Morning Devotion for Eastertide
May 4, 2022
Feast Day of Monnica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo
The Invitatory
Alleluia. The Lord is risen indeed: Come Let us adore him.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Reading: Luke 7:11-17
Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’ Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, ‘Young man, I say to you, rise!’ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, ‘A great prophet has risen among us!’ and ‘God has looked favourably on his people!’ This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.
Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones
Monnica was born in North Africa, near Carthage, (now Tunisia), circa 331, of Christian parents, and was a Christian throughout her life. She recognized that her son, Augustine, was a man of extraordinary gifts, a brilliant thinker and a natural leader of men. Her spiritual maturity led her to transform her ambitions for his worldly success into a desire for his conversion. He, as a youth, rejected her religion with scorn, and looked to various pagan philosophies for clues to the meaning of life. He undertook a career as an orator and teacher of rhetoric, and moved from Africa to Rome and then to Milan. Monnica followed him there. In Milan, Augustine met the bishop Ambrose, from whom he learned that Christianity could be intellectually respectable, and by whose preaching he was eventually converted, Augustine was baptized on Easter Eve in 387, to the great joy of Monnica. Shortly thereafter Monnica became ill in Ostia, the port city of Rome and died there.
In this passage from Luke’s Gospel Jesus and his crowd approach the town, meeting a crowd going out of town. A man has died and neighbors are accompanying his mother to the cemetery for his burial. His mother is a widow and he was her only son. This tells us much about her now precarious status. Without either a husband or son she was in a difficult position financially, having no source of income.
We can well imagine that her grief is raw. Surrounded by neighbors she is walking in pain and sorrow. Think of the tumult of her thoughts about her future survival it is not unreasonable that this unnamed widow would not have noticed Jesus or the crowd surrounding him. She was wrapped in the fog of despair. Jesus does not wait for her to approach him. He enters into this most private of moments and stops the funeral procession. When the two groups meet at the city gate, we hear that “The Lord” is moved with compassion. It is the first time Jesus is referred to as “Lord.” What seems to be most expressive of his nature of being “Lord” is that he is the one who shows mercy, suggesting the great significance of compassion and mercy as qualities of the Lord and of his disciples.
Jesus raises the son from the dead. This event is not seen as a singular occurrence, but is a sign that God is “among his people” in Jesus. As with the prophets of old, Jesus brings God’s great gifts and mercy to surprising and surprised recipients. This widow’s dire need elicited Jesus’ compassion. Despite the widow’s status, Jesus “sees” her and is moved to compassion and acts, not allowing even death to stop him.
One might wonder why this passage has been selected for Monnica’s feast day. It is she who predeceases her son, one who becomes a great teacher and theologian of the Church. Her lifelong faithfulness and devotion have yielded much in his life and the life of the Church. Perhaps it is the devotion she demonstrated in her life and the devotion Jesus exhibits towards this mother and her son that led to the selection of this passage. Your thoughts?
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
