The Hard Way
Over the weekend, I needed to fetch a tub of spackle to patch up some nail holes in the wall. The container with the spackle was on a shelf in the garage behind bicycles and boxes. I really didn’t feel like moving everything out to fetch a single item and then move everything back again. I decided to take a shortcut and just reach through the gap in the boxes and bikes and feel around for the spackle tub. After a lot of straining, frustration, and cuts to my hands, I managed to get what I needed.
Now isn’t that the story of many of our lives? We work so hard to take the “easy way” only to find that it’s so much harder and more painful. It would have been much easier for me to move the obstacles blocking the shelf in the garage and spare myself the frustration. Or I should keep my garage better organized so fetching an item isn’t so difficult. And yet, my brain insisted that snaking my arm around everything instead of moving them out of the way was the best means to get what I want.
Satan’s False Promises
How often does Satan lead us down a path promising that we will easily find what we desire? Remember, we don’t sin knowing that something bad will happen to us. We sin because we think we are getting something good without a lot of effort. This tendency goes all the way back to Adam and Eve. Eve ate the fruit because the serpent made her believe that gaining wisdom would make her happier. Fast forward to the current day. Most sinful behavior is presented as a way to gain happiness with minimal effort.
We all know that getting something for nothing is a lie. When we watch an old movie where someone signs away his soul for some earthly desire, we know Satan is setting him up with some catch. We know that person is acting tragically foolish. I recently watched a Twighlight Zone episode where someone makes a deal with Satan for immortality only to be sentenced to a lifetime in prison. And yet, we do the same thing when we sin. We trade away something great, God’s love, for something hollow — a momentary endorphin spike. We know that true happiness comes from doing God’s will, but because it seems more difficult, we avoid it. And every time, that choice comes back to bite us. Through sin, we choose the harder route to happiness.
Learning Perseverance with the Rosary
One of the great complaints about praying the Rosary is that it’s a difficult and long prayer. But Mary tells us that it’s through the Rosary that we find true happiness by forging a deeper relationship with her son, Jesus Christ. And yet, we so often want to take those shortcuts. We often want to find happiness without prayer, the Mass, or the sacraments. That’s the spiritual equivalent of me trying to fetch something from the garage without making the effort to move the boxes out of my way. If you truly want satisfaction and happiness, you have to work towards it. This is why there is no quick substitute for attending Mass, praying, and receiving the sacraments.
For true happiness, we must persevere in practicing our faith. There are so many Rosary Mysteries related to perseverance. That’s the fruit of the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery — Jesus’ Crucifixion. Jesus endured great suffering out of his love for us. Not only that, but he persevered because doing God’s Will was paramount to him. Likewise, we need to persevere in practicing our faith and forming a close relationship with God. There was no shortcut for Jesus and there is no shortcut for us. God’s plan for us, while challenging at times, is a perfect plan that leads to eternal happiness. Pray the Rosary so that you can be on guard for those times when Satan proposes a shortcut.