Holy Rosary
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October 12, 2024October is Holy Rosary month. This is one among the most well-known Catholic prayer devotions, if not, the most popular one. A Catholic theologian by the name of Romano Guardini described praying the Rosary as “participation in the life of Mary whose focus was Christ.” Indeed, in praying the Rosary, we are one with Mary and while contemplating on her life, we are as well imitating her ways of discipleship.
Pope St. John Paul II, in his Tertio Millennio Adveniente,spoke about Mary in Third Millennium as “the woman who was docile to the voice of the Spirit, a woman of silence and attentiveness, a woman of hope, who accepted God’s will ‘hoping against hope.’” The attentiveness of Mary to obey the will of God is in contrast, however, with the attitude of the rich young man in our Gospel this 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time. He wanted to follow Jesus and imitate his ways and so he asked Jesus “Good Teacher,what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 18:18) He was a dutiful young man who has observed the commandments from youth and wanted to do more to inherit eternal life, yet, when Jesus asked him to go sell all his belongings and give all to the poor, he was saddened and went away for he cannot give up of his possessions.
This might also be our attitude and immediate response to Jesus. But the following verses in our Gospel give us assurance, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.” (Mark 18:29-30)
Following Jesus and imitating His ways mean giving up the things we consider worthy in our life and accept and embrace what Jesus has to offer us like what Mary did. Her fiat “be it done unto me according to your words” should be our guiding principle in following Jesus. In every Hail Mary we recite in the Rosary, we acknowledge how the grace of God filled the life of Mary. In every mystery of the Rosary, we journey together with Mary,contemplating the works of salvation focusing andre-focusing our life to the ways of Jesus. Meditating upon the mysteries of salvation truly can lead to Metanoia, a change of heart. It is as if Mary is telling us once again,like that of the wedding feast at Cana, “Do whatever he tells you…” (John 1:25).
Now we realized that the recitation of the Holy Rosary is an invitation to reflect on the mysteries of God’s love and mercy in Jesus through Mary; it is more than just a devotional practice. We establish a more prayerful attitude in our lives and follow Jesus more closely like Mary, and as we pray and meditate the Holy Rosary, we grow intimately as a disciple of Jesus, journeying with Mary where we can find serenity, courage, and a fresh dedication to our spiritual maturity.
