54 Day Rosary: Joyous Contemplation

54 Day Novena: Joyful Mysteries
Scripture Focus: Luke 1:26-56
Each time I pray the rosary, contemplating on the holy mysteries of God's work in the Incarnate Word of Jesus Christ - my faith is deepened; I wrestle with difficult questions only to find God's grace in the Spirit of Christ - we are all wandering and in search of communion with God - through Christ the crossroads of darkness is eclipsed by the light of mercy of God's grace.  We are no longer living in exile - through Christ we have the authority of grace and mercy and hope.  Christ makes the Spirit of God present in our being - for the Holy Spirit has always been anchoring God's creation - yet sin left a rift too far to cross, a chasm too deep - this longing for God is the cup of life and is fulfilled in the cup of Christ - springing forth in the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The majesty of God is that while Our Creator works miracles - beyond comprehension - God's greatest acts of love are simple in nature - and at the same time their simplicity and grace reveal is nature more fully - as a loving Father, a healer, and a God who though all powerful - still nurtures the weak and the destitute.  God's greatest miracle is the life of Christ for God is life - God is love and love is the force of life in the Spirit...life without the spirit is not life at all, but merely dust that shall fall away into soil and die.  Life without love is void of true life because all creation is formed by love and without the loving Spirit of God at work in creation - we have nothing but darkness - even in light - the darkness is binding - if love is absent.  Even a scientist cannot look at the soil or a mountain and not realize the magnitude and wonder of the science and care, even in chaos that formed miraculous canyons and oceans - the complex web of DNA and life itself.

People argue about the origins of the universe - they debate over the science and theology.  God is above that - God's love itself uses science and nature, miracles and wonders to weave the tapestry of the earth and all the universe.  While all things on earth are created from something - God created the earth out of nothing and the symphony of his love is manifest in our own creative process.  God both compels us to question and demand answers, while in the end being willing to meet HIM in the simplest of graces and in Simple Grace we discover the biggest miracle of all - that even the smallest fragment of light - a scintilla of light - will penetrate darkness - and even the smallest light from God is strong enough to ignite a fire of love in the world.

The Joyful Mysteries in a time of sci-fi fantasy high digital technology might seem small in a world where we are talking about missions to Mars - many say - why would an all powerful God reveal HIMSELF as a thread in an ordinary patchwork - through miracles that modern society deems irrelevent or crude?  God born as a child? God heals the sick and suffering through laying on hands - not flashy acts of healing that quake at the power of God to the point - no one would dare question HIS authority - God dying on a cross of wood and suffering?  In human connotations this appears as the antithesis of the world and what we expect of God.

God is bigger than our expectations and in the end God does not need to show His power and majesty - the world, creation and life itself is a testament to God's grace and power.  God's power is not visible at best through his infinite power of dazzling tricks and mind blowing exhibits - the greatest love and greatest power is to lay down a person's life for their loved ones...God in demonstrating HIS humility, innocence, grace, fortitude, perseverance and care in Christ - is the greatest power we will ever witness - even more magnificent than the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone's geysers - for God sowed those with love, but His word, but the life of the Spirit is not in the soul of the earth - God's power is best seen in life and in rising from death - showing His power is not defined by time or place or human restrictions and prejudices - God's justice through Christ is perfect and his power of mercy is a light that darkness can never overtake.

Any man of power and prestige can rise to the ranks of a king, but for a king to lay down His life, for God Himself to face the life and death as the incarnation of His creation - so that His creation will not suffer against the law of sin - that is power of joyful magnitude itself.  The power of God Himself serving creation and living and walking amongst us is power so otherworldly we cannot fathom it - our hearts are too marred by temporary gain to see eternity - unless we submit to the cross of Christ- the crossroads between the power of light and dark, the bridge of being a slave to the world and a child of God. It is a struggle we will always tangle our hearts in and yet with each knot untied we draw closer to God, even if some mysteries and questions remain unanswered.  God is love, we can rest in that eternal power, even when the temporal pains and sufferings mar the light as the total eclipse of the moon - life is a beating heart - life is more than flesh and cells - life is SPIRIT and light, truth and being born from above

I open with this rambling introduction because it is easy to lose sight of the true awesomeness of God in the life of CHRIST and the Joy of HIS LIVING Presence - bridging the great chasm between flesh and spirit - so that we will no longer fear the darkness, but purge it with HIS Life everlasting.


The Joyful Mysteries guide us closer to God's mercy in action and remind us of the Simple Graces God grants us in creation every day that we take for granted.

1. The Annunciation:
The Angel Gabriel coming to Mary is not doubt a miracle - a joy and a fear...the fear of God is a humility of meeting the greatness of God illuminated against the weakness of our flesh.  Mary is honest and able to admit both her fear and awe.  Mary can perceive and question the visit - pondering and also faithfully seeking God's trust and answering His call.  Mary is faithful to God and all the while in this faith she does not betray her truth - Her fear of God and questioning of 'what does this mean' is her honesty - her fear of God is not betrayal in this case of trust but in fact being completely sincere in her approach to trusting God - Mary shows us that we must always be honest with God while also in that honesty searching to accept HIS call and HIS graces in our life.  Mary shows humility and strength. She openly converses with God's will through Gabriel, trusting God and accepting HIS call.



 While the Annunciation is the miraculous call of God's intercession with humanity and the commencement of His plans for salvation - long promised and fulfilled through Mary's womb through Christ - God Incarnate - the Annunciation is relevant to us in several ways:

 - Mary being full of grace and able to carry God Incarnate in her womb is a reversal of Eve's betrayal and is a reconciliation of the flesh and blood of humanity with the Spirit of God.  By Mary's saying 'Yes' to God with a willing heart full of faith and thanksgiving and humility - God is able to restore the relationship and wholeness of His Creation.

- We must first meditate on this mystery as the acknowledgement of God's grace and God's goodness to work through humanity and accomplishing his fulfillment of mercy through human interaction - this shows God to not only be loving, honest and true to HIS covenant - it shows God's desire to delight in a relationship with us and for us to delight in Him not for simple adoration of HIS Awesome Power (we must do that as well), but also the purest form of love and desire for God above even the glories of God's creation on the earth.  A desire of God to announce that HIS desire for creation is out of love and HIS desire for us to hope in Him and trust in HIM and love HIM as Creator, Father, Friend and Savior.  God is the creator of all things - through Christ we are no longer bound to sin.  Mary shows us that by saying yes to God's call we recognize that God is more important than the created world - for God created all things and His power and grace is greater than even the greatest of the world's creations - God's great quality is love.  Mary exhibits a love of God - not for the sake of merit or ownership of God, but true reciprocal love in human capacity.  Even this measure of love is acknowledged as a grace coming from God.

- What this means for us?
-First off we must remember that nothing is impossible for God and that the Word of God stands true and is forever.  If we know that God's Word is truth and HIS will, will be done then we can trust in HIS Word - which is God's action in our lives and throughout the course of time, for God's word is not bound by space and time.

Say YES to God, and submitting fully to God...this is the core message of the mystery of the Annunciation - yet as I dig deeper I discover a plethora of spiritual truths reflecting our human nature in communion and isolation from God.  Mary recognizes the Word of God is truth and answers the call to God with a resounding YES: "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word."  Mary emphasized 'word' knowing God's word is God Himself - God does not go against His word and His word is binding - Mary chose God's will in choosing His Word.

Mary is immaculate in grace and yet she questions God - true faith is not always just saying 'yes' to God without question - true faith is often refined by our total trust in God - not as a manner simply of fear of condemnation - but the trust of knowing God's plans are better than our plans.  God also does not wish us to hide behind silent submission when we struggle with our crosses - God wants us to be honest with Him and lay our burdens and concerns at HIS feet - trusting He will help us to understand and something in that act of questioning we realize the answer - God is in control and questioning God's ability to act in a situation is human perspective - with God all things are possible.  So where is the chasm between questioning God as an act of unbelief and an act of faith - Mary is an example of being honest and humble before God - her questioning is not doubting God's work or call as much as asking and pondering - why me and how can I serve you?  This makes her service more remarkable to me because if Mary said yes without pondering the implications on her reputation, her body and her soul - she would not have made the choice in faith.  God wants us to have dialog with Him, while we should avoid complaining of His lack of perceived goodness or doubting His ability to act in our lives - it is better to be honest before God and seek answers and dialogue in HIS Spirit rather than silently question without bringing cares to God.  We can build a bridge to God's grace by trusting Him with questions and in return we also must be willing to let go of questions and actively allow God to breakthrough - Mary is a wonderful example of submitting to God and hearing HIS call.

The Visitation:
Mary's decision to visit her cousin Elizabeth is an act of love, charity and humility.  While some could argue Mary did this to find out if her cousin was really pregnant and her own role in salvation history would be fulfilled - this is a narrow-minded perspective that is not scripturally accurate.  Mary is the the opposite of our perspective of seeking evidence - the covenant with God is enough for her to trust in His actions.  By questioning God for the terms of service, Mary commits fully to Him.  Her decision to visit Elizabeth is drawn by the grace to serve others in need, even in the midst of our own glorious hopes and triumphs and trials.  Mary's greatest triumph was also her greatest trial - being a virgin and pregnant was scandalous and Mary chose service and love over selfishness.

Elizabeth's salutation of Mary is an address of a maid to a queen and yet Elizabeth does this to glorify Mary, not by Mary but God - Mary recognizes that any glory she has in Christ is to point the way to her son - God incarnate - which is also the way of John the Baptist.

"When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth , filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, 'Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.  And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

Elizabeth's blessing of Mary is a reflection of her character as a woman who loved God and allowed the call of the Holy Spirit's voice to fill her and her own womb as John the Baptist also leapt for joy at Christ in Mary.  The blessing is a reflection of Elizabeth's belief that anything is possible through the Word of God.

Elizabeth is a great servant and heart full of God's love - she has a hope and trust in God her husband does not have, in spite of his being a Rabbi.  I will reflect on Elizabeth in another post.

Mary's humility is her service more than the charity - because true humility is not saying you are not worthy - true humility is not a lack of confidence - true humility in God is knowing that it is not all about you and that your glory is God's glory and in God we are called to serve.



Mary is praised by Elizabeth, who is praising God's work in Mary: Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb...and Mary instead of accepting the praise as her own turns it over to God in the canticles of canticles: The Magnificat

Luke 1:46-55English Standard Version (ESV)

Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat

46 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
    and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
    he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
    and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
    and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
    in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
    to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

English Standard Version (ESV)

Saint Jude-Desperate Hope

October 28th marks the Feast Day of St. Jude in the Anglican and Catholic Church.  St. Jude by tradition is said to be a cousin of Jesus and a persevering apostle who traveled to Persia an Asia Minor to proclaim the Gospel of Christ.  Jude leaves us an Epistle in the New Testament guiding Christians to fortitude in trials and the hope of faith even in the most desperate of times.  While the Epistle of Jude is short and the last chapter before Revelation - making it an overlooked testimony - The Epistle of Jude is a letter of spirit that speaks to humanity's search for God in all times.  Jude expresses the real problem of evil and vice we face in the darkness that tests our flesh and tries to steal our spirit in this world - and yet Jude even in this desperation leads us to the light of hope that is Christ.

In Catholic tradition, St. Jude is the patron of desperate causes and fortitude by faith in Christ.  I have called on St. Jude many times for intercession and God has heard the prayers.  In Catholic tradition intercessory prayer from a saint is calling on a saint to pray with you to Christ - praying to Jude is not praying to Jude but to God to hear the prayers of all the Saints and Angels and our own prayers.  God's listening to our prayers is an act of mercy and a show of His grace even when justice is demanding payment for sin.  Christ has paid the debt.  Jude shows us that no matter how desperate life gets - when we have Christ we have life eternal and in Christ, even in nothing we have everything.


Jude says don't give up on Christ - but be the light of Christ in the darkest spaces - through faith - sometimes we may be stripped of material possessions, our bodies bruised and our spirit humbled - still we find freedom and abundance in the grace of Christ - for did Christ not suffer in the hope of God's mercy and power to restore life?

Our freedom in Christ is a call to obedience to Christ - for by freedom in Christ we give up our will because we freely recognize the will of God is superior to our human errors and inclinations and that with God and by God only then can we find strength and healing in a desperate world - only in God can we be the light to brighten the entire world.


Jude's primary focus is on false teachers and the necessity of keeping our hearts and eyes set on Christ.  He warns that darkness of deception is often found in those claiming to be in communion with Christ's teaching - only to lead people astray - this is a struggle in our times as churches deal with those who work against Christ's love while claiming their loyalty to His word.  We can see an example of this in the darkness of sin.  Sin tries to hide behind rationale and weakness, sin strives to work in plain sight through ordinary tasks and sin usurps the Truth by pretending to be the light of God - leading Christians to error and hate.  We see this in many churches that use Christ to preach hate and bigotry.  This is not the work of Christ but of the darkness hiding but not silent in human hearts.

Sin is a separation from God and nothing good is apart from God.  When we are severed from God we lose our life force, our being and our light - anything apart from God is futile and is treacherous - while in this world evil often seems to win - this is an illusion.  Christ on the cross has already won the war over death and darkness...sin does not have final say in our lives unless we shut out the light of Christ.  

Shutting out the light of Christ is blaspheming against the Holy Spirit and when the light of God is completely taken away we are dead - even if the flesh lives - darkness cannot overcome the light - but it is our duty to seek for the light of all creation in God's revealed presence - Jesus Christ.  

When we allow sin to rule our hearts - when we adjust our sight to the darkness instead of looking to the light of God, we become lost.  God searches for us but unless we turn to him, we will wander and our life in the flesh without the spirit cannot sustain itself.  Anger, bitterness, rage, ego, power, hate, false teachings and all the vices that darken the light of the world - are a poison that is a drug we will consume perhaps at first with great power - but whereas God offers us a Spirit of power that will give us life, the spirit of darkness will consume us and leave the soul dead and kill the flesh in time.

The expression that the devil is in the details is the tangled premise of our fight in the complex battle of light and dark.  Light, no matter how dim cannot be extinguished by darkness...light can extinguish darkness...yet in times of trial we often fail to perceive the light in our hearts and in our surroundings - we become too focused on the desperation at our feet instead of the perspective of God's eternal grace, even in hardship. 

Christ HIMSELF died for the Light and in His death reversed the cycle of death conquering life, for his death brought life for in Him no sin was to be found.  

Jude warns that the devil uses the false light of the flesh to lead us astray - evil infiltrates the church and our hearts.  And while the church has endured schisms and scandals - we can rest assured that Christ is not corrupted - Christ is true, noble and just and will condemn the wicked, particularly those who malign HIS church and people with false doctrine. 

So often false doctrine is so littered with Truth that it is easy to get confused at first glance - particularly in the prosperity church movement.  How can we trust God's work int he world - where is God?  This is why prayer is essential and contemplation can open our hearts to truth - God wants us to dig past the surface - to excavate and analyze and trust His Sacred Heart.  The Holy Spirit will guide us against false doctrine - but we must listen by setting down our ego and greed and letting the light in.  

We are all sinners - we all must reconcile ourselves in penance and grace to Christ - and when we falter - we cannot fall into desperation that forsakes Christ, but rather we must cling to the desperate hope against hope that God is all good; God is just and provident and Our Redeemer lives.  

St. Jude has been my patron saint for several years and an inspiration to me.  St. Jude's Epistle is an excellent manual in our discernment of light, the true light of Christ against the darkness we often fail to recognize.  Jude warns and admonishes, yet Jude also encourages and blesses - for in Christ we have judgment and abundant mercy.

As we proclaim the Gospel in the world - as living temples of the Holy Spirit may we persevere in always leaning in towards God's truth and HIS teachings - able to represent Christ on earth by our actions, deeds, words and in our sin - may we not hide in darkness but step out in the light of grace and admit our error so we can find healing and lead others to the forgiving power of Christ.

While darkness may destroy our sight - remember Christ is always kindled - burning and a light for dark spaces - even in the most desperate of times - Christ will never leave us.  

Epistle of Jude:

A Call to Persevere

¹⁷ But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. ¹⁸ They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” ¹⁹ These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
²⁰ But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
²² Be merciful to those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.^[f]

Doxology

²⁴ To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.



Novena To
St. Jude 

Most holy Apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus,  the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the patron of difficult  cases, of things almost despaired of, Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone.
Intercede with God for me that He bring visible and speedy help where help is  almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive  the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and  sufferings, particularly -
(make your request here)
- and that I may praise  God with you and all the saints forever. I promise, O Blessed St. Jude, to be  ever mindful of this great favor granted me by God and to always honor you as  my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to you.
Amen

PRAYER

May the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, and loved in all the  tabernacles until the end of time. Amen.

May the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be praised and glorified now and forever. Amen

St. Jude pray for us and hear our prayers. Amen.

Blessed be the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Blessed be the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Blessed be St. Jude Thaddeus, in all the world and for all Eternity.
(say this prayer, followed by the Our Father and theHail Mary) 

54 Day Novena: God's Perspective

How many times in life have we felt forsaken, betrayed, abandoned, alone, left out, hungry, desperate, starving for truth, searching for answers and broken by hopelessness?  Humanity endures suffering constantly - each of us has been faced with hardships and pains and the choice between giving into the dark spaces of the world, choosing to hide in fear and turn away from God - or the choice of watching after the Light of Christ.


In the end there is only one choice - one choice that will lead us home.  Home is the spiritual space we occupy in the heart of Christ; our very necessity to plug into the life force of God.  We can hide the light of Christ in our life - but only HIS light can lead us to ourselves and reveal our true selves in our tests and trials of the world - only Christ's light is our compass, anchor, center and DNA of our being.  Our body is merely a vessel for our soul and while a body can wander in darkness - powered by anger and temptation - it will die by the dark and decay - because the body is not the being - the soul is our true self and our soul is created in God and in Christ we have the light of our souls and the candle of ourselves created by God who is the only creator and without leaning into God we might live in the world but we shall surely die.

It is so easy in this fractured world to lose sight of God's grace and light.  Often times we feel the darkness when we search for difficult answers and discernment, left only with what we see narrowly as unanswered prayers.  Many of us work in jobs where we are belittled and degraded only to struggle to pay our bills and find time for our families - where is the peace of Christ in crisis times?  Where is the healing from stress and dis-ease?

Job battles this - for he is honorable and faithful and yet in his humanity cannot see the perspective of God's grace in such tragedy...and yet Job instead of turning away from God - demands explanation and communion with God - knowing in the disarray and uncertainty - My redeemer lives.  We like Job struggle between the heartache and hardship of life's bitter suffering and the joyful eternal presence of God's redeeming grace - this is an intersection and crossroads where we find Christ.

Christ is always with us - Christ is always present - Darkness could never overcome the light because even one single flicker of light bleeds out the darkness - the problem is we often fail to settle our restless hearts and find rest in God.  We look to the darkness in ourselves and our broken world and lift up in angry voices: Where are you Father, Where are you God?  In this cry we are not so much seeking to find the material - although our flesh focuses on that manifestation - what we truly want is to hear the Lord whisper or shout 'I'm here, do not be afraid' in our hearts and ears - we hunger not for the material - even in trouble and distress but we hunger for God - for God to create a new life in us.

I have been praying desperately for financial breakthroughs to help me move into an apartment without mice and to find a job where I can work in safety.  This desperation is rooted not so much in the present than in the past and the collision of the immediacy of the two intersecting.

What do I mean by this intersection? A crossroads between hunger for the temporal and the eternal, the act of letting go and accepting the hand of Christ and his light as the lamp for our feet and the map we will follow - without counting the costs.  So often we allow one dark night to signal the darkness of all our life - we lose perspective.  I have endured a lot of pain and hardship from being disinherited by my dad and abused by relatives - failed dreams and pursuits left me always rising like a phoenix - when you rise from tragedy only to feel the darkness of another stressful situation caving in - you lose the hope to break free.  The perspective becomes so distorted you lose the sight to see God's possibilities and God's possibilities through Christ are so much bigger than our own tunnel vision.  We lose our creative edge and our ability to listen and wait on the Lord, we lose our active creativity by also feeling as if God has left this cross and we must suffer through for the sake of suffering...

God only uses sufferings to draw us nearer to Him.  We cannot lose sight that we are not to circle around in endless darkness but that every winding, difficult road is a road leading us to HIM and we can find peace even in the darkness of the world - God is our light - not always by miraculous expectation but by persevering spirit and care.  Christ Himself endured all the trials and sufferings of the world...not only to act as a perfect sacrifice, freeing us from sin, but also to remind us that God is willing to suffer in love by walking beside us in our suffering us - though suffering may kill our flesh - if our soul stays anchored in God - the light of Christ - we will never lose eternal hope and we will never lose life - if we keep ourselves rooted in God through Christ - even if we are stripped of every material piece of possessions we own - God is bigger than material - God will not leave us - nothing of this world is greater than God and everything we have and are created to be for our highest good is in God and in Christ we can not only find redemption but we can uncover the mystery of our souls - so often we ignore who we really are - the DNA of our soul - which is God and that is why we hunger so desperately for God - Christ is our very being - for our Creator is a Mighty King and loving father.

Today in the midst of a novena begging God for mercy on my finances, my purse was stolen.  I retrieved most of the contents - but all my cash until payday ($20) was gone - I thought how could God do this to me - I then start to wonder if I am taking on sins of my fathers and am I being punished by God.  And while God refines sinners through justice, God is merciful - God would never harm us - we have to see His light even when our enemy wages battle against the light.  We cannot give up on God because by giving up on God we give up on ourselves and are therefore dead - dead by sin because sin is a separation from God and in forsaking God we forsake our souls - who were created and long to be loved by and to love God.

Often times in trial we look to the cross and to Christ's suffering as I did during the Sorrowful Mysteries Rosary - we find Christ's humanness and divinity in one and yet somehow when times get tough it is easy to think - God couldn't care otherwise he'd rescue me from this - but God has been our victor in Christ - we need perspective and even Christ during the passion - in His humanity was tempted fiercely by the human loss of sight:

In the Agony in the Garden, Christ feels forsaken, alone and is betrayed and desolate - he like us in prayer cries out for mercy and to remove the suffering and while God will hear our calls for mercy we also must admit - sometimes suffering is a road leading us into closer communion to God. If my job situation had not gotten so bad eight months ago that I cried out: Why God?  I would not have been lead to a spiritual deepening through the power of the rosary - which God led me to through backdoors and unexpected turns - God's prayer for help came not in winning the lottery but in power of prayer.

Christ HIMSELF struggled to keep moving forward to God and dying by the flesh as he struggled by the weight of the cross and cried out, Abba why have your forsaken me and yet like a child shouting in peril for a parent - the child trusts the love of the parent, even in fear to trust in the saving grace.  The Psalms of David reflect so richly human relationship to God, the pain of our separation by sin and the effects of sin around us and our innate desire to find God, to be in God's presence and to trust in God - even when the only trust we have is to argue and beg and hope desperately.

Desperate hope is always resurrected into faith in God's hands - God may seem silent - but He speaks and the History of salvation is now and forever a grace he will not forsake and His light through Christ, rest assured will never burn out.

It is when we start looking for the light in our darkest spaces, the times when life seems better off dead - that God works to resurrect us and remake us - stripping us of the sins of the world inflicting suffering on His creation and in our most desolate and forsaken desert spaces He works on our souls.

Sometimes we don't see God's work in the desert but God is present and sometimes the biggest battle is to be still and trust in God.  I know trust is hard - it is hard to hold a candle in the wind and yet God will not be extinguished - we may choose to hide in darkness but HIS light will never be extinguished.

Christ crying out: My God, my God why have you forsaken me was crying out for communion with God, Our Father - our own true hunger for God when we are the one's by the flesh who have forsaken Him - yet in this cry - though we feel desolate - Jesus continues to search for the Father - if Jesus had given up the need of the Father in this hour of trial then he would have not called out to God...

It is interesting to note that Christ is not only fulfilling prophecy from Isaiah in this statement but as the heir of David is calling out all of creation in the Psalm of David - Psalm 22 - where David demands to feel God's presence in His trials - yearning for God knowing if God has forsaken Him, then he has nothing - the Psalm starts out with the bridge of anger and desperation before finding hope and trust in God - even in the unknown, even amidst the darkest of times...

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish?
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest.[b]

The psalm then shifts to rejoicing even in desperation as David realizes the Lord our God is always with us and is our only end and the source of everything...
All the ends of the earth
    will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord

Christ is reminding us to live a life searching for God and being content to feel the presence of God and rejoice in that gift - even if the kingdom seems far - Christ is here.  He is the light of the world.

54 Day Novena; The Least of These

Contemplating The Sorrowful Mysteries, Matthew 25:40 keeps popping into my head. If we look at suffering and injustice through the lens of the cross and that every human being and all of creation is precious to God and part of Christ then would we allow such suffering to dwell among us?  Perhaps we can take our hearts out of the greed and political maneuvering and short term vision to see Christ in all people as we contemplate the mystery of His Passion as a Living Testament to spiritual freedom and our call to stand up the least of these...

The Passion of the Christ is a walk through the worst of human trials and adversities - from betrayal, our battle between darkness and light, being scorned and forsaken, spiritually and physically beaten, shackled by sin, the throes of injustice, dis-ease, hatred, self-loathing, guilt, shame, ridicule...the list goes on.  Those who stand as witnesses to the Passion are in several camps of human psychology - the oppressors (Romans and the Jews who betrayed Jesus for political gain, the jeers in the crowd, those in the crowd who wanted a criminal free over an innocent man, the mockers..); the justice fighters who lament Jesus and offer what little hope they can and argue for his vindication; the silent and the afraid.  The disciples fell into all of these categories - with the traitor Judas selling his soul for silver - only to realize silver's price was bought in blood; the consoling friends - Mary and John and by tradition Veronica as well as the worried women of Jerusalem...many in the crowd see the violence as extreme and lament the punishment for a man who brought such miracles of light and love...then you have the oppressors who are malignant cancer growing in number - like demons prowling, hounding and ready to tear a soul apart and prey on every weakness.  The strong of the world are often the weak in God's sight - for true power does not come from oppression and force - it is from love and justice.

Can you imagine the howling crowds, the forsaken breath Jesus felt,  Jesus's humanity and divinity shines at its brightest - unique parts, fused in a holy mystery.  The Passion does not see a triumph by the merits of the world, and God took on every vice and horror of the world in His walk to Calvary.  His weapons: humility and obedience, love and forgiveness - and through that the war for souls was one in Victory.

The reason I keep considering Matthew 25:40 is the fact that we are not supposed to look at the Passion as something foreign to us, while we are quick to bash those who condemned Jesus and mocked Him, how many of us are guilty for the same offenses of judgment, chastisement, not offering mercy - and this lack of mercy is not just about people being sentenced to death - Jesus's Passion is a representation of all the social and moral injustice in the world...while Christ must endure this to master the law and atone for the sins of the whole world - God wants us to engage in the passion mysteries and Holy truths, for remembrance of Christ and to venerate HIS life, death and resurrection - but God also calls us to remember the passion to say - the injustice stops here.  How long much the cycle of sin continue - how long will we turn to sin when we have the cross of Jesus to show us not only a path to salvation, but also the effects of sin on our souls and the entire world?

We must remember that for every person that goes unfed, unclothed, every child abused and abandoned, every person who cannot afford healthcare - when we do not answer the call to mercy and the justice of Christ's love (not arbitrary law but active grace and healing) then we are allowing 'Christ' to be crucified.  Sin will continue to be with us - but that does not mean we have to let it rule us or turn to our own cups of impatient frustration when the going gets tough.  The Agony in the Garden is a scene in which God Himself, questions Himself - he has fear of dying, fear of failing, fear of abandonment - the human and divine as one - God reflecting on His betrayal by the hearts of men, Christ's own desire to live a reminder to God for the reason to not let the cup of the passion past from Christ - for life is precious and life is from God and God does not abandon life.  God's witness of the weakness of flesh and the desire to be one with HIMSELF - Christ's humanity longing for life with the father while also feeling the fear of the world.



 Jesus is fully human and fully divine in His taking up the cross...physically he bears witness to the frailness of human flesh - and the nothingness it becomes, Jesus's true grace on the cross is the strength of the SPIRIT - even when He felt the snares of being forsaken, like Job - Christ knew that God was on His Side - in suffering he died to the world, and yet HIS Spirit persevered.

While we cannot break sin - we can work to draw closer to God and do what we can to heal a broken world - remembering that for every sin committed - Christ was crucified and suffered - there is a price outside of ourselves and even the world for sin - Christ forgiving our sins is a great grace, but we also must strive to see everyone as Christ and work to love our neighbor and foe as Christ loved us - sometimes this is hard work - we have to give up part of ourselves to help the least among us...but it is the better part and it is the cup that life draws its eternal breath from even after the flesh expires.

The Agony speaks volumes to me because it the crossroads where humanity meets God in between the flesh and spirit and our battle to let go of our ego and submit to God's will - which is always the right path.  At times in spiritual journeys we find ourselves on a pilgrimmage to Calvary boldly walking towards sacrifice to God, only to feel the weight of our cross and nothingness bring us to the ground...how often have you felt forsaken by God during an illness or great disappointment - you scream out in anger - but all you want is God's love - at the root of the passion is a reflection of Christ going through the human spiritual and physical struggle of flesh and spirit going to God and trusting Him even when He seems deaf and silent.  In the Agony, angels stand guard even in temptation - God is always with us - even when He doesn't seem to reveal His hand the way we desire - are we listening - are we impatient - or is the silence to remind us of just how alone we are without God so we will remember never to forsake HIM?  I don't know the answers - but I do know my Redeemer lives and light always dispels the darkest of nights.

Praise be to YOU CHRIST for your mercy is great.

One of my favorite devotions in addition to the Rosary is the Divine Mercy Chaplet...In a vision to St. Faustina, Jesus asks that we remember His Passion each day at the 3 o'clock hour - The Divine Mercy Hour...taking time for a second to put ourselves in Christ's shoes during the passion and meditating on the humanness and divinity of his passion and how we can take up our cross is a powerful reflection - especially in times of turmoil - we find ourselves searching to help the least and draw ourselves closer to God than the temporal fears of the world.

54 Day Rosary: The Annunciation

Journey in the Joy of Christ: The Annunciation

The Joyful Mysteries reflect on the mystery of God's grace in the Word Incarnate.  The great joy of life itself is more than the hunger and quench for the food and sustenance of this world - the purest joy of every heart, even those marred by sin and broken by ingratitude and betrayed by the flesh - can only find pure rest in the joy of Christ.  The Joyful Mysteries invite us to choose Jesus and God's perfect will, over our imperfect ambition.  The Joyful Mysteries tell us we can trust in God even in times of suffering and sorrow - God is never truly lost - God is with us in every struggle and triumph through Christ.  We may wander far from God, but Jesus is always waiting for us to turn towards HIS light.  We can never find peace when we are separated from God.

The Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary always remind me to TRUST GOD and SAY YES TO CHRIST.  They remind me of the power of being obedient to God, not as an arbitrary rule following and psychological and spiritual tick for tat reward system - the reward is God Himself, but the joy is revealed fully when we set aside the physical expectations of the world and lean in fully to God.

As I meditate on the Rosary for the 54 Day Novena I will publish my reflections and welcome comments on others insights on the mysteries.  The beauty of studying scripture is that as simple as the words appear - the depth of meaning is infinite - a person who searches the WORD will never be left without deeper faith and at times questions - in questioning the WORD, God reveals HIMSELF more fully and breaks down the limitations of our human flawed nature and brings us closer to union with HIS Holy Spirit.

1.  The Annunciation:
Meditating on the Angel Gabriel's announcement of the Incarnation to Mary is a point that often is forgotten in the hustle and bustle of the Nativity Story - yet The Annunciation is one of my favorite Holy Mysteries because it is a spiritual dance of God's Grace and the human decision to let go of pride and worldly pleasures - saying yes to God.  It is a perfect union of the mercy of God and our place in serving God and in that service having love deeper than the fathoms and more infinite than the universe.

I love how God comes to Mary in the most ordinary of settings - on what should be an ordinary day filled with housework and chores - God often calls us to HIS service in the noise of our lives - in the mundane tasks - ARE WE LISTENING.

God gives Mary a choice - While God's plan for salvation is reliant on Mary's participation as mother of HIS Incarnate self in Jesus - God does not force Mary's hand - rather he asks her for her service.  God's humility is revealed to me in this act - for while God is all powerful and all just - God works through our capacity and free will - Mary's willing cooperation is tantamount for the success of Christ's life, death and resurrection - because had God forced her choice, God would go against HIS nature - all powerful and all loving.  God needed Mary's willingness so that her womb would continue to be filled with the natural grace he gave her - God provided Mary with an immaculate heart, free from sin - yet God still called Mary to make the choice to choose God.  How many great graces do we throw away because we don't choose God - even in ordinary tasks?

Mary's decision to say YES to God shows her loving, kind, patient nature and is an example for us all to follow in seeking to be filled with God's grace and serve Jesus.  Mary did not say 'yes' as an arbitrary response - rather she pondered the decision and then in active faith said 'YES to God.'  In the annunciation, the full union of God and human flesh is redeemed as promised in Genesis.  Many see Mary as the antithesis to Eve - in her decision to choose to be fully united to God and not worry about the shame and power of the world - in God she found her security and strength.

What is the most remarkable revelation I've pondered in my own faith journey is the decision to say YES to God for the immediate or even long term physical reward.  While heaven is blessing - and often called a reward - everything from God is a grace.  If we yearn for heaven merely for the material aspects of its perfection - then we lose sight of the true purpose of faith which is love for the sake of God alone - God is love and heaven and all the blessings of the earth are outward signs of God's love but we must never lose sight of Christ at the center of all things....
Our goal is not 'rewards' (although God is always rewarding us with every grace) but the desire for a perfect union for the center of all things, which is God and only when we fully surrender to God's work in our lives and the desire for perfect communion with Christ can we be made whole.

In a way I think the annunciation is a foreshadowing of Christ's ministry - The life of the Spirit in the flesh - God fully divine and fully human, the struggle to reject the world and yet the necessary duty to reject the darkness (in the world I refer to sinful nature - not the grace and beauty of creation and the simple joys of life itself that lead us in communion with one another and with God)...The complete union of Mary and the Holy Spirit - formed to God's will, in The Word Incarnate - Christ - we also witness the coming of our own ability to take part in the full communion of spiritual union with God - I think of this as a prelude to the Institution of the Eucharist and a drawing us into relationship with God.

Raphael Soyer painting is reimagined to show Gabriel and Mary pensively awaiting the most important decision in history.



God is always calling us to spread HIS joy in the Gospel and in HIS creation.  God often calls us from the most un-extraordinary places to ordinary tasks that with God become extraordinary grace.

How will you respond to God's call for service in your life?  The most important lesson is Do Not be Afraid - but TRUST in God and that means allowing our worldly ambition to die - opening our hearts to the infinite universe of God's grace and communion with human hearts and souls.

Scripture: Luke 1: 26-28: The Hail Mary prayer comes from Gabriel's greeting to Mary and Elizabeth's blessing of Mary - the Hail Mary prayer is straight out of scripture!

26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.32 He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,[a] and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, 33 and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”[b] 35 And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 36 And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived[c] a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; 37 for nothing will be impossible for God.” 38 Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

54 Day Rosary - My Journey Begins

I am embarking on a 54-day Rosary Novena journey lifting up my voice in prayer in petition and praise.


What is a novena?  A novena is a repeated prayer given with a humble heart - asking God for specific intentions, the prayer is usually stated for 9 days or 9 hours - it follows the 'ask, seek, knock' principle of patient faith.
 
The 54-day Novena is a special novena in which faithful are called to pray the rosary for 54 days straight - the first twenty-seven days you ask God, with the intercession of the Virgin Mary, for your prayers to be answered; the second  twenty-seven days in faith you thank God for the answered prayer even if the prayer has yet to be answered.  The 54 day journey is a sojourn of faith and deepening trust in God and learning to discern your true desires apart and lay your burdens at God's feet - trusting Christ's intercession.  Even if the intention is not answered during the course of 54 days - God will not fail to reveal HIMSELF through the Holy Spirit and love of the Blessed Virgin Mary to you.  Christ is always at work in our lives.

The Rosary has four different sets of Holy Mysteries, each chronicling the life of Christ.

Joyful: Prayed on Monday and Saturday
1. The Anunciation - When Gabriel comes to the Virgin Mary
2. The Visitation - When Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth who is going to have John the Baptist
3. The Birth of Jesus
4. The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple
5. Finding the Child Jesus at the Temple

Sorrowful: Prayed Tuesday and Friday
1. The Agony in the Garden
2. The Scourging of Christ
3. The Crowning of Christ with Thorns
4. The Carrying of the Cross
5. The Crucifixion

Glorious Mysteries: Prayed on Sunday and Wednesday
1. The Resurrection
2. The Ascension of Christ into Heaven
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit
4. The Assumption of Mary
5. The Crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven

Luminous: Prayed on Thursday
1. The Baptism of Jesus
2. The Wedding at Cana
3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom
4. The Transfiguration
5. The Institution of the Eucharist.



 Although I am Episcopalian by birth I've fallen in love God's grace of the Holy Rosary.  It is a contemplative method, that although seemingly repetitive at first, is truly a labyrinth drawing you closer to God through studying the Holy Mysteries of the Gospels and reflecting on God's nature and our own weakness and heartache - the rosary is more than a meditation - it is the Christian faith in a twenty-minute prayer - it is canonical and ecumenical...helping us to put aside our anxiety and take on the yoke of faith in God, and the hope in salvation. 


I came into the rosary a bit skeptical...I wondered about the Hail Mary prayer and also I questioned how one prayer can be so powerful - when the Book of Common Prayer and personal prayers guided by the Holy Spirit ignite my soul in faith and thanksgiving.  The Rosary however is a unique prayer because as I stated earlier it unites us succinctly with the tenets of faith, professing the divinity and love and life of our Lord Jesus Christ while delving deeper into the mysteries of faith and learning from the lessons and life of Christ.  Each day praying the rosary, God reveals a new layer of His Life in the Spirit to me - I am able to set aside more of my worry and learn to trust as God did.  The Rosary is a proclamation of faith - but instead of bland repetition it draws us into pondering - Christ - HIS life, HIS suffering, HIS healing miracles, HIS grace and HIS resurrection - it helps us to learn when we should take up our cross and when we are nailed to crosses in the world that prevent us from accessing Christ's love and his calling in our lives.

The Rosary is rooted in a tradition of contemplative prayer beads - prior to the Gutenberg bible the majority of Christians did not have the literacy to read scripture - so they would pray The Lord's Prayer and Hail Mary and say the Creed...this was to draw them closer into faith and remind them that Christ is the light of this world.  St. Dominic had a vision of the Virgin Mary - who instituted the Rosary as a standard prayer method so that all Christians - even those without access to scripture could learn and grow while they meditated on the Holy Mysteries of Christ.  While many pray with rosary beads - the prayer's formula of counting can be done with your hands - making it a prayer for everyone to grow through faith in. 

How to Pray the Rosary?
1. Ask for forgiveness: Most merciful Father I confess that I have sinned against the in thought word and deed by what I have done and by what I have left undone; I have not loved you with my whole heart, I have not loved my neighbor as myself..I am truly sorry and I humbly repent, for the sake of your son Jesus Christ have mercy on me that I may delight in your will and walk in your ways to the glory of your name.
2. Make the sign of the cross.
3. Pray The Apostles Creed
4. Pray Our Father
5. 3 Hail Mary prayers (Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.  Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
6. Pray: Glory be to the Father, son and the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.
The rosary is then divided up into five decades, each decade focusing on a Holy Mystery...
For each Decade pray: 1 Our Father and 10 Hail Marys, followed by:
O' my Jesus forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.
- Glory be to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Spirit... as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be world without end.
At the end of the fifth decade, the Hail Holy Queen is typically prayed. 

 

The Rosary comes with 15 promises given to St. Dominic by the Blessed Virgin Mary.  And while I believe God answers all prayers - the Rosary focuses the attention on God and allowing God to work through our soul - helping us to let go of our demanding flesh and embrace Christ fully.  I have come to believe in the 15 promises - the Rosary has helped me heal from depression and have more faith and trust in God's grace...and while I first came to the rosary in the hopes of 'answered prayers' regarding serious obstacles in my life, the process of praying the rosary has actually helped me to trust in God's plans more than my anxious heart.  It has torn down walls and quieted my soul as I start to think about God's will and recognizing God's will as my own.

I hope to journal as much as possible on my contemplation as I embark on the 54-day Rosary Novena with insights from this spiritual journey and I hope you will join in with my novena.

Prayer Intentions:
Our Environment and all of Creation
Healing Prayers
Peace for all people
Children and the unborn
Social Justice
Victims of Natural Disasters
Persecuted peoples, particularly Christians, around the world.