Memorial of Saint Monica
Intention: For all who live in the darkness of poverty, violence, abuse, or neglect, that they may know the comfort of our solidarity and assistance, and the restoration of their security and dignity.
Today’s Gospel | Matthew 24:42-51
Jesus said to his disciples: “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
From the Meditation on Saint Monica | Saint John Baptist de La Salle
In her youth Saint Monica had a special attraction to prayer, and her greatest pleasure was to spend days and nights in prayer, avoiding the company of those who might turn her attention away from God. Having learned some prayers from her mother, she never gave up reciting them. What a blessing it is to be brought up in piety from our youth! This makes it easier to preserve that spirit throughout life. Saint Monica had this advantage, and it contributed a great deal to the conversion of her husband and of her son.
Do you take care to educate the children confided to you in a Christian spirit? Do you try, above all else, to inspire them with recollection in their prayers and with love for this holy practice? You, on your part, ought to pray much for them to obtain for them from God the gift of piety, something God alone can give them.
Prayer
Eternal Father, we pray today for the gift of openness. Each day, you call us to new life, new hope, new possibilities. Help us overcome the ways that we can close ourselves off from your grace. Open our hearts to feel your compassion for one another; open our ears to hear the truth that you are trying to teach us; open our eyes to see this world as you and not we would have it. We ask this of who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.