“Speak less to Augustine about God and more to God about Augustine.” -St. Ambrose to St. Monica

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine of Hippo.

St. Monica's story is one that takes many twists and turns. Often we look at the lives of the saints and feel like sainthood is unattainable. But the saints, while very holy people, weren't perfect and didn't have perfect lives. They had their own vices and their own obstacles in life. It was how they trusted in God and asked Him for strength during these difficulties that made them qualified for sainthood. Once they found their way to God, they did not turn back.

St. Monica's biggest trial is one that perhaps a number of us relate to. While he is now renowned as a doctor of the Church due to his writings that laid the foundation for modern thoughts on Christianity, St. Monica's son Augustine turned away from the Catholic Church for a good portion of his life, nearly seventeen years. Raised in the Catholic faith, St. Augustine fell into a life of sin and darkness. Sins of impurity and pride plagued his mind and turned his heart from Jesus. He no longer believed in God and His Truth. 

Initially, St. Monica cast Augustine from her home. His new ideas of religion and the afterlife seemingly startled her - this was not the same boy that she had raised to know the goodness of God. After a period of time with the two estranged, St. Monica had a vision. She was to reconcile with her son. She visited their local bishop in tears, asking how she could help her son. The bishop comforted her saying, "The child of those tears shall never perish."

It is important to note that St. Monica fought to have her children baptized. Her husband was a Roman pagan and uninterested in religion - he did not give permission for Augustine to be baptized until he had fallen significantly ill as a child. After meeting with the bishop, St. Monica returned to her fight to save her child from sin. She committed to a regular regimen of intense prayer  and fasting for her son. When Augustine left for school, St. Monica went with him. There, she met St. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, who assisted in leading Augustine back to the faith. 

How many of us have witnessed similar situations in our lives? We raise our children to know our loving and forgiving God, only for the seductions of the world around us to distract them and draw them away from Him. They look for something to give them happiness, but true happiness is found in our Father. 

As St. Ambrose said to St. Monica upon learning about St. Augustine's situation, "Speak less to Augustine about God and more to God about Augustine.” While we may find the urge to constantly remind our children who have fallen away that God is there, it is ultimately their choice. St. Monica witnessed her son live a precarious life with parties, stealing, lovers, even a child born of wedlock. But she did not pressure him or force him to live a certain way. She simply prayed for him to find his way back to God. To realize that God was the only answer to filling a hole he was anxiously trying to fill.

If you have a child who has fallen away from God (a relative, friend, etc.), we invite you to join us in this prayer for intercession from St. Monica. We are praying for all those who have fallen away from His love.

St. Monica, I need your prayers. You know exactly how I’m feeling because you once felt it yourself. I’m hurting, hopeless, and in despair. I desperately want my child to return to Christ in his Church but I can’t do it alone. I need God’s help. Please join me in begging the Lord’s powerful grace to flow into my child’s life. Ask the Lord Jesus to soften his heart, prepare a path for his conversion, and activate the Holy Spirit in his life. Amen.

{Prayer from Word on Fire}

In honor of today's Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus, we are bringing back a classic article written by our Human Resources Manager, Debbie Field. Are you a Martha or a Mary? Let's find out!

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​Me? Yea, I tend to lean “Martha”.  Is that a good thing or a bad thing?  Well, let’s see.

I suppose the story of Mary and Martha is ultimately all about priorities.  Were the tasks for the day just as important or more important than focusing on our Lord?  Or was there room for both?

The Need for Both

We need do-ers in our lives like Martha.  And we also need Marys who focus on what our Lord wants from us and spending time in His presence.  It doesn’t hurt to be a little of both, but leaning more toward the Mary side is what Jesus impresses upon us in his gospel.  Jesus’ word should be our first priority while ensuring the tasks of the day come second.  It is likely all of us have both of the qualities we see in Mary and Martha.  However, when we focus the attention on Our Lord which He  deserves, we then tend to share that focus with others in service of our family, fellow parishioners, and those in our community.

How Do You Learn?

So, leaning Mary or leaning Martha is something we should all examine in ourselves.  Clearly being a “Mary” is a different/closer relationship with Jesus and understanding what he wants of us.  Our daily lives reflect the busy nature of our jobs, taking our children to soccer, daycare, basketball practice, etc.  And all of us will assess where to draw that bright line of too much or just enough.  However, it is incumbent that all people of God understand proportion and priorities.  This story of Mary and Martha brings into focus where those priorities belong.  Jesus worked hard to spread the news of eternal life through His ministry.  So, working hard is not a bad thing.  It’s when we allow that hard work to get in the way of understanding what we can learn from our Lord which may make us a “Martha”.

Being a “Martha” doesn’t mean you don’t have “Mary” in your heart.  Martha’s hard work clearly didn’t mean she didn’t love Jesus.  She clearly did; however, her focus was more logistical and hospitality-like.  She was one to serve in an effort to ensure her household was run properly and efficiently.  Martha allowed the distractions of her desire to make everything perfect for Jesus, get in the way of what was truly important.

To Martha's Surprise...
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Upon Jesus’ arrival, He made sure He conveyed there were other priorities which He wanted Martha to focus on.  It’s likely Martha was not in her comfort zone hearing this.  Afterall, she was one to take care and ensure all were treated generously and that all preparations had been made for Jesus or any guest who visited her home.  To have Jesus admonish her or remind her of the need to be “Mary-like” was probably quite surprising to her.

Do you let your day’s activities sway the attention from our Lord?  Focusing some time each day on peace and quiet allows us to set aside the chaos and craziness we all experience in our days and re-direct our focus to the One who loves us, Jesus.

Yes, You Can

But can we be both Mary and Martha at the same time?  Now, there is a question.  Perhaps through our parish ministries, which elicit the time of so many of us, we can focus on what our Lord wants of us.  Both devotion to the ministry and its goals, as well as the hard work it takes in some cases, is a way to be a little bit of Mary and a little bit of Martha, and still be what Jesus wants of us.

Many Become One

As we, within the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, begin our second year of transitioning our parishes into families of parishes, transition is also a Martha/Mary story.  Should we focus on the planning, the merging of staffs, the mass time changes, the ministry similarities, or the new pastor changes?  Or should we look toward the future when the parishes will be one family and share in the love of Christ together.  Jesus is not worried about the “how” we get there, but about the “what” our family will look like once we have arrived.  It is up to all of us to be “Mary-like” for that goal to be achieved.

We are multiple families becoming one and regardless of what we may have lost, or the grief we are experiencing in the loss of a beloved priest, our traditional mass times, a long-held parish identity, or perhaps the structural church itself to another, it is up to each one of us to listen to Jesus as he guides us to be one family.

​Please Pray for Us

So, must I change from being a “Martha” to a “Mary” to be all Jesus wants me to be?  Perhaps.  Or can I ensure my heart is “Mary-like” and my hands “Martha-like”? As a member of an Archdiocese of Cincinnati parish, I ask for your prayers that all of us who are transitioning be blessed with the strength Jesus grants us to accept the things we find difficult to accept and grateful for the opportunity to join with others of another parish as we become one family.  This is for each of us to pray on as we examine how we experience the presence of Jesus.
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Martha or Mary? Jesus loved them both. And regardless which you feel you are more like, He loves you!!

Written by Mary Ward

Is it any surprise that God refers to Himself as the Father? 

While our human minds and hearts cannot fully comprehend God’s beautiful, pure, unconditional love, He gave us a glimpse of it in our earthly relationships, especially that of being a mother or father.

Being a parent is one of the great joys in life!  We love our kids unconditionally!

And being a grandparent…is icing on the cake! Wow! What great gifts grandchildren are!  How blessed we are to be grandparents!

This weekend we celebrate the Feast Day of Saints Anne and Joachim, patron saints of grandparents.  We don’t know much about the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grandparents of Jesus, but we do know that they were faithful to God.  They were promised a child by an angel.  They were blessed so much by having Mary as their daughter!

I wonder at the pure bliss of raising a young woman so holy and so favored by God.

Can you even imagine what joy they experienced when their daughter was chosen to be the mother of our Lord and Savior, Jesus?!? 

As Mary pondered in her heart the words of the Angel Gabriel, was she able to share with her mother, Anne?  We know she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, but we don’t know about her mom and dad.

Were Saints Anne and Joachim involved in the life of Jesus as he was growing up?

I wonder what a delight He was to them.  I wonder if they saw His light, His perfection.

I wonder if they had any idea that their grandson would truly be the Son of God and the Savior of the world.

I wonder if we, too, can rejoice in being grandparents of those whom God has chosen for a special purpose on this earth.  I pray that we are good examples for our children and grandchildren.

On the Feast Day of Saints Anne and Joachim, let’s remember God’s perfect love as we hope and pray for the fruition of God’s perfect plan in the lives of our grandchildren.