A Word from Your Pastor - October 9

Dear Parishioners:

The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary invite us to reflect on moments of the life of Jesus and Mary that are full of the infallible sign of the Presence of God: Joy.  In our human experience, we can know with a certainty that penetrates into our depth that God is with us when we taste the kind of delight that we call joy.

When we pray the Rosary and contemplate the Joyful Mysteries (Mondays and Saturdays), we reflect on key moments in the life of Mary as she and Joseph received Jesus into the world as our Savior. 

• The Annunciation is the moment when the Archangel Gabriel reveals to Mary that God wants her to be the mother of His Son.  Mary’s “yes” to God unites earth to Heaven and initiates the Incarnation of the Son of God, Emmanuel.

• The Visitation is an act of spontaneous charity when Mary goes to be with her cousin Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.  The encounter between these two mothers offers us words of prayer that are echoed throughout the world in the daily prayer of all believers.

• The Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is the fulfillment of the promise that a Savior would be given in the line of King David.  Angels sing out the message and shepherd respond in wonder.

• The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is the moment when Mary and Joseph fulfill the Law concerning the redemption of the firstborn and when Simeon makes known to Mary how deep she would be affected – to the point of a sword of sorrow – by the life of her Son.

• The Finding in the Temple reminds us that Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived as an ordinary family, fulfilling together the dictates of the Law of Moses and that they experienced the joys and sorrows of human life together.

In our pondering of the Mysteries of the Rosary, we call to mind each Mystery as it unfolded in the life of Jesus and Mary.  Reflecting again, we can discover through our contemplation how the Mystery is experienced in the Church.  Again, as we come to know the Mystery in Faith, we begin to see how it applies to ourselves and our own human experience.

Families do well to pray the Rosary together especially while the children are young.  “The family that prays together stays together.”

The children of St. Timothy School and those in PSR and CGS learn the Mysteries and are invited to pray the Rosary together at different times.  A number of those who attend daily Mass pray each day before the 9 a.m. Mass weekdays.  The Knights of Columbus lead the Rosary once a month at the Rosary Prayer Garden (weather permitting).  How does the Rosary fit into your life of prayer?

Mary, Queen of the Rosary, pray for us!