I’m still playing catch-up from my time away last week, so this week’s post is brief. Nonetheless, I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. In addition to praying for all laborers, remember our students in your prayers, who begin school next week Tuesday!

August 25 – So far from the Vatican, it may be easy to overlook that the pope offers reflections every Sunday the pope as he leads the Angelus at Saint Peter’s Square. I can’t say the Vatican website makes it easy, but the text and a video recording of this week’s address are available for all. It is a neat opportunity for us to hear from the pastor of the Church, reflecting with him on the teachings of Christ and praying together for the needs of the world.

August 27 – Today we celebrate the memorial of Saint Monica, mother of Saint Augustine of Hippo. It strikes me that are often known not by their own individual identity, but by their relation to their children. While this may at times be frustrating, it seems fair to think that Saint Monica is happy to be so closely associated with her son – for whom she spent so many years praying. Often depicted in art with him, her feast day precedes his, echoing the procession of the faith she passed on to him by example, profession & prayer. Read about her at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

August 28 – In his Confessions, Saint Augustine – whose memorial we celebrate today – credits his faith to the unwavering perseverance of his mother, Saint Monica. To her great sorrow, he strayed far and wide in his pursuit of hedonism. But his thirst for more than flash & flare – found first in his enjoyment of rhetoric – compelled him to search for what is good, true, and beautiful. His own life testifies to his words “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Read about him at the website of the Augustinians.

August 29 – “He must increase, I must decrease” – with these words, John the Baptist urged those who were scandalized on his behalf that the One he baptized was now baptizing others. Saint John knew that his role in God’s plan was concluding, that he was meant not to stand center stage but to prepare the way for the Lord. He joyfully embraced his part in the life of Christ, offering his life even to his own death, which we commemorate today. Read about the memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist at the Vatican News website.

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Priests celebrating their anniversaries this week