Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:08] Today is Sunday, may 10th.
[00:00:23] It's Mother's Day in the US So. So today we are going to begin with the patron saint of mothers, wives, alcoholics and conversion, St. Monica.
[00:00:34] St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine, was born in North Africa in the year 332.
[00:00:41] She grew up in a Christian family and learned to pray and trust God from an early age.
[00:00:48] In his confessions, St. Augustine shares a story about his mother and her taste for wine.
[00:00:55] Apparently, as a little girl, Monica would sip wine when she was asked to retrieve it from the cellar for her parents.
[00:01:03] But when a servant girl called her out on her secret habit, she quit.
[00:01:09] The discipline Monica showed would guide her future dedication to a life of prayer and faith.
[00:01:17] Later, Monica was married to Patricius, a pagan with a hot temper.
[00:01:22] Her husband's mother also lived in the home, and she didn't make Monica's life any easier.
[00:01:28] Despite the challenges she faced daily, Monica bore them with patience, love and unwavering faith.
[00:01:36] Monica deeply believed in the power of prayer. She prayed daily for her family and her example touched the people around her.
[00:01:45] In time, her prayers helped bring her mother in law and husband to the faith.
[00:01:51] Her greatest concern was her oldest son, Augustine.
[00:01:55] For many years, he turned away from God.
[00:01:58] At first, Monica did not even let him live or eat at home.
[00:02:03] But after experiencing a vision that her son would return to the faith, she drew close to him once again.
[00:02:10] She never stopped praying and fasting for him.
[00:02:14] At Easter. In 387, her prayers were answered.
[00:02:18] Augustine was baptized.
[00:02:22] St. Monica's life reminds us that God hears our prayers and sees our tears.
[00:02:28] Her example shows that patience and love can help the Lord change hearts.
[00:02:42] Our homily today is titled Hindsight is 2020.
[00:02:51] We all know people for whom our attention and approval would have meant a great deal, but we didn't realize it at the time.
[00:02:59] So often it's only after they've gone from our lives that we realize a lot of things about someone and maybe wish we had done or said something differently.
[00:03:13] This is how it must have been for the apostles.
[00:03:16] There was so much about Jesus that they didn't understand.
[00:03:21] It was only later, 20 or 30 years afterward, in many instances, that they realized what had taken place.
[00:03:30] Maybe my thought is about how clueless those fishermen were.
[00:03:35] Why didn't they understand?
[00:03:38] But often I do the same thing.
[00:03:40] I am so close to what is going on that I miss underlying meanings and see only the routine happenings.
[00:03:49] It is only in hindsight that I appreciate many things, many people.
[00:03:56] I wonder how often I do the same thing to Jesus in my life.
[00:04:02] He is part of my life today.
[00:04:05] How many overtures has he made to me that I have missed?
[00:04:10] I can think about the times when I never realized how much he cared, how much my caring meant to Him.
[00:04:20] I can think about the day's events and about how much he is present in all of them.
[00:04:27] That's why I have to pray.
[00:04:30] Prayer helps me to step back a bit and appreciate Jesus presence in my life every minute of the day.
[00:04:39] But they understood nothing of this.
[00:04:42] The Word remained hidden from them, and they failed to comprehend what he said.
[00:04:48] Luke chapter 18, verse 34.
[00:04:57] Spend some quiet time with the Lord.
