Fourth Luminous Mystery

English: "The First Thanksgiving at Plymo... — English: “The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth” (1914) By Jennie A. Brownscombe (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In the United States, Thanksgiving is right around the corner. It is a time to give thanks for all that God has given us. And yet for many, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of be thankful about. Family, financial, spiritual, work, and global worries are in abundant supply. But for one day out of the year, we manage to push those aside and focus on our good graces. But that’s one day. What about the other 364? Here’s five ways the rosary can help you be thankful every day.

The Third Joyful Mystery

For thousands of years and hundreds of generations, people’s notion of God was one of a supreme being that was very distant and often very angry. The God as the Israelites knew him was a god of rules, laws, and punishments. But we have the grace to have what millions of people never had — God made man through the being of Jesus Christ. When we pray this mystery, give thanks that we have the opportunity to know God as someone who walked with us, laughed with us, cried with us, and died for us. Unlike millions of people who lived before Jesus’ birth, we have a face to put on God. And while we may be removed from Jesus by nearly 2000 years, we should rejoice that we have the benefit of coming 2000 years after Jesus’ birth, not before.

The Fourth Luminous Mystery

Following a similar theme from the birth of Jesus Christ, how lucky are we that God humbled himself and took on a human form so that we can come to know him more intimately? As we see with Jesus’ clothes turning dazzling white and God’s voice telling the apostles to listen to his son, we get an idea of the majesty in Christ. Jesus could have come into this world floating down from Heaven in dazzling glory as witnessed in the Transfiguration. But he didn’t. And we should be ever thankful about that. Jesus, the human, wasn’t “God Lite” who wasn’t any less approachable or mysterious as God himself. No, he was a human like all of us who we could relate with and listen to his teachings in plain, not intimidating speech. Of all the ways God chose to manifest himself, we should give thanks that he chose the person of Jesus Christ.

The Fifth Joyful Mystery

I always associate the Finding of Jesus in the Temple with the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Mary and Joseph’s searching for Jesus and then finding him in his father’s house is a nice analogy to how we rediscover God’s grace, which we lose through sin, through Confession. But where does thanksgiving come into this mystery? I don’t know about you, but I’m thankful that every day is a day to live in God’s grace but also another opportunity to rediscover that grace through Confession if I’ve lost it (either in part through venial sin or whole through mortal sin). Once you die, you no longer have that ability to seek forgiveness. Be thankful that no matter how deep in sin or despair you are, as long as you can draw breath you have an opportunity to rediscover God’s grace and achieve the same glory in Heaven as the saints.

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery

How can we not be eternally thankful for Jesus’ sacrifice for our sake? Through his crucifixion, Jesus redeemed all of mankind for the disobedience of Adam and Eve — the original sin. We are thankful that through his sacrifice, Jesus made Heaven a possibility for all humanity, something that wasn’t open to us before. Humans failed God through Adam and Eve and we continue to fail through sin. And we would live in despair if there was no way to set things right. And that is exactly what Jesus’ crucifixion was — setting things right that were once broken.

The Fourth Glorious Mystery

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How fortunate we are that God set aside Mary to serve a special role, not just in her earthly life, but in her heavenly one too. She was assumed into Heaven and acts as our mediatrix to her son, Jesus. But what do we mean by mediatrix? That’s just a special way of saying that Mary is our spiritual lawyer (but with a heart). Like how a legal lawyer helps us navigate the often confusing laws and regulations, Mary helps us navigate the often difficult spiritual waters. She helps us understand what is not understandable — God. We should be thankful that God, knowing that we need some help understanding his truth, set aside Mary to act as our guide.

We just remembered the 70th anniversary of the Allied landing on Normandy in WWII. Operation Overlord, or D-Day, was a massive operation that forever changed the face of our world. Thousands of men stormed the beaches and for many of them, the flashes of German gunfire from concrete bunkers was the last thing they would ever see and the deafening sounds of mortar shells was the last thing they would ever hear.

But like many historical events, even the big ones like D-Day, time erodes our memories and emotions of these events. As the people who experienced these events pass away and all we’re left with are pictures and videos, these world changing moments start to feel less real and meaningful to us. Washington D.C. burning to the ground in 1812, thousands of men dying at Gettysburg, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, D-Day, and one day, 9/11, almost start to have as much impact as a work of fiction as time goes on.

D-DAY IMAGE ... — D-DAY IMAGE … (Photo credit: mrbill78636)

I think we often suffer from time diminishing our faith. Many of us read the Bible and listen to the Gospels at least once a week during Sunday Mass. We may pray routinely. We know what Jesus taught and what He expects of us. We know the high bar He sets for us to get into His kingdom of Heaven. And I bet, if Jesus walked into your room and repeated what He said in the Gospels, He would have your complete attention. You would run out and change anything and everything in your life that didn’t line up with His teaching.

And yet, we often ignore, trivialize, or give lip service to Jesus’ message because He said it nearly 2000 years ago and we didn’t witness it firsthand. We are like St. Thomas who doubted Jesus’ resurrection when the other disciples told him about it because he didn’t personally see Him. But Jesus’ teachings are no different today than when He walked this earth. His teachings are no different through the Gospel than if He came walking through your door right now. And yet we too allow the trivialities of our present situation to overshadow the greater truths Jesus taught us.

I think about my lack of appreciation of Jesus’ truth most when I pray the Fourth Luminous Mystery of the rosary, The Transfiguration. I think about how awe inspiring it must have been for the apostles to witness Jesus transform into a figure of dazzling light and to hear God say, “LISTEN TO HIM.” If we truly believe in the authenticity of the Catholic faith, then we know the Transfiguration was a real event. God didn’t just tell the apostles to listen to Jesus. He told all of us! But ask yourself, do you live with an awareness of that reality? Or do you often ignore or trivialize the truths of the Catholic faith because you didn’t personally witness Jesus saying them? Why does a difference of time and place have such a dramatic effect on our willingness to follow Jesus’ teachings?

Before you beat yourself up, remember that even the apostles failed to truly believe in Jesus’ teachings when confronted with the realities around them. Judas betrayed Jesus. Peter, who witnessed the Transfiguration, denied Him. And all of them, except for John, went into hiding during Jesus’ crucifixion. They didn’t even have the excuse of being separated from Jesus by thousands of years like we do. Their cowardice shows just how powerful our human weaknesses are and how they can dominate over our desire to live for God’s eternal kingdom.

And while we may fail to truly believe in Jesus’ message like the apostles did, God came into our lives in yet another form — as the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gave the apostles that shot of courage and conviction to go out and live and preach the Jesus’ message. While they may have been lukewarm in their faith while Jesus was alive, they were transformed into true believers on Pentecost. Even in their fear, the Holy Spirit penetrated their souls and gave the apostles a needed spiritual “kick.”

The Holy Spirit descending at Pentecost by Ant... — The Holy Spirit descending at Pentecost by Anthony van Dyck, circa 1618. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many of us are in need of a spiritual kick. We may not live in fear of practicing our faith (although more and more Christians are being persecuted and martyred throughout the world). But many of us do suffer from a sense of passivity in our faith because we haven’t heard Jesus’ teachings directly from His mouth. But the Holy Spirit, the same one that roused the scared apostles into action, rouses us into action as well. We only have to provide that small bit of kindling in our souls for the fire of the Holy Spirit to erupt into a bright flame of faith. That kindling is something as small and as easy as focused prayer, rosary meditation, participating at Mass, and receiving the sacraments. It doesn’t matter that Jesus walked this earth nearly 2000 years ago. His message is still the same and the Holy Spirit burns just as bright!