Skip to main content

Discovering Your Heart's Rest: Dr. Shane Owens' New Book on St. Augustine, Timely for an Augustinian Papacy

In a providential alignment, as the Catholic Church welcomes its first Augustinian Pope, Leo XIV, the release of my good friend Dr. Shane Owens' new book, Return to the Heart: The Biblical Spirituality of St. Augustine’s Confessions, couldn't be more timely. This insightful work invites readers to delve into the enduring wisdom of one of Christianity's most influential figures, offering a roadmap for personal conversion and a deeper encounter with God.

St. Augustine's Confessions holds a unique place in Western literature as the very first autobiography. It's a profound narrative of one man's tumultuous journey away from and ultimately back to God, a journey rich with human experience. As Augustine himself famously penned, "He is most intimately present to the human heart, but the heart has strayed from him. Return to your heart, then, you wrongdoers, and hold fast to him who made you."

This profound call to the heart resonates deeply with our own contemporary struggles for love, happiness, and peace. Dr. Owens, with his new book, bridges the centuries, making Augustine's wisdom accessible to a new generation. He masterfully demonstrates that true wholeness and self-understanding are found only in a heart-to-heart encounter with our Creator.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church echoes Augustine's central insight, stating that "The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God" and that only "in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for" (CCC No.1 27). Return to the Heart offers convincing testimony from St. Augustine's own life and writings to this fundamental truth: an ever-present God is ceaselessly at work, guiding us toward conversion and eternal life.

With Pope Leo XIV, himself a "son of St. Augustine," leading the Church, there's a renewed emphasis on the Augustinian charism. This papacy promises to reacquaint the universal Church with Augustine's intellectual depth and missionary zeal. As Pope Leo XIV's own motto, "In Illo uno unum" ("In the One, we are one"), drawn from Augustine, suggests, his pontificate will likely emphasize unity in Christ, rooted in a profound understanding of the human heart's restless yearning for God.

Now more than ever, as we navigate a world often characterized by restlessness and a search for meaning, Dr. Shane Owens' book provides a vital guide. It's an invitation to follow in the footsteps of St. Augustine, returning to the very core of our being to discover the ultimate peace and fulfillment found only in God. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Woman, Behold Your Son

The spiritual climax of the Gospel of John, as Father John Waiss points out, occurs at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus utters his parting words: “Woman, behold, your son!” and “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27). While these words were addressed to the Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, the Church has long understood this moment as a universal adoption. To truly image Christ, we must share in His parentage; if we embrace God as our spiritual Father but reject Mary as our mother, we treat Christ as a half-brother rather than our "firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). As Origen noted as early as the third century, the profound depths of the Gospel are only accessible to those who, like John, rest their heads on Jesus’ breast and receive Mary into their own homes. This maternal role is deeply rooted in biblical typology, positioning Mary as the fulfillment of the great mothers of the Old Covenant. She is the New Eve , the mother of all the living according ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Praying With The Five Wounds Of Jesus

I am just beginning to dive into the beautiful, ancient devotion to the Five Wounds of Jesus, and I wanted to share a bit of the journey with you. It can feel a little overwhelming at first to look at the Crucifix this closely, but I’ve found such a gentle guide in St. Bernard of Clairvaux . In his Jubilee Rhythm on the Passion, Bernard doesn't treat the wounds of Jesus as distant historical facts or sights to be avoided. Instead, he approaches them with the tenderness of a friend, speaking directly to the feet, hands, side, and face of our Lord. For someone like me who is just starting out, his rhythm teaches that prayer isn't just about reciting words; it’s a holy hide-and-seek. Bernard invites us to literally hide ourselves within these wounds, seeing them as clefts in the rock where we can find shelter when our own lives feel turbulent or heavy. As I start this process, I’ve been practicing what I call gazing and greeting. Following Bernard’s lead, I look at the Crucifix an...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Gentleness of a Doctor: St. Anthony’s Devotion

St. Anthony of Padua is widely revered as the "Hammer of Heretics" and a "Doctor of the Church," titles that suggest a formidable and perhaps distant intellectual. However, the heart of Anthony’s ministry was a profound, tender love for the person of Jesus Christ that transcended mere academic study. For Anthony, Christ was not just a theological concept to be defended, but a living presence to be embraced. This deep intimacy was the engine behind his legendary preaching; he didn't just speak about the Word, he spoke from a place of friendship with the Word. His life serves as a beautiful reminder that the greatest heights of wisdom are always reached through the simplest acts of love and humility. This interior devotion is most famously captured in the ubiquitous image of St. Anthony holding the Infant Jesus. This iconographic tradition stems from a mystical event late in his life while he was staying at the home of a friend, Count Tiso. The Count peered throug...
Post a Comment
Read more