THE HEART OF A REALLY GOOD MOTHER. (Homily for August 27, 2016. Saturday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time.)

Memorial of St. Monica.
Bible Study: 1st Corinthians 1, 26 to 31 and Matthew 25, 14 to 30.
         
                                                                                           
I guess you still remember this song:  Sweet mother, I no go forget you.  For this suffer wey you suffer for me. When I dey cry, my mother go carry me, She go say my pikin weti you dey cry o yo. Stop stop, stop stop, stop stop make you no cry again.

Today, we celebrate the life of a great Saint. A woman of excellence; a mother to the core; a woman who believed that with God nothing is impossible; a true mother who would never give up on her wayward son; a woman who believed in the power of prayers and continued to pray even when it seemed as if her boy was getting worse every day. Today we celebrate a mama-father, a mama-bishop, a super mum who knew the art of raising a child. St. Monica is an icon of true motherhood, a great patron of mothers and a shining example of the meaning of what it takes to be a mother.

I have seen women who go through a lot because of their children. I have seen women who love their children so much that they would rather shed their blood than see any of their children die. I have seen women who teach their children how to become industrious and self-reliant in life just like the servants who traded with their master’s talents as Jesus tells us in the Gospel passage

I have seen women who teach their children the fear of God, women who tell their children the truth rather than encourage them to be proud and boastful as St. Paul condemns in the first reading.

I have seen women who pray for their children so much, that they even forget to pray for themselves; women who spend countless hours day and night praying till heavens open like the case of St. Monica who we celebrate today.

Like the widow who kept pestering the unjust judge, St. Monica prayed relentlessly for her son St. Augustine. And like the Canaanite woman who was prepared to receive insults from Jesus for the sake of her daughter who was possessed, St. Monica went through thick and thin for her son Augustine.

Oh, how beautiful the heart of a mother can be! How marvellous the heart that never gives up on her children. Mother is sweet. Mother is beautiful. Mother is gold. St. Monica, pray for our mothers, give them that special grace to raise up their children well and the faith to keep on praying for their children unceasingly.

Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, bless us our mothers and those about to be mothers that they would be the best of mothers to their children. Amen.

Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.
Happy weekend.


Fr. Abu

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