In loving memory of Mom

Every time I look at this painting above of St. Augustine and his Mother, St. Monica, I’m reminded of my own relationship with my Mother.

St. Augustine was extremely rebellious growing up and his inclination to sin worried his Mother. Despite this, St. Monica never gave up on him. She persevered in her faith and prayed fervently for him to shun his sinful lifestyle and turn to God. Her prayers were answered when he embraced Christ, after which he spent 6 peaceful months with his Mother before she passed away, afterwhich he grieved by writing his most famous and heartfelt work, ‘Confessions’. He would eventually become Bishop of Hippo and one of the most important and prominent doctors of the Church, something his Mother would have been immensely proud of.

This painting on the left depicts one of those peaceful moments St. Augustine shared with his Mother before she passed away.

Like St. Augustine, I, too, made my Mom worry about me when I was younger. I refused to study and I didn’t take life very seriously. Like St. Monica, Mom never gave up on her son. She prayed for me and she spent time with me. She knew I had an interest in politics and that I would be interested in a discipline like Law so she gently nudged me towards pursuing it and was ecstatic and beamed with joy when I agreed and did well for my exams. Studying Law also played a fundamental role in bringing me back to the Catholic faith (through studying Natural Law theory as promulgated by St. Thomas Aquinas) and I’m indebted to her for this.

Unlike St. Augustine, I am fortunate to have had more than 6 peaceful months with my Mom. The last decade of my life revolved around her heavily, and I spent as much time as I could with her. We spoke to each other almost every night on deep topics such as politics, religion, and life in general; I would accompany her to the market to buy food that she would prepare at home for the family; she would teach me what her own Mom (my Grandmother) taught her with regards to cooking and traditional family customs; I would bring her to Church on Sundays and we would go for nice and cosy meals after Mass. We shared many special and wholesome moments together which I will always remember fondly. The picture above on the right is one such moment; it was taken during a period of time when I felt lost, and here she was dispensing her sagely wisdom and comforting me.

Most men like to say they are self-made, and good for them. For me, I dare say - without any shame whatsoever - that I am who I am because of Mom. Mom helped to forge my identity. She equipped me with everything that’s part of who I am today. She gave me my Catholic faith; my love for politics and history; the confidence and belief in myself that I could study Law; my love for reading; my thirst for knowledge and wisdom; and the values necessary to be a good person.

Thus I’m thankful and grateful to God for being blessed to be the son of my Mother - a person so kind, so compassionate, so gentle, so generous, so tender, so warm, so wise, so full of wit, and having spent quality time with her for 29 years, and to have her raise me to be the man that I am today. That itself is a gift from God for which I’m eternally grateful. To have experienced her love for me and her sacrifice and devotion to the family is something I will cherish in my heart forever.

In loving memory of Mom
1956-2020