St. Monica
Sometimes praying for one person to come to know Jesus is the most powerful prayer there is.
As I sit to write this weeks newsletter we celebrate the life and work of St. Monica. She is one of the lesser know saints – which is a huge shame because the example of her life and her prayers are vital to our understanding of what being a christian is all about.
She was born in Africa to a Christian family and married quite young to non-Christian family. She retained her faith and had several children. One of those children was called Augustine.
Augustine was a very intelligent child, but as he grew his morals came more from his father than his mother. He was… shall we say… wayward.
Monica watched her son and cried for him. Through those tears she prayed that her son would come to know Jesus and would leave his wayward life behind.
She didn’t just pray for a short while. She didn’t pray for him during lent or advent. She didn’t offer a novena for him. She prayed for him each and every day, several times a day every day of his life.
Shortly before she died Augustine came to her and offered himself to Jesus. He converted to Christianity on her deathbed and in that moment her prayers were answered.
Thanks to her unceasing prayer for the conversion of one man The Church was given one of its greatest thinkers, theologians and apologists. Without her love for her son and her faith in prayer we would be so much poorer.
Who are you praying for?
Fr. Matthew.
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Other news
Thanks to everyone who helped with the parish BBQ. We had a lovely afternoon with much food consumed, much conversation, and lots of fun. We’re looking forward to the next one, perhaps a harvest supper?
The prayer list will be refreshed for next Sunday. If you’d like someone to stay on the list or someone you’d like to add, please speak to Susan.
We are very short of plastic bags / paper bags for the foodbank. Can you please bring some in on Sunday. Thank you.
2nd October at 4pm – we will be licensing and commissioning Fr. Josiah into St. Anselm at a special service of Evening Prayer & Benediction with Bishop Jonathan. I’d like to throw a huge party for him afterwards – can you please let me know if you’d like to help organise it – it would be great to have a huge spread and make him and his family feel really really welcome.
We continue in our light August model as we take a breath ahead of a new term next week. We’ll return to the normal timetable next week alongside the standard streaming schedule.