21st Week, Friday, August 27: St. Monica
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 / Matthew 23:23-26
Paul instructs the Thessalonians; God called us to holiness.
A motorist drove into a “full-service”
station. Three attendants charged out to meet him. The first began to wash the
windows, the second checked under the hood, and the third checked the tire
pressure. When the trio finished their jobs, the motorist paid for the ten
gallons of gas and drove off. Three minutes later the motorist returned. Once
more, the three attendants charged out. “I hate to ask this,” said the
motorist, “but did anyone put gas in my car?” The attendants looked at one
another. In their rush to serve, they
had forgotten the gas. Paul reminds his readers _—that we sometimes get so
caught up with life that we forget the main reason why God put us here.
***
Where does personal holiness stand on our
list of priorities? “Be holy - for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” Leviticus
19:2
***
The greatest danger for the church in Thessalonika is
the pagan vices: sex, fraud, revelry, vague sectarian movements. Paul gives the
church the motto: The will of God is your sanctification. He explains what he
means by sanctification: to strive for perfection, to observe all that the Lord
taught them. Sanctification goes directly against the fads and vices of the
time. Living in sin is rejecting God. It is very important for Christianity
that the faith demands a moral life. Religion and morality are coming from the
same source - the faith in the all holy God and Christ. Holiness is the call of
God, it receives the grace of God that makes us strong, it is the gift of the
Spirit of God.
***
Today we celebrate the memorial of St Monica, the mother of St Augustine, whose memorial we will celebrate tomorrow. We celebrate this memorial not simply because St Monica was the mother of a great saint. Part of the opening prayer for Mass goes like this and it is worth to take note: O God, who console the sorrowful and who mercifully accepted the motherly tears of St. Monica for the conversion of her son Augustine.
St Monica was born of Christian parents. She married a good man but he had a violent temper and was sometimes unfaithful. But St Monica managed to convert him to Christianity and he was later baptized. Her son, Augustine, proved to be a much greater challenge. When she was exhausted and tired with her son's wild and wheeling ways, she approached a bishop to ask him to intervene. The bishop responded with these prophetic words: Let him be, and continue to pray for him. It is impossible that a son of so many tears should be lost.
St Monica dedicated most of her life praying for the
conversion of St Augustine. All in all, she prayed for something like 30 years
before she finally had the joy of seeing St Augustine baptized. The
consolation, experienced by St Monica and her total abandonment to God can also
be ours today when we persevere in patience and in trust.
***
When the bridegroom leaves the parents’ house on
horseback to fetch the bride, his brothers, relatives and friends try to hold
him back So that he is often delayed. Weddings start anyhow only after dark. At
the bride’s home, they eagerly await him to give him a festive welcome. The girls
add brilliance by receiving him with burning lamps, gracefully dancing as they
lead him to the house. Three details attract our attention, some of the maidens
are called foolish. It is foolishness not to be ready. It is foolish to have a
lamp that gives no light. When the bridegroom comes, they hear the sound of
revel and mirth. They see the light of the procession and cannot join it for
the last stretch. Both slept: the wise and the foolish. They want to light the
lamps, but have no oil. The shining, light that honors the coming of the
bridegroom are the good works, grace giving good deeds.
***
Dear St. Monica, troubled wife and mother, Many sorrows pierced your
heart during your lifetime. Yet you never despaired or lost faith. With
confidence, persistence and profound faith, you prayed daily for the conversion
of your beloved husband, Patricius, and your beloved son, Augustine. Grant me
that same fortitude, patience and trust in the Lord. Intercede for me, dear St.
Monica, for (mention your petition here) and grant me the grace to
accept his will in all things, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen
***
Prayer: Lord our God, source of all wisdom, you
invite us to be wise and to encounter your Son with burning lamps in our hands.
Help us to be prepared to meet him in the events of daily life and in people
around us, that we may enter with him into your feast that lasts forever. Amen
