“Do not weep” the Lord said to the mournful mother. For any grief-stricken
parent, those are challenging words. How does a parent hold back their tears at
the death of a child?
The grief of a parent who loses a child is unlike any other
kind of sorrow. There is shock and disbelief. Even if the death is expected
through illness, the reality of loss often feels incomprehensible.
It is a grief that brings with it fatigue and body ache. A
parent feels as if their identity is shattered—are they really a parent if
their child is gone? Even when the loss is beyond their control, there is a
sense of failure.
The Lord drew near to the grief-stricken mother with compassion, and as
members of the Church, we are to do the same. We have a special obligation to
the grief-stricken—those who have lost their children or spouses or family physically.
Our bereavement ministry is one type of outreach, but we do well to pray often
for the grief-stricken.
This reading has been especially chosen by the Church for
the memorial of St. Monica, who wept for her son, Augustine, as he engaged in a
life of mortal sin.
Augustine was not unlike many modern Catholic young people.
After moving out their Catholic home, they stop going to church, they engage in
licentiousness, they adopt behaviors and ideas that are totally inconsistent
with the path of life. Monica wept for her son, who had a child out of wedlock
and became involved in strange cults. I know many parents who are filled with
similar grief.
St. Ambrose, who was instrumental in Augustine’s conversion,
wrote how the whole Church weeps for the fallen away. He wrote, “Let the Mother
of the Church weep for you, she who intercedes for all as a widowed mother for
only sons, for she suffers with the spiritual grief…when she perceives her
children urged on to death by mortal sins”.
For that is why Monica wept: she dreaded that her son would die
in mortal seen and be separated from the Lord of Life in eternity. But Monica
did not just weep or dread. As a woman of faith, she prayed and entrusted her
Son to the Lord day after day. She brought the intention of Augustine’s
conversion to the altar as she attended mass.
Years later, in his spiritual autobiography, Augustine
writes about how his mother was instrumental in his conversion: “Lord, while
she constantly wept over me in your sight as a over a dead man, it was over one
who though dead could still be raised to life again; she offered me to you upon
the bier of her medication, begging you to say to this widow’s son, ‘Young man,
arise, I tell you,’ that he might live again and begin to speak, so that you
could restore him to his mother.”
St. Monica trusted that Augustine, though apparently dead,
could be raised. St. Monica is a model of patience, persistence, prayer, faith and
trust in the Lord of Life. May she assist all those who grieve, and pray for all those for whom we
grieve, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.
With confidence in God who hears the cry of the sorrowful
and answers the prayers of the faithful, let us place our petitions before Him.
For the holy Church of God: that, like St. Monica, she may
persevere in prayer for all her children, especially those who have wandered
from the faith.
For parents who grieve the loss of a child: that they may
find comfort in the Lord who draws near to the brokenhearted.
For those experiencing any kind of hardship or sorrow,
isolation, addiction, or disease: may they know God’s strength and peace and
the assistance of the Christian people.
For all our beloved dead, that they may be raised up in
Christ to the joy of eternal life.
God of mercy and compassion, you heard the tears and prayers
of St. Monica and brought about the conversion of her son Augustine. Hear our
prayers this day, console those who grieve, and bring back the lost to your
Church, through Christ our Lord.
