Remembering St Monica - “the child of those tears shall never perish”

The readings of today from 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3,14-17 and Matthew 23:23-26 suggest the need for sound reason. As Paul says, “Don’t go racing after those groups who preach that the end of the world is coming soon.” This was 2000 years ago and we still need to deal with the problem of outrageous religious claims. Paul simply says, “Stand firm … and keep to the traditions that we taught you.” In the gospel Jesus is speaking to the religious teachers of his time who emphasised the payment of a tenth of their harvest to the Lord and the purification of their cups and dishes after eating while ignoring more important parts of the Law which had to do with being just and merciful and loyal towards one’s neighbour. Today we remember a woman by the name of Monica who was probably descended from one of the Berber tribes of North Africa. She suffered as a wife and a mother. Her husband was unfaithful and her son, Augustine, wasted his life and got caught up in a strange religious cult. As she prayed for her son, a local bishop once comforted her by saying “the child of those tears shall never perish”. I think she was not only a woman of deep faith, but also a mother of unbounded love and a person of sound reason. I think she passed on the gifts of faith and reason to her son. It took time and she followed her son when he secretly left for Italy. There she eventually saw her son undergo conversion and baptism. Augustine’s grief at the death of his mother inspired his famous Confessions. She is the patron saint of women in difficult marriages and mothers who are anxious about their children. My mother prayed to St Monica. I hope I did’t cause her too much anxiety and I hope St Monica helped to comfort her.