“More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” Alfred Lord Tennyson.
I believe there is no greater power, in heaven or on earth, than the power of prayer. Prayer Invites us to surrender our lives and our agenda to that of the living God. If like the Pharisees, we think we are in control and we present a perfect but false profile to the outside world, we remain slaves to our egos and our own agenda. We find it difficult to surrender. Surrender is the keyword.
Saint Monica: A Saint for Our Times
Let me illustrate with the life of one of the great women saints of the early Church from the 4th century. Monica was not perfect. She had a drinking problem, addicted to wine. And she was a doting mother who refused to surrender even to God and his timing for the ultimate conversion of her beloved son, Augustine. Her commitment to getting him back to the faith was on her timetable.
Saint Augustine was a difficult child. With his friends, he loved to engage in a theft for its own sake, stealing pears from the neighbors not because he was hungry, but for the thrill of getting away with it. He rebelled against his parents. Against the norms of society. Against the Catholic faith. He left home to go out on his own. He became a man who kept a mistress who fathered a child out of wedlock.
Thoroughly educated in rhetoric and argumentation, he became a skilled writer so brilliant that the emperor himself in Milan used him as a speechwriter. He dabbled in various philosophies and religions, even joining a sect called Manicheans with both the God of good and the God of evil.
Saint Monica Models Ardent Prayer
During all these travails, Monica kept praying ardently for his return to the faith, for his surrender and salvation to the living God Jesus Christ. He tried to escape her Influence, even going to various countries to get away from her, but she followed wherever he went. One day in Milan, he experienced the preaching of the brilliant Archbishop of Milan, St. Ambrose. Finally surrendering to the Truth, he asked to be baptized and was reconciled with his mother, who had prayed and prayed and prayed until she too surrendered her agenda to the agenda of God himself, which was more wonderful than she could have imagined.
Her life's work completed, Monica joined Augustine in the seaport of Rome called Ostia. On a starry night, on a balcony overlooking the courtyard, just the two of them sharing their hearts about the afterlife and other spiritual matters, she finally confessed to Augustine that her work is done and that she had no further need to remain on this earth. She said that soon she would be departing. He asked her where she wanted to be buried, and her words were: “I do not care where you bury me, as long as you promise one thing, always to remember me at the altar of the Lord.”
You know the rest of the story. Augustine became the great priest, bishop and doctor of the Church, a tower in the Catholic Church of the first Millennium. He continues to influence how we live the faith and and how we practice it down to this very day. It all came down to finally giving up one's own agenda and surrendering in prayer, in faith to the living God who has created us for himself, and our souls are not at rest until they rest in Him.
- Today’s Readings
- Father Willy's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page.
- To join the Rosary and Mass Livestream, visit the Family Rosary YouTube or Facebook page at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, Monday – Friday. Consider inviting others to join too! (*If you are not a member of Facebook and a signup window appears, simply select the X at the top of the pop-up message and continue to the livestream.)
