“If our loved one is indeed in purgatory, they would much rather have our prayers than our praise.” The end of August brings us back-to-back feast days of two great saints, Monica and Augustine. There are few saint stories as legendary as this one: the mother who prays for decades for the conversion of her son, who is very intelligent but […]
St. Monica
Our Deepest Desire is Satisfied on the Road to Emmaus
Reflection on the Mass readings for the Third Sunday of Easter (Year A) — Acts 2:14, 22-28; Psalms 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11; First Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35. Deep within each and every one of us there is a hunger and a thirst. We all experience this yearning of the soul—a heart that burns with longing, but we don’t always recognize what […]
Our Deepest Desire—Satisfied on the Road to Emmaus
Reflection on the Mass readings for the Third Sunday of Easter (Year A) — Acts 2:14, 22-28; Psalms 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11; First Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35. Deep within each and every one of us there is a hunger and a thirst. We all experience this yearning of the soul—a heart that burns with longing, but we don’t always recognize what […]
Daily Catholic Quote — from St. Monica
“Bury my body wherever you will; let not care of it cause you any concern. One thing only I ask you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be.” (St. Augustine, quoting his mother, St. Monica; Confessions; from Office of the Readings for August 27) The Memorial of St. Monica (331 – 387) is […]
A Grief Answered
This weekend we celebrate back-to-back feast days of two great saints, Monica and Augustine. There are few saint stories as legendary as this one: the mother who prays for decades for the conversion of her son, who is very intelligent but also very worldly; the son who is the prototype for so many converts as he endlessly searches for truth […]
Cowgirl Mary, Complete with a Great Hat
Our Lady of Consolation (cropped) -- By Ramon FVelasquez (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
When we first decided to take our oldest daughter to a nearby horse farm for a pony ride, we were both thinking it would just be a fun way to pass an afternoon. We had no idea that it would bring us closer together as a couple, that it would turn into a destination for so many afternoons. We would […]
Catholic Quote of the Day — from St. Monica
“Bury my body wherever you will; let not care of it cause you any concern. One thing only I ask you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be.” (St. Augustine, quoting his mother, St. Monica; Confessions; from Office of the Readings for August 27) August 27 is the Memorial of St. Monica (331 […]
Daily Catholic Quote from St. Monica
“Bury my body wherever you will; let not care of it cause you any concern. One thing only I ask you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be.” (St. Augustine, quoting his mother, St. Monica; Confessions; from Office of the Readings for August 27) August 27 is the Memorial of St. Monica (331 […]
Restless Heart: The Confessions of Augustine
“I should have been a better mother,“ St. Monica said to Bishop Ambrose about her son Augustine. “If Augustine had been an easier child, God would not have given him a mother like you,” he responded. –Dialogue from the movie RESTLESS HEART: The Confessions of St. Augustine. Such a perspective is balm to a parent’s praying heart. Ironically, the story […]
Daily Catholic Quote from St. Monica
“For my part, my son, I no longer find pleasure in anything that this life holds. What I am doing here still, or why I am still here, I do not know, for worldly hope has withered away for me. One thing only there was for which I desired to linger to linger in this life: to see you a […]