August 27
Saint Monica
Gospel: Matthew
24:42-51
Gospel: Matthew 24:42-51
Today's Gospel: Matthew 24:42-51
(The Faithful or
the Unfaithful Servant)
Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on
which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had
known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at
an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant,
whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their
food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival
finds doing so. Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his
property. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long
delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with
drunkards, the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an
unknown hour and will punish him severely and
assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and
grinding of teeth.
Reflection:
Thirty years. That's how long Monica prayed for
Augustine, through his ambition, his false teachings, a life that broke her
heart on repeat. She never knew the hour. She stayed faithful anyway. A bishop
once told her, tired of her tears, that a child cried over so much couldn't be
lost. He was right. Augustine became one of the greatest minds the Church has
ever produced.
That's the servant in today's Gospel. Not someone
standing still, waiting. Someone still working, still praying, still showing up,
long after it would've been easier to quit. Monica didn't get a timeline. She
got Our Lady, and she leaned on her the way Mary leaned in at Cana, stepping in
before anyone even asked.
Faithful watching doesn't feel dramatic while you're doing it. It feels like
showing up again on the day you're most tempted not to.
What did you stop praying for, right before God answered it? Maybe a week
too soon, or a day. We give up right at the edge of the answer. Just remember,
God isn't tired of hearing from us. He never stops listening. So don't let
silence become your habit. Pray unceasingly, not just when it's easy, not just
when you remember. Just keep praying.
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely shared.
