Daily Reflection for Thursday, August 27, 2020
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners,
We encourage you to reflect on Thursday’s readings at this link: Click Here
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: 1st Corinthians 1:1-9
Responsorial: Psalm 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Gospel: Matthew 24:42-51
Our reflection on the Memorial of Saint Monica:
Today is the Feast Day of our patroness, Saint Monica. She is not only our patron saint, but the patron saint of mothers, married women and converts. As members of Saint Monica parish, we’ve been told about some of the basics of her life and why she was so revered in the early Church. We’ve heard of her continual prayer for her son, Augustine, who was infamous for his immorality, and her marriage to a non-Christian man, which was a source of pain to Monica. Both of these figures eventually converted to Christianity as a result of her encouragement and persistence. She provides such a fantastic example of love and faith. None of this was new to me when I decided to read a short biography of her life. However, in all of this, it failed to sink in that Monica in many ways was living the example of a loving God.
She was offering her loved ones a path to eternal life, which they routinely rejected. These men who were so dear to her heart continually disappointed her, criticized her, mocked her faith, and in the case of her son, Augustine, even tried to run away from her because she annoyed him so much.
If I’m being honest sometimes I can be a lot like that, rejecting the sound advice and love of a dear friend or family member and running away from God. Yet she did not give up on them just as God does not give up on us. Instead of growing frustrated with their rejections and bad behavior as I probably would, she pushed, prodded and prayed for them until they were awakened to God’s love. Just as God is patient and loving with us despite our sins and denials of his love, so was Saint Monica.
We are all called to be saints in our own right. So many stories of saints focus on miraculous deeds or other works of charity that just seem so hard to live up to as to be out of reach. Yet Monica was a woman whose story we can all relate to. She was a mother and wife who loved so deeply that she refused to give up on her loved ones. She was like so many of us rooting for a loved one to be converted and change their negative behaviors. We can be just like Monica, praying for a change that seems so hopeless that it seems a miracle is the only hope. Being Monica isn’t easy, but it isn’t out of reach. Prayer and faithfulness are all that’s needed.
Who in your life is in need of prayer and conversion? How can you be like Monica and remind them of the loving power of God?
Peace and blessings,
Pete Kuester