Our Lady of the Rosary

Turning to the disciples in private he said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.

For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."

There is nothing more Catholic than the Rosary and there is no prayer that can bring the person who says it such peace and such power.  For some of us, the only time we will hold a Rosary will be when, for artistic reasons, the undertaker threads one into our cold and stiff fingers while we lay quietly in our casket.  For other Catholics, the Rosary is a living and vibrant thing, another proof of God's love for us, and a powerful source of meditation and a force that can, and has, changed the course of history.  But where did this powerful prayer come from?  What were its origins? 

Imagine, if you will, you are a peasant and your day is spent working in the fields. As you work, you hear the beautiful sounds of the brothers in the neighboring monastery singing the Psalms of David as they gathered several times a day to pray the Divine Office. As a peasant, you were not educated like the brothers, you did not have a Bible, they were very costly and only the wealthy could have a personal copy of the Scriptures.  Even if you were to come into possession of this wonderful book, it would do you no good as you were unable to read.  But, if there was one thing that was true, you were just as pious as the brothers in the monastery.  You loved the Lord and you prayed faithfully, but you wanted to do as the brothers did and pray a divine office. Given the limitations of money and education, you would not be able to sing the Psalms, there were too many for you to memorize and you did not own a Bible.  The brothers suggested that as you work that you pray one-hundred and fifty Our Father's, one for each of the Psalms.  You liked this idea but you often lost count as you worked.  When you prayed this office at home, you took one-hundred and fifty pebbles and used them to count the prayers.  This would not work so well when you were working in the fields.  Then you came up with the idea of carrying a knotted string that you could keep in your hands, moving one knot for each Our Father that you said.  This worked for a long time, but it was only the beginning.  Eventually, you said your prayers while thinking of the Bible stories you heard at church. Soon, the Rosary evolved into the prayer we know today using the Hail Mary, consisting of the words spoken to Mary at the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel, and our request that Mary prays to Jesus for us and to help us at the hour of our death. While we pray the familiar words of these basic prayers, namely, the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be, we meditate on the lives of Jesus and Mary and the major events that led to our salvation. 

Contrary to what rabid, anti-Catholic Bible thumpers believe, the Rosary is not mindless repeating of words in order to get God's attention.  The Rosary is a prayer that brings those that pray it closer to Jesus, closer to His Mother, and of course, closer to God.  Those that pray (not just say) the Rosary open up for themselves a world where they gain insight into what Jesus did for mankind and what He did for them personally.  

Praying the Rosary is not an affront to God. The most important person in Heaven right now, besides Jesus, is Mary, His Mother.  She was assumed, that means, brought up to Heaven, because after her death, Jesus did not want her body to decay so she received what we will all certainly receive at the end of time, a glorified physical body that will dwell with God, Jesus, and all of the Saints forever.  As great as Mary, the Mother of God is, we do not offer her worship. We hold her in great reverence because we are imitating Jesus Himself who loved His mother so much that from the Cross, when his strength was all be spent, He placed Mary into the care of John the Apostle who from that moment cared for Mary as if she was his own mother. 

There is so much misunderstanding between Protestants and Catholics when it comes to Mary and the vast majority of it comes from true ignorance of the truth that has been fostered by anti-Catholic bigots over the years. When Jesus gave Mary to John from the cross, He was not only speaking to John but to us as well.  He gave us His Mother as our heavenly mother, one that we can turn to in our neediness and be assured that she will be an advocate for us and using her mother's love, pass our prayers, with her recommendations, to Jesus.  Recall, if you will, how Jesus began his ministry early at the Wedding Feast at Cana at the request of His Mother and said the wisest words ever recorded, "Do whatever He tells you."

Yes, it's time for the commercial...The Poor Souls in Purgatory need our prayers.  Oddly enough, one of the most powerful prayers for them is the Rosary.  Please, Please, Please pray for the Poor Souls today.  They really need our help.  Thank you!

Lent - The Season of fish sticks and beans

It seems just moments ago we were wishing each other the greetings appropriate to the holidays and now it seems that the season of Lent is knocking at the door.  Wednesday next is the day we call Ash Wednesday and marks the forty day period that the Church provides us to prepare for the Solemn Easter Tridium, the celebrations of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter vigil. For some of us this period of time is remarkable only due to the fact that we Catholics abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and on  Friday's of Lent. The Church also mandates fasting on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday.

Lent literally means "spring."  What does the word "spring" bring to mind?  To me it brings to mind the ground thawing out after a chilly winter and new growth breaking the soil and plants opening up their leaves to catch the warm rays of the sun.  It is a mystical season that restores life where once there had been no sign of it. So it is with our lives and the season of Lent. 

When I was a boy I hated the season of Lent. In our household it was the season of fish sticks. There is nothing nastier on God's green earth than fish sticks. It was also the season of giving up something, usually candy if you were a kid, and that was a painful thing to do. Remember too that back then no one told the kids that Sunday's are not counted in the forty days of lent and you could gouge yourself with all the candy you wanted on Sundays!  No, Sister Emerita and her fellow sisters kept that as a Canonical Secret so we kids would not get out of the habit of giving up candy. In our household my father was an agnostic so Lent was not really part of his year but he put up with the fish sticks and vegetarian beans that was the staple of Lenten Friday dinners. We kids tried to remain faithful to our promise to give up candy but it was hard.  Why even in the school I went to the lunch time candy table was set up so you could get your sugar fix that would last you until three o'clock. Sales were off a bit but some kids still bought candy and we were told not to judge them because it was just possible that they were doing something else for Lent.  This was hardly likely because we knew who was buying the stuff and Eddie McIntyre and Albert Winkler were hardly the holy type that would eat candy and then go home and beat themselves with rosebush canes! 

Lent also brought with it a shortened school day on Friday.  This was not greeted with glee by most of us.  School would let out at about two or so in the afternoon and we would adjourn next door to the church where we would undergo the Stations of the Cross. This entailed forty minutes of  standing, genuflecting, kneeling, listening as the fourteen stations of the cross were prayed.  For a young boy this was a tedious rite and personally I longed for the joys of math class to break this prayer marathon. Actually I understood the Stations of the Cross much better than I understood the New Math that the good sisters were teaching so that is how desperate I was. 

 Not everyone hated the Stations of the Cross.  Jackie Gleason (no not the TV and film star) who had perfect posture and never went around with his hands in his pockets as the nuns always reminded us, usually served as one of the altar boys that accompanied Father around the Church as walked with Jesus to Calvary.  I always thought that Jackie wanted to actually be crucified on those Friday's, as we got closer and closer to the Crucifixion you could almost see the stigmata appearing on the boy. The ritual finished usually about a quarter to three so the good sisters gave us the opportunity to kneel for fifteen minutes before we were marched out of church one row at a time, keeping silent until we felt the sun and cold Chicago air on our faces. Then all hell would break loose as the weekend had officially started! 

On Saturday, we went to confession.  There were four priests and all of them spent four hours or so hearing confessions. We did not do this as a class, but we saw all of our classmates waiting in line.  I wonder how bored the priests must have gotten with several hundred children confessing that they had disobeyed their parents or swore or something of that nature.  They probably rejoiced when they got an adult parishioner that confessed that he had committed adultery, murdered a bishop, and burnt down two schools!  

Then on Sunday morning we would all gather at the 9:00 AM children's mass and sit with our class for Sunday Mass.  When the time was right the ushers would pass the basket and our children's envelopes filled with part of our hard earned allowance, nickles or dimes, would go into the basket. On Monday morning the totals were posted for each class with the names (but not the amounts) of those kids who contributed.  If a name from your class was missing, it was assumed that they had skipped Mass and were in big trouble and should be very careful until they could confess their sloth next Saturday at confession. 

So we are once again coming into the Lenten season. My boss, who knows I am a Catholic asked me what I was giving up.  I told her that I was giving up nothing this year. I explained that I would be trying to do something special for Lent, something positive, something that will help others during this season in the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  

What I am going to do personally for my own spiritual growth will be to forsake some TV time to do some Bible or other spiritual reading and to do this daily.  I will resolve to eat less so as to share the hunger the needy feel every day of their life. I will resolve also to do something about that hunger by making donations to organizations that fight hunger. I resolve to be kinder, to swallow my pride and to turn my other cheek when I am insulted or ridiculed.  I will also resolve to be a better ambassador for Christ and His Holy Catholic Church.  I will engage in dialogue with those who write hateful things about the Church but I will not criticize them, I will just criticize their words. 

I want for myself this Lent to be something special, a time of growth for my soul.  I invite you whether you be Catholic or Protestant to do the same.  It really just requires that you keep your eyes open, your pride in check, and to be open to the Spirit working in your life.   

God Bless you and may the Crucified One light your way this day. 

 

Imitation of Christ

There is an old saying that says that the greatest compliment a person can receive is when someone imitates them. This may or may not be true. But what we are called to do as followers of Christ is to imitate Him in all we do. This is a very tall order for us to fill. Let's examine just what it means to imitate Christ. To do so we have to examine just what it is that Christ did and then how we can best emulate it. 

First and foremost Jesus came to earth.  Now, how in the world can we imitate that feat? Are we defeated before we have begun?  No, because what Jesus did we CAN do.  He left heaven and came to earth, stepping out of "his comfort zone" so to speak.  So to imitate this we need to do the same. We need to choose to work with people that we normally would not work with. Maybe the homeless, maybe stepping up and working with right to life, the opportunities are there we just need to seek them out. 

Next, Jesus spent His life doing the Father's will.  We need to determine what the Father's will is for us and we need to act on it. I think it just means to be open to the promptings of the Spirit and taking up the challenges that are presented to us day by day.

We need to become bold. Many people think that Jesus never would say a cross word (no pun intended) to anyone and that He was always gentle and meek.  Well, He made a whip out of cords and drove the money changers out of the temple.  We need to show people we are pro Christ and we have to be ready to point out errors and sinfulness where we see it.  This is a dangerous activity because as you know the incident at the temple was one of the things that led to the Crucifixion of Jesus. We can and should do this with charity, but we must be prepared for the fallout because Christian ways go counter culture to the rest of the world.

We need to pray and to take care of our spiritual selves by imitating what Christ did. The New Testament mentions many times where Jesus went out and spent time in prayer. Time spent in prayer looks to the world as if it were time spent doing nothing. But our strength as Christians comes from our communication with God.  He will give us the strength to complete the missions that are presented to us.  Trying to complete a ministry without prayer is like trying to swim with a four hundred pound rock strapped to your back. Once you get away from the shore and into deeper waters you will certainly drown. 

Christ held nothing back, he gave it all when he stretched out his arms on the Cross for us. This is the hardest thing for us to imitate. It requires a level of trust in the Lord that may of us haven't yet cultivated.  We have to be so much in love with Jesus that we have to accept even death should that be where our ministry takes us.  I think of the Christians killed by ISL.  They lined up the Christians and had them kneel. To a man they kept praying as long as they could. Their example is what we must be prepared to do. Is this something that I have come up with from the deep pit which is my imagination?  No, our Lord and Savior in Matthew 16:24 says very clearly: 

If anyone wishes to come after me, 

let him take up his cross and follow me.

So, the essence of following Jesus is the Cross. If we are to be His ambassadors we have to be willing to carry the cross, falling and rising as he did, moving ever forward towards resolution and seemingly dissolution on Calvary's hill.  The advantage that we have that Jesus didn't is that the parts of our cross that are too heavy He will bear for us. All He asks of us is to try our best and He will help with the rest.  

God bless and keep you and your family this day. May the light that is Christ light your way to His side. 

Convert - A - Catholic Challenge 2016 is off and running.  If you are a Protestant, save this poor cradle Catholic.  Tell me in fifty thousand words or less where the Catholic Church has got it wrong and how your denomination now has the complete truth about how to be a Christian.   Clink this link to begin --->   LINK 

In Silence There Is Strength - The Power of Prayer

Be still and know that I am God. 

We all have within us the power to approach the Throne of Grace with our humble requests day or night, in a crowd or alone.  In a church or in a prison.  More than that we have a need to pray.  We have an unconscious desire to be one with God.  This is why we have this urgent urge within us, we want to be close to the one whose love has always been there for us. 

Prayer from God's point of view is not necessary, He does not need to hear from us to be satisfied. It is His will that we have the opportunity to pray but he does not force us to do so. He wants to be our friend but only if we want to be His. 

I imagine that there are some people who go their whole life without once thinking of God or praying to Him. These are the saddest of all creatures for by exercising their right to turn their back on God, they chose a horrible destiny. 

For some of us foxhole prayers are the norm.  When life presses in and the storms of life close in, God gets called upon as sort of a Mister Fix It. Once the problem is solved our conversation with God stops until the next storm or urgent need crosses our path. 

Some people pray the prayers learned in their youth, prayers that come to mind and are said by rote.  These people are the first that are engaging in prayer, real prayer.  To pray by rote using words written by others is not a bad thing if it expresses the love you have for God and/or the needs of your soul. 

Still others never use memorized prayers.  They speak to God as if he is a friend.  They share all of the needs of their heart, they pray for others and for others needs, they praise God for His goodness. This group is where many devoted followers of the Lord spend their life.  It is not a bad place to be, it is just not complete. 

For prayer to be complete it has to be a conversation.  In a conversation between you and your best friend do you both speak at once?  No, one will speak, the other will listen.  And then the pattern is reversed.  In this way one friend communicates with another,

Prayer is to be communication, not just a one way "here's what I need Lord" sort of thing.  We must get in the habit of listening for God's response to our prayers.  Silencing ourselves, our minds, our bodies, this is a difficult proposition.  We are too used to being the one in charge.  After all, God needs to know what our needs are, doesn't He?  Of course He knows us better than we do ourselves so He knows our needs already and discerns needs from wants. 

I think that while prayers of petition are good, that there is another way to pray that is superior to all others.  In this type of prayer  we simply meditate on the goodness of God and then we silence our mind and soul and let the light of God penetrate to the deepest recesses of our soul. This type of prayer is called contemplation and it is difficult but not impossible to do.  The secret is very simple but complex.  After thinking of God for awhile, just stop and enjoy the radiance of God's love for you in absolute silence of mind and body.  In your mind do not even imagine what God looks like, you just listen in silence for one minute, two minutes, or longer if you can.  First attempts will be difficult because your mind is used to being involved in everything that you do and it will try to shatter the silence because it sees this type of prayer as another task it needs to help with. Reign it in and tell it to be silent.  At the beginning you may not manage as long as a minute.  If not, do not be discouraged. Ten seconds of listening can be worth more than two hours of speaking. In the case of distractions where the mind in spite of your attempt to quiet it busts in Thank God for the brief moment where you tried to listen and then try again later.  The trick is to never give up. 

God is very much in love with you.  He sent His only Son to redeem you by the Blood of the Cross.  An honest search will help you find your way home to Him in the Catholic Church.  Please remember that I will answer any question about the Catholic Church or Christianity in general.  Hate mail will go unanswered. 

May Christ find a dwelling place in your heart this day and may He light your way as you walk the narrow path towards your heavenly home.  God bless.