En Garde! In Defense of the Holy Rosary and Other Catholic Practice

by Susan Fox 

Christian Pastor James J. Brown is pro-life, favors Traditional Marriage and understands the dangers of Islam. But he doesn't understand why Catholics pray the Rosary. This is his notice to Catholics on Google: 

Pastor James J. Brown, such is vain ignorance.

The Rosary is a meditation on Scripture itself. It is the vast training ground of prayer and therefore the door that opens when Christ knocks.

It leashes the three dogs of useless talking, vain imagination and a cold heart towards God. These three dogs are trying to pull us in three different directions. The Rosary --

Useless talking, vain imagination and cold heart pulling
us in different directions

properly prayed -- ties up these fractious dogs and allows us to love God with our whole heart!

The first dog resides in our wagging lips. This dog will waste our time rattling endlessly so much flotsam and jetsam. "Did you hear what that no good bloke said to me yesterday?" "Why is she dressed like that?"

“Silence. Pray,” the angel says. “Listen to me:”  "Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus." (Luke 1:28,31)   When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, His answer was: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy

 Name." How can we go wrong praying what Our Lord Himself told us to pray, and doing it five times during the entire Rosary?

The second wild dog is our own imagination. While you are trying to pray, are you not endlessly distracted with thoughts about what someone said to you yesterday, or what you will eat at dinner?  This dog is pulling you away from God. When we pray the Rosary,

we must THINK about the very Life of Jesus as we have read about it in Scripture! These are called the mysteries of the Rosary. We think of His Birth, how the angels came to the little people of the world -- the shepherds, inviting them to the Birth in the manger. Pray about the excited response of the shepherds! They got up and ran to where the Child lay in the manger! Lord, give me that excitement in Your Presence!

During the Rosary, we think about the Wise Men who traveled far to give Him gifts fit for a King, God and Sacrifice. Do you realize the implications of that? Here is God come in the flesh willing to die for our sins.  Already, at His Birth, foreign kings understood this. And the usurper King Herod, who was not born of the line of David, also understood the significance of Christ’s Birth. When he realized that the foreign kings had double-crossed him by not returning to give him the location of the Messiah, he sent his guards into Bethlehem (meaning “House of Bread”) to kill the true King along with all the male children age two and under.

"A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." (Matt 2:18)

In the Holy Rosary, we think of Christ’s Life -- His presence at the Wedding Feast of Cana. Here He worked His first public miracle at the request of His Mother.  We ponder Jesus’ Baptism in the River Jordan, how this holy guy named John the Baptist didn't think he was fit to tie Jesus' sandals! Why not? What is different about Jesus? Isn’t He just a man?

While praying the Rosary, we think of the parables of the Kingdom of God. What do they tell us about Christ? Is not the Kingdom of God the very Life of Christ within us?  We pray about His Transfiguration, the manifestation of His Glory, which so confused the apostles that they wanted to build three altars!

We meditate on the Last Supper. "This is my Body. This is My Blood." Lo, He didn't say, “This is the symbol of my Body. This is the symbol of my Blood.” He literally said, “This is my Body.” And since it is Christ saying it, we know He made it true.

"I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" (John 6: 51-52)

How is it that those Jews knew Christ was telling them to eat His flesh, and you Bible beginners don’t know that Christ told us to eat His flesh -- even though you use your lips to say Scripture is infallible? You don’t think Scripture is infallible! You think you are infallible, and your out-of-context interpretation is infallible.

Many Catholics go to daily Mass where Christ's one Mediation in time is re-presented. This is what Christ was talking about! “This is my Body! This is my Blood!” We Catholics are time travelers because at every Mass we participate in His original Last Supper and His original Passion, Death and Resurrection. We eat the Real Body and Blood of Christ every day as He commanded literally. We hear His Gospel daily, the Word of God!

It's not because He needs to die over and over again. No, He does it once. But we are human beings. We are weak. We need the nourishment of His Passion, Death and Resurrection every single day.

Christ willed to accompany us daily during our entire lives! Yes, He is present in the Word of God, in which we rejoice during the Mass, during the Liturgy of the Hours, and during our private Bible reading. The Word of God is the complete focus of our meditation in the Rosary! Daily we can receive the Word of God, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist! Daily we can focus on His Word praying the Rosary.

In praying the Rosary, we think about His Passion. We comfort Him in the Garden while the apostles sleep. We watch in horror His scourging at the pillar, which He so mercifully suffered, for our sakes. We stand with Him as He is mocked, humiliated and scorned during the crowning of thorns.

We walk with Him and Simeon, carrying the cross. We see the kindness and generosity of Jesus as He meets the people along the way, telling them not to weep for Him, but for their own children. While He suffered on the way to Calvary, He felt pity for Jerusalem, which he knew would be destroyed in 35 short years by the Romans.   

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'" (Matthew 23: 37-39)

In the Rosary, we kneel at the foot of the cross as He says, "Behold Your Mother!" We rejoice in the honor shown to Mary by Her Son along with St. Paul, who said "And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” (1 Cor 12:26) Mary is honored by the angel at the Annunciation, honored by the Son at His death, honored by the Church at its Birth on Pentecost, and honored by Elizabeth in the Bible when she says, "Who am I that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:43) If all these in the Bible honored Mary, why should we not do so?

On the cross, He owned nothing! Not even His clothes. And He gave His last remaining and most precious possession away! His Mother. “Behold Your Mother!” We are to take her into our home.

During the Rosary we meditate on the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This leashes the dog of the imagination that wants to run wild and think about something vain and worthless like chastising Catholics who honestly worship in Spirit and Truth when they pray the Rosary.

 The third dog to be leashed is the heart. Oh the heart wants to run after riches, getting things done (prayer is useless), wasting time thinking about a shiny bobble or a new car. The heart wants to stick its nose in other people’s business. The heart slyly wants to admire itself. It does this so the human being isn't aware of it. “Aren't I good? Don't I do good things for God?” says the heart. 

But the Rosary restrains the dog of the heart, and encourages it to wholeheartedly turn to God, its Creator. The Rosary softens the heart, makes it grateful for the job God did to save its worthless hide. “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son!” (John 3:16)

Jesus was upset when he realized the Jews were thinking that Moses gave them the manna in the desert. You can almost hear the frustration in His voice:  “It is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.”

Hush, now, I am praying the First Joyful Mystery of the Rosary and therefore I am in the room where the angel comes to announce to Mary that she will be the Mother of God. I notice how sweetly she accepts the will of God. She clearly recognizes that the angel invites her to be the Mother of the Messiah. She fully knows what he means because she uses the words of the Messianic Psalm 116 to accept the will of God:

"O LORD, surely I am Your servant, I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid, You have loosed my bonds. To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, And call upon the name of the LORD. I shall pay my vows to the LORD, Oh may it be in the presence of all His people" (Psalm 116:16-18)

And Mary response shows she read that psalm. She understood it. She knew God was asking her to be the Mother of God. "Behold the Handmaid of the Lord, Be it done to me according to Your Word." (Luke 1:38) She would be the mother of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, the prophesized Messiah.

But her statement: “How shall this be done, because I know not man” is also prophetic. (Luke 1:34) She is not just talking about her virginity though she is a virgin. She is talking directly to God with a very important question that any good Jew would ask. The angel’s response gives us a clue to what she is asking.

“The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1: 35) 

How did God enter the Temple the first time? God entered the Temple through a cloud that overshadowed the Ark of the Covenant. And the Glory of the Lord traveled with the Israelites in the form of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. “And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. (I Kings 8:10-11)  

Tragically, Ezekiel sees the Glory of the Lord leave the temple about 600 years before the Birth of Christ. And Mary is aware of this. She knew God’s presence left the temple before she was born because of Israel’s secret worship of abominations in the Temple. God asks Ezekiel, “Have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness” (Ezekiel 8:12).

The horror that Ezekiel saw and reported in chapters 8-11 is fulfilled when the armies of Babylon destroy the city and slay its inhabitants in 586 B.C.

“How can this be? I know not man.” The young Jewish virgin asks God, knowing that God’s Hand left the Temple because of her people’s transgressions. “Are you coming back?” she asked. 

The angel tells her, “Yes. He’s coming back. You are the new Temple. The Cloud will now overshadow you, most highly favored daughter of Israel. You are the New Ark of the Covenant.”  “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1: 35)

So my heart is totally engaged in this scene, not only out of love of Mary, whom I do honor, but out of love of God, Whom I adore. I marvel at His plan for our salvation. I see He has taken care of every detail. My heart is enkindled with love for Him. Never once did I blasphemy because all true devotion to Mary is Christ centered.

Mary is transparent – almost invisible. She is a magnifying glass for God. It’s in the Bible: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior!” (Luke 1:46) She is the little key that opens the door of our hearts to God, the King of Glory. "Behold your Mother." 

We say the words of the angel, “Hail Mary,” and she turns to Christ and gives Him our Greetings.  

We put our imagination to work and think of the moment of the Annunciation. We bury ourselves in the Great Cloud that descended on her during the Conception of Christ in her womb and she turns to Christ and gives Him our imagination.

We turn our hearts to what is taking place in the Scriptures, and Mary takes our hearts, softens them, and gives them to God Himself.  She is an Intercessor par excellente. We are all called to be such. 

And when the Rosary is finished. I take a little flower from the bouquet of what I have given to God, and I press it to my nose all day long. And so I have Peace. Not the peace that the world gives, but the Peace that Christ gives.

And that is the power of the Holy Rosary.

Did you enjoy this post? Perhaps you'd like to read my conversion story. I used to look disdainfully on Catholics kneeling before the statue of Mary!  Confessions of a Scrupulous Devotee to Mary 

Or perhaps you are not convinced that we are allowed to talk to the dead in the Presence of Christ? Read Living Stones Built into a Spiritual House -- The Communion of Saints for a biblical defense of the Communion of Saints

Tragedies Abound: It's Time For Repentance!

 Sermon by Rev. John Paul Shea

3rd Sunday of Lent, Feb. 28, 2016

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Tucson, AZ

Repentance, repentance, repentance! 

In today’s Gospel (Luke 13:1-9) for this Third Sunday of Lent, we are given a clear and forceful call to repentance. 

In Jesus time, the Tower of Siloam

killed 18 people

In today’s Gospel, some people come to Our Lord Jesus to speak about a tragic situation. Some Galileans suffered at the hands of Pilate. In coming to Jesus with this situation, they were most likely seeking justice. Yet, Our Lord does not go along with this assessment. He uses this example to make a very important point -- the need for repentance.

“Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” Our Lord said.

And then He speaks of 18 people who were killed when a tower fell upon them. “Do you think they were more guilty than everyone else who lived in Jerusalem? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!”

My brothers and sisters, Our Lord’s message is one that all of us need to take to heart every day of our lives.

We live in a fallen world. We experience

tragedies and suffering. We often do not know why some people suffer more than others or why God allows tragedies to take place, but today’s Gospel calls us to what is most important, that we need to be prepared for whatever may come in our lives and in our world by repenting of  our sins! For none of us know when our lives are going to end. Neither do we know when the tragedies of our  world will finally take its toll. 

In today’s second reading (1Cor 10: 1-12), Saint Paul teaches us to learn from what has taken place in the past. He uses the example of the Israelites. God had called the Israelites to be His chosen people. He called them to follow His commands so that they could be a people set apart.

Yet, the Israelites continued to turn away from God’s laws and, as a result,  had much pain and suffering. Saint Paul warns us not to "desire evil things as they did.” 

Take these words to heart because history repeats itself! Every society and people who turn away from God’s laws always experiences suffering.

The United States was founded as a Christian nation. Yet, we have gravely turned away from God's ways! The violence, the abortions, the widespread acceptance of immoral behavior, the continued destruction of the family shows we are -- as a nation -- rapidly turning away from God.

Our dollar bills say, “In God we trust.” Yet, these words are not worth the paper they are printed on if our hearts are far from God.

This year we elect a new president, but who will lead us into God's loving protection by  acknowledging God’s laws? 

God has allowed many tragedies in recent times in order to open our hearts and minds to conversion.

 When 9-11 took place, people were repenting. They were praying. The churches were filled. But it did not last long. We have gone right back to living as if we can live in our nation without God! 

Although each one of us doesn’t have control over the direction of our country and the world, we have control over our lives, and today’s readings call us to repentance! 

Let us listen to Our Lord. Let us repent our sins. Let us come to confession. Let us seek

to live chastely and devoutly. As we heard of the tragedies in today’s Gospel let us be reminded that we do not know when tragedy may come into our lives. In fact, none of us are going to live forever on earth. And even the world in which we live today will not be here forever. This is why our Lord teaches us that we must repent.

Let us follow our Lord’s wisdom. May God bless us and help us.

Did you enjoy this sermon? Fr. Shea has many others. Perhaps you would like to Learn a Lesson From the Fig Tree?

Sometimes Bad, Sometimes Good: Media's Impact on the Family

by Edwin Rodrigues 

Technology has endowed us with much power!

Just a click of the mouse or a “send” command on a smart phone can instantly transmit information and connect people scattered across the globe.

People can form groups where important updates can be shared with all the members instantly. In any given circumstance, in good times and in times of sickness, an update can ease fears of the worst or -- God forbid -- break unpleasant news without delay. The Internet and the various platforms of social media are indeed inventions to be marveled at!

Thankfully, good people have developed applications that give us access to the Order of the Mass and Daily Readings, the Liturgy of Hours, Saint for the Day and the Bible. My personal favorites are the Laudate and EWTN apps. These and many others are available free!  On EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) I listen to Daily Mass and other rich Catholic content, which evangelizes with God’s own power! I can even get the latest Vatican news.

I've seen people very effectively using Whatsap, a mobile messaging app that allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for SMS (text messaging). It's all done voluntarily, of course with inspiration from The Holy Spirit. One member of the group shares about the saint of the day, another shares Mass Readings, and yet another reflections.

All of this sanctifies and unifies everyone in the group besides confirming each other in the faith. “For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame, if there be any virtue, if any praise of discipline, think on these things.” (Phil 4:8)

Catholic means universal 

Sharing such hallowed content is a positive step in the direction of charity. Catholic means universal, and the Church’s outreach is global.

The modern means of communications are very potent tools for the spread of the Gospel. That is why every year, Holy Mother Church observes the Sunday before Pentecost, as World Communications Day. The celebration came in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, which recognized our Church must fully engage the modern world.

“The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anguishes of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anguishes of the followers of Christ as well,” (from the opening statement of the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes on “The Church in the Modern World.”

So while the Catholic Church is orthodox in its teachings there is always a pristine freshness and newness in all of its undertakings! 


But alas! Three words -- “fallen human nature" -- manage to creep into the conversation and we lose control over moderation and modesty in the name of modernity!

And once this sets in, much havoc is created as platforms such as Facebook, Whatsap (which are in and of themselves innocuous) are reduced to tools of addiction and selfish pleasure. Such is never gratifying. It leaves those indulging themselves disappointed and craving for more.

Also, the temptation is to present oneself as good-looking and well to do. These are forms of deception that the evil one loves to play with.

When we lose touch with Jesus, we automatically lose touch with reality and goodness. Precious time --  running into several hours in a day -- and money, which could have been used for noble and constructive pursuits, are exchanged for fleeting moments of self-centered entertainment. There is a real risk of one becoming narcissistic. Perhaps those who get caught in this vicious circle are looking for happiness. But unfortunately for them joy remains elusive. For Joy comes from being close to The Lord, who is Joy Himself.

"Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1) This is evident in families that are not rooted in prayer and built on the Rock, who is Jesus Himself. Members of a household could be living under the same roof, and perhaps be present at the same table at a given moment but still ironically they could be so disjointed. Watch. Each member is busy communicating and yet there is “zero communication.” Each one is engrossed in side conversations with other friends on their phones. Little or no eye contact is made. Occasionally, someone might burst into laughter on reading a joke. The family goes through the motions of consuming the food while entirely missing out on the fellowship and grace of a meal! This is where media --through poor choices on our part -- can erode the fabric of the family.

What once was keenly anticipated as “family time” is now replaced by distractions in the form of “data.” Little children yearn for undivided attention. Even Pope Francis encourages parents to spend more time with their children. “Waste time with your children!” he quipped. "Do you play with your children?” Neglected children consequently imitate their parents and waste precious family time with mobile phones and other gadgets. Parents who are busy find it convenient to entertain their kids with nifty gadgets and then a new faulty pattern of living is born!

These clever shortcuts are detrimental to building up meaningful lasting relationships. Most of the people who are entangled in these patterns are beginning to experience an interior void. The virtual is robbing us of the real. Consequently, there could be some children with very high IQs, but lacking emotional maturity. Once people have easy access to the internet (in the absence of self-control), there is a great risk of getting sucked into our permissive culture.

Lord have mercy! For it’s very difficult to get rid of porn and game addictions. They create permanent neural pathways that make a person susceptible to sins of the flesh.

Having considered some of the merits and demerits of the media, we cannot leave ourselves hopeless. For  in the Lord is our hope and our strength. Christ is always the Victor and he has given us a strategy mentioned by St. Paul:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the

 heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (Ephesians 6:10-18)

With this in mind, be alert and keep on praying. What is heartening also is that while the forces of darkness are at work, Catholic Radio in particular has gained much momentum and popularity in many parts of the world, which include the affluent U.S.A. and the impoverished Haiti. So, everything is not bleak especially for those who through Divine Providence come across good Catholic Radio such as EWTN and its affiliates.

EWTN’s outreach is global and its content reaffirming for someone struggling with  faith. One can get live coverage of papal events. There are testimonies of witnesses who have converted and chosen life when they were contemplating suicide or an abortion. Many have returned to the Church through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. After wandering in the wilderness for many years, they sought the sacraments because they heard what they needed to hear over the airwaves.

God’s Word speaks to the heart and it never returns empty. So shall my word be, which shall go forth from my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall do whatsoever I please, and shall prosper in the things for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:1) Amen!

Author Edwin Rodrigues can be found on Twitter at@EdwinEd1667