Because I’ve been less than thrilled by Amazon’s recent decisions to help block the free exchange of ideas and information, I’m pulling my books from its Kindle platform. The good news is that you can download PDF versions directly from the RosaryMeds website for free. Download them, convert them to whatever format you want, print them out, and share them with whoever you want. If you want print editions, you’ll still be able to purchase them on Amazon for now until I find a different printer. After all, I don’t have a printing press sitting in my house.
If you find these books meaningful and feel like providing a small payment for them, you can contribute electronically. Your tips will go towards the hosting fees of RosaryMeds.com.
Raising kids means witnessing actions that don’t make much sense. They often choose to fight over silly things, harass one another, and generally create chaos. When asked why one chose to hit the other, the response is all too common — “I don’t know.” Children seem to act on a more instinctual level. Not like us reasonable adults right? Think again. Adults are prone to making unreasonable choices every bit as foolish as children.
Mark 15:6-15 – Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them one prisoner whom they requested. A man called Barabbas was then in prison along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion. The crowd came forward and began to ask him to do for them as he was accustomed. Pilate answered, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate again said to them in reply, “Then what do you want me to do with the man you call the king of the Jews?” They shouted again, “Crucify him.” Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified.
What good reason did the people have choosing to release Barabbas over Jesus? Let’s just take the two choices based on their outward qualities. First, we have Jesus, someone who healed the sick and raised the dead. He showed compassion towards sinners and was a voice for the common person. Then you have Barabbas, a murderer and insurrectionist. It seems like Jesus would have been the obvious choice if people gave their options some thought.
Maybe the people were scared of choosing to free Jesus because that would upset the Pharisees. Maybe they thought that the Pharisees would make their lives difficult and cast them out socially if they learned who voiced their support for Jesus. Some, while they may have liked Jesus, decided to go with the opinions of the learned Pharisees. And others maybe didn’t have any opinion about Jesus or Barabbas and just went with the crowd’s sentiment.
Why we Choose Barabbas
We may look back at the Gospel and wonder why the people made such a foolish decision. But, if we want to see foolishness, we don’t have to look any further than a mirror. How often do we choose to commit sin over following Jesus? We may say how we love Jesus and agree with the Church’s teachings, but then we get caught up in a moment and choose to do something sinful. We choose the “Barabbas option” and we don’t even know why most of the time.
I think many times, we simply like Jesus the same way we like someone’s Facebook post. It’s a very shallow affection for Jesus that is easily broken under a little pressure. Maybe it’s giving into peer pressure to do something wrong or going along with “the crowd” because you don’t want to be cast out of the group for thinking differently. When our knowledge and commitment to Jesus is weak, choosing to sin is all the easier.
Choosing Jesus
We need to build up our commitment to Jesus. This is why we need to pray every day, particularly the Rosary. We also need to read the Bible and Church teachings. We need to build that relationship to resist the temptations to sin, especially when it comes to resisting peer pressure. Our love for Jesus needs to be so strong that we would never think of choosing something that would damage our relationship with him.
Unfortunately, Catholics are in for a rocky time ahead as our world veers away from sharing Catholic values. We’re going to have hard choices to make. Who are we going to follow? Are we going to follow what is trending on social media? What’s being reported on the news? Are we going to blindly follow our political party? None of these are necessarily wrong, but we have to weigh what they want against what Jesus wants. We have to identify what options are like choosing Barabbas and what option is choosing Jesus. Because in the end, when we stand before God, He’s not going to accept an “I don’t know.”
I try incredibly hard to keep politics out of RosaryMeds’ posts. After all, the Rosary does not belong to a certain political party, country, or race. Our Holy Mother gave it to everyone to better know and love her son, Jesus. If you want to follow politics play-by-play, there are plenty of other websites for you to follow. You come to RosaryMeds because you love the Rosary and want resources for deeper prayer. I thank you for that. But because of recent political events, there are certain improvements I’m going to make to the website.
The Changes
Here are the changes that I will be rolling out on RosaryMeds. I think many of you will like them since they will provide a less distracting experience on the site.
No more Google-hosted advertisements via their AdSense platform.
No more Amazon affiliate links.
No more promotion of RosaryMeds on Twitter.
My books will remain on sale on Amazon for now although I’m seeing if there is a way to offer them directly through the RosaryMeds website.
I’m going to keep linking articles on the Rosary Prayer Facebook page but not do any type of paid advertising or post boosting.
In short, I’m not giving big tech my money nor making commissions from those of you who visit my site.
Why the Changes?
I have come to realize that the media and large tech giants have no interest in promoting free speech and will actively censor opinions and platforms that they disagree with while misinforming the public about why they are censoring certain voices. These changes to RosaryMeds aren’t about whether I agree with the recent actions at the US Capitol. They are about me using my freedom to not expose my audience to platforms that limit, control, and twist the free exchange of information. Granted, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon are private companies, free to run their platforms how they want. And I’m free to not use or support them.
Will these changes make a huge difference to these tech giants? Probably not. RosaryMeds only has a few hundred visitors per day on good days. So it’s not like Google and Amazon are going to be affected by losing RosaryMeds’ user base. But accepting ad and affiliate revenues from these companies just doesn’t feel right anymore. By accepting their payments, I’m solidifying their hold on the market to blacklist and shut down any other company that doesn’t align with their political views or those of their political allies.
What this Means for RosaryMeds
I remember the internet before Google, Amazon, and Facebook. Back then, you would hear about a website from a friend and visit it. If you liked it, you bookmarked it in Netscape Navigator and told your friends. Websites would link to other sites on the same topic (remember webrings?). I guess that is the model RosaryMeds is going back to. If you like RosaryMeds, tell your friends! Sign up to receive email updates. If you run a website, link to RosaryMeds. If you want to kick a few dollars my way for hosting costs, please do. But I’m done with giving big tech a platform to silence free speech.
The good ‘ole days of screechy modems and static text!
I started RosaryMeds as a hobby to learn how to create a website and write blogs. I later experimented with ads, SEO, and affiliate marketing out of curiosity. I used it to learn how to self-publish books. But RosaryMeds has never been a serious source of income or even a “side hustle.” I learned what I wanted and now I’m turning the site back to ad and affiliate free.
The True Value of RosaryMeds
The real value of RosaryMeds to me is that it has been a way for me to better explore the Rosary. It’s been like a prayer and meditation journal that I’ve shared with the world. It has helped me get more out of the Rosary and I hope it has also helped you. There’s no amount of money that Google or Amazon can throw my way that is worth more than a single person coming to know the joys of Rosary prayer. If you’re reading this, I hope you will continue to visit this site and, more importantly, pray the Rosary. We need Rosary prayer more than ever right now!
My wife was reading a book with one of my sons called The Secret of the Hidden Scrolls. It’s a kids’ book of Bible stories. I listened to them read the first book which deals with the creation of the universe in the book of Genesis. I enjoyed a passage talking about why Sundays are a day of rest and we should treat them as such. The character asked why God rested if He’s all-powerful. Certainly, God couldn’t have been tired since He doesn’t have a physical body that needs rest. But God declared rest a good thing. Just as He created the world and animals for us, God created a day of rest, not for Him, but for us.
We live in a world where we try to cram so much into our days. In fact, there’s a new term that I think best exemplifies this tendency — rage browsing. Rage browsing is where we stay up browsing the internet late into the evening because we want to prolong the time we are awake doing something leisurely. It’s about us wanting to carve out time for ourselves in a world where it seems like someone else controls our schedules throughout the day. We want to put everything else aside to just relax.
Our faith tells us that we need to also carve out Sunday as a time to relax. This isn’t just good advice or some pandemic trend, it’s the Fourth Commandment.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.“
This Commandment not only covers our Sunday Mass obligation but commands us to rest as God did after creating the universe. This should be the easiest Commandment to follow. God is telling us to just stop working and relax.
The Rosary and Rest
Meditate on the Third Joyful Mystery, the Nativity. In the Nativity story, angels appeared to shepherds and told them of Jesus’ birth. They dropped what they were doing to go and honor Jesus. We should be like the shepherds and pause our busy lives for one day to honor God. If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then let’s imitate God by resting as He did.
Exactly what it means to rest is subject to debate. An orthodox Jew doesn’t cook or operate any machinery on the Sabbath. I don’t think we need to take it that far. The general guidance is that you should make it a day of increased meditation and focus on God. I know for a lot of us, it’s difficult to cut the weekend in half when there is so much to do. You may have to rearrange and reprioritize work and tasks. Consider it a sacrifice that further honors God. Here are some ways to spend your Sunday that captures the spirit of taking a day to rest:
Abstain from large amounts of housework, but go ahead and tidy up things if it makes you more relaxed.
Throw some laundry in the washing machine if you must, but save the sorting and ironing for later.
Spend some time as a family. Go for a hike or play a game together.
Do some cooking or baking as a family and enjoy a brunch or dinner together.
Put away your electronic devices for a certain period of time.
Pray, read, or watch religious-themed media like Formed.
Discuss the day’s scripture readings and the Mass homily.
Just sit quietly, outside if the weather is nice. Silence is golden.
Call or visit with friends and family members, especially your parents.
Try to schedule classes and events on a day other than Sunday. Sometimes, this is unavoidable but try to keep Sunday as open as possible.
All that noise, noise, noise! Who remembers that phrase from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas“? Now that I’m older, I can sympathize with the Grinch and his desire for some peace and quiet. I wonder if sometimes God thinks something similar… “how can they hear Me over all that noise, noise, noise”? We can learn about the gift of listening to God from the story of Zechariah.
Then Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel said to him in reply, “I am Gabriel, who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.” Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He was gesturing to them but remained mute.
I always viewed Zechariah’s silence as a punishment for his disbelief in the power of God. However, in one meditation book I read, the author wants us to look at his silence not as a punishment but as an opportunity. It was an opportunity for Zechariah to listen to what God was telling him. God freed Zechariah from all the noise, both external and internal, so that he could finally listen.
Notice how Zechariah was stricken mute when he was praying in the Holies of Holies. God was basically telling him to be quiet and listen when he prayed. I think often we are like Zechariah in our prayers. We ask God for this and that, expecting Him to answer. But we don’t give Him a chance to answer, we just keep talking and talking. Our prayers are all output. But do we take the time to accept input from God? Maybe God tries to answer but is drowned out because we won’t stop to listen.
Any parent of small children can sympathize. My kids have a tendency to talk in long, run-on sentences. Even if I want to comment or answer a question, I can’t because there’s no opportunity. Of course, I could always interrupt, but that would be impolite. God, the ultimate gentleman, probably acts the same way. Instead of interrupting us, he waits patiently for the right opportunity. And that means we need to stop the talking and be still enough to hear Him.
Quietness and stillness are at a premium this year. With many of us working from home and our kids remote schooling, finding a quiet time and place during the day is challenging. It may require more of an effort. Perhaps we need to wake up earlier before the daily chaos kicks in to pray the Rosary and just sit silently to listen to God (a good cup of coffee helps). Maybe it means turning off the TV, computer, and phones earlier in the evening and just meditate in a dark, quiet house. These are sacrifices, but isn’t it worth it for a chance to listen to God’s personal advice to you? Or would you rather He strike you mute for nine months?
I love Star Wars. I’ve seen the original trilogy hundreds of times and I’m now enjoying the movies with my sons. If you’ve seen Revenge of the Sith (Episode III), then you know that Anakin Skywalker’s downfall was due to his fear of losing his love, Padame. Being manipulated by Darth Sidious, that fear led him to the Dark Side of the Force and eventually turned him into Darth Vader. Anakin felt alone and abandoned by the Jedi order. I think a similar manipulation is going on right now. Our fear of the Covid-19 virus and wanting to keep our loved ones safe allows Satan to manipulate us.
Everyone can sense it, there is something particularly strange about the COVID virus itself, but also the way government authorities and American public are reacting to it. It’s not just a normal virus/pandemic situation like humanity has experienced numerous times in the past, on a much worse scale. Something else is going on here. What is becoming quite clear is that The Virus, and the reaction to it, is a spiritual attack by Satan designed to destroy charity and souls.
This situation reminds me of a homily I heard a few weeks ago. My priest said that we are joyful and happy when we are grateful and charitable. Basically, we are happy when we feel connected to each other and serve each other. But in this time of the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re forced to isolate ourselves. The one thing we are forbidden to do is “connect” with each other. And while the mandates talk only about physical distancing, it creates a domino effect that reduces our willingness to connect charitably and spiritually.
Many of us have adopted a “me first” attitude this year. It’s not something born from selfishness, but rather our basic instinct of self-preservation. We’re always thinking about how we can stay safe, not contract Covid-19, and not pass it to others. We all want to do our part in fighting this pandemic. And there is nothing wrong with that as long as we realize that it affects our spiritual ability to fight off Satan.
When we feel alone and isolated we become an easier target for Satan. He can more easily influence an individual than a group. He can take our wanting to be safe and keep our loved ones safe and use that to push us into despair. We no longer feel a sense of community from our friends, family, and universal Church. Many of us cannot go to Mass regularly. And those of us who can go to Mass often feel like we have to rush through it so as not to be exposed to others for too long. We’re all like Anakin Skywalker, we want to do the right thing. But when we are cut off from sources of truth, Satan has a louder voice. It becomes harder to know what the “right thing” is because the Prince of Lies may be distorting our sense of truth.
The most important thing we can do in these last days of Advent is realize that our normal defenses against Satan are weaker. Many of us haven’t been strengthened by receiving the Sacrament of Communion or attending Mass regularly. We maybe aren’t praying as much as we should. We’ve substituted a spiritual Advent of charity with “rage spending” on extravagant gifts because we just have all this frustration from a year of cabin fever and missed events.
It’s not too late to strengthen ourselves. Pray the Rosary daily! Meditate on the daily readings. Attend Mass daily, even if it is just online, and go in person on Sunday when you can. Contribute to charities. Fast. Sacrifice as you do during Lent. Do these so that Satan will back off and look for easier prey. Pray for those who are at the greatest risk of being influenced by Satan’s lies.
If anything, keeping up with your spiritual needs will have benefits for your emotional needs too.
In 2019, about 42% of those who reported attending religious services weekly told Gallup that their mental health was excellent. In 2020, 46% said the same, an increase of 4 percentage points. Only 35% of those who attend services nearly weekly or monthly reported excellent mental health, down 12 percentage points from last year. Among those who attend seldom or never, 29% reported excellent mental health, down 13 percentage points.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many of us to change our Christmas plans. As stressful and inconvenient as this year may be for many us, maybe there’s a silver lining. We have a chance to see past the usual distractions and better embrace Advent and Christmas for what it really is — a holy time to prepare our hearts for Christ Jesus.
Many of us cannot partake in the more commercial and secular holiday traditions this year. There aren’t tree lighting ceremonies, public ice skating, nights to go out to a café and enjoy hot chocolate or enjoy family and work parties. But let’s think back to the original Advent. It’s not like Mary and Joseph had a chance to party down either. They had to make a hard journey through the desert to Bethlehem. Mary was 9 months pregnant and probably needed to walk most of the way. They certainly didn’t get to stop by a Starbucks and pick up their holiday-spiced latte.
And yet, despite the hardship of traveling, Mary and Joseph were filled with joy. Like any parent, they were eagerly anticipating their first-born child’s birth. And they knew that this baby was special – conceived by the Holy Spirit. Did they want to travel far from their home? No. But they had to under orders by the Roman emperor. But even in the midst of that hard journey, they found joy.
Does anyone want to celebrate Advent and Christmas with Covid-19 lockdowns? No, of course not. Like Mary and Joseph, we too have our hardships this Advent. But we can still eagerly anticipate Jesus’ birth as they did. Without all the commercial distractions, maybe this Advent and Christmas can take on a new meaning for many of us. It’s a good time to start or resurrect some of the more spiritual traditions that usually get lost in the noise of a normal December.
Perhaps this Advent would be a good time to prepare our souls for Jesus’ arrival. Make some sacrifices like giving up treats, alcohol, or some other luxuries like you do for Lent. Meditate on all the sacrifices Mary and Joseph needed to make while preparing for Jesus’ birth. Make Advent a time of preparation by increased prayer. In the time you would usually be fighting for a parking space at the mall, pray the Rosary instead. The time that you would be sipping on a hot chocolate at a tree lighting event, read the Bible. Light an Advent wreath and pray as a family. Give thanks for God’s blessings that you otherwise might not think about because you would normally be looking for that perfect toy at the store.
I know it’s hard to avoid the negative vibe this Advent and Christmas have. We often can’t change the challenges in our life. But we can choose how we want to respond to those challenges. Let’s take our queue from Mary and Joseph and ask God for the strength to approach our current challenges with a sense of joy. Just because this Advent is different, doesn’t mean it needs to be bad. Instead of focusing on what we’re losing, let’s focus on what God is giving us — an opportunity for Him to fill our lives with His grace.
I woke up last Friday and my email inbox was soaked in Black Friday deals. Every company I’ve done any business with was offering me some limited time, deep discount on their products and services. For me, when everyone is sending me emails on their sales at the same time, I tend to ignore or bulk delete all of them. I just don’t want to spend my limited time and money acquiring stuff that will just sit unused or not bring me much peace and happiness a few months from now.
I’m not offering any type of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, local business Tuesday, giving Wednesday, or large tipping Thursday deals on RosaryMeds. The Rosary doesn’t need it. The Rosary is free to all and provides more value than that new TV on sale.
You don’t need a fancy, gemstone-laden rosary to start praying. I use a cheap plastic one. Initially, people prayed the psalms, a precursor to the Rosary, using pebbles. If you don’t have a rosary, just find any 10-item set of things to count — straws, Lego pieces, coins, etc. When all else fails, you always have your fingers or just use your memory. If you absolutely need a rosary, there are countless free apps you can use (The Holy Rosary – Apps on Google Play) or you can use the Rosary resources on this website.
The full benefits you get out of the Rosary are immeasurable. Why? Because the fullness of God’s grace is infinite and beyond our human comprehension. The joy of Heaven is something we can’t even imagine. But we do have an idea of some of the benefits of the Rosary. Just look at the 15 promises Mary made to those who faithfully prayed the Rosary. As I presented a few years back, these promises are more valuable than winning millions of dollars.
I know for many of us, this Advent will be different and challenging with Covid-19 restrictions and economic uncertainty. But the one thing that you can be certain about is the power of the Rosary and Mary, our Mediatrix. With store-bought gifts, it’s a 50/50 chance whether it will be some useful or something that gets returned or abandoned in a closet. But the Rosary is a gift that rewards everyone who prays it. This Advent, give yourself and your loved ones (heck, even your enemies) the gift of Rosary Prayer.
I coach youth soccer. I often see my players give up easily when something doesn’t come naturally to them. Someone may have a hard time passing the ball across the field. Or maybe they don’t dribble as well as some of the other players. So after having the ball stolen from them a few times, they want to stop playing because they’ve decided soccer isn’t their sport. They don’t understand that anything new will be difficult but they will get better if they stick with it. But it’s not just children that have a hard time staying with something that is difficult. Adults fall victim to this urge to give up when times are tough too.
I think many of us give up way too easily in the face of hardship. When facing a challenge, we may pray a Rosary or go to Mass and ask God for help. For many of us, the only time we pray earnestly is when we are facing something difficult. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But often we tend to think we’re holding up our end of the bargain with God and He better answer quickly. If God doesn’t deliver, we get upset believing that the whole prayer endeavor was pointless and give it up.
Let’s look at the Fifth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. Mary and Joseph searched for Jesus for three days in sorrow. What if they had given up after one day of searching? Now I’m sure Jesus would have grown up just fine since he is the Son of God. But Mary and Joseph would have regretted not looking a little harder for their lost son. But as any parent knows, finding a lost child is too important to just give hope after a short period of time. They kept searching and hoping despite the fruitlessness of the first days of searching. And they finally found Jesus.
What makes praying to God frustrating in times of difficultly is that we don’t know when or how God answers. Unfortunately, there isn’t a chart we can look at to know when God answers our prayers. It would be convenient if we could look up the Catechism and see that one Rosary novena will yield a small request being granted within two weeks. But that’s not how God works. For some, it’s three days in sorrow, for others it’s three decades.
As much as we don’t enjoy hardship and sorrow, they are powerful tools that draw us closer to God. In realizing our sorrow and asking God for help, we also acknowledge our dependence on God. We realize that true happiness is something that comes through Him, not in our worldly institutions or through our own actions. Furthermore, in prayer, we may receive comfort, strength, and grace in ways we don’t even realize. We may be so focused on God wanting to address a particular sorrow, we overlook the other ways He may be answering us. At the very least, God may be giving us increased strength to endure our hardship for another day.
We have to realize that God’s timeframe and overall goal is much different than ours. We may hope or expect an answer in a matter of days. But it may be months, years, or an entire lifetime before we get an answer. But what’s a single lifetime in God’s grand plan? Even the most terrible human suffering will be looked at as a trivial inconvenience compared to the eternal happiness of Heaven. God often answers our prayers by putting us on a track towards Heaven. That may not require eliminating our worldly problems. The saints understood this and endured many challenges and sorrows because they knew that God was helping them and others achieve lasting comfort in Heaven.
When you feel impatient or hopeless over life’s challenges, meditate on the Fifth Joyful Mystery. Think about how Mary and Joseph didn’t give up finding Jesus and neither should we. And often, like Mary and Joseph, we’ll find Jesus and relief from our suffering in the most obvious of places — our Father’s house, the Church.
I came across these covid19-related Rosary meditations on Catholic Exchange. There is a meditation for each mystery. I suggest reading and contemplating them before each decade. Let’s ask our Heavenly Mother for her protection and intercession in these challenging times.
