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Father's Reflection 10.8.23
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Looking for more peace? Pray the Rosary!Every October 7th and the whole month of October is dedicated to the rosary. This prayer with hundreds of years of history can be seen as a mere pious exercise for people with nothing better to do with their time. When in reality, it’s quite the opposite!The rosary is a powerful prayer that brings peace to our minds and hearts and resolution to situations that can’t be resolved by human efforts alone.The point of the repetition of Hail Mary’s and Our Father’s is not to “earn” favor with God by doing something a bunch of times. Repeating these familiar prayers and holding a rosary serves as way to engage our body and give a background “sound track” that helps us think about the events of Jesus’ life that we call “Mysteries.”Very easily, the rosary becomes a mindless repetition of prayers, just as Mass becomes a habit that we don’t engage our mind with. Amazingly, even if we aren’t paying attention, the rosary still brings peace to our mind, body, and soul!Here are some tips that I have found helpful in the 14 years that I have been praying the rosary most every day…1. Say the prayers more slowly! 20 minutes seems to be a good benchmark to shoot for…if it sounds like we are racing through the prayers, it will be difficult to soak in Jesus’ love through His Mother’s Heart2. Find a resource that gives a little reflection for you to think about during each set of 10 Hail Mary’s. The Holy Family School of Faith rosary podcast is quite popular in our area, but there are many written and audio resources that you can find to help center your mind on the truths of Jesus and His Church.3. Fit in the prayers where you can throughout the day. Of course, it is ideal to be able to sit down and do the 20 minutes of the rosary (and we should have 15-30 min of silent prayer every day, either way!), but whenever you have “in-between time” between tasks or on the road, say another decade or two of the rosary. It’s not about checking off the box of finishing another prayer but using this gift of the rosary to bring us back to the awareness of God’s presence and love for us throughout the day.4. Carry a rosary around with you in your pocket. I find peace just having that reminder of Mary and Jesus’ presence, even if I’m not praying it.5. When you are stressed, anxious, or mentally exhausted, just imagine Mary and/or Jesus next to you, giving you comfort. True confession on my part, most of the time, I’m not thinking about the specific mysteries of Jesus’ life when I pray the rosary and often I don’t give it my full attention because I am in the car, but just trying to allow Jesus and Mary to be with me gives me peace every time.There’s much more that can be said about this prayer, but I hope that you will take the challenge to incorporate it into your day a little bit more than before!Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary, pray for us!Fr. Joel