Dear Parishioners,
We have images of Jesus from our scriptures of Jesus praying in certain places. He prays in deserts, on mountain tops, in temples, on boats, in homes; and, even, from the cross.
Prayer, our conversation with the Divine, can be accomplished anywhere we find ourselves. In teaching people to pray I have always encouraged growth from wrote, memorized prayer to carrying on a conversation. In doing this, I like to promote the active listening to God—much like we saw in the gospel yesterday with Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus absorbing His Presence.
Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. The prayer of the rosary has been a favorite of the Church and her members throughout the centuries as one reflects on the joyful, sorrowful, glorious and luminous mysteries.
The images from scripture help us in our conversational journey of faith to intimately experience the love of God for us while “praying” in the presence of God. The journey of visualizing the mysteries as they are prayed allow us to move from simple, memorized recitation to an active reflection that takes us to a deeper level of allowing God to embrace us in the living conversation that results from our time of prayer.
The journey continues…conversing in the presence of God.
Blessings,
Fr. Mark
