Monica (d. 387) comes to mind in May: her commemoration day is May 4 and, of course, she was a mother. A mother to Augustine, arguably the most important Christian theologian in the first few hundred years of the Christian church.
But it was a line in a Lutheran Woman Today article that caught attention: when Monica’s son Augustine was baptized as an adult by Ambrose of Milan, the author notes that she “viewed the event as her life’s achievement.” You just know there’s a story there, don’t you.
Briefly, the story is that Monica was a Christian woman whose son resisted the faith for a long time. In fact, probably for 15 to 20 years. He tried “everything,” so to speak, including philosophy and all kinds of religious heresies. He himself admitted to being wayward and lazy. He lived with a concubine and had a child out of wedlock. But through it all, his mother never gave up on him coming to God. No wonder she viewed his baptism as “her life’s achievement.”
Could we pray that children had such devoted mothers – and fathers – today?
Of course, when many parents bring their infant to the font for baptism today, this event is likely not, for them, a “life’s achievement” – unless, of course, it takes place in the face of huge obstacles, has been much prayed over, and requires personal sacrifice. Such often is not the case in the places I’ve lived. Instead, it’s sometimes easier to get the child baptized than not. Even for parents who aren’t sure they themselves are believers. Social pressure at work, you know, like getting grandma and grandpa “off their case.” Quite a different world from Augustine’s and we need to think hard about what that means.
On this day in May, however, I thank God for the Monicas in every child’s life, the people who will pray and persist, love and live faithfully, so that our children will come to believe. Sometimes their “life’s achievement” today will be all the work that comes after baptism – which may be every bit as demanding as Monica’s was before her son’s baptism.
