St. Michael's Lent 2026 - Reading #15 - Discernment
Reading
Having exposed the false creed, Augustine stands like a herald and calls Rome to defect.
"This, rather, is the religion worthy of your desires, O admirable Roman race,--the progeny of your Scævolas and Scipios, of Regulus, and of Fabricius. This rather covet, this distinguish from that foul vanity and crafty malice of the devils. If there is in your nature any eminent virtue, only by true piety is it purged and perfected, while by impiety it is wrecked and punished. Choose now what you will pursue, that your praise may be not in yourself, but in the true God, in whom is no error."
He does not merely condemn — he out-promises.
"For of popular glory you have had your share; but by the secret providence of God, the true religion was not offered to your choice. Awake, it is now day; as you have already awaked in the persons of some in whose perfect virtue and sufferings for the true faith we glory: for they, contending on all sides with hostile powers, and conquering them all by bravely dying, have purchased for us this country of ours with their blood; to which country we invite you, and exhort you to add yourselves to the number of the citizens of this city, which also has a sanctuary of its own in the true remission of sins."
Be the herald in your house, not only the critic.
Reflection
Notice the method, because it is the method for a father. Augustine does not merely condemn Rome; he out-promises it. The earthly city offers impunity for wickedness; the heavenly city offers truth for victory, holiness for dignity, felicity for peace, eternity for life. Men do not abandon their gods because someone sneers at them. They abandon them for a better country.
This is how discernment becomes leadership in your home. It is not enough to tell your children what is wrong with the culture's liturgy; a steady diet of condemnation produces cynics, not saints. You must make the true city attractive — visibly better, in the joy of your table, the peace of your marriage, the manhood you model.
Awake, it is now day. Be the herald in your house, not just the critic.