I came across an article about how to best prepare to receive the Eucharist at Mass. I thought it was timely since the pope’s June intention revolves around the idea of fostering respect. I mentioned in my last post how we not only have to respect each other but we also have to respect Jesus Christ. And there is no better way to respect Jesus than receiving Him in the Eucharist in the fullest and most reverent manner possible.
The Catholic Exchange article breaks down Eucharistic preparation into ten items. Please read the article for a full explanation. For the TL;DR crowd, they are:
Practice your faith
Appreciate the gift of the Eucharist
Confess your sins
Do not arrive late to Mass
Show reverence
Have intentions
Participate in the Mass
Keep a Marian heart
Show thanks
Be a Eucharistic apostle
I liked how the CE article made comparisons to the Mass and Eucharist to attending a party or some other social event. Typically, we try not to be late, we thank our hosts, we dress appropriately, and we respect the venue. And yet, many times we don’t extend that same level of courtesy when it comes to receiving Christ in the Eucharist. We sometimes come to Mass late, zone out during the readings and prayers, stand in line at Communion thinking about other things, and receive the Eucharist almost mechanically.
Being respectful isn’t easy. If it were, we would be respectful more often. Respect takes work often at the cost of personal convenience. It’s hard to focus on prayers during Mass, to set aside time on a weekend to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, to continue praying as you walk up the aisle for Communion, and to pray in thanksgiving when you come back to your seat. But if we truly understood that there is literally nothing on Earth more valuable than the Eucharist, we would be horrified to even consider receiving Jesus without making our best effort to prepare ourselves.
Here’s my item #11 to add to the list of Eucharistic preparation. Pray the Rosary regularly. Ask Mary to help increase your faith and understanding of the great gift Her Son offers us. Ask Her how you can most worthily accept Jesus during Communion. Showing faith in the power of the Rosary prepares us for the faith we need to fully accept Jesus in the Eucharist.
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?
Finding Jesus in “His Father’s House”
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.
As many of my regular visitors know, I try not to bring up fleeting political topics in my writing. The way I see it, when we get into the outrage of the day type of politics, we become like the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus warned us about. We can get self-righteous about the details of an individual’s actions or some political decision and we start seeing those who disagree with us as our enemies, not our fellow brothers and sisters. We get so wrapped up in being right (or convincing others that they are wrong) we forget about Jesus’ call for us to live in loving service of one another.
I see this quite often from those who consume the 24/7 news cycle whether it be MSNBC, CNN, or Fox News. Once someone establishes an opinion on a particular political or social topic, validating the correctness and righteousness of that position becomes their priority at any cost. Gone are the days where people could respectfully disagree. Now it’s an attitude of “if you’re not with me, you’re against me.” This thinking throws up walls between us as we cut people out of our lives because we see them only as the sum total of their political opinions. Many of us choose to be miserable by dwelling and even hating those who hold different views.
Is this really how you want to spend your life?
It doesn’t help that we find ourselves in a world the promotes relative morality. When we throw out the teachings and logic of theologians and philosophers we are left with moral confusion and chaos because there is no doctrine or logic backing up someone’s view. I see this all the time in the news where someone is wrong, bad, and even evil for no other reason than having a different perspective. As a society, we’ve moved away from the idea that there are moral truths. Has pretending that those truths don’t exist made us any happier?
I think the Fourth Glorious mystery of the Rosary, Mary‘s Assumption, is a good place to reflect on how we treat others. Think about Mary’s mission since her Assumption into Heaven. She wants nothing more than for us to follow Jesus’ teachings and imitate His actions. She asks us to pray and read the Bible and really understand how Jesus wants us to live. She wants us to know the moral truths behind the Church’s teachings so that we can live free instead of falling victim to the unhappiness moral chaos brings.
Jesus, while perfect, didn’t cut people off because they were imperfect. He didn’t look down on the tax collectors, the poor, and the sick like the Pharisees. Quite the opposite, Jesus reached out and helped them. Mary calls on us to pray and help those who are particularly struggling to know Her son, Jesus Christ. Pope Francis’ May intention of the lay faithful promoting the faith echoes Mary’s mission. We all should be helping those who have cut themselves off from God‘s grace and embraced a morality that is only as valid as the media or politicians deem it valid.
It’s important to understand that while Jesus didn’t cut off sinners He also didn’t give people an excuse to continue to sin. He still maintained and reinforced God’s laws. We aren’t called to be pushovers either. But to help those who may have swerved from God’s path, we need to understand God’s truths through the lens of prayer and scripture. Prayer gives us the perspective to focus on the big challenges that are important to God and not on the day-to-day controversies whipped up by the media. So for your spiritual health and sanity, turn off the TV and pick up that rosary!
The Rosary is a prayer that requires an above-average level of patience. It’s long, repetitive, and doesn’t have a narrative like reading Bible passages. Admit it, you’ve zoned out more than a few times praying the Rosary haven’t you? I know I certainly have. The motivation for the RosaryMeds website and my books is to make the Rosary a more engaging and less monotonous prayer. But when it comes down to it, you just have to work up the motivation and put effort into praying it effectively. No amount of websites, books, and videos can substitute for the will to pray the Rosary and the patience to allow it to transform you.
In this post, I want to focus on the value of patience and how it relates to the Rosary. There are two ways the Rosary helps us grow in patience. First, there are many Rosary mysteries that teach patience as a core value. When you meditate on these mysteries, ask Mary to help you grow in patience.
First Joyful Mystery: Saint Joseph‘s patience with God’s plan for his wife, our mother, Mary. Imagine learning that God has a completely different life prepared for you that will be much more difficult and confusing. It takes a lot of patience to accept God’s Will when it conflicts with your desires or expectations.
Fourth Joyful Mystery: Saint Simeon‘s patience with God’s promise that he would one day see the Chosen One. He did, but only at the end of his life. Talk about needing patience for God’s plan to come to fruition.
Second and Fifth Sorrowful Mysteries: Jesus enduring the scourging and insults during His Passion and Crucifixion. He kept silent while soldiers beat Him and the authorities interrogated Him because He knew it had to be done to bring about our redemption and salvation. He was patient onto death because it was God’s Will.
Jesus in Pray (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The second way the Rosary helps us grow in patience is the act of praying the Rosary itself. It’s not an easy prayer and takes time and energy to pray correctly. But that focus and perseverance you practice in Rosary prayer translate into increased focus and perseverance in other aspects of your life. It is practice for dealing with annoying coworkers, parents, or uncooperative children (parents, you know what I’m talking about right?).
But what’s so important about patience? Patience is often referred to as a virtue. But why? In other words, what’s so bad about impatience? Why is it bad if you have a low tolerance for people making mistakes or not giving everything their 100% best effort? This Catholic Exchange article frames patience as a reflection of our relationship with Jesus:
Simply by reminding ourselves that we’re being patient not primarily for the sake of the person who is irritating us, but as an expression of our love for Jesus. Following Him often means putting up with people, events, and situations we’d prefer to avoid entirely. This effort is very valuable, for, as St. Katherine Drexel noted, “The patient endurance of the Cross — whatever nature it may be — is the highest work we have to do.”
Patience is tied to humility. What is impatience but a lack of humility for God’s plan and our desire to change our circumstances immediately? Patience is admitting that we cannot change everything to suit our desires but instead we must let God’s plan for us and others play out. Patience means telling God, “I may not like this situation but I will put forth the effort to endure it because it is Your Will.” Patience is an admission that our lives and circumstances are in God’s hands. Instead of wishing that they be different, it is our opportunity to respond to our circumstances as Jesus taught us.
The next time you feel like putting down the Rosary because you feel like you aren’t getting anything out of it, take a small pause and tell Mary you will be patient with Her and her gift and then continue praying the Rosary. She promises miraculous things through the Rosary which we often lose sight of in our impatience of repeating Hail Marys and Our Fathers. Don’t let impatience prevent you from obtaining all that God desires for you.
The community of believers was of one heart and mind,
and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own,
but they had everything in common.
With great power the apostles bore witness
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and great favor was accorded them all.
There was no needy person among them,
for those who owned property or houses would sell them,
bring the proceeds of the sale,
and put them at the feet of the apostles,
and they were distributed to each according to need.
This is the type of passage from the Bible people love to use when claiming the Catholic Church endorses socialism. After all, it talks about everyone selling their personal property and putting the proceeds into the hands of a select few to be distributed to those with the most need. Were Jesus and His apostles promoting socialism thousands of years before Karl Marx? And are those of us who own property living in sin because we aren’t selling it all and giving it to charity?
English: Statue of Marx and Engels. Did they plagiarize their ideas from the Acts of the Apostles?
I think the main difference between what the early Christians did and socialism is that there aren’t signs that the apostles were forcing anyone to sell their property and give it to them. The early Church leaders weren’t trying to set up a new economic or political model. They were simply facilitating a process where those with more could help those with less. The passage provides no sense of coercion but instead says that early Christians were of one heart and mind by wanting to help each other any way they could.
To me, the take away from this passage from the Acts of the Apostles is that if we truly want to follow Jesus then we should use our resources and talents to help the needy. Jesus calls us to perform acts of charity, not greed. He wants us to put a high importance on others’ needs instead of our personal desires. The Church asks us to make this act of faith; that when we choose to help those in need we will be aided in our needs in return. That is a scary idea and many of us come up short (I know I do). Like other aspects of our faith, it’s a process that we continually refine throughout our lives. Maybe it starts with donating more to charity or spending more time doing charitable acts. It may mean looking beyond your concerns and thinking about the needs of those around you. It’s even just helping someone who needs it rather than ignoring them and going about your business.
Your Rosary Meds
When you pray the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary, think about Saint Veronica who wiped Jesus’ face as He carried His cross. It was a simple act that in the events of that day didn’t change anything. Jesus still suffered and died on the cross. But the Church recognized Saint Veronica’s small act of kindness by beatifying her. She saw Christ suffering and she did whatever she could to ease that suffering. She could have stood still out of a sense of fear or hopelessness. But she didn’t. She showed that even small acts of kindness are saintly actions.
Like Saint Veronica, we too should recognize those who are in need and help them however we can. That’s what the early Christian Church did. That’s what Saint Veronica did. That’s the model we must follow. The Church entrusts each of us to do our small part in helping those in need. When we all do our part, each small act adds up to huge changes. When you pray ask yourself, are you doing your part?
Many of the religious apps and websites I use provide commentary and meditations on the day’s Gospel reading. And they are great and worth reading. However, I too often skip or race through the readings from the Old and New Testaments usually because I don’t understand them and many sites don’t explain them to the degree they explain the Gospel. This is especially true of the Old Testament readings that often use different prose that can be difficult to parse. I want to try to start focusing more on the non-Gospel readings and tie them to the various mysteries of the Rosary.
Last Sunday’s Old Testament reading came from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (unless you were using the Year A readings).
The days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand
to lead them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they broke my covenant,
and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
But this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts;
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD,
for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.
As you know, the law God gave the Israelites was the stone tablets containing the 10 Commandments. They stored them in the Ark of the Covenant. The Israelites carried the Ark through their wandering in the desert and set up a sacred tent and later a temple to house them. And while sacred, the law was something physically inscribed on stone tablets and regarded as external constraints imposed by a distant God. You see this throughout the Old Testament through the Israelites disobeying God. In fact, by the time Moses came to deliver the 10 Commandments, the Israelites had already broken God’s law by worshiping a golden calf idol. Worshiping the God that brought them out of slavery in Egypt didn’t come naturally to them and they had to be explicitly told to follow God as one of the commandments.
English: The Ark of God Carried into the Temple Español: El Arca introduciéndose en el Templo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The prophet Jeremiah provides a preview of what is to come through Jesus Christ when he talks about the new law being written in people’s hearts, not on stone tablets. This connects Jesus’ teaching that He came to fulfill the law, not abolish it. Jesus did not invent a new law but reminded everyone of the law that was always there inside of us. And since God’s law is imprinted on our hearts, that makes each of us a sacred ark similar to how the Ark of the Covenant was sacred because it contained the 10 Commandments. That is just one more reason why Catholics consider human life sacred and fight so hard to protect it.
Since God’s law is imprinted on all our hearts, Jesus calls everyone to be His disciple. This means that God’s law transcends religions, nationalities, genders, and customs even if some people don’t know it by the name “Christianity.” This is known as the natural law that God calls everyone to follow. It is the law that theologians and philosophers have teased out over the centuries to arrive at fundamental moral truths that belong to all of us, not a specific group. This law binds us all together and that is why all people are brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Rosary Connection
Baptism of Christ. Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River by John. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When we pray the First Luminous Mystery of the Rosary, Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River should remind us of our baptismal vows. These vows are a verbal acknowledgment of the law that God has imprinted on all our hearts and by which we should live. And while this law applies to the baptized and the unbaptized alike, it’s good that we understand them so that we can always try to live by them. When you pray the First Luminous Mystery of the Rosary, I suggest that you recall your baptismal vows and examine your conscience. Are you living up to the promises you made at your baptism and renew periodically during Mass?
Do you renounce sin, so as to live in the freedom of the children of God?
Do you renounce the lure of evil, so that sin may have no mastery over you
Do you renounce Satan, the author and prince of sin?
Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered death and was buried, rose again from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father?
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
And may almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us new birth by water and the Holy Spirit and bestowed on us forgiveness of our sins, keep us by his grace, in Christ Jesus our Lord, for eternal life.
Have you ever tried to explain a complex topic to a small child? How does a bird fly? How does a television work? Why does that factory produce so much smoke? Trying to explain these realities can be difficult to distill into something a child can understand. And often, despite our best efforts, they still come away with a wrong understanding. Last Sunday’s Gospel reveals how we often misunderstand God because we try to box Him into our limited understanding of the reality He created.
In the Gospel, Jesus talks to a Samaritan woman at a well where He talks about living water. She asks, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water?” (John 4:11). She is taking Jesus’ words literally; that the living water is something that is down in the well and can be fetched. She doesn’t understand that Jesus is not talking about physical water you find in a well but the living water of the Holy Spirit.
The Water of Life Discourse between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, by Giacomo Franceschini, 17-18th century (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We probably laugh at the woman’s naivete talking to Jesus. But are we really any different from her? We often take what the Church teaches and try to place it within the confines our physical reality. We want to know how exactly the Eucharist is transformed into Jesus’ Body and Blood. Where is our soul? What is it made of? Where is Heaven? What temperature is Hell? When will the Apocolypse take place? The questions that people have trying to define the physical realities of God are nearly endless.
For many, the lack of concrete answers that obey the laws of science and physics causes them to lose faith in the Catholic Church. Because the pieces don’t fit exactly like the steps of a mathematical proof, they reason that something must be wrong or at least incomplete about the Church. In a way, this attitude falls into the sin of pride. We think that God can only exist within the confines of space and time as we know it. Instead of realizing that we aren’t capable of fully understanding God, we tell ourselves that there must be something incomplete with Him and His Church.
The Rosary Connection
We can look at the Mary in the First Joyful Mystery of the Rosary where she asks, “How can this be?” upon learning that she will immaculately conceive a son. The initial reaction is one of surprise because God is not following the rules of science and human physiology. Likewise, when Mary’s story defies everything known about how conception works, Joseph tries to quietly divorce her. He takes the skeptical approach to what he does not understand while Mary takes the faithful approach when she said, “May it be done according to His Will.” Who are you more like, Mary or Joseph, when God acts in ways you cannot explain?
The Holy Spirit as a dove in the Annunciation, by Philippe de Champaigne, 1644 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We can also see this theme of disbelief in the Third Luminous Mystery of the Rosary where Jesus proclaims the Kingdom of Heaven. Many people had a hard time believing Jesus because he was a carpenter’s son. They could not make Jesus’ teaching fit with their understanding of how God would manifest Himself as the Christ. Those with pride, such as the Pharisees, dismissed Jesus because He did not conform to their understanding of God’s law. Ironically, it was the poor, sick, and outcasts who showed the humility to believe in Jesus even if they couldn’t completely understand His true nature. Who are you? Are you dismissing Jesus’ presence in your life because He is someone you can’t fully explain and understand?
This Lent we should strive to take our faith seriously even when we don’t fully understand it. God, as the creator, is not limited to the confines of His creation. Therefore, God exists outside of our ability to understand Him. But instead of losing faith, we should work hard at showing patience and understanding in accepting God’s wisdom and divine plan even when the pieces don’t seem to add up.
I usually visit LifeHacker to read up on new technology and browse daily deals. It’s not the sort of place I would expect to find advice on prayer and spirituality. Whenever they discuss social issues they are usually advocating positions counter to the Catholic Church. That is why I did a double take when I saw an article titled Don’t Pray for Outcomes, Ask for Strength. For a second I thought I had my browser tab open to Catholic Exchange.
The LifeHacker article quotes Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius.
Try praying differently, and see what happens: Instead of asking for ‘a way to sleep with her,’ try asking for ‘a way to stop desiring to sleep with her.’ Instead of ‘a way to get rid of him,’ try asking for ‘a way to not crave his demise.’ Instead of ‘a way to not lose my child,’ try asking for ‘a way to lose my fear of it.’
One way to summarize Marcus Aurelius’ thoughts is that we should look at changing ourselves before changing our circumstances. Sometimes, we can’t change our circumstances. The world will always be a nasty place full of dangers and vices. We can’t change large things like countries going to war with each other or even small things like the refrigerator going dead and needing to be replaced. But we can change how we approach our circumstances and try to put them in perspective.
Portrait of Emperor Marcus Aurelius as a boy. Roman artwork. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Rosary Connection
Look at Jesus at the Garden of Gestheme which we meditate on in the First Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary. First, He prays for a very specific outcome — for God to spare Him the suffering of the Crucifixion and bring about salvation some other way. Jesus shows that there is nothing intrinsically wrong making a specific request in prayer. For us, thinking about the situation helps us gain different perspectives on it and helps us better understand how God answers us. We can start to understand that there may be multiple ways we can handle our circumstances besides wanting them to just disappear. What we want to avoid is focusing solely on a specific outcome and closing our heart and mind to how God actually answers us.
Jesus entrusts His life to God’s Will. Keep in mind that while the scripture verses of the agony in the garden are quite short, Jesus prayed for hours; long enough for the apostles to repeatedly fall asleep. I think he probably did spend a good deal of that time asking God for the strength to do His Will. Jesus was focused not on changing his situation but on preparing Himself for whatever was coming His way.
Jesus in Pray (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
And that brings us back to Lent. This is our time to focus on changing ourselves, not expecting God to change our circumstances to fit our desires. This is why we fast, abstain, and make small sacrifices — to make us stronger to carry out God’s Will for when life doesn’t go as expected. By voluntarily making things harder for ourselves and enduring, we prepare ourselves for the involuntary hardships that will come our way. Last Sunday’s Gospel talked about how Jesus spent 40 days in the desert fasting and praying so that he was prepared for His ministry. Likewise, we too should spend the 40 days of Lent preparing our bodies, minds, and hearts for living out our Catholic faith in whatever form God plans for us.
Have you ever heard the term, the patience of a saint? Like many virtues, patience is a hard one to demonstrate as that quality seems to be reserved for the select few. Lent is a great opportunity to reflect on and practice the virtue of patience.
One of the most obvious ways of practicing patience is sticking to your promise to fast and give up something pleasurable. I know it can be hard, but keep in mind that you will get back in 40 days whatever you give up during Lent. You aren’t giving up sweets, alcohol, or Facebook permanently. You just have to be patient. Lent is the perfect time to push yourself and say, “I know this is hard but exercising patience in small things will help me be patient in the large things.”
What do I mean by patience in large things? Look at last Sunday’s Gospel about the leper. My parish priest gave a great homily about how there are many lepers around us. They may not have the physical disease of leprosy but we cast them out all the same. These lepers are the friends and family that we hold grudges against. They are the poor and helpless that we ignore. And they are the people who we are short-tempered with and don’t show much patience. We quickly snap at them because they inconvenience or annoy us. Maybe we are even impatient with ourselves and are too quick to beat ourselves up over the smallest imperfection.
By showing patience by giving up something small for Lent, we establish a base that we can build up to show patience with others, especially the lepers in our lives. If we can go 40 days without a particular treat, we show ourselves that we can handle certain challenges and inconveniences in doing God’s Will. And that shows us that we are capable of pushing ourselves and opening our heats up to what God really wants of us — to love and be patient with each other. Because ultimately, the purpose of Lent isn’t about giving up treats. Lent is not some sort of Church mandated diet plan. It’s about opening ourselves up to what God is asking of us by clearing our hearts and mind of earthly pleasures and showing patience for the Holy Spirit to work through us. By practicing patience in the small, we can work our way up to the true level of patience God asks us to demonstrate.
Your Rosary Meds
We can turn to the Fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary and see Saint Simeon‘s demonstration of patience. He prayed and waited in the temple because God promised him he would see the Chosen One. It couldn’t have been easy for Saint Simeon waiting and preparing to see the baby Jesus. Did he have other plans for his life that didn’t include spending much of his time in the temple praying? Did he ever grow frustrated as the days passed without seeing the Chosen One? Do we grow impatient when God’s plans for us aren’t immediately obvious?
We can also meditate on Saint Joseph and Mother Mary in the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. Both of them seemed to have been planning for a normal life together before God upended those plans in the Annunciation. Joseph even had doubts about God’s plan when he tried to divorce Mary (Matthew 1:19). But ultimately, he showed patience and great faith by protecting Mary and Jesus even if he didn’t completely understand God’s ways.
Pope Francis gave a great homily on the virtue of patience. Meditate on his words and think about them throughout Lent.
So often we are impatient: When things don’t go our way, we complain. But, step back for a moment, think about the patience of God the Father, embrace patience, as Jesus did. Patience is a beautiful virtue. Let us ask the Lord for it.
Often times I find it easy to read the Bible and think, “well isn’t that obvious!” I am amazed at how foolish Saint Peter acts in Jesus’ presence or how arrogant the Pharisees are when they doubt Jesus’ divinity. We so often forget just how radical Jesus was and the fact that He was the Son of God was not taken for granted. Even Jesus’ own parents were confused by His actions. And while we may scoff at their unbelief, are we any better?
When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
I find it hard to believe that Mary did not understand Jesus’ behavior and why she was confused when He referred to the temple as “His Father’s house.” This is the same boy who was miraculously conceived, whose birth was heralded by angels, who wise men searched for with gifts, and Saint Simeon said was the Chosen One at His presentation in the Temple. I’m confused by Mary and Joseph’s bewilderment. How do they not understand that Jesus is special? How do they not understand the many signs that He is the Messiah?
Okay, so we’re puzzled by the Mary, Joseph, and the apostles’ behavior in the presence of Jesus. We marvel at their unbelief and confusion. But now put yourself in the shoes of someone in Purgatory or Heaven. They see us sinning. They see us skipping our prayers, skipping Mass (or participating half-heartedly), and not following what Jesus taught. They must look at us with the same level of astonishment that we have towards those in Scripture. They must be frustrated and saddened thinking, “How do they not get it!!!?? If they know who Jesus is, why do they sin? Why do they not make more of an effort to live in His grace? Why are they not following His teachings?”
When you pray the Fifth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, try to flip your perspective to the saints in Heaven. Do you look foolish in their eyes by not making the most of your faith? Do you downplay or ignore the truths taught by the Church?
How an angel must feel seeing us sin
I really like how the account of the finding of Jesus in the temple ends. It says Mary TREASURED all these things in Her heart. That word “treasured” is really interesting. She didn’t fully understand Jesus’ nature at a cognitive level but she still treasured who He was. That is a great showing of faith. We may not understand all the teachings of the Catholic Church and struggle to appreciate Jesus’ true nature as God made man. And yet, we can still treasure the Church’s teachings and our relationship with Jesus even when it’s confusing. It is the truest measure of faith — treasuring that which we do not understand. Mary is Queen of Heaven because she embraced Jesus even amongst Her confusion.
When you pray and meditate on the Fifth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, ask God to help you accept and treasure what you don’t fully understand. Our human minds will never be capable of fully understanding Jesus. After all, the finite (our minds) cannot take in the infinite (God). But thankfully, faith is there to fill the void. When you pray, ask God to fill the void in understanding with faith. And then treasure the fact that your understanding of God is complete when you combine what you know with what you take on faith.
