Joyful Mysteries

Why You Need Contemplative Prayer Right Now

With only two weeks left before Christmas, many of us are feeling that last minute pressure to finish shopping (or start it) and finalize plans. Did you get the right presents? Did you forget to send a Christman card to someone important? Will the package you ordered be delivered on time? There are so many questions and concerns spinning around in our heads right now. And that is why it’s the perfect time to stop and engage in some contemplative prayer.

In my recent presentation, I emphasized how the Rosary is a meditative and contemplative prayer. And this makes sense given its origin — our Mother Mary. In the Gospel, Mary is a woman of few words. Instead, she is always listening and observing what Jesus is saying and doing. In so many instances, the Gospel talks about how she keeps things in her heart. She is humble and reserved taking the role as God’s servant. She is the paradigm of contemplative behavior. And likewise, her gift to us, the Rosary, is modeled after her contemplative nature.

Here are some examples of how you can use contemplative prayer to great effect. This Advent, in addition to a morning Rosary prayer, I’ve taken up reading from a daily prayer and reflection book. By front-loading my day with prayer and scripture, I have plenty to think about and meditate on when I find some quiet downtime throughout my day. Jonathan B. Coe, in his article on Catholic Exchange, calls the combination of scripture and Rosary prayer a “contemplative canvas that renews the mind and facilitates an open-handed generosity in life.” If your day is a blank canvas, how are you painting it? And you filling it with holy thoughts and actions fueled by the Gospel and Rosary?

One of the Advent reflections I read stressed the importance of silence and clearing your mind of all the holiday distractions. Remember, Jesus’ birth wasn’t a grand event in the physical sense. It was a quiet one that took place in a stable or cave in some small, out of the way village. And even today, the commercial grandeur of Christmas drowns out the whisper-like presence of Jesus’ birthday. It is only in the stillness of meditative prayer that we block out the noisy world to truly appreciate the heart of Christmas.

Lastly, I recently finished reading a biography on Saint Dominic, through whom Mary gave the world the Rosary. He traveled throughout Europe in his life. And wherever he went, when he had free time, he visited a church or cathedral and prayed. That routine of filling part of the day in contemplative prayer can be said of any number of saints. God desires all of us to saintlike behavior as that is the quickest means to internal happiness in His kingdom. And so, maybe we should take a cue from the saints and also fill some of our lives with meditative prayer. For example, after I drop off my son at school, I stop by the church to sit quietly and pray. Maybe you can find time to attend Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Try attending a weekday Mass or just sit quietly in a Church for a few minutes. Or maybe, just lay still in bed when you wake up and spend a few minutes in prayer before starting your day.

Think about Mary’s contemplative behavior in the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. When the shepherds came to Jesus talking about angels announcing His birth, Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. (Luke 2:19). Upon finding Jesus in the temple and hearing Him say that he needed to be in His Father’s house, she treasured all these things in her heart (Luke 2:51). Are you talking regularly with God through prayer and treasuring His response in your heart?

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Don’t Lose Your Moral Bearings in the Darkness

Imagine you’re a pilot flying alone on a completely dark night with no instrumentation. Envision how hard it would be to know your altitude, your level, and whether or not you’re about to crash into something. In total darkness, with no visibility and landmarks for reference, there is a good chance the airplane will crash and burn.

Keep that airplane analogy in mind as you read this article about the Glamor of Evil by Dr. Gregory Popcak. We all know about how we should avoid committing sin. That’s Catholicism 101; easy stuff. But you can also be seduced by sin without actively participating in it. He writes:

Evil is glamorous, not only in the sense that it can be hard to resist being drawn into it, but also in the sense that it can be hard to look away from it. If you aren’t careful, it’s tremendously easy to stare at it, and stare at it, and stare at it, until you can’t see anything else. Until everything good, and godly, and righteous, and beautiful has been drained from view, and all that is left is outrage, and anger, and indignation, and disgust.

Like the pilot alone in the dark, when we fixate on all the evil, darkness, and problems in this world we lose our moral bearings. We can become disoriented in the darkness and start to lose hope, joy, and our faith. We can no longer see the differences between good and evil because we’ve lost our spirital point of reference. Our actions no longer seem to matter because we don’t see any goal or point to them. Does it really matter what I do if everything is falling apart around me?

Being lost and aimless doesn’t usually end well.

Dr. Popcak tells us that we can’t let negative thinking completely envelop us. Our faith and relationship with Jesus Christ should act like a shining beacon, even in our darkest hours. The beauty and goodness of our faith can provide all the guidance we need to find strength, peace, and maybe even happiness, even when our world looks nonredeemable.

When Good Things Turn Us Bad

I’m going to go one step further. It’s not just evil that can completely block us from whatever is good and godly. Neutral activities can also do the same. Consider social media and the 24/7 cable news cycle. On their own, there’s nothing sinful about them. They allow us to stay updated on recent events and connect with each other. But for many of us, these seemingly harmless pastimes can consume 100% of our attention leaving room for nothing else. And when your world is completely consumed by Twitter, Facebook, Fox News, and MSNBC, you can stop seeing the genuine good in the world. You will either see a carefully curated goodness that isn’t real or you will just see everything as bad and hopeless and fall into despair.

As we enter the season of Advent and Christmas, it’s important to not allow ouselves to fixate on what is ultimately unimportant. I know we want to buy presents, decorate our homes, and participate in all the other traditions associated with Christmas. But we can’t let the commercial side of Christmas blind us to the true meaning behind it. Because when you obsess over what to buy and what you want to receive, you leave yourself open to the sins of greed, envy, and even wrath. Want an example? Look no further than the annual chaos around Black Friday and how people lose their moral bearings fighting over TVs and toasters.

The Rosary Connection

Look at the Fourth Luminous Mystery, The Transfiguration. I’m talking about darkness and the light in this article. Well, in this mystery you see Jesus’ clothes literally become dazzling white (Mark 9:3). And that, of course, got the apostles’ attention. When you meditate on this Rosary mystery, ask yourself, is Jesus a dazzling beacon of love, hope, and goodness in your life? Does He shine brighter through the darkness keeping you morally oriented toward His teachings? If not, maybe you need to turn around or take off your blindfold. Jesus is always present in our lives. If you don’t see that “light” in the darkness, ask Mary for guidance when you pray the Fourth Glorious Mystery, Her Assumption. She wants nothing more than to guide you through the darkness to Her son.

Also, when you pray the Third Joyful Mystery, think of the wise men traveling through the desert to pay homage to Jesus. They would have been wondering around aimlessly and hopelessly if it weren’t for a star to guide them. Again, you have a point of light, a referrence point, which guided the three wise men to Jesus. Are you following the signs in your life which lead you to Jesus?

Why Men Especially Need Mary

As we approach the end of the year, I took a look at all the articles I saved and filed under “write about the Rosary connection to this someday.” Well, someday is now. It’s time to clean house. Since I’m on a Marion kick lately with the release of my latest video on the benefits of effective Rosary Prayer, let’s talk specifically about how men’s spiritually is completed through Mary.

In his article, Mastering Manhood Through Mary, Matthew D. Pride talks about how God created male and female to complement and complete each other. He explains how man and woman are made in God’s image, but so is their union. In other words, while man and woman are a reflection of God individually, their union creates another unique image of God. Therefore, Mary is the spiritual complement to men. He writes:

Mary is the Immaculate Conception, the New Eve, perfectly complementary to every human male. As the New Eve, Mary is our helper, perfectly compatible with every human male and yearning to help us master manhood to become who God called us to be in our families, in our marriages, and in society.

Spiritually, women form this unique reflection of God through their union with Jesus Christ. But what about men? Yes, of course, men can also have a deep spiritual bond with Jesus. But Mary offers us what I’ll call a better fit for men to come to Jesus. Since men and women are hardwired to complement each other, it makes sense that God would provide both sexes a spiritual complement to come to Him.

Not an Old Lady’s Prayer

After my latest presentation on the Rosary, many people commented on how nice it was to see men embrace and share their love of Mary and the Rosary. These comments, while said with the best intentions, saddened me a little. Many still consider the Rosary a women’s prayer, or to put it in a less politically correct term — an old lady’s prayer. But this characterization of the Rosary completely misses the point and ignores centuries of history.

The Rosary is a weapon, a weapon of war both physically and spiritually. Soldiers prayed it before the Battle of Lepanto and several other battles. It gave Saint Dominic strength to combat the Albigensian heresy. More recently, it gave Saint John Paul II the strength to fight the evils of Communism. Countless saints did heroic acts with the help of the Rosary. We should pray it daily before doing battle against sin, temptation, and our own weaknesses. Does that sound like an old lady’s prayer to you? If men are called to know God through Mary then men need to take up the Rosary.

The Rosary Connection

When you pray the First Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, The Annunciation, remember that God created Mary for a very specific and special purpose. She was immaculately conceived so she could be a clear, unblemished window to Jesus. God’s plan for Mary was more than just give birth to Jesus and then get out of the way. If that was the case, Jesus could have just emerged mysteriously out of the wilderness as an adult as there would be no need for Mary. The fact that Mary was part of God’s plan tells us something. We should utilize the gift God gave us through Mary who willingly said she would be the servant of the Lord at the Annunciation (Luke 1:38). God wants all men to know Him through our Mother Mary.

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Defeating Pride With The Rosary

The next of the seven deadly sins we’re looking at is pride. Many consider pride the worst of the seven deadly sins and also the foundation of the other sins. Pride means putting your wants and importance before anyone else’s authority. And what is a sin? It’s putting your desires in front of what God wants. When we sin, we knowingly act without regard to the consequences because we don’t accept any other law beyond our own. According to C.S. Lewis, it’s pride that leads to every other type of sin because it’s the anti-God state of mind.

Pride is so deadly because, by its very nature, it remains hidden. As Fr Dwight Longenecker puts it in his article on Catholic Exchange:

This is why pride is so deadly, because it is the one sin that hides itself so effectively. The proud person, by very definition, does not realize he is proud. If he realized he was proud he would repent, but it is pride which keeps him from seeing that he is wrong or sinful in any way. Pride is a very difficult sin to do anything about because the proud person will even go so far as to admit that he is proud, and that makes him even more “right” than he was before!

The Scriptural Connection

Look at how blinded the Pharisees were by their own pride that they could not accept Jesus’ teachings. They dwelled on their own self-importance and their understanding of God and the Law that they couldn’t accept the teachings of a poor carpenter from Nazareth. They criticized everything Jesus and His apostles did from breaking certain Mosaic laws to ministering to sinners; acts their pride did not allow them to do. So indebted to their pride that the Pharisees didn’t even come to believe after witnessing Jesus’ countless miracles.

We turn next to Saint Paul, or rather Saul before his conversion. Saul was a Roman Jew who persecuted the early Christians. He was so blinded by pride that he refused to accept the teachings of the apostles to the point of killing them (poor Saint Stephen). Saul justified what he was doing by claiming it was God’s work. In reality, he was just keeping the status quo where the power of the Law was taught and enforced by those who believed they were important and holy enough to wield it. Ironically, God physically blinded Saul on the road to Damascus to humble him. That event led to his conversion. Once a humble servant of God, Paul was able to preach God’s Word throughout the world because he could let go of his own self-importance. He teaches to this very day through his various letters in the New Testament.

The Rosary Solution

Humility is the heavenly virtue that counters pride. The humble heart thinks of others and understands and appreciates others’ talents and strengths. It also allows us to put our faith in God by recognizing His authority over us. The humble heart accepts Gods law while the prideful one fights and rebels against it.

Humility is the fruit of the First Joyful Mystery — The Annunciation. Mary proclaims, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38) when hearing God’s plan for her. She doesn’t consider herself high and mighty as a prideful person would. She doesn’t see God choosing her as some sort of award or even something to brag about. Instead, she sees herself as the humble servant called to do God’s Will. She doesn’t complain about God messing up her life’s plans. Instead, she realizes that God’s plan is the best plan even if it’s unconventional.

Humility also shows itself in the Third Sorrowful Mystery — Jesus’ Crowning of Thorns. It is a time when Jesus is mocked or tortured. At that time, He could have proven Himself as the Son of God by performing any number of signs. Jesus could have said that He didn’t have to take any more abuse from lowly humans since He was the Messiah. But Jesus humbly lived out God’s Will by enduring mockery and torture. Humility sometimes means suffering in doing what is right instead of constantly asking “Why me? Am too good for this type of treatment.” We should take Jesus’ example in the Third Sorrowful Mystery and always accept God’s plan for us even when it’s difficult or doesn’t make sense.

Ask yourself, are you humbly accepting God’s plan for you or is your pride causing you to rebel against Him? Are you depressed or saddened because you have a hard time accepting God’s Will? Ask yourself, is that your pride talking? Humility isn’t something to fear. It means greater freedom and comfort knowing that you are putting your life in the hands of some greater authority. And what better authority to place your life than our loving God and His Church?

Conquering Envy Through the Rosary

Let’s talk about sin, specifically, the seven deadly sins (also known as cardinal or capital sins). Theologians in the early Church devised a list of sins that form the foundation for other sins. Think of it like the taxonomy, or classification, of sinful behavior. By reducing sin to a small list, teaching about sin and virtue became easier in the early Church because priests could teach people simple “do this, avoid that” style rules. The seven deadly sins as we know them today were formalized by Pope Gregory I in 590 AD and later expounded by Saint Thomas Aquinas in Summa Theologica. For those of you who never saw the movie Se7en, the seven deadly sins are:

gluttony
lust
greed
pride
sloth
wrath
envy

This article is going to focus on envy. In the age of social media and instant communication with others, it’s so easy to suffer from envy. We see people’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram posts about their fantastic vacations, cute families, crazy parties, and glamorous lives and it’s difficult to not feel envious. We fixate on the nice car our neighbor bought or the slightly larger TV that is in his living room. Unless you live in a completely isolated environment, it’s difficult not to see the blessings others have around you and not feel just a bit envious.

The Scriptural Connection

Of course, envy isn’t anything new. In fact, envy plays a prominent role in the first book of the Bible when Cain killed his brother Abel. Cain envied his brother because God favored Abel’s offering over his. What I find interesting is God’s response to Cain’s anger: “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance (mood) fallen? 7 “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

The Bible doesn’t say how much effort Cain put into his offering to God. Maybe he held something back and didn’t put forth his best crops for God but kept them to himself. Maybe Cain was lazy which lead to a small harvest. God basically challenges Cain to do better and work harder. But instead of accepting the challenge, Cain fixated on his brother’s good fortune to the point of murdering him. That is why envy, when not addressed, is such a deadly sin. It can grow and spread like cancer. It then cuts us off from others because all we see in others are our own desires. We don’t see others as our fellow brothers and sisters but more like a store’s windows displaying what we want but cannot have. It reduces people to the summation of their possessions. Many of the deadly sins are interconnected since we can see envy being related with pride (everything centered around what I want), greed (always wanting more), and wrath (hatred because you have what I want).

The Rosary Connection

Father Ed Broom wrote an article on Catholic Exchange about what we can do to combat envy. It’s worth a read. But of course, the Rosary also teaches us about envy and how to fight it. Let’s look at the Second Luminous Mystery — the Miracle at the Wedding at Cana. What does that have to do with envy? Let’s consider God’s miracles and blessings. When others receive them, are you happy for them or do you envy them? For me, one person’s unexpected blessings can bring about feelings of envy and resentment. I ask why other people have all the good fortune. Or, why has God saddled me with more hardship than someone else?

Of course, feeling envious is the wrong way to look at God’s blessings and miracles. To start, someone receiving a miracle or blessing doesn’t take any blessings away from you. God’s grace is not a zero-sum game where someone receiving grace deprives someone else of his. God has infinite power and hence, can dole out infinite grace. When others encounter miracles, Father Broom says we should thank God for all the blessings and miracles He performs in our lives. Yes, we may not have the cushy job, a huge bank account, a nice car, or a great phone. But we are alive and able to praise God by living the day as virtuously as possible. God gives us the miracle of a new day of infinite possibility. Don’t squander it by being envious of others. Let’s also look at the Second Joyful Mystery, the Visitation. Each Rosary mystery has an associated “fruit.” You can think of fruits like the lesson taught in each mystery. For the Visitation, the fruit is “Love thy Neighbor.” Of course, loving your neighbor is the opposite of envying or being jealous of your neighbor. Father Broom states that praying for those whom you envy will help fight that envy. It does this by taking that sinful fixation and transforming it to a healthy one. Your focus is on asking God to help you instead of being jealous of others. Fighting envy difficult, but so was traveling to Elizabeth’s home for Mary. She did it out of her love for her cousin. We too must take up that difficult challenge of fighting envy with love, prayer, and kindness (which is one of the seven heavenly virtues that combats envy). [amazon asin=B004661J04,1928832431,1973519054,0898704383,B017HI0F5W&text=Amazon&template=carousel]

Humane Vitae and the Value of Self-Discipline

If you’ve done any type of sports or exercise, you probably know the term no pain, no gain. All athletes must push themselves hard to obtain victory. Muscles only grow when they are challenged. Your heart needs a little bit of stress from cardiovascular activity to function its best. It’s just the way our bodies are designed to function — you need to periodically exert yourself to stay healthy.

Much like how we have to exercise our muscles, we also have to exercise our souls. Here’s another slogan you’ve probably heard — use it or lose it. But what does it mean to exercise and use your soul? Using your soul means feeding yourself with grace by practicing virtue. Is that easy? No, of course not. But much like how our bodies are designed to function best by stressing it a bit with exercise, our souls are at their best when we challenge ourselves by practicing virtues and avoiding temptations. Sounds hard right? The good news is that we’re not alone in this challenge.

The Catholic Church is a great spiritual fitness instructor. She has challenged people to work harder at developing their spiritual muscles. We may often want to quit when life gets challenging and temptations mount. But the Church is like that coach telling you, “you can do this!” Or, “just one more set!” The Church has never allowed people to cheat and take an easy way out of a difficult situation if doing so ultimately harms their spiritual state. There’s no, “you’ve gone to enough Masses” or “sure, commit a little sin; you’ve earned it.” The Church sets a high bar for our spiritual health understanding that it will be challenging. But it doesn’t veer away from teaching what is right just because many people find that path difficult and fail to live up to God’s expectations. The Church knows that it’s within everyone’s ability to lead a spiritually healthy lifestyle. You just have to make the effort.

Humanae Vitae

This Church’s mindset of uncompromising spiritual living is seen in the 1968 encyclical, Humanae Vitae, which we celebrated its 50th anniversary this past July. Many people, when they hear about Humanae Vitae, they immediately think, “Oh, that’s that document that is against artificial contraception.” But that’s like saying football is that sport where everyone just lines up and falls down. Sure, the Church’s position against artificial contraception is a core teaching of that document. But there’s so much more to it.

Humanae Vitae puts a challenge before all of us. It asks us to put the needs of our soul first in our lives even when recent inventions and social conventions make it seem like we don’t have to. Just because the birth control pill exists, abortion is legal in many countries, and pornography is readily available doesn’t make them good or healthy. Humanae Vitae wants us to realize that a life of immediate gratification is not necessarily happier because we don’t grow spiritually in accordance with God’s design. God’s design requires us to challenge ourselves to stay spiritually healthy. Consider this excerpt from Humanae Vitae about self-discipline and how it leads to “spiritual blessings.”

Self-discipline of this kind is a shining witness to the chastity of husband and wife and, far from being a hindrance to their love of one another, transforms it by giving it a more truly human character. And if this self-discipline does demand that they persevere in their purpose and efforts, it has at the same time the salutary effect of enabling husband and wife to develop to their personalities and to be enriched with spiritual blessings.
From Humanae Vitae, Section 21

The Rosary Connection

The whole Rosary is an exercise in practicing virtue and growing spiritually by challenging yourself. It’s not an easy prayer. It’s relatively long and repetitive. It’s tiring to say it every day, especially when it’s done in a meditative manner. But, the Rosary is a great prayer to tell God that you want to spend time with Him despite your access to various forms of entertainment. We tell Mary that we’ll pray Her Rosary because we believe that it’s one of the best ways to build grace.

There are so many Rosary mysteries that center around the theme of self-discipline. The one I’ll choose to mention is the Second Joyful Mystery, The Visitation. You really have to give Mary credit for traveling and helping Her cousin Elizabeth when She was pregnant. No one would have faulted Mary for cloistering Herself during Her pregnancy given Her circumstances. But She knew that was not what God was calling Her to do. And that is the core of many Church teachings — true happiness comes when we do God’s Will even when it is difficult or inconvenient. That is how we grow and stay spiritually fit.

Mary had a choice — does She try to bend God’s Will around Her desires or challenge Herself to follow the path as God designed? She’s our Heavenly Queen for a reason — She uncompromisingly chose to obey God’s Will in Her life. How about you? Are you growing spiritually by challenging yourself to follow God’s plan or are you feeding yourself spiritual junk food through sin and vice?

The Pope’s August 2018 Intention — The Treasure of Families

Take a look at the news and ask yourself, do politicians generally support laws that promote or limit family freedoms? What importance do current laws and legal rulings place on traditional family structures? Think about rulings trying to redefine marriage, the limiting of rights parents have over how to best raise their kids, and just the overall societal devaluing of marriage’s role in promoting a stable, peaceful, and strong society.

In that light, here is Pope Francis’ intention for August 2018:

Universal – The Treasure of Families

That any far-reaching decisions of economists and politicians may protect the family as one of the treasures of humanity.

I think it’s obvious that governments in general, and individual politicians specifically, are acting increasingly more hostile to the traditional family ideal. Much of it comes from politicians knowing that people need to be part of a close-knit unit. But unfortunately for politicians, the original close-knit unit, the family, acts as a political ideological wall. It acts like a wall because parents can act as a political filter and are usually a much closer role model for their kids. But if politicians can chip away or tear down that wall, they know that people will seek the guidance from another community, one where the politicians wield more control — the government.

Politicians are human and have human weaknesses. Many are greedy and seek increases in political power. When they obtain that power, they want to keep it and grow it. That endeavor becomes easier when they have more control over the population. One such lever to increase control is to reduce the influence of a mom and dad. In other words, as the independence of the family goes down, the influence of the government increases because it fills that decision-making, rule-enforcing vacuum.

Once again, we have the Catholic faith taking the now counter-cultural view of promoting the value of the traditional family. In a world where there is a separation of church and state or an open hostility towards religion, then where else but the family will people learn and love God? When Pope Francis asks us to pray for the protection of the family, he does so to our benefit and ultimate happiness. It’s through the family that parents pass their love of God and the importance of faith to their children. It’s that love of God and reliance on Him and His grace that people find strength and motivation to not only endure life’s challenges but prosper and find a meaningful peace.

The Rosary Connection

The Fourth Joyful Mystery, The Presentation in the Temple, is a wonderful Rosary mystery to reflect on the value of family. In this mystery, Mary and Joseph impress the importance and value of living their faith and passing on those traditions to Jesus. I find it interesting that of all the events in the Gospel, this one made the cut of being worthy of a Rosary mystery. Our Mother Mary obviously wants us to understand the importance of family and sharing in God’s love with one another. Following the pope’s intention, let’s remember to pray for politicians, economists, and employers as well in respecting the importance of family.

Remember, the pope is asking us to pray for a group of people (politicians) that are currently skewing in an anti-family direction. We are essentially praying for a change of hardened hearts. Pray for the people in power when you pray the Third Luminous Mystery of the Rosary, Jesus’ Proclamation of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Call to Conversion. Remember that Jesus’ message wasn’t always well received, especially by the authorities in the Sanhedrin because it challenged their power. So too, does a free and independent family challenge modern politicians’ power. After Jesus’ resurrection, the apostles also encountered a lot of hostility establishing the early Christian Church. Saint Stephen was even martyred on the order of Jewish officials (Saul, later Saint Paul, being one of them). We too are called to the same mission as the apostles — spreading Jesus’ teachings to everyone, especially the powerful who may be hostile towards them.

Priests are People Too — Pope Francis’ July Intention

I don’t know if you’ve ever encountered this uncomfortable situation when you were young — running into your teacher outside of school at a restaurant, bank, or supermarket. I was often confused on how I should act because there was a person who was an authority figure in one context but a “regular person” in another. It was hard seeing my teacher as anyone other than my teacher.

As I got older, I realized how isolating that must have made teachers feel if their encounters outside of school with students were so awkward. To many of the people in their lives, they would only be that red pen using, sticker distributing, detention giving teacher.

The same goes for priests. Growing up, I always viewed priests, not as regular people with hobbies and interests, but as men who spent all their time conducting Mass, teaching, visiting the sick, and praying. In my mind, they didn’t watch sports, read non-religious books, play musical instruments, or browse the internet. Nor did they have normal faults that I could relate to like impatience, selfishness, greed, laziness, etc. Like teachers, my interaction with priests always felt awkward because I couldn’t figure out how I should act around them. After all, how do you act normally around someone who has heard all your sins in the Sacrament of Confession?

Pope Francis’ July 2018 intention is for priests, who experience fatigue and loneliness in their pastoral work, may find help and comfort in their intimacy with the Lord and in their friendship with their brother priests. It’s important to understand that priests lead hard lives. In many instances, they are away from their friends and families and the area where they grew up. They are always on call for emergencies like administering the Sacrament of Healing to the sick or need to counsel those who are having difficulties in life. I’m sure that they would appreciate some normalcy in their lives. It’s not that they want to get away from their vocation, but instead, not have people act awkwardly around them because of their vocation.

The Rosary Connection

Vocation is a central theme of the First Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. In this mystery, God calls Mary to a very specific life. And that’s what a vocation is — a calling. Mary responds with a humble yes with an idea that her vocation would be difficult even without full knowledge of what she was accepting. And so it is for priests who freely enter the priesthood with an understanding that it will be a difficult vocation but probably not fully realizing it until they’ve lived it for years. The Annunciation should teach us to really discern our vocation and once we say yes to it, to work as hard as we can to make the most of it. We should be mindful that priests, as learned and experienced as they are, are also discovering new aspects of their vocation and can benefit from the lay faithful’s support.

Moving on to the Fourth Joyful Mystery — the Presentation. There are many vocations at play in this mystery. We see Mary and Joseph living their vocation as husband and wife and parents to Jesus. The presentation shows that they are committed to raising and teaching Jesus their faith. It’s a model that all parents should imitate — that we are responsible for teaching our children the Catholic Faith. This means setting a good example and actively practicing our faith. In keeping with Pope Francis’ July intention, it also means educating our children on religious life and the important role priests play in our spiritual development. Parents should be open to the idea that their sons may have a calling to the priesthood and help them explore that vocation.

Another important person in the Fourth Joyful Mystery is Saint Simeon. In the Gospel, all that is really said about him is that he was a righteous man who spent most of his time praying in the temple after the Holy Spirit came to him with a promise. Doesn’t that sound like the call to the priestly vocation? Saint Simeon’s life revolved around prayer and he was one of the first to introduce the world to the Chosen One, Jesus Christ. This parallels the role of priests — introducing the lay faithful to Jesus. But Saint Simeon’s life must have been difficult; one of solitude and uncertainty. When you pray this mystery, think of the solitude your parish priest may feel as he works on bringing Jesus to his congregation.

Finally, think of the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery — Jesus carrying His cross. Jesus was exhausted and close to death as he fell three times and could barely walk. I think priests must feel the same way at times — exhausted by the years of living their vocation. We need to be like Veronica; making an effort to comfort and support the priests we know in our lives. It can be something as simple as inviting a priest you are close to (like the one who married you, baptized your children, etc.) out for coffee or breakfast; something “normal” and relaxing.

What will you do? Stand on the side like so many people did when Jesus carried His cross? Or make an effort to let priests in your life know how important they are and that you appreciate their sacrifices?

How the Rosary Helps Us Avoid “Everlasting Sin”

“’Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.’”

This passage from the Gospel of Mark confused me until recently. We talk about an all loving and merciful God so how can there be an unforgivable sin? How can the God that created everything from nothing not have the capacity to forgive everything? When I was younger, I asked myself, “what if I already committed this unforgivable sin and not know it? Is the rest of my life pointless because God has already told St. Peter to not allow me into Heaven?”

Fortunately, the unforgivable sin doesn’t work like that. This isn’t some sort of gotcha or fine print in Catholic doctrine that God will use to keep you out of Heaven. It’s simply a way of restating that a sin will remain unforgiven if you never ask for forgiveness. This Catholic Exchange article does a good job of breaking down the unforgivable sin into six aspects:

despair
presumption
impenitence
obstinacy
resisting truth
spiritual welfare

Do you notice a common theme in these? As the CE article states:

In every case analyzed above, we can determine that the only way any sin is truly unpardonable is if the person remains unrepentant. The reasons, as we have sorted through, vary from envy to despair. Each is caused by a hardness of heart, which is directly opposed to meekness. Meekness is that beatitude that mollifies and softens what has become calloused by deep, unhealed wounds. Our models for meekness, of course, are Jesus and Mary.

How does the Rosary teach us about meekness and avoiding behaviors that lead to an unforgiven sin? Let’s look at the Fifth Joyful Mystery and the finding of Jesus in the Temple. Mary and Joseph searched for Jesus for three days after losing Him in the caravan. They did whatever they needed to do to find Jesus. We too must do whatever it takes to find Jesus when we lose Him by sinning. We can’t have a hardened heart or the presumption that Jesus is okay with our behavior. We must acknowledge our wrongdoings and come back to Him through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Think about the Second Luminous Mystery of the Rosary and Jesus’ miracle at Cana. We see Jesus’ ability to perform miracles and turn potential disaster (a wedding without booze, oh no!) into overflowing joy. That miracle is a great metaphor for what happens to our souls in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. God, through the Holy Spirit, takes our broken, damaged soul and miraculously transforms it into a pure one filled with hope, joy, and grace. Mary asked Jesus to perform a miracle at Cana. And, whenever we enter that confessional, we ask Him to perform a miracle too.

Next we turn to the Third Glorious Mystery of the Rosary — the descent of the Holy Spirit. Why is a hardened heart such a grave offense? Remember, the Holy Spirit is one part of the Holy Trinity. So rejecting the power and authority of the Holy Spirit is rejecting God. And what’s mortal sin but the total rejection of God? By thinking that God can’t or won’t forgive us, we reject His supremacy over His creation. We are saying that we, the created, are capable of actions that are beyond God’s control. When we pray this Rosary mystery, let’s not only think of the Holy Spirit as our guide but also remember that He’s also God as part of the Holy Trinity.

Finally, the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery — Jesus’ Crucifixion. There’s actually two things to consider. First, Jesus is so willing to forgive that He asked God to forgive the ones who crucified Him. For most of us, our sins will probably never be as grave as murdering God’s begotten Son. If God can forgive that, He can forgive anything we do.

Also, the criminal crucified next to Jesus simply asked Jesus to remember him. And Jesus proclaimed that the criminal would be with Him in paradise. Again, ask Jesus anything with a meek and humble heart and Jesus will respond.

Okay, now that we’ve talked about the power of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, I’ll end on a more light-hearted note. Here’s a clip from The Simpsons about the limits of God’s power.

What the Rosary Tells Us About Judas’ Betrayal

Because we celebrated the Solemnity of the Ascension on Sunday, many of us didn’t hear the regular readings for the Seventh Sunday of Easter. The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles was particularly interesting to me. It highlighted the discussions among the apostles on how to fill the vacancy in the apostleship left behind by Judas. This reading provides plenty of rosary meditation ideas.

Here’s a clip from the first reading. You can read it in full here or listen to the audio here.

Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers
—there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons
in the one place —.
He said, “My brothers,
the Scripture had to be fulfilled
which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand
through the mouth of David, concerning Judas,
who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.
He was numbered among us
and was allotted a share in this ministry.

“For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
May another take his office.

“Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men
who accompanied us the whole time
the Lord Jesus came and went among us,
beginning from the baptism of John
until the day on which he was taken up from us,
become with us a witness to his resurrection.”

The downfall of Judas is interesting to me for many reasons. Judas was someone who was as close to Jesus as anyone could have been. He was in the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples and had an understanding of Jesus teachings no one else had. Remember, the apostles understood Jesus on a different level than everyone else. In Mark 4:11, Jesus said He talked in parables to people because “the knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you [the apostles], but not to them [the people].“ Judas had been given all these graces and yet he threw them away for 30 pieces of silver. Judas exemplifies the inherent weakness of the human spirit; that we willingly give away so much for so little.

We may not be one of the twelve apostles, but we know Jesus through the lens of history and Church teachings. We know the tremendous gifts God offers us and yet we so readily throw them away like Judas did. How? Maybe we skip going to Sunday Mass because we would rather watch a football game or sleep in. We break fasts because that Snickers bar looks way too tempting. We skip prayers because there is something good on TV. We engage in sinful activities substituting happiness through God’s grace with empty pleasures. Whenever we sin, we are like Judas giving away so much in return for so little.

“At least at Mass I could have coffee and donuts afterwards.”

Judas’ story also shows us just how much freedom God gives us. Even as one of the twelve apostles, Judas freely left and betrayed Jesus. We know from the Agony in the Garden how scared Jesus was of his crucifixion. He had all the power to stop Judas if He wanted to. But it was so important to Jesus to let people freely chose to follow or reject Him that He accepted Judas’ choice to betray Him. We never fault Jesus for Judas’ betrayal. And hence, we shouldn’t feel like we have failed when those closest to us turn away from their faith or fall into a life of sin. If Jesus could be betrayed, any one of us can also be.

The Rosary Connection

Think of the Fifth Joyful Mystery and how Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple after they had lost him. We lose Jesus whenever we sin but we return to His grace when we look for and find Him in the Sacrament of Confession. Jesus is always willing to welcome us back. Even Judas could have received forgiveness if he had only looked for it. After all, Peter denied knowing Jesus but returned and was strengthened because he understood Jesus’ ability to forgive him. The Fifth Joyful Mystery should remind us that the choice is always ours on how we want to deal with our sin. Do we want to wallow in it and have it ultimately consume us like it did Judas? Or do we choose to seek God’s forgiveness and return to His grace?

We should also think about those who have their own Judas in their lives — those who have loved ones who chose a life of sin. Think about them when you pray the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery. They have heavy crosses to bear that may not be entirely of their own doing. But it weighs them down all the same. We pray that those who are rejected in favor of sin have the strength to carry on whether that means continuing to reach out and help those who have turned away from God’s path or accepting that sometimes we can’t bring people back from their sinful ways through physical actions. And when I say accept, I don’t mean give up. We should always continue to pray for lost souls because while we may not be able to change their hearts, the Holy Spirit can.

We Pray…

Lord, please forgive us for the times we’ve acted like Judas. Provide strength to those who feel betrayed by those closest to them. Help those who wallow in sin and let them know that they can always choose to return to you through your sacraments. Amen.