Monica - Catherine Gower

My son had gone wrong. I don't know how.
I showed him the rules, told him what he should be,
Took him to church, set him on the right path.
But he grew up and became a man I do not know.
He disregarded my rules,
He did not value what was dear to me.
I was horrified: I have since learned
The parents of saints most often are.
Notwithstanding, I prayed to God for him
whom I had brought into the world
that he would change
and my prayers were answered: I changed.
I no longer had plans for him.
I let go all my hopes for him,
setting him free.
I let him belong to God and not to me: I gave up.
Soon after that he must have come to God.
I saw the good he did,
his kindness and loyalty,
how people trusted his judgment and turned to him for help.
He had become a fine man.
I thanked God for saving my son
from me and my mistakes
and making him a new creature: himself.

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