Office Of Readings | Week 34, Saturday, Ordinary Time | A Reading From A Sermon By Saint Augustine | Let Us Sing Alleluia To God, Who Is Good And Frees Us From Evil

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Office Of Readings | Week 34, Saturday, Ordinary Time | A Reading From A Sermon By Saint Augustine | Let Us Sing Alleluia To God, Who Is Good And Frees Us From Evil

‘Let us sing Alleluia to God, who is good and frees us from evil.’

In this homily, Saint Augustine draws us into a tension at the heart of Christian life: we are invited to sing alleluia, but we are called to sing it in anxiety, in trial, in temptation. The alleluia of this present life is real but fragile, hopeful but trembling. It reflects the condition of a people who know they belong to God, yet still live in a world where danger surrounds them and weakness remains within.

Augustine explains why anxiety is fitting in this life. Scripture itself tells us that earthly existence is a ‘time of trial’, and Christ warns us to ‘watch and pray’ lest we fall under temptation. Moreover, the Lord’s Prayer — which shapes Christian life daily — teaches us both our constant need for forgiveness and our ongoing need for protection. Every day we sin; every day we ask pardon. Every day dangers await us; every day we plead, ‘Lead us not into temptation.’ There can be no careless ease while our own lips cry, ‘Deliver us from evil.’ And yet, Augustine insists, even in the midst of evil we must sing alleluia, because God is good, and it is God who delivers.

The key to this confidence lies in a single truth repeated by Augustine: ‘God is faithful.’ Scripture does not promise that we will be spared temptations, only that we will not be tried beyond our strength, and that God will provide a path through every danger. We are ‘debtors’ — still imperfect, still needing mercy — but God is unwaveringly faithful. Trials do not signify abandonment; rather, they shape and strengthen us. Augustine uses the image of pottery: the soul is moulded by teaching and hardened by tribulation. When we find ourselves ‘in the oven’, we must keep our minds fixed on the moment when God will bring us out again. Our trials are not purposeless; God watches over our ‘going in and coming out’, ensuring we are not consumed.

Augustine then lifts our gaze to the world to come. There, alleluia will be sung ‘in security’, free from fear, free from loss. The mortal body, burdened now by sin and destined for decay, will be raised and transformed by the very Spirit who raised Christ from the dead. The soul will no longer give life to the body; instead, the Spirit will clothe it with immortality. On that day, praise will be pure: no enemies, no temptations, no interruptions — only the joy of those who live forever in their true homeland.

Yet for now we remain wayfarers. And so Augustine ends with counsel for the road: sing, but keep going. The pilgrim’s song is not for leisure but for endurance; it lightens the labour without removing it. We must not grow idle, nor take our ease as though the journey were finished. Progress is necessary — but progress in virtue, in faith, in right living. There are some who ‘advance’ only in wickedness; the Christian must advance only in goodness, step by step, upheld by hope. The alleluia of this life accompanies our movement toward God; the alleluia of heaven will crown our arrival.

Thus Augustine teaches us to inhabit the paradox: a life anxious, yet upheld; a path dangerous, yet guided; a song trembling, yet true.

Sing, then — but keep going. Keep going — and keep singing.

A Reading From A Sermon By Saint Augustine | Let Us Sing Alleluia To God, Who Is Good And Frees Us From Evil

Let us sing alleluia here on earth, while we still live in anxiety, so that we may sing it one day in heaven in full security. Why do we now live in anxiety? Can you expect me not to feel anxious when I read: Is not man’s life on earth a time of trial? Can you expect me not to feel anxious when the words still ring in my ears: Watch and pray that you will not be put to the test? Can you expect me not to feel anxious when there are so many temptations here below that prayer itself reminds us of them, when we say: Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us? Every day we make out petitions, every day we sin. Do you want me to feel secure when I am daily asking pardon for my sins, and requesting help in time of trial? Because of my past sins I pray: Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and then, because of the perils still before me, I immediately go on to add: Lead us not into temptation. How can all be well with people who are crying out with me: Deliver us from evil? And yet, brothers, while we are still in the midst of this evil, let us sing alleluia to the good God who delivers us from evil.

Even here amidst trials and temptations let us, let all men, sing alleluia. God is faithful, says holy Scripture, and he will not allow you to be tried beyond your strength. So let us sing alleluia, even here on earth. Man is still a debtor, but God is faithful. Scripture does not say that he will not allow you to be tried, but that he will not allow you to be tried beyond your strength. Whatever the trial, he will see your through it safely, and so enable you to endure. You have entered upon a time of trial but you will come to no harm – God’s help will bring you through it safely. You are like a piece of pottery, shaped by instruction, fired by tribulation. When you are put into the oven therefore, keep your thoughts on the time when you will be taken out again; for God is faithful, and he will guard both your going in and your coming out.

But in the next life, when this body of ours has become immortal and incorruptible, then all trials will be over. Your body is indeed dead, and why? Because of sin. Nevertheless, your spirit lives, because you have been justified. Are we to leave our dead bodies behind then? By no means. Listen to the words of holy Scripture: If the Spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead dwells within you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your own mortal bodies. At present your body receives its life from the soul, but then it will receive it from the Spirit.

O the happiness of the heavenly alleluia, sung in security, in fear of no adversity! We shall have no enemies in heaven, we shall never lose a friend. God’s praises are sung both there and here, but here they are sung by those destined to die, there, by those destined to live for ever; here they are sung in hope, there, in hope’s fulfillment; here they are sung by wayfarers, there, by those living in their own country.

So, then, my brothers, let us sing now, not in order to enjoy a life of leisure, but in order to lighten our labors. You should sing as wayfarers do – sing, but continue your journey. Do not be lazy, but sing to make your journey more enjoyable. Sing, but keep going. What do I mean by keep going? Keep on making progress. This progress, however, must be in virtue; for there are some, the Apostle warns, whose only progress is in vice. If you make progress, you will be continuing your journey, but be sure that your progress is in virtue, true faith and right living. Sing then, but keep going.

Christian Prayer With Jesus

O God, our faithful refuge,
in whose mercy we stand even amid trial:
teach us to sing alleluia in this present life
with hearts made humble by our weakness
and strengthened by your unfailing care.

When our sins weigh upon us, grant us pardon;
when temptations surround us, be our shield;
when the furnace of affliction burns hot,
keep before our eyes the hope of deliverance.
Shape us by your teaching, refine us by your providence,
and let no trial exceed the strength that your grace bestows.

Lord, sustain us as wayfarers on the road to our true homeland.
Keep our steps in the path of virtue,
our faith steadfast,
and our desire set upon the alleluia of heaven,
where fear is cast out,
where friends are never lost,
and where you are praised in everlasting joy.

Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Glossary Of Christian Terms

Alleluia – A Hebrew word meaning ‘Praise the Lord’. In Christian worship it becomes a cry of joy, hope, and thanksgiving. Augustine distinguishes between the earthly alleluia (sung amid trials) and the heavenly alleluia (sung in perfect security).

Trial / Temptation – In Scripture, the testing of a believer’s faith or virtue. Augustine uses the term to refer both to external hardships and to interior struggles against sin. God does not remove all trials, but limits them so they do not exceed our strength.

Deliver us from evil – A petition from the Lord’s Prayer asking for protection from the evil one, from sin, and from all that separates us from God. For Augustine, this prayer expresses the Christian’s constant dependence on divine help.

Debtor – Augustine calls us ‘debtors’ because we continually owe God repentance for our sins and obedience to his will. The term echoes Saint Paul’s language, acknowledging our moral and spiritual dependence on grace.

Furnace / Oven of Tribulation – A metaphor drawn from pottery. Instruction shapes the soul as a potter shapes clay; trials harden and complete it like heat firing a vessel. The image emphasises that suffering, under God’s care, purifies rather than destroys.

Immortality / Incorruptibility – The state of the resurrected body in the life to come, no longer subject to decay, pain, or death. Augustine explains that the Spirit, who raised Christ, will also raise and transform our mortal bodies.

Wayfarers – A traditional Christian image for believers in this life. We are travellers journeying through a foreign land toward our true homeland in heaven. To ‘sing and keep going’ is to persevere in virtue and hope.

Homeland – Heaven; the final dwelling-place of the blessed. Augustine contrasts our temporary, anxious pilgrimage on earth with the secure, joyful rest of our true country with God.