in her
doctrines. There is, however, a temptation not to hear Augustine here. A graduate of a
Catholic classical school might be able to rattle off “God is three hypostases (Persons) in
one ousia (substance).” The Trinity. Boom! Now I know God!

These are all good things and truly do help us understand God better, help us grow closer to him. But it is especially important that this knowledge of doctrine not trick us into thinking that we’ve comprehended God. Theology can plunge ever deeper into the
mystery of Christ but unless that theology is done “on its knees” as von Balthasar said, we might think that our academic study is somehow sufficient. The main goal for our
theology classes at St. Augustine School is to pair this learning about God with a
personal encounter with Jesus. For Christians, it is in coming to know the person of
Jesus, and keeping that knowledge within the boundaries of doctrine, that we plunge
ever deeper into the mystery of God.

A good husband both knows his wife and is fascinated by her. He serves her, shares a life and home with her, and wants to know her better. This intimate knowledge grows with the passing years and the chapters of life. I see my wife now serving and loving our young children. I hope to know her better as the children grow up and move out of the house.

It is important, I think, that I both know my wife and be surprised by her. The surprises,
the wonder at the unexpected, the contemplation of her, is a mirror for my relationship
with God. I learn about God, whether in prayer, conversation, events in my life or
studying theology. I know him better with these experiences and reflecting on them. But
in that coming to know God better, I want to build on that knowledge, those experiences
to come to know him even more. After drawing closer to God, I see how much I don’t
know about God. Time passes on and I come to know the mystery of God better and
new questions come up. I become more fascinated with God.

We know God by knowing creation, and we understand creation better by knowing God
(the Logos). This pattern for knowing God and yet acknowledging our ignorance is true
also of the faculty’s experience with our students. Most of our faculty have deep
experience in teaching. There can be a temptation with experienced faculty to say, “I
know kids” or, “I’ve got this guy figured out.” Because of our faculty’s interior lives and
our formation in the writings of St. Augustine, I can say that we recognized the truth T.
S. Eliot expressed in East Coker when we read it this spring:

…There is, it seems to us,

At best, only a limited value

In the knowledge derived from experience…

For the pattern is new in every moment

And every moment is a new and shocking

Valuation of all we have been.

We know your children from our year with them and our own previous experience.
However, we constantly wonder at them- at their strengths and weaknesses, at the ways
in which they mirror Christ to us, and the ways in which they continue to grow. We are
very grateful for the seven years we get with them- to come to know them better and yet, in coming to know them, to seek to know them more deeply.

We all need a break this summer- students and teachers. We miss your children and are
excited to see them in the fall- to see how they’ve grown and to see how they surprise us.

I hope that summer break gives you time with your family, time with nature, and, most
importantly, to experience what God tells the Psalmist: “Be still and know that I am
God” (Psalm 46:10).

May God bless you and keep you.

Matthew Briel

Head of School