Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Thursday of the 21st week in ordinary time, August 27, 2026, Memorial of Saint Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine

Delivered by Vina Kuesal from The Holy Trinity Parish in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, Australia. 1 Corinthians 1: 1-9; Rs psalm 145: 2-3.4-5.6-7; Matthew 24: 42-51.LIVING IN ABUNDANCE OF GRACE Our meditation today has the theme: Living inAbundance of Grace. We are fortunate and so grateful to have a God who allowsus to aspire as high and as perfect as He Himself. We are given the possibilityto think on the abundance. We pray for that and we also learn how to achieveit. We say that God is truly abundant and we so believe that we will always begiven gifts from His abundance. Monica was a mother who enjoyed her life in abundanceof God's grace which was fostered through her piety and complete dedication toChrist. With this sufficient spiritual strength, she worked and tried with allher efforts so that her husband, who was not yet a Christian and her son,Augustine, who was full with enjoyments of the world, came to know Christ andembraced the Christian faith. All her hard labor and sacrifices brought aboutfine fruits in a proper time. It is enough to say that living in abundance isone of the major elements of our faith. If the Lord does not provide us anysense of abundance or something  greaterwe can achieve, it is very likely that He is not the God whom we believe in.But God reveals Himself. He is not a God who is hidden and very far from us. The Christian community in the city of Corinth enjoyedtheir spiritual growth in the fullness of God's grace. This growth gave SaintPaul satisfaction and gratefulness because he was entrusted by the Lordresponsibility to accompany and take care for this Church. He prayed and askedfor divine blessings for them, that the Lord Jesus Christ may increase andbestow His loving power to lead them. A good sign of growth and a trueChristian testimony anywhere in the world always need support and care from boththe divine power and the appointed leaders. On the other hand, unsupportive,indifferent and irresponsible leaders or shepherds of the community should notany more be entrusted with this special duty. When we are granted gifts from the Lord's abundance wereally enjoy the presence of God who does not let this life pass day after daymeaningless. One of the most important divine gifts for all of us is readinessor vigilance. People who are ready and vigilant are those who are full of hope,joy and enthusiasm for the Lord God reveals His will at any moment of life. Onthe contrary, those who are lazy, indifferent and careless for the Lord'spresence on their lives, they will surely find this life strange andmeaningless. This is a sign of ungratefulness to the abundance of God who givesus all the graces to become even better. So, the good news for us today would be this: God whois powerful in His abundance wishes to share His divine graces with us any timein our lives, and our duty is only to receive and make use of them for ourbenefit. Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... We thank You for your abundance, O Father,and may we fill this day with the works in line our professions and duties thatgive value to our commitment to fulfill Your will. Hail Mary, full of grace ...In the name of the Father ...