You recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery. Working night and day in order not to burden any of you, we proclaimed to you the Gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers. As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his children, exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into his Kingdom and glory. And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly, that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe.
REFLECTION
As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his children, exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into his Kingdom and glory.
St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, is remembered as a woman of unshakable faith and tireless prayer. She was married to Patricius, a difficult husband and had three children, one of whom was St Augustine, a wayward son living a loose and immoral lifestyle. She is a perfect example of one who never gives up on loved ones. Her persistence was not rooted in control or frustration, but in deep love and trust in God. She exhorted,, encouraged and insisted that both men would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls them into His Kingdom and glory.
Sometimes people call her persistence holy nagging. No one likes a nag. We all get turned away from the nagging parent, boss, friend, preacher, etc. The phrase may sound humorous, but it points to something profound: St Monica’s constant reminders, tears, and prayers were not about wearing Augustine down—they were about wearing heaven down. She “nagged” not with empty words but with faith-filled perseverance. Every tear she shed, every plea she lifted to God, every conversation she had with Augustine was infused with love and the conviction that God’s grace was stronger than sin.
Holy nagging is not the kind of pestering that drives people away. Instead, it is the steady, patient pressure of love that refuses to give up. It is the parent who prays even when the child resists, the friend who gently calls another back to truth, the believer who reminds a loved one of God’s mercy again and again. St. Monica shows us that holy nagging is really holy perseverance—it is love that does not let go.
Her persistence bore fruit: Augustine’s heart was converted, and he became one of the greatest saints and doctors of the Church. Her nagging was not wasted—it was redeemed.
For us, St. Monica is an example that sometimes we need to keep knocking on heaven’s door, keep reminding our loved ones of God’s love, and keep believing that grace can transform even the hardest heart. Holy nagging is another name for faithful love that refuses to be silenced.
We pray for St Monica's intercession. When we are ready to give up, despair, ask her to teach us to persevere in love, to help us nag heaven with our prayers, to persist in hope, and to love so deeply that we never give up on those God has entrusted to us.
Just the other day, one of the Missionaries of Charity called to invite PAPA to the feast day celebration Mass of St Mother Teresa of Calcutta. In our conversation she asked, "How is your son?" For 10 plus years she has been praying for my son. A perfect stranger nagging God for me, for his soul. May we appreciate the need to pray for our nuns, brothers and priests. As St Paul prayed, exhorted, encouraged the Thessalonians, we should never give up praying and storming God with our petitions, persevering in God's mercy and compassion, praying for one another.
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