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Angels and dreams

God sees each person as an unique individual, and that is demonstrated by how He prepared Mary and Joseph to be the parents of Jesus. Each was visited by an angel, but their experiences, at least what we know of them, were vastly different.

Luke’s Gospel shares with us Mary’s encounter with the Archangel Gabriel. There is a conversational exchange that occurs between them. When the angel greets her,  Mary is “greatly troubled  at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.” (Lk 1:29) I’ve heard many interpretations that indicate Mary was afraid, but the text doesn’t seem to indicate that. She doesn’t seem to be disturbed that an angel is visiting her, it’s more his message that seems to concern her. But since she is “filled with grace,” has the awareness to ponder the words used by the angel, and, perhaps knowing of the long-awaited Messiah, she recognized the magnanimous and prophetic language that the angel used. Being such a humble young woman, Mary’s interaction does not seem to be fearful, but rather inquisitive and wanting to understand enough  that she acts in accordance with the will of God. The angel departs only after Mary provides her consent to be “the handmaid of the Lord.”

In contrast, it is Matthew’s Gospel that shares Joseph’s perspective (Matt 1:18-25). Matthew only mentions that Mary is found to be with child before they lived together. Joseph, being a righteous man, was going to quietly divorce Mary because he was unaware of how the conception took place. Joseph is then also visited by an angel; however, it is not  “in-person,” so to speak, but rather in a dream. And instead of seeking Joseph’s acceptance of the situation, he is given directions to follow: take Mary into his home and name the child Jesus. The angel does kindly give the how (conceived by the Holy Spirit) and why (to fulfill the prophets and save people from their sins) of Mary’s pregnancy. Upon awakening, Joseph follows the directions he was  given. God communicates twice more to Joseph using this dream method, helping him to protect and care for Jesus.

Why is there a difference between the two communication methods? Could it be that because Mary was immaculately conceived that she could be visited by an angel when awake? While that may have some merit, Luke’s Gospel also gives the account of Gabriel appearing to Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth and the father of John the Baptist. Zechariah was a priest, and that may have been a factor for sending the angel during the time he was ministering in the temple. A modern perspective would be quick to judge that it was due to Joseph being a menial carpenter that he did not receive a visit by the angel while awake. But logic would refute that. Otherwise why, or how, could God trust Joseph with the Most Precious of all children if He didn’t find him worthy enough to receive an encounter with an angel? Maybe focusing on the angel visit as an indicator of the holiness of the individual is the wrong way to interpret the difference. It could be that the relationship between God and Joseph was so deep, that God trusted him immensely to the point that He knew Joseph only needed to be provided the necessary information in a dream in order for him to take action. (If an angel appeared in a dream to me and gave me instructions, I’m not sure I would be able to follow them upon awakening; I’d probably wonder what it was that I ate or drank that gave me such odd dreams!)

God prepares each of us for the challenges that lie ahead of us in whatever way that we can understand best. He gives us what we need at the time we need it. He knows our human nature too well, thinking we understand more than we do, as well as our propensity to worry and be anxious about things yet to come. We look to Mary and Joseph not to see how God communicates, but that He picks the method that is needed to achieve His purposes. 

Mary at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Washington DC

Theotokos

Theotokos was once seen as a source of conflict. It means “Mother of God” or “or God-bearer.” In the early Church, there was debate over Mary being the Mother of God, since God is not a created being, yet she is the Mother of Jesus, who is the second person of the Triune God. The Council of Ephesus in the early 5th century confirmed this title on Mary, and the Eastern Church uses Theotokos as one of the titles for Mary.

No one questions that Mary did, indeed, give birth to Jesus. However, recently I was asked, if Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin, did she suffer in childbirth? My very first reaction was to shrug it off to say it doesn’t matter, it’s not a detail worth investigating. But as someone who has never given birth, that perspective could be rather myopic. Perhaps it’s better to take a step back and look at the whole picture of Mary and how God prepared her to be Christ’s mother. 

The fall of Eve produced the following two-fold curse: “I will intensify your toil in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” (Gen 3:16) Eve’s curse is to desire her husband, and the fruit of that is a child. Thus while the desire is initially satisfied with pleasure, the pain of childbirth would be intensified or prolonged, seemingly to be a punishment for the initial desire. Yet, once the child comes, the desire does not go away, and the “curse” begins its cycle again. 

Because God intervened at Mary’s conception to keep her free from the taint of original sin, her desire was to please God. Mary was already betrothed to Joseph when Gabriel came to seek her consent. She was going to be a married woman. Perhaps if she did not give birth to the Son of God, she would have had a large family. Mary’s fiat to God’s plan turned her into a living tabernacle, a living ark of the covenant. What little of Joseph we do know, is that he understood the history of the Israelites and the covenant. He would be familiar with the ark, and that no one but the priests could touch it. He would have been familiar with the account of Uzzah, who reached out a hand to steady a tipping ark during its trip back to Jerusalem at the time of David, and was struck down because he was not worthy to do so. (2 Sam 6:6-9) Joseph realized just how special Mary and Jesus were, he would respect her and not seek to despoil her. From this viewpoint, the second portion of Eve’s curse is irrelevant. And for those who question when the various books in the New Testament refer to Jesus’ brothers, the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains the expression is used for those who have a close relationship in the Old Testament. (CCC 500)

Mary made many journeys as a pregnant woman: first to visit Elizabeth in the hill country of Judah (perhaps a “suburb” of Jerusalem?) and back north to Nazareth, and then back south beyond Jerusalem to Bethlehem to eventually give birth. Travel then was long and arduous, regardless of whether she traveled by foot, donkey or cart. After giving birth to Jesus, when she and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple, Simeon predicted a sword piercing her heart, which, while metaphoric, was a true suffering she experienced standing at the foot of the cross. The Church includes Simeon’s prophecy as the first of seven named sorrows that Mary endured. 

If we look again at Genesis, the translation uses the word “intensify,” which to me indicates that there would have been some duration of discomfort and/or pain associated with birth even before the fall of Eve. While the New Testament and Catechism is silent on the detail of how much pain Mary suffered during the birthing process, she would have had some level. But she certainly knows the pain when a child goes missing, is wrongfully accused, tortured, and put to death. Her solace in all of it was the grace of God. He prepared her to be the mother of His Son, and in doing so supported her during all her trials. 

After the visit of the shepherds, “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19) The grace of God was alive in Mary, even before becoming Jesus’ mother, and intensified afterwards.  On the cross, Jesus gave Mary as mother to John, who represents the Church body throughout the ages. Mary had, and continues to have a relationship with God that is like no other. It is with confidence that we seek her intercession, aid, and assistance in praising God. And if God could prepare Mary so well to be Theotokos, how can we not think that He will prepare us for every blessing and trial in our life … if we let Him.

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Rushed or ready?

I love the Christmas season, really I do! However, When I see Christmas decorations up around homes before Thanksgiving, my heart does sink a bit. I wonder, are they really ready for Christmas or are they just rushing it?

Call me old-fashioned, but I thought the Thanksgiving holiday ushered in the Christmas season. Santa Claus is usually the last float of any parade that day. I only start playing Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving. In a way, there’s a bit of a pattern to my Christmas preparations: first, I start listening to music and put the outside decorations up. Next, I begin to plan my cookie and bread baking, then shop for the necessary ingredients, and finally make the breads and cookies while listening to Christmas music. Lastly, because of Vera, I put up my Christmas tree in the week prior to Christmas day. It’s like a slow unfolding of the holiday season, just the right amount to be savored. 

When God promised redemption to Adam, Jesus didn’t immediately come. It required preparing a people, starting with Abraham, which grew into a nation through Jacob — which was renamed Israel. Through Moses, the people learned how to be the people of God, which then became a kingdom with David. Even at this point, the people were still not ready, and it took many generations of hardship, exile, and recovery before it was Jesus’ time to come. And when He finally came, He was rejected by those most knowledgeable of God: the Pharisees and the Saduccees. 

The wisdom of the Church gives us the opportunity to prepare ourselves by having 4 “weeks” of Advent, designated by Sundays. Since December 25 falls on a Monday this year, our Advent season is really only three weeks and day. I will gladly use the three weeks to prepare myself and my home for Christmas. I am a different person this year than I have been in previous years. I’ve had different experiences that have changed and shaped me. This year’s preparation for Christmas will be different from previous years, and that’s to be expected. While I may put the same decorations on the same tree I’ve had for years, listening to the same Christmas songs, I will see them in a slightly different way and the nostalgia they bring will be slightly different than they were the year before.  

Each year we need to take the time to prepare for the Christmas season, even if we follow a traditional plan for celebrating. God took His time in preparing humanity to receive Jesus, and we should not be in a rush to celebrate, but take the time to make ourselves ready and open to receive Jesus in the various ways He comes to us: as a baby in the Nativity, in the Eucharist at Mass, and as our judge and advocate at His second coming. 

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Every day should be Sunday

It started as an innocent remark by a colleague on a conference call. “Every day is Monday; until the afternoon on Friday.” Just hearing that sounded like a depressing outlook on life!

Working in an office setting, it’s not uncommon on a Tuesday to hear another mention that day being their “Monday,” when they had Monday off. Typically it’s used to explain why that person is just catching up after being out a day, and most Mondays seem to be a bit slow to get into the swing of office work. Likewise if time off is planned for a Friday, the person may express their jubilance on Thursday by remarking that the day is their “Friday,” indicating the end of their workweek. The general consensus is that Monday is a dreaded day while Friday signals that the two weekend days that can be spent in a manner of personal choosing are eight or less hours away. I know there are people who so look forward to the weekend, that the five days in between is a grind and an annoyance; something to be tolerated but never celebrated.

Growing up, I observed my father, after coming home from work, saying how much he was looking forward to retiring. I felt that if I was going to spend so much time doing something to make money in order to live, I wanted to want to do it. It was one of the big reasons I pursued a college education. While I can’t say that I have a dream job or that it doesn’t seem like work, I’m not totally miserable either. It challenges me and keeps me thinking, and there are many aspects that I do enjoy. Yes, there are times when I have a “case of the Mondays,” but most times I’m wishing folks a happy (whatever-day-it-is), even a “Happy Monday.”

Looking at the days of the week from a spiritual perspective, however, everyday should be like Sunday. As Catholics, we are a resurrection people; we believe that Jesus rose from the dead and He will raise us up at the end of time. To remember and celebrate, we keep Sunday as our day of worship. We are obligated to attend and participate at Mass; for without the resurrection, there would be no Mass. By receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, we are partaking in time and space what we will fully experience once we are reunited with our bodies at the end of time. Sunday is not a day for us to do whatever we want, but rather a day designated to pursue a relationship with God, strengthen our relationships with each other and prepare ourselves for our spiritual future, not our earthly future, which is quickly fading away. 

While Mass attendance is required on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, many churches do offer weekday Masses, and some even offer Mass every day — that is truly making every day a Sunday! However, for those who would like to attend Mass and cannot because of schedule conflicts or lack of availability, taking the time to read the Mass readings of the day and praying a Spiritual Communion prayer is the next best thing. While this cannot fully replace Mass attendance, it is an opportunity to open yourself to God and His will. 

Any day can be filled with drudgery, work, and activities that we would rather not be doing. Labeling all those days “Monday” is setting oneself up for misery. But if we offer the work we are doing to God and spend time each day seeking a relationship with Him and to do His will, our weeks will be all full of “Sundays.”

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Are you ready?

If Jesus’ second coming back to earth was tomorrow, would you be ready?

We don’t quite know what the second coming of Jesus will be like, nor what happens afterwards. What we anticipate is that at His coming, the dead will rise and all will be judged and then His kingdom will reign forever. For those of us who are still alive, if we still have faults that need to be purged, will there be some sort of purgatory for us? What will we do in eternity? Will we have jobs? Will we need to support ourselves? Jesus mentioned He will prepare a place for us, so if all our needs are taken care of, will we be forever contemplating God in all of His divinity? How can we prepare ourselves for something we don’t know — or perhaps more accurately — can’t understand with our finite and earth-bound mind? 

Each November the Church reminds us that the end is near. It’s a lot nearer than it was when Jesus first came. However, with two millennia passed, it’s hard to imagine the end of the world. Tumultuous activities, both natural and man-made, are supposed to herald the end, but that’s also been a constant since the beginning of civilization. Men have been predicting the end for the same amount of time, claiming secret knowledge has been revealed to indicate when it will come. Jesus dispelled that notion, indicating that only the Father alone has that knowledge (Matt 24:36).

It is an interesting juxtaposition, with the end of the liturgical year talking about the end of things, and the beginning of the liturgical year preparing for the coming of Christ. While we think more of a preparation for Christmas, the Church is gently reminding us that we need to prepare for both, the celebration of the historical time when Jesus was born as a man, as well as taking a look at what we could do better in preparing if He was to come back to earth for the final judgment. We know we’re to live our life trying to do God’s will and cultivating a relationship with Him. But to think about what will happen afterwards can be a bit scary and uncomfortable. It’s much easier, fun, and comfortable to think about preparations for Christmas: what presents to buy, how to decorate, what food to make, and with whom we will celebrate. 

It’s very easy for us to get lost in the daily aspects of living life on earth. The role models we are to emulate, the saints, are celebrated at the beginning of November. This isn’t mere coincidence; this is the Church giving us the opportunity to focus on the goal of our lives as well as to dive deeper into the lives of those we know are spiritually closest to God. If we haven’t done so during this month, Advent is also a good time to seek out some saints that we don’t know very well and learn about their lives. These last two months of the year can be a supercharging spiritual renewal, if we pursue it. It’s like the Church is saying: A) here’s the goal and examples of saints to follow, B) the end is near, but don’t be afraid because, C) the end is really a new beginning in the life of Christ when He comes. If the world does not end, we should still be preparing ourselves for it as well as the coming of Jesus in our daily lives (in the people we encounter as well as in receiving the Holy Eucharist), as well as preparing to celebrate His birth as it occurred in history. That’s a lot to think about for a mere human brain!

While it’s not just during the last two months of the year we’re to focus on the end that will bring a new beginning, setting aside the time to focus and take stock of our spiritual welfare is a worthy endeavor. The Church gives us the reminder and the resources, it’s up to us to acknowledge and pursue it or take our chances that we still have time to prepare the day after tomorrow. 

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Unity of the Church

Prayer is a vital activity for the family of the Church. It unites us across all generations, vocations, cultures, and paths of life. 

With the celebration of All Saints’ Day last week, as usual, the topic of saints becomes popular. Reviewing the list of American saints, as well as those on their way to sainthood — the blesseds and the venerables — many are priests or religious. It can be easy to forget that these saintly people are from families just like yours and mine. When we hear about the life of a saint, their entire life is summed up into just a few highlights. What makes these people saints is their choice to say “yes” to God’s plan for them and to rely on Him. However, during their lifetime, many people prayed for them, and many people invoked the saints of previous generations for their intercession to help them. We don’t often think that when the future saints lived on earth, they needed spiritual support and intercession from those around them.

A similar perspective can be found towards those having a vocation to the Church, either priests or religious consecrated life; they are also from families like ours. Realistically, we don’t know who God is calling and we should encourage the children within our families to consider the possibility. There are countless stories of saints who had a checkered youth that eventually sought out the religious life; just because a child doesn’t show any inclination towards God doesn’t mean He’s not calling them. Even if one doesn’t have a child, sibling, or other family member in religious life, praying for those who are, benefits the Church. If we ask a priest or religious to pray for us, we must also do the same for them. We may think that person is closer to God because of their vocation, but they are in the same need of the sacraments as we are. 

Future priests, consecrated religious, and saints are all around us and need our prayers. But how do we pray for them? While the simple standards of the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be are perfectly adequate; we can go a bit extra with a rosary or even having a Mass said with their intention. As the faithful, we are called to pray without ceasing, so even in our daily activities, we can offer up our simple tasks as prayerful intercession. Speaking of future saints, how about all those in purgatory? They are in need of our prayers, just as we are in need of theirs. They truly are much closer to God than we are. 

The Church is one big family in faith and prayer is the communication that transcends time and space. We are all called to holiness, we are all called to pray. Let us join together to support each other on our journey to becoming saints, living onwards in the presence of God. 

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Merciful limits

It’s that time of year again, the change of the clocks back to Standard Time. But instead of bemoaning how much it will disrupt our lives, maybe we should take a deeper appreciation of the blessings God provides within the seasonal changes of nature.

I think we’ve all wished there were more hours in a day, or that the week was longer than seven days. In a way, humans have been trying to squeeze more life out of a day ever since we could control fire. Firelight allowed us to continue working and being able to see after sunset. With all the technology now, technically we could make a room bright enough to seem like it’s daylight 24 hours a day. However, we would pay a price for being awake for that length of time. Our bodies need sleep, just like they need the nutrition from the food we eat. Having more hours in a day may not enable us to get more done, as a portion of that time would need to be balanced with rest. It can be a struggle to unplug from technology at the end of the day; whether it’s television or apps on a mobile device, hours seem to pass by in minutes at the cost of sleep one needs to be fully functional. 

Here in Virginia, the longest day of the year provides almost 15 hours of sunlight, where the shortest provides about 9-½ hours. No matter how we adjust our clocks, in the winter we cannot make the sun shine more and a good portion of our day will be spent working in darkness. Yet the change in the amount of sunlight doesn’t just affect us, it also affects the earth as well. Less sunlight means plants go dormant. I recall learning about fallow fields in grade school, a method of allowing the soil to recover from a crop, so that the proper nutrient balance could be restored. It’s not just humans that need a rest, it’s also the earth! In God’s merciful wisdom, there are limits placed on day and night, as well as the seasons, and all creation is interlinked within these blessed parameters.

Looking around the natural world, it’s not just light and darkness that have limitations, but all creatures. In the diversity of the created world, something that is an advantage to one may be lacking in another. Birds of prey have particularly keen eyesight, however bats are notorious for being blind, yet their hearing makes up for what they cannot see. Two flying creatures who hunt in flight, but have drastically different food sources and ways of obtaining it. Another example is in procreation: an opossum can have a gestational period of 12 days, whereas an elephant can be about 22 months! With all our technology, we cannot either lengthen or reduce this natural process. We may try to control it by reducing or encouraging with artificial insemination the birthcount an animal will have, but the time of gestation will be the constant. 

When I see the various boundaries there are in the natural world, I start to wonder about the society and culture of today and how much humans continue to try to control all aspects of life, even down to the simplest things. We try to adjust clocks to make daylight more convenient for our needs. We want to work in the daylight, and usually longer than the required 8-hour day, yet we also want to have time for ourselves that is also in daylight. We no longer work within the natural boundaries but look to expand them in artificial ways. While I don’t think it’s possible within the culture and society to only work in daylight, perhaps we should take a cue from nature to rest up during the winter months, to slow down and refresh ourselves. 

God hasn’t imposed these limits to chain us, but rather so that we can live within a healthy range of adjustment. The changes in daylight don’t happen all at once, but occur over many days a minute or two at a time, so that the change is gradual. While God can work in extremes, creation reflects a God who is gentle with change and eases us through the days and seasons, both from a physical perspective as well as a spiritual one. Jesus didn’t come to earth immediately after Adam sinned, but rather in “the fullness of time.” (Gal. 4:4) Jesus also lived a full life, coming as a child, being born of the Virgin Mary after the typical nine months of growing in her womb. God walks with us at our speed, maybe even a bit slower, so that we can slow down and take notice, appreciating all the blessings He showers upon us. 

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Inspired by God

While God loves us as we are at any given moment, He doesn’t want us to get “stuck.” God wants us to become the best version of ourselves and strives to help us along that path throughout our earthly journey.

Looking from just a logical perspective, it really doesn’t make sense that the early Christians succeeded in evangelizing when so many were being tortured and killed. These early followers changed their way of life and were ready to die rather than renounce their faith. We read in the Acts of the Apostles that they gathered as a community, shared the sacred meal, and would sell excess property and give the profits to the church to distribute. And it just wasn’t the Jewish people who welcomed this change, but also the Gentiles, as seen in the letters St. Paul writes to the various communities. The early Christians’ way of life reflected their response to the preaching of the Word of God. Just as in ancient times, Christians today continue to respond to God’s call and reflect His love in their communities.

When we see an act of charity being performed, we are touched by the goodness of others and want to assist. We say we are inspired by that action, but what does that really mean? The etymology of the word “inspired,”  rooted in Latin, means to breathe. The first use of the word in the 14th century carried a similar definition as today, according to Merriam-Webster, “to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural influence or action.” This definition evokes the story of creation in Genesis, when God animated Adam by breathing life into him. Going back even farther, God spoke all creation into being, and since one naturally exhales when speaking, every word of God contains His breath. When we are inspired, we are filled with awe in Divine Providence. We have the opportunity to react: will we respond with kindness and goodness, or to totally ignore any desire to be helpful? Our reaction either brings us closer to God or moves us further away. 

Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God continues to reach out to us. It could be a call to lend our time, talent, or resources towards local needs identified by our parish or diocese. When we respond positively to the Spirit’s guidance, we change. We are a little less focused on ourselves. Little by little, if we allow it, we can move toward achieving our full, God given potential. This transformation is essential to the process of becoming a saint. Some may fear that becoming a saint means to live uncomfortably and to suffer all the time. However, if we’re being honest, even living a secular life can be uncomfortable and include suffering as well.  The difference is that when we center ourselves on God and accept His will for us, we can find meaning in our struggles and suffering. These situations present opportunities to practice trusting God by recognizing that He alone is in control. In fact, during their earthly life, many saints invited struggles and suffering as a way to get closer to God and to practice what it means to live and love like He does.

There are many sources of inspiration to lead us closer to God: the New Testament, biographies of the saints, the sky, the land, the sea, all of the animals, and the people we encounter in our daily lives. How will you allow the Holy Spirit to inspire you today? 

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Why worry?

I know I’m guilty of worrying. It doesn’t start out as worrying, but rather thinking about the possible outcomes of a challenging situation, but once the “what if” game starts, the spiral into the rabbit hole is quite deep.

There’s a planned maintenance event in my housing development that has been taking quite a bit of my time in my thoughts. While it will mostly be an inconvenience, there’s a fair bit of logistics that I’m trying to be prepared for. I keep turning the possibilities over and over in my head, trying to figure out how I can control as much of the circumstances as possible. Until I see how things unfold, I remain worried about it. 

I was looking through my photos from my recent Alaska trip and there was one of a sign that read, “Worry is a waste of imagination.” How true that is in my current predicament! It’s exactly times like these that I need to remember that sign. What is worry? It truly is stressing over imagined possible outcomes. Can you change the outcome by worrying about it? Nope. While it is true that you can prepare for a select number of possibilities, many times the actual outcome differs significantly from our imagined outcomes. You may have more accuracy than I do, but I can’t recall a single scenario that turned out exactly as I thought it might. 

Imagination is a wonderful gift from God. It can allow us to look at something, transform it beyond what it currently is and potentially expand its usefulness. There are numerous TV shows and YouTube channels that demonstrate imagination at work. Some people even make a business out of the product of their  creative imaging and sell them on sites like etsy.com. I often look at a recipe, and while I’ll follow it exactly the first time (unless I really don’t like a particular ingredient) I often look to see what I can change to make it more to my taste. For baked goods I love to play with different extracts, like substituting half of what a chocolate chip cookie recipe calls for vanilla with raspberry extract. Or in a savory dish, I may add freshly chopped mushrooms in one that only called for cream of mushroom soup. I’ve heard many folks say that they aren’t creative. I disagree; everyone has some level of imagination, though it may not be in a specific art like cooking or decorating. Perhaps it’s working in math or problem solving, or in finding a better way to organize their closet. 

When we consider that worry is taking a beautiful gift from God and warping it into a source of stress, it makes us ask the question: Why worry? A wonderful imagination, however, can’t be controlled just by saying, “Don’t worry.” What is helpful is turning the issue over to God. Talk to Him about your thoughts and all the possibilities that are concerning you. Talking with God will not take away your worry, but can help ease it by acknowledging all your thoughts. Then, leave the issue in God’s hands. Sometimes you may be inspired to take a specific preventive action, while other times, you may just need to let the events unfold. Sometimes the answer is God giving you the strength to get through the challenge, while other times He may provide help through your friends and family. The outcome that God allows will be for the best, no matter how it turns out. After all, we pray that His will be done and not ours.

Worry will be something that I wrestle with, but I don’t have to do it alone. Whenever I find myself in this spiral, turning to God is the best, and only, course of action. I don’t want to waste His gift of imagination on thoughts that urge me to try to control everything.  I’d rather rely on the Holy Spirit to inspire my imagination to bring the love of God into the situations in my little corner of the world.

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Prayer of roses

At the beginning of October, the Church celebrated the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. It’s a prayer tool that has been around for about 800 years! Much has been said and written about it, as it seems like a topic that is inexhaustible. But is there a place for the rosary in our modern world?

In the 13th century, Our Lady appeared to St. Dominic with the option of praying the Marian Psalter. It combined the Angelic salutation with the life and works of Jesus, teaching the basics of the faith and combating the heresies at the time. It was a spiritual weapon that converted, or reconverted, many to the faith. In some ways, it mirrors the 150 Psalms, only instead of having to memorize all the different Psalms, it’s just a few prayers and the mysteries for meditation. A big part of the rosary is meditation, thinking about the specific mystery during the course of reciting an Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and a Glory Be. If all three sets of the original mysteries are prayed, then you would be reciting the Hail Mary 150 times. While memorization was important in the 13th century since that is how many things were taught to new generations, in today’s era of asking Google or Siri whatever is on your mind, memorization is not a skill that is actively pursued.

With the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, the ability to read and pray the Psalms from a book became possible to a greater number of people. However, praying all 150 of them does take quite a lot of time, since some of them are very long! The most I’ve done during Adoration is to pray the seven penitential Psalms: 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143. Praying from Scripture is always encouraged, and these seven are good to become familiar with, however, I think I’ve probably had deeper spiritual experiences when praying the Sorrowful mysteries than the penitential Psalms.

The majority of each mystery is meditated upon with the backdrop chant of the relatively short prayer of the Hail Mary. We repeat the words of the Angel Gabriel and the acknowledgement of Elizabeth, while seeking the intercession of Mary now and at the moment of our death. To some it may sound like we’re praising Mary, but in reality, we are praising God for His most perfect work of creation. In each mystery, God in one of the Trinitarian persons, is facilitating the event. Even those events that seem to be about Mary, like the Annunciation or the Assumption, are prompted by God with Mary as its recipient. It is truly a God-centric prayer and meditating on the mysteries can bring us closer to Him.

In our age of social media, it’s much easier to scroll endlessly through Facebook, Instagram, or any of the other platforms looking for something to catch our eye or entertain us. How can the rosary be a method of prayer embraced in today’s world? Perhaps because of its simplicity and non-technological requirements, it is the best method for people to get to know God. Whenever I read articles on reducing anxiety or managing stress, one of the suggestions is always learning and taking time to meditate. Usually the suggestions are to learn some Eastern form of meditation, and I wonder how many Catholics forego praying the rosary and embrace these other types of meditation thinking they are somehow better? Yet when one takes time to meditate on God, and especially the earthly life of His Son Jesus, the power of the prayer can calm our troubled hearts and minds as well as orient ourselves to God’s will.

The rosary is a timeless method of prayer designed to bring a person closer to God, provide mental exercise that can reduce stress and anxiety, and can be completed in about 20 minutes for one set of mysteries. It is the perfect prayer for those on the go as well as those who need to practice how to quiet their mind in order to better hear and see the impact of God in their lives. It is as if we are presenting a rose to Mary each time we pray the Hail Mary, who then presents them on our behalf to God as a beautiful and fragrant bouquet.