PRAY AND WATCH
So many Catholics who return to the Sacraments after years of being away—and so many people who convert to Catholicism—owe much of their journey to those who pray and intercede for them. Thousands of faithful Catholics take up their rosaries and offer fervent petitions for their loved ones to join, or rejoin, the Church.
Here at St. John, we have had spouses, friends, siblings, children, and even total strangers praying for those coming through OCIA—the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, the process through which adults prepare to enter the Catholic Church. What a privilege it is to witness answered prayers!
At the end of August, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the legendary St. Augustine of Hippo. The day before, we honor his mother, St. Monica.
Augustine might never have become a Christian were it not for his mother! She relentlessly encouraged her son to respond to Christ Jesus. For many years, Monica prayed, fasted, wept, pleaded, and even followed her son across the Mediterranean.
She did not give up.
Augustine was thoroughly pagan and lived a hedonistic life during the tumultuous final years of the Roman Empire in the West. In 387, he finally bent his knee, surrendered his life to Jesus, and was baptized into the Church.
Augustine lived in North Africa. He became not only a convert, but also a priest, bishop, Doctor of the Church, and canonized saint. That must have been beyond Monica’s wildest dreams as she prayed and watched the Lord move. She died before Augustine was ordained, but she lived to witness his great leap of faith.
For those of us praying for our loved ones, we have no idea where the Lord may be leading them or where He may take them in the future. A prayerful intercessor could set into motion the repercussions of God’s providence across centuries—just as Monica did!
Much closer to our own time, there was a young Baptist preacher who was deeply inspired by the intellect and conversion story of Augustine. He also had a mother who prayed fervently for her son to follow Christ.
Alberta Williams King, the organist at Ebenezer Baptist Church, prayed for her son as he sat beside her on the piano bench Sunday after Sunday. She prayed and watched as he, too, answered the call to ministry.
Martin Luther King Jr. often drew upon the writings of St. Augustine. In one of King’s most famous works, Letter from Birmingham Jail, he referenced Augustine’s thought as he confronted the terrible injustice of racism in the Deep South:
“An unjust law is no law at all.”
The thoughts of that fifth-century bishop helped shape Martin Luther King Jr.—and Bishop Augustine had been shaped by the persistent prayers of his mother.
In the Book of Daniel, an angel reveals that Daniel’s prayers had set unseen spiritual events into motion. Angelic powers were engaged in a struggle connected to nations, kings, and the course of human history—all while Daniel continued to pray faithfully.
We may never know on this side of Heaven how one person’s prayer cascades through time—like the prayers of Monica, which affected the lives of countless Christians inspired by her son.
Just four months after writing his letter from the Birmingham jail, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. On August 28, 1963, King shared his dream of an America free from racial inequality.
That dream was influenced by Augustine, Monica, and Alberta. In one of those remarkable details of God’s providence, King delivered his speech in Washington on the feast of St. Augustine: August 28.
All of this is offered to encourage those who are praying and watching for their loved ones—storming the gates of Heaven with pleas for conversion, return, faith, and love.
If you know someone who has been considering Catholicism, or if the doorway to an invitation is even slightly ajar, take the bold step and encourage that person to explore the Faith with us through our weekly Catholicism 101 sessions.
And pray, pray, pray.
There is tremendous power in cooperating with the Holy Spirit to amplify and expand the grace that God is waiting to pour out upon His children!
