Saint Mary’s hosted their annual McMahon Aquinas Lecture Wednesday, featuring Angela Knobel and her discussion, “Motherhood and the Meaning of Self-Gift: Reflections on 'The Giving Tree’”. Knobel claimed that ”The Giving Tree” is but a single example of the challenge of finding balance as a mother that she shared. She compared such giving to the kind of St. Monica for her son St. Augustine. It is only when she steps away that St. Augustine is able to discover the happiness St. Monica intended for him, and for their relationship to strengthen. As for “The Giving Tree,” Knobel reminded the audience importance lies in its ambiguit, resembling the complex role of mothers in the lives of their children.