Author: Brent

Rosary Meditation: The Second Joyful Mystery

Today’s rosary meditation is the Second Joyful Mystery — The Visitation. After accepting God’s will in the Annunciation, Mary visited her cousin, Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist. This mystery is one of the best examples of using God’s grace to help others. As the Mother of God, Mary chose to use God’s grace to serve others and not to be served. This is a theme seen in Jesus’ ministry as well as the lives of the saints.

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Today’s rosary meditation is the Second Joyful Mystery — The Visitation.  After accepting God’s will in the Annunciation, Mary visited her cousin, Elizabeth who was pregnant with John the Baptist.  Mary came with this message, “My being proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit finds joy in God my savior.  For He has looked upon His servant in her lowliness; all ages to come shall call me blessed” (Lk 1:46-48, emphasis mine).  She stayed with Elizabeth for three months presumably offering a helping hand whenever needed.

This mystery is one of the best examples of using God’s grace to help others.  Keep in mind that traveling to see relatives in the time of the Roman Empire was no easy task.  It would take weeks, if not months, to travel between villages.  Traveling was a challenge and dangerous for the very strong let alone a pregnant teenager.  Despite the hardship, Mary made the journey in order to share the good news with her cousin and help in any way she could.  As the Mother of God she chose to use God’s grace to serve others and not to be served.  As she said in Luke’s Gospel, God’s greatness is found in His lowly servants doing His will, not those who try to be masters.   We see this same theme through Jesus who is King of Heaven and yet came into this world as a humble servant.

When I meditate on this mystery I’m often reminded about the difference between acquiring God’s grace and using it.  I know that prayer, fasting, and receiving the Sacraments (particularly washing away sin during Confession) all help me achieve God’s grace.  However, I often fail in using grace to help others in need.  I could help others more whether it be donating some of my time for charitable causes to just making myself available when friends or family need me.  I’m sure I miss great opportunities to actually put my faith into practice all the time.   Ask yourself, are you using all of your God-given gifts to their full potential?  Are you choosing to serve others as Mary did or are you expecting to be served?

The lesson behind The Visitation is that God calls on us all to put our faith into action.  Yes, our faith is something that is deeply personal.  But it is also something that should be very public.  God gives us grace not only for our own sake, but to also help others in their conversion towards God’s love and their ultimate salvation.  I’m reminded of the saying, “actions speak louder than words.”  Let us remember that about prayer.  Let us not just pay lip service to God, but actually put into action what we believe.  Prayer is good and necessary, but it is the foundation for good works and not an end in itself.

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Pace Your Prayer Life

One of the main themes of my website is that prayer can be likened to exercise. Any good fitness instructor will tell you that you need to rest periodically so you can regain energy and avoid injury. Likewise, make sure your prayer routine includes time to rest so that you don’t experience spiritual burnout.

brush drawing on blue primed paper

One of the main themes of my website is that prayer can be likened to exercise.  Like physical exercise, prayer requires an earnest and consistent effort for noticeable results.  In physical exercise, you will never get into good shape if you only do one push-up.  Likewise, throwing out a “Hail Mary” once a month really won’t get you very connected to your faith.  However, you also want to be careful not to go to the other extreme and wear yourself out.  Any good fitness instructor will tell you that you need to rest periodically so you can regain energy and avoid injury.  Likewise, make sure your prayer routine includes time to rest so that you don’t experience spiritual burnout.

When I say you should take prayer rests that does not mean that you can go and sin your heart out or stop prayer entirely.  Much like how an athlete shouldn’t devour an entire cheesecake on a rest day, taking a break from your usual prayer routine does not give you license to sin.  When I say rest, I mean changing or lightening your prayer routine in order to restore spiritual energy and gain new perspective.  There are many ways to add variety to your prayers to break you out of your routine.  For example, try reading the Bible, praying the rosary,  listening to Catholic radio, saying different prayers, or just setting aside some personal “quiet” time for reflection and meditation.  Maybe there is a friend or family member who is going through a hard time whom you should call or visit.

My aim is to pray two rosary mysteries every day during my commute to and from work.  I started out trying to pray all four mysteries, but I found that I just do not have the focus and attention for that at this point in my life.  Instead of praying earnestly, I ended up just repeating words while think about other things.  Even two mysteries can be a stretch at times as my mind has a tendency to wonder.  When I’m not up to giving the rosary a 100% effort, I turn my attention to other activities like listening to ETWN or reading Catholic news websites.  Often, when I resume my usual routine after a one-day break I’m more focused and can meditate on each mystery from a new perspective.  Maybe I read or heard something on my rest day that I then integrate into my meditations.  By taking a little rest, I get much more out of subsequent prayers.

Let’s remember that life is a long journey and we should pace ourselves in all aspects of our lives.  You can’t win a marathon by trying to sprint 26 miles.  Doing so would lead to exhaustion, injury, and discouragement.  Not only would you not win, chances are you won’t even cross the finish line.  Likewise, you should pace your spiritual life and build up your spiritual “muscle.”  There are times for intense prayer and meditation and there are times for lighter reflection and learning.  How do you know the appropriate mix?  Just listen to your spiritual fitness instructors — Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the saints, and the choir of angels in Heaven.  They will let you know when it is time to step up your efforts or take a breather.

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Medjugorje Message: June 25, 2009

The message from Mary at Medjugorje on June 25 calls on all of us to “convert in joy” so that we may be brought closer to God’s love. Despite the challenges and hardship in converting our hearts from a worldly one to a Heavenly one, we shouldn’t forget the joy that comes in being in God’s grace.

Medjugorje (16)

The June 25, 2009 message from our Mother Mary at Medjugorje:

Dear children! Rejoice with me, convert in joy and give thanks to God for the gift of my presence among you.  Pray that, in your hearts, God may be in the center of your life and with your life witness, little children, so that every creature may feel God’s love. Be my extended hands for every creature, so that it may draw closer to the God of love. I bless you with my motherly blessing. Thank you for having responded to my call.

What grabbed me in this message is that Mary is asking us to “convert in joy.”  This echoes the Third Luminous Mystery of the rosary where Jesus calls on us to work towards a converted spirit.  Conversion is an important cornerstone of our faith as this theme appears in Jesus’ words, the saints’ teachings, and Mary’s messages.  However, when I think about conversion, I typically see it as our struggle to transform our wicked ways into God’s ways.  I tend to focus on the effort to pray more, to go to Confession, to be more compassionate, and do all the other little things to imitate Christ.  I concentrate on the act of conversion while overlooking why I need to have a converted spirit so that I can receive the benefits of being in God’s grace.

There is much joy in converting our worldly hearts toward God.  Think of the joy that comes when starting any large project.  I know I feel a sense of joy and excitement when I start a new endeavor such as a large home improvement task or a large programming project at work.  Yes, these projects will have their challenges and won’t always be pleasant.  In the middle of a difficult project we can lose that joy we initially felt and just feel consumed by the obstacles and setbacks.  However, we are typically rewarded for our efforts whether it be a nice, clean home or knowing that our hard work improved some one’s life.  The same can be said about our spiritual life.  Converting our ways to be more like Jesus’ ways may be difficult but the end result of having God’s grace will be well worth the effort.  After all, if we can feel a sense of joy and accomplishment after cleaning and organizing our home, imagine the joy that comes when we clean and organize our souls!  May we listen to our Heavenly Mother and convert in joy by making God the center of our lives so that He may draw us closer to His love.  If we can do this, I think we will see that it was time and energy well spent.

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Close Encounter of the Papal Kind

Buona sera! That is Italian for “Good Evening.” I got used to saying that phrase quite often during my two-week trip to Italy. I’m back now and I thought I would share the highlight of the vacation. My wife and I attended Mass on Pentecost Sunday, in St. Peter’s Basilica, lead by Pope Benedict XVI on our first-year wedding anniversary.

Pope Benedict giving a blessing

Buona sera!  That is Italian for “Good Evening.”  I got used to saying that phrase quite often during my two-week trip to Italy.  I’m back now and I thought I would share the highlight of the vacation.  My wife and I attended Mass on Pentecost Sunday, at St. Peter’s Basilica, lead by Pope Benedict XVI on our first-year wedding anniversary.  I wish I could say that I planned this all especially for our anniversary, but it was mostly a lucky coincidence of being in the right place at the right time.  However, I can’t think of a better way of spending our anniversary than attending a Papal Mass at the literal center of the Catholic Church.

This experience was very energizing and felt like a small pep rally for my soul.  It definitely fell more on the electrifying side rather than a deeply spiritual one.  It is difficult to have a deeply solemn and meditative experience when you are in St. Peter’s Basilica with thousands of other people, many of whom are there to watch a good show, listen to a symphony, and take pictures rather than pray.  That being said, the grandeur of the ceremony appealed to another side of my spirituality — my excitement and joy of being a member of the Catholic Church.  Throughout the Mass all I could think about was how great it is that this is my Church, my traditions, and my faith and I couldn’t be prouder to be a Catholic.

The excitement of the entire ceremony can be summarized in seeing The Holy Father walk down the isle only ten feet away from us.   As he walked by, staff in hand, I could really feel the presence of the Holy Spirit that surrounds him.  I felt a sense of excitement and pride coming so close to someone whose very smile radiates a joy that can only come by fully embracing the Faith.  Despite all the burdens and responsibility of his position, Pope Benedict XVI really looks like he is at ease with the monumental task God has given him.  This reminded me of Mary at the Annunciation where She accepted God’s Will despite the worldly burdens it would bring.

It’s safe to say that God calls most of us to much lighter service than what He asked of Mary and what He asks of the Pope.  So if they have the strength to say yes to God, and do it with a smile, then I’m confident that any one of us can accept God’s calling and do our small part with joy.

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The Rosary: Speaking God’s Language

In my previous post I shared a video expressing the joy of praying the rosary. The video quotes several excuses and criticisms people often have about praying the rosary. The one that really struck a cord with me was, “that I always pray the same thing.” However, prayer is not only about the words, but it is also about setting aside time to focus on our relationship with God.

Hail Mary Full of Grace
Image by Raymond Brown via Flickr

In my previous post I shared a video expressing the joy of praying the rosary.  The video quotes several excuses and criticisms people often have about praying the rosary.  The one that really struck a cord with me was, “that I always pray the same thing.”  I not only hear this from others, but that thought often crosses my mind before I pray.  Sometimes the engineer in me wants to utter the equation, “(Our Father + (Hail Mary * 10) + Glory Be + Fatima Prayer)*5*4” and tell God to fill in the details.  Or I want to tell God that He already knows what I usually pray for so He can just take what I said yesterday and pretend I said it today.  As efficient as that may seem, it defeats the purpose of prayer.  For prayer is not only about the words, but it is also about setting aside time to focus on our relationship with God.

Think about your favorite movie.  Think about one that you’ve seen a hundred times and wouldn’t mind watching it a hundred times more.  I know that I can watch any “Star Wars” movie a countless number of times and still be thrilled (excluding “The Phantom Menace“).   I’m not sure why this is the case for certain movies.  Maybe there is a certain level of comfort viewing something that is familiar or invokes good memories.  In a very loose way, the same can be said about the rosary.  We should look forward with happy anticipation to pray the rosary although we recite the same prayers every time.  After all, praying the rosary is our time to talk to God.  And while the words may be the same, the way God reveals Himself to us is always different.  Praying the rosary, like a good movie, should be a time of peace and happiness.  After all, at the heart of the rosary is God and God is all good.

The rosary may be made of simple parts, but that does not mean that it is a mindless prayer.  The “Hail Mary” and “Our Father” prayers serve as a backdrop so that we can focus our hearts, minds, and souls on God.  Think of these simple prayers as the building blocks for deeper contemplation and meditation.  For example, professional swimmers must coordinate basic strokes in order to win a gold medal.  When they first start training, they focus on the mechanics of each individual stroke — their arm and leg placement, breathing, etc.  But over time those movements become second nature and they can concentrate on really pushing themselves to do better.  The same goes for prayer.  These relatively-simple prayers are the building blocks we need to form a deeper relationship with God.  The more we pray, the more receptive we become to hear how God wants us to live.

Through prayer, we bring forward all the important issues in our lives and place them before our Lord, Jesus Christ.  We have our whole day to focus on other tasks — work, family, friends, traffic, finances, daily chores, etc.  But praying the rosary is our time to concentrate on our relationship with God.  I’m not saying that work, family, and friends have no place in prayer.  Quite the contrary, they are an important part of prayer since we bring all our concerns from our daily lives and place them before God.  And when we pray earnestly, God speaks to us and provides us guidance.  He doesn’t make our problems magically disappear, but He will show us the way to handle them if we make ourselves receptive to His Word.

So let us pray the rosary with joy.  May we view the rosary as our chance to bring all our problems, concerns, and thanks before God.   If we really have faith knowing that our prayers go directly to God then we would never view fifty “Hail Mary” prayers (one mystery of the rosary) as too long or just mindless repetition.  For the rosary is the God’s language and we owe it to ourselves to learn it.

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Medjugorje Message: May 25, 2009

The May 25, 2009 message from our mother Mary at Medjugorje. She sends a message that the Holy Spirit will lead you on the way of witnessing your faith.

St. James Church in Međugorje.
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The latest message from our mother Mary at Medjugorje:

“Dear children! In this time, I call you all to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit upon every baptized creature, so that the Holy Spirit may renew you all and lead you on the way of witnessing your faith – you and all those who are far from God and His love. I am with you and intercede for you before the Most High. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Let us pray for all of those who have wondered away from God’s grace whether it be deliberately or inadvertently.  As I discussed in my Third Glorious Mystery meditation, the Holy Spirit’s greatest give is the strength and courage to live the faith and remain in God’s grace.  The question is, will you let the Holy Spirit into your life or are you blocking Him?  Let us make an effort to quiet our hearts and minds so that we may hear the Holy Spirit and let Him guide us.   We must also pray double for those who are the furthest away from God’s Word and truth since they need the intercession of the Holy Spirit the most.

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You Are Not Alone

I saw this video the other day and thought that it was worth sharing. I was happy (and a tad envious) to see that it has been viewed over 130,000+ times and has a five-star rating. I hope that videos like this one and blogs like mine remind you that no one ever prays alone. God unites all of us as we either pray for someone or someone prays for us.

I saw this video the other day and thought that it was worth sharing.  I was happy (and a tad envious) to see that it has been viewed over 130,000+ times and has a five-star rating.  I hope that videos like this one and blogs like mine remind you that no one ever prays alone.  God unites all of us as we either pray for someone or someone prays for us.

Rosary Meditation: The Third Luminous Mystery

Today’s rosary meditation focuses on the Third Luminous Mystery — Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom of God with a call to conversion. We should remember that Jesus is the Word made Flesh who brought the power and glory of Heaven into this world. However, in order to celebrate in God’s graces we must first approach Jesus with a humble heart open to conversion. By conversion, Jesus asks us to put away our worldly and sinful ways and truly embrace His teachings of goodness and mercy.

Christians believe that Jesus is the mediator ...
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Today’s rosary meditation focuses on the Third Luminous Mystery — Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God with a call to conversion. We should remember that Jesus is the Word made Flesh who brought the power and glory of Heaven into this world.  However, in order to celebrate in God’s graces we must first approach Jesus with a humble heart open to conversion.   By conversion, Jesus asks us to put away our worldly and sinful ways and truly embrace His teachings of goodness and mercy.

Early in His ministry, Jesus proclaimed the Word had been fulfilled through Him.  In a synagogue, Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah how “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me.”  He followed up the reading saying how that passage was now fulfilled.  As Christians who already believe in the Jesus’ divinity, this passage reads more as a statement of fact rather than a radical proclamation.  However, this would have been difficult to hear for those gathered in the synagogue at that time.  Instead of accepting Jesus as the Word made Flesh, they chased Him out of town.  This reminds me of the times when God calls me to follow His ways, but instead of accepting God’s call, I reject it.  Often we tell ourselves that what God asks of us doesn’t make any sense, is difficult, or impossible. It is always easier to find excuses and justifications rather than accept God’s Word. After all, the people who chased Jesus out of the temple reasoned that He was just the son of Joseph the carpenter and couldn’t possibly be the Messiah.  We must ask ourselves, how often do we try to reason away God’s Word, transform it, or revise it in order to suit our notions of how to live?

Jesus’ ministry of healing and miracles showed the power and glory of God’s kingdom.  He gave sight to the blind, healed the sick, and restored movement to the paralyzed.  Through his acts people came to believe and follow Him.  Jesus did indeed bring the kingdom of Heaven to the world for wherever He traveled people felt the true presence of God.  But I find it amazing how quickly the people who followed Jesus abandoned Him.  They praised Him one day only to call for His crucifixion the next.  For many, Jesus was just a man who made their lives easier through physical healing.  But when confronted with the difficult reality of following a man who was condemned by the ruling Roman authorities and Jewish leaders, people quickly, as they say in politics, “threw Him under the bus.”  Unfortunately, today we carry on that legacy of human weakness of praising God when life is good and abandoning Him when life becomes difficult.  How often have we become angry with God because something bad happened to us or we didn’t receive an outcome that we expected?  Life is not always easy or fair but those with strong faith know that God is present when we need Him the most.  Those other moments when we abandon God amongst hardship should serve as a reminder on just how much more work we need to do in order to prepare our souls to receive God’s kingdom in our lives.

How do we prepare ourselves to fully receive God’s graces?  Jesus asks us to convert.  There are two aspects to conversion.  First, we need to have a humble spirit.  Too often, we let our pride get in the way of really living as God asks us.  We naively say that God needs to change since we cannot possibly change our lives.  We proclaim that the Church and Her rules need to “get with the times” and be more progressive.  Our pride leads us to believe that our ways are perfect and God’s ways need reformation.  However, it is not God who needs conversion, but us.  As I wrote previously, God’s laws are not subject to a straw poll.  We are the ones who needs to show humility, take a hard look at ourselves, and find those aspects of our lives that need to change.

The other aspect of conversion is reconciliation.  If we really want to receive God’s kingdom we need to wash away our sins through the Sacrament of Confession.  I like the term “washing away” because it implies cleaning something that is dirty.  That “dirt” is sin and by the power of the Holy Spirit we cleanse our souls of all those things that prevent us from fully embracing God.  Very few of us like to live in dirtiness.  We spend huge amounts of time, money, and energy cleaning our clothes, homes, cars, and bodies.  And yet, we do not take the time to clean what is most important — our eternal souls.  The Sacrament of Confession is free and requires very little time and energy.  All it takes is an open heart to truly examine our conscience to make a good confession.  After all, we want to make sure we clean every nook and cranny.

I want to end with a challenge.  Every day ask yourself, “How can I be a better person today than I was yesterday?”  Find those aspects of your life that prevent you from truly embracing God’s kingdom and change them.  Conversion is not a one-shot deal.  It takes time and patience through small steps.  The road of conversion is one of triumphs as well as defeats.  But we’ll never make any progress if our pride prevents us from admitting that we can do better.  The kingdom of God is here with us now and the doors are wide open.  God invites all of us to celebrate in His grace.  The obligation is on us to prepare ourselves in order to fully embrace the power and glory that can only come through God.