With Patience You Will Win Your Souls--And Others' Series

Tuesday of the 21st Week in Course 2019

St. Monica

St. Luke tells us in the sixteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles that on his second missionary journey, St. Paul went to familiar communities in Anatolia–Asia Minor–and intended to evangelize all of that huge area. But the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, did not permit it. Instead he was led down to the coast near the area of Troy–famous from Homer’s epic poem. Paul had a night vision–not just a dream–of a Macedonian telling him to come to Macedonia and help the inhabitants. So he sailed across the Aegean Sea and went to Philippi, making some converts. But when he exorcized a young slave woman there, someone who by her demon-inspired visions had made money for her masters, Paul and Silas were apprehended and beaten by a crowd and thrown into prison. That’s the trouble that St. Paul is reminding the Thessalonians of in the first reading. But the trouble eventually led to the spread of the Gospel in the whole region including Thessalonica.

As Paul spread the message of Jesus, and spread the influence of the Church through the Roman world, unfortunately Jewish leaders took offense at the preaching about One they considered just a crucified carpenter, and opposed Paul. In fact, their opposition was quite widespread; most of the success evangelists had in the early days was with the Gentiles, especially the oppressed poor, slaves, and women like Lydia, a leader in the Church at Philippi.

Jesus struck a responsive chord with the people of His day when He went after the scribes and Pharisees, whose knowledge of and practice of the six-hundred plus injunctions of the Mosaic Law was just impossible to the common person. The Church took up that message, showing that if human behavior is going to change, the human heart must change first. And a true, solid, lasting change for the good only comes with the reception of and growth in the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus. If the Spirit of Jesus fills our hearts, then we will say what Jesus said and do what Jesus did, but in our own time. Take the issue of mass murder. You can pass all the laws and confiscate all the guns and knives, but the real bad guys will still have them, and it will be easier for them to use them, since people will not be able to defend themselves. The only answer to evil actions, the only thing that will last, is the conversion of the bad guys. Law just points out what is wrong. Only the Spirit of Christ can give us the motivation and energy to do only what is good.

That leads us to the most patient and insistently prayerful of the saints, I believe, St. Monica. In brief, she was a Catholic woman married to a pagan man, Patricius, and mother of a wayward son, whose name was Augustinus. In his magnificent Confession, Augustine testifies to Monica’s devotion to her family and her constant prayer for her family members’ conversion to Christ and the Church.

“Patricius had some redeeming features, but he had a violent temper and was licentious. Monica also had to bear with a cantankerous mother-in-law who lived in her home. Patricius criticized his wife because of her charity and piety, but always respected her. Monica’s prayers and example finally won her husband and mother-in-law to Christianity.”

Augustine was brilliant, but he was also self-willed to the max. He was a great teacher, but he made the mistake of moving to Milan, where Ambrose was bishop. Monica had followed her son to Milan, and took Ambrose as her spiritual director. Monica became a leader of the devout women in his diocese, and Ambrose became a spiritual father to Augustine. Augustine had a lot to give up, including a woman with whom he had a child. Monica prayed and prayed for him, and about the age of thirty-three, was baptized by Ambrose. Monica died shortly after that, and Augustine became the greatest leader and theologian of the first millennium of Christianity.

Our prayers often look ineffective, but they are like dripping water on the rock of our heart and the stony hearts of other people for whom we pray. It may take decades, but they always are helpful in wearing away hardness and exposing our natural hearts to the influence of the Holy Spirit. So we can say, St. Monica pray for us; St. Monica pray with us.