DON’T “pray the Rosary”!

I know. Your first response is “Whaaat? DON’T pray the Rosary!?”  Yes… well, sort of. Let me explain.

First of all, you have to know that I was - for almost 14 years - a Lutheran pastor. It was a combination of the “push” of the theological meltdown in my denomination, and the “pull” of the consistency and clarity and depth of the doctrine and devotion of the Catholic Faith, that caused me to leave behind my ministry and livelihood as a Protestant pastor and to come into “full communion” in the Catholic Church. And one of the first steps I took toward the Church, (tho’ I didn’t realize the “danger” at the time), was coming to the conviction that a Lutheran pastor could, with good conscience, use the ancient discipline of “praying the mysteries”, (aka, “the Rosary”).

It turns out that Luther himself had a very deep Marian piety, and personally held to the Immaculate Conception, and Bodily Assumption of Mary - and said that one could hold them as a matter of “pious private opinion.” Having discovered this about Luther, (information which, oddly, I had never heard during four years at a Lutheran seminary), I began to teach myself how to “meditate on the mysteries.” While one can find several guides describing “how to” pray the Rosary, I was most drawn to those which provided a Scripture meditation to be read after announcing each mystery. I was also drawn to the suggestion made by Pope John Paul II, (in his apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae), that one add a clause after saying “Jesus” in the “Hail Mary” , in order to draw attention to the name of Jesus, which is the “center of gravity” of the prayer:

            Pope Paul VI drew attention… to the custom in certain regions of highlighting the name of Christ by the addition of a clause referring to the mystery being contemplated. This is a praiseworthy custom, especially during public recitation                                       (No. 33)

In this manner I began the daily discipline of “meditating on the mysteries”, and was probably one of the few Lutheran pastors in the country who was doing so on behalf of Pope John Paul during the vigil kept in St. Peter’s square in the hours before his death, and in the days which followed. Before the year was out, I had resigned from my Lutheran congregation for reasons of conscience, and knew that I was on a journey I never intended to take, headed somewhere I never intended to go.

I blame the Rosary.

So, if you are a Protestant, especially a Protestant clergy, and you DON’T EVER want to end up becoming “Roman Catholic”, then DON’T PRAY THE ROSARY!! ( They don’t call it “Our Mother’s lasso” for nothing! )

But assume you already are Catholic… would I still say, “DON’T ‘pray the Rosary’”?

Yes.

What I mean is, don’t simply recite the prayers! MEDITATE ON THE MYSTERIES OF THE GOSPEL!!

For example… When you annouce the First Luminous Mystery, read a brief passage from one of the Gospels that records the account of Jesus’ being baptized in the Jordan. (Or, assuming you know the Sacred Scriptures well enough, recall it to mind). Close your eyes, vizualize the scene… see Jesus kneeling in the Jordan, John the Baptist cupping his hands and pouring water over His head… see the Holy Spirit descending like a dove, hear the Father’s voice: “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

NOW, pray the “Our Father”… slowly, prayerfully. Then pray the “Hail Mary”, but when you get to the word “Jesus”… add a phrase which reflects your meditation on the mystery: “… of Whom the Father spoke, ‘This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” Use this for each of the Hail Mary’s in that decade.

Move on to the Second Luminous Mystery, the wedding at Cana. Read - or recall - the story from the Gospel according to St. John’s Gospel, chapter two. Briefly meditate on the actions of Mary, of the servants, of Jesus, of the steward. Then pray, slowly, the “Our Father.” As you pray each ”Hail Mary”, pause at the word “Jesus”, … add a phrase that recalls the mystery… “Who turned water into wine”, (or, better yet, emphasize His continued grace and power in our lives… “Who TURNS water into wine.”)

When I served as Asst. Headmaster of St. Thomas More Academy, and as Head of Campion House, we would use this method as we prayed a decade of the Rosary each day during morning prayers “in house.”  I would gather four students, we would each chose some meditation/reflection to offer in the middle of the Hail Maryl, and then — kneeling in a line at the front of the class — lead the rest of the students in the Rosary, each one leading a decade and adding our reflection at the word “Jesus”, starting over at the beginning of the line for decades 6-10. It was powerful.

If “praying the Rosary” seems meaningless, maybe you’re only “reciting”. So, stop “praying” the Rosary, and start “meditating on the mysteries”!

Battling the Un-holy Trio

Note: Fr. Dwight Longenecker, a former Anglican priest who is now the Catholic chaplain at St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Greenville, SC, (and sometimes retreat leader at Belmont Abbey College, and due to speak at this year’s “Ignited By Truth”), authored the following article. My only comment I think would be — where he refers to the World, the Flesh, and the Devil as the “un-holy trinity” — to speak instead of the “unholy trio”. There is only one “tri-unity” and it is the Holy Trinity of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. While I understand the “poetic” reasons for using the term “trinity” as he does, I’m certain that he would be the first to say that the unholy trio is in no way a “trinity” as is the Holy Trinity.

The un-holy Trinity are the false goods and false gods that Satan sets up. They are the World, the Flesh and the Devil. I wrote about how the Holy Trinity counters the un-Holy Trinity here, but as we head into Lent consider the tools we are given to battle the un-holy Trinity: there are three, and they give us a well rounded and complete armory in the fight.

The three are prayer, almsgiving and abstinence, and together they counter the World, the Flesh and the Devil. How so?  The World is the underlying assumption that life is about power and prosperity. We’re here to get money, save money, spend money and attain worldly wealth and power right? Wrong. And it is almsgiving that counters this basic assumption that it’s all about money.

When you give your money sacrificially you’re telling your bank account who’s boss. You’re taking control of money and by giving it away you’re telling the money god just what you think of him. You’re reminding yourself that money is like manure: spread it around and it does a lot of good. Save it all in one place and it starts to stink and breeds germs. So almsgiving is a direct, practical and simpe way to put The World in its place and turn our hearts to heaven.

Abstinence, or giving something up for Lent, is a sure way to discipline the flesh. It’s fashionable to cut this one out these days and say, “Instead of giving something up, I’m taking something up.”–meaning some good cause. Actually we’re supposed to do both, and the old tradition of giving up some physical pleasure means that we are taking the threat of The Flesh seriously. The Flesh is not just the physical pleasures of food, sex, sleep, entertainment and drink. It is also the underlying assumption that life is all about keeping this body of mine satiated with all sorts of pleasurable sensations. Giving up a fleshly pleasure corrects that underlying assumption and shifts our attention to higher things.

Prayer is the antidote to The Devil. It’s simple. The Devil wants to be worshipped instead of God. By offering more prayer and worship to God we stymie the devil. By turning our attention to God and offering him our devotion and obedience we trample down the head of Satan during Lent.

So this Lent we battle the un-holy Trinity with three holy weapons. Almsgiving counters The World. Abstinence counters The Flesh and Prayer counters The Devil.

The Turning Point

In every life, there is a turning point. For many of those who followed Jesus, it came when He said to them, “I am the Bread of Life… I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

This saying disturbed the crowd, and they began murmur among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat.” By saying that He was the Bread of Life, come down from heaven, Jesus was making Himself out to be greater than Moses, and — equal to God. But what He said next would be the last straw: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you; he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day… he who eats Me will live because of Me.” This statement was absolutely scandelous; and Jesus doesn’t attempt to calm them down, or smooth things over by pouring oil on the water — instead, He throws more fuel on the fire. “You take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before?” At this, St. John tells us, “many of His disciples drew back, and no longer walked with Him.”  They had come to their turning point.

Jesus then turns to the Twelve, and gives them the open door to do the same: “Will you also go away?” As always, it’s Peter who speaks.

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God.”

Peter, by the grace flowing from the Father and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speaks words of deep insight and unchanging truth. “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life…” There are only two paths… the path that leads to God, the path to eternal life, and the path that leads away from God and to eternal death. But the path to eternal life is costly; it will cost us the price of our life, it will cost us the right to claim that our life is our own. That is what lie behind Jesus’ teaching, and that is what caused many of His disciples — then and now — to walk away.

“You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God.” Notice the progression here: it is not a matter of “faith” or “knowledge” — it is both. But it is faith that leads us to true knowledge. The disciples believed, and their faith had led them to knowledge, knowledge of “the Holy One of God.” 

Have you reached your “turning point?” Are you turning TO, or turning AWAY? There is no middle ground, no third option.

Advent II: Prepare

Advent — Living between the “Now” and the “Not Yet.”

It was a somewhat traumatic milestone in my life when I came to the realization that even contacts weren’t going to provide the correction I needed in order to see both near and far. The prescription could correct for the one (distance vision, or lack thereof), but then I would need something for the “near” … the the quintessential sign that you are officially “over the hill”… those focal accessories known as “readers.” Often these lens are set within larger, plain, (or “distance prescription”), lenses and then refered to as “bi-focals.” Which brings me to Advent.

The readings which we encounter during these early days of Advent often have two distinct points of focus*, a “near” and a “far”, or — for us — a past and a future. We hear, simultaneously, prophecies having to do with the Messiah’s SECOND coming, (or “advent”), and almost in the same breath, proclamations of His FIRST coming. This need to see both the “near” and the “far”at the same time requires us to use a “bi-focal” interpretative lens in order to read and hear, to bring into focus and comprehend, both the proclamation of the past, and the prophecy of the future — the two “advents” of which we are reminded. And they both urge us to the same action.

In the Gospel lesson for this Sunday, we hear again the cry of the Baptist: “Prepare the way of the LORD, make straight His paths.” Whether we are hearing the proclamation of His first coming, or the prophecies of His second coming, the command to prepare ourselves to rightly receive Him is not to be ignored. As the people of God, as those sealed with the Cross and called to serve the King, we must understand that the most necessary preparation which needs to take place during these days is NOT decorating the house for Christmas, or buying gifts to put under the tree. The most crucial preparation which needs to take place is the cleansing of our heart and mind, the preparation of soul, the straightening of the paths of our lives, in order that we might rightly receive Him. It is a time for sober reflection, for examination of conscience, for a putting-away of all those things which keep us from being shaped into the image of Christ. This is how we are called to live as the people of God, this is how we are called to live in between the “now” and the “not yet.”

As we sing in the words of the Advent hymn:

Straight shall be what long was crooked, and the rougher places plain

Let your hearts be true and humble, as befits His holy reign,

For the glory of the LORD, now on earth is shed abroad,

and all flesh shall see the token, that God’s word is never broken.

Of Royal Blood

        It seems very fitting that the last Sunday of the Church year would be observed as the Sunday of the fulfillment, the Sunday of the culmination and consummation of all things – Christ the King Sunday. On this Sunday of the Church year we sum up all that has gone before, and affirm that ALL things are – and will be — summed up in the rule and reign of Christ.

        Living in a democracy, (or, to be specific, a democratic republic), we aren’t used to the idea of royalty, of being subject to the rule of a king. And yet, Sacred Scripture affirms that just such an absolute monarchy exists within the Kingdom of God. Again and again, the evangelists and apostles bear witness that Jesus is Lord, that Christ is King. The Gospel reading for this Sunday provides an excellent example of this witness. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory… He will sit upon His glorious throne… then the King will say to those on His right… ‘Come… inherit the Kingdom…’ ” St. Paul also affirms the absolute monarchy of Christ in the Second Lesson:

             For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet.                            (Sounds pretty “absolute” doesn’t it?)

        The whole of the NT bears witness to this truth: the Angel Gabriel, announces to Mary that she is highly favored with grace, and will give birth to the Savior, “and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”  St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Philippians, “… at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…” Again, St. Paul, writes in Romans (15:12), quoting Isaiah the prophet:

                   The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.

        The Revelation to St. John affirms again and again the reality that Christ rules the universe, even now, and that the saints in heaven continually proclaim His kingdom: And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

                         “Great and amazing are your deeds,

                                O Lord God the Almighty!

                        Just and true are your ways,

                                O King of the nations!” (15:3)

            They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful. (17:14)

 

        In the middle ages, a certain theory of monarchy began to take hold; the theory that earthly kings ruled “by divine right” , i.e. they were kings and had the right to the throne because God had chosen them to be king.  In truth, there was – and is — only one king who could claim a throne “by divine right.”  And that king was Jesus, born of the house of David, the legitimate “King of the Jews.”  But Jesus has the divine right not just to a temporal throne, not just to an earthly throne, but to an eternal and heavenly throne.  He rules by divine right because He IS divine – He is God, and the very Son of God. He is not a creature – God did not create Jesus. Jesus is God, and all things were created by Him and through Him. He has the right to claim kingship over the entire universe because He made it all.  He has the right to claim kingship over us, because He created man out of the dust of the earth, and breathed into the very breath of Life.

        But this King also has another claim on us. For this King laid aside His divine glory, willingly put aside His divine right, and took on the form of a servant, and was made man. And being found in the likeness of man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death – even death on a cross. This King rules by divine right because this King has mounted a throne of shame and death, and on that throne suffered agony, and bled, and died, in order to ransom us from bondage to Satan, from slavery to sin and from the grip of the grave. This King, and this King alone, has the divine right to “first claim” on our lives, because this King, and this King alone, has created us and redeemed us, has breathed into us of His very Spirit, and has brought us back to life.

        And there’s more. For this King not only died for His subjects, His servants – but by His victorious death and glorious resurrection, this King has adopted us as His own, claimed us as His very sons and daughters, made us to be of royal blood! As St. Paul writes in Ephesians, the very passage prior to our Second Lesson: “In love the Father predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

        What astounding love! What amazing grace! It would have been enough to have been freed from bondage, to have been given a new life… but to be taken into the King’s palace, to be cleansed and robed in royal robes, to be brought into the throne room and seated with Him… to be called no longer servants, but sons and daughters… to be made of royal blood… it should cause us to stand in awe, and to bow in adoration.

        This King, and this King alone, has the right to rule over our lives. This King, and this King alone has the right to claim the throne of our lives. This King, and this King alone has the right to command us to kneel, and to make us royal knights in His service, to proclaim His glorious and gentle rule of justice and peace throughout the world, by our words, and by the very lives that we live in loving service to others: “as you have done it to the least of these…”

        In a recent movie entitled, “The Kingdom of Heaven”, a young man, the illegitimate son of a noble knight, is claimed by his father, and at his father’s deathbed, is knighted and proclaimed as his father’s rightful heir, and given his father’s title. This young knight ultimately is left to defend Jerusalem against Sala’-hadin and his army of Saracens. It seems a hopeless task.  The bishop of Jerusalem, the patriarch of Jerusalem, expresses that hopelessness to Balian, the young knight.

        Bp: “My Lord… How do you intend to defend Jerusalem without any knights?  We have no knights!”

        Bn: “Truly?” He surveys the armed peasants that surround him, his eyes lighting on a tall boy, barely a man. “What is your condition?

        Boy: “I am a servant to the patriarch.” The bishop nods in agreement, “Yes, he is one of my servants

        Bn: You were born a servant?” The boy nods.

        Bn: “Kneel.”  (Again, surveying the peasant crowd.) “Kneel. Every man at arms, or capable of bearing them, kneel! … On your knees!

                Be without fear in the face of your enemies.

                Be brave and upright that God may love thee.

                Speak the truth even if it leads to your death.

                Safeguard the helpless. Do no wrong.

                This is your oath.”

He slaps the young man across the face. “And that is so you remember it. Rise - a knight.” He then turns and loudly proclaims to all the men gathered, “Rise - a knight!”

        The bishop, scandalized at this indiscriminate “mass knighting” of ignorant and low-born peasants, protests: “Who do you think you are? Will you alter the world? Does making a man a knight make him a better fighter?”  Balian, turning to the bishop, says emphatically:  “Yes”

        And so, I call on each one of you, each one who will hear the call of the King, each one of you willing and able to bear His Word to the world… kneel. In this moment, in your heart, go to your knees!

        Be without fear in the face of your Enemy, THE EVIL ONE.

        Be brave and righteous for the sake of the One who loved you.

        Speak the truth of His Word, even if it leads to your death.

        Safeguard the helpless. Do no wrong.

        This is your oath.

        And this (X) is so you remember it.

 

Rise… a knight of the Most High King, a prince of Royal Blood. Go forth in the power of His might. Fight the good fight. Finish the course. Keep the Faith.

 

In the King’s Name, and for His sake… Amen.