Caudillo's Corner - MAY 2008

Where have you heard this before?

• "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
• "Call me when you get there, so I know you're ok."
• "You could have called."
• "How do you know you don't like it, if you haven't tasted it?"
• "You're old enough to know better."
• "Don't use that tone of voice with me!"
  

"Momisms"...those sayings that are ingrained in us and that we repeat to our children (and grandchildren). Some are funny, some are true, some aren't, but most are expressions of deep love and concern. I wonder if Mary said any of them to Jesus?
I've been missing my mom lately--imagining how much she would have enjoyed Chris and Grace's wedding, and how proud she would be of Adam's academic and athletic accomplishments. Mothers shape us in countless ways. Moms and grandmothers make an indelible imprint on our lives and influence us long after they have departed this earth.

Monica was such a mother. She had four sons, and one in particular was quite a rebel. He rejected his Christian upbringing and lived a self-indulgent life, fathering a child out of wedlock. But Monica did not give up on him. She continued to pray for him daily.
Eventually, her son saw the error of his ways, embraced his Christian faith once again and became a leading pastor and scholar of the early church. You may know him as Saint Augustine. He himself attributes his salvation to her, writing: "Night and day her tears and prayers to Thee were for me...and Thou didst rescue my soul from darkness...because of my mother."

In his letter to Timothy, Paul's "spiritual son", he writes, "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you." II Timothy 1:5.