Book-Notes-720-x-340-dark-gold-outline-and-medium-blue-pen-_-Notes-light-blue-702x336 Sometimes, children try on philosophies of the world because they want to assert themselves in their families as different, as adult, as new. Sometimes it is a pose. Other times, it is not. In either case, the declaration of someone that they do not believe, is a moment where you live out the prophecy given by Simeon at the Presentation.
"Your own heart will be pierced as well."
The Saint Monica Club (Sophia) When your child leaves the Church, it's hard not to go through all seven stages of grief, and to go through them again and again and not in order. It's hard not to fall into despair, or to want to somehow withhold love to illustrate how untenable life is without love. It's hard not to want to somehow discipline/tighten up/push the child back into the pew via force of argument, force of logic, and mere authority. The fallen part of any parent who loves the faith and their children, must wrestle with this temptation.
It is when we feel most weak, most broken, that we are granted the grace of being able to unite our sufferings with those of the Blessed Mother. We long for our child to be whole. She sees her son on the cross, and she loves Him and knows, this is the most important part of His ministry. She also knows, she's been given a mission; to love all of us, her fallen children, who rejected her son. We are to imitate Mary in loving those who reject her son, and know that that's our mission from this point onward.
The Saint Monica Club is one parent's attempt to help each of us who loves someone who wrestles with God or walks away from God, to love them well. We must also pray with faith, like the centurion.
"Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and your servant will be healed."
The reality is, if our child is not coming to Jesus, we are to go to Jesus and ask with faith, knowing Christ's authority over our lives. Knowing that Jesus wants to enter into our and our children's hearts ever more deeply, we must ask, and we must trust, Christ is acting even now, to heal us. The Saint Monica Club is available from Sophia Institute Press.

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Copyright 2019 Maggie Green

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