Saint Augustine Feast Day: Call Us to Holiness In Our Community

 

“Our hearts are restless until they rest in You,” is a famous quote attributed to Saint Augustine of Hippo. At St. Augustine Catholic High School in Tucson, we start everyday with prayer and this quote. So on August 28th, we honored our patron saint with our annual Day of Service. Our feast day celebration is always one of the best days of the year at St. A’s. This year, our service projects were paired with a particular Catholic Social Teaching.   
 

Kids and staff started off the morning listening to representatives from five service organizations in the Tucson community. The groups included Reachout Women’s Center, Knights of Columbus Mother Theresa Council #12696, Tucson Diaper Bank, Stand Up for Kids, and Christ Child Society. Each speaker explained who benefits from their organization, and why someone reaches out for their assistance. Each shared examples of how their services link to Catholic Social Teaching.   

Most of the morning, we participated in projects such as creating Mass booklets, posters about Saint Augustine’s life, and writing thank you letters to veterans and first responders. Some of us made blankets and created toiletry bags for young people at Stand Up for Kids. We want to thank our St. A’s parents for the awesome supplies they donated to this project!

 

The best part of our day was when we got back together as a whole school to share how we now feel about helping others. Each class had a chance to talk about why we need to care for our world and one another. Longtime St. Augustine's teacher, Mr. Robert Johnson shared, “Today was very good! I think the students really got a sense of what service means.” Doing good things is always welcomed, but when we can connect our faith and call to discipleship with good works… well, that just makes what we do even better: we aren’t doing good for us but for the sake of others.  

 

Truly, the best Mission Day ever!