Malachi 3:13-20 / Luke 11:5-13
God speaks: “A Day of reckoning is coming.” A Peanuts cartoon
shows Lucy holding a music box to her ear and listening. After a few minutes
Lucy turns to Charlie Brown and says, “I always like to start my day by
listening to some good music.” Charlie says, “I’m not too concerned about how
my day starts. It’s how it ends that bothers me.” The prophet Malachi would
agree with Charlie. He warns evildoers that even though they may be prospering
now, they will be held accountable one day for their evil ways.
***
How foresighted are we when it comes to our own conduct in
life? Jesus said to the people, “Then [the king] will say to those on his left,
‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels.’” Matthew 25:41
***
To the prophet Malachi and the pious Jews, the apparently
happy life of sinners was a scandal. To them, who practiced their faith, God
seemed absent and not listening to their prayers. But God will hear them and do
justice to each on the day of judgment. Christ tells us to persevere in our
prayers. God hears and will give what we need.
***
Whenever we are faced with overwhelming odds, we may tend to
say: If we can't beat them, then we might as well join them. Whether said in
jest or in resignation, that statement portrays the powerful reality of the
contradictions of life. Examples of the contradictions of life are - the rich
get richer, and the poor get poorer; those who do evil get the benefits,
whereas those who do good end up as losers. That was the lament of the people
in the 1st reading. They tried to be good people and they tried to be faithful
to the Lord. But they ended up getting disappointed and said: It is useless to
serve God; what is the good of keeping God's commandments? Because the arrogant
seemed to be blessed and the evil doers prosper!
But the prophet Malachi reminded the people that God sees
and He knows and He remembers. In the end, for those who fear God, the sun of
righteousness will shine out with healing in its rays. Malachi urged his people
to persevere. In the gospel, Jesus also urged us to persevere in asking, in
searching and in knocking. In other words, we are to persist in doing good and
walking in the ways of God. In the face of the contradictions of life, we need
to persevere in our faith and to persist in our prayer.
We must believe that God wants to bestow His bountiful
blessings on us who are faithful to Him. So let us keep the faith, persevere in
doing good, persist even in the face of evil and believe that God will always
bless us.
***
Luke tells us that Jesus prayed often. And insistently, as
at his agony. Now he tells us that Jesus wants us too to be persevering,
insistent and even bold in our prayer. For God is good. How can he resist us
when we pray? He will give us not only good things but also the Holy Spirit,
the gift that contains all gifts.
***
Observing that Jesus prayed and watching how he prayed, made
one of his disciples ask for what we all need: "Lord teach us how to
pray" (verse 1). The centre of the prayer Jesus taught was: our daily
bread. Jesus is the bread of life. The bread of faith gives us knowledge and
wisdom. The bread of the angels makes us live in the presence of God and be
sent to service in the world. Bread is our need, just for the day we pray. We
pray to the Father, not to a welfare agent. It is different, the Father has an
interest, he loves his own. He has an obligation. From there we go up and pray
for his honour and his kingdom. God is the origin, the model and the goal of
man. His kingdom is his will, the order and fulfilment of life. This world is
also my test. God's grace will guard me from the evil that is past: my sins and
the evil of the future: my test.
***
Prayer:
Lord our God,
when we cry out to you, we wonder at times whether you hear us for your silence
is sometimes oppressive. Keep us trusting in your goodness and your constant
presence. Give us what is good when we ask you, and also when we forget to ask,
let us find you when we seek you, open to us when we knock, in the name of
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
***
Our Lady of the Rosary, Oct 7
Acts 1:12-14 / Luke 1:26-38
The Story of Our Lady of the Rosary
Saint Pius V established this feast in 1573. The purpose was
to thank God for the victory of Christians over the Turks at Lepanto—a victory
attributed to the praying of the rosary. Clement XI extended the feast to the
universal Church in 1716.
The development of the rosary has a long history. First a
practice developed of praying 150 Our Fathers in imitation of the 150 Psalms.
Then there was a parallel practice of praying 150 Hail Marys. Soon a mystery of
Jesus’ life was attached to each Hail Mary. Though Mary’s giving of the rosary
to Saint Dominic is recognized as a legend, the development of this prayer form
owes much to the followers of Saint Dominic. One of them, Alan de la Roche, was
known as “the apostle of the rosary.” He founded the first Confraternity of the
Rosary in the 15th century. In the 16th century, the rosary was developed to
its present form—with the 15 mysteries: joyful, sorrowful and glorious. In
2002, Pope John Paul II added the five Mysteries of Light to this devotion.
Reflection
The purpose of the rosary is to help us meditate on the
great mysteries of our salvation. Pius XII called it a compendium of the
gospel. The main focus is on Jesus—his birth, life, death, and resurrection.
The Our Fathers remind us that Jesus’ Father is the initiator of salvation. The
Hail Marys remind us to join with Mary in contemplating these mysteries. They
also make us aware that Mary was and is intimately joined with her Son in all
the mysteries of his earthly and heavenly existence. The Glory Bes remind us
that the purpose of all life is the glory of the Trinity.
The rosary appeals to many. It is simple. The constant
repetition of words helps create an atmosphere in which to contemplate the
mysteries of God. We sense that Jesus and Mary are with us in the joys and
sorrows of life. We grow in hope that God will bring us to share in the glory
of Jesus and Mary forever.
***
The month of October is also called the Month of the Rosary.
The 7th of October was originally celebrated as the Our Lady
of the Victory to commemorate the naval victory of the Christian fleet over the
invaders, a victory that credited to the intercession of Our Lady and the
praying of the Rosary by the faithful in aid of the Christian soldiers. The
feast is changed to Our Lady of the Rosary to emphasise the spiritual dimension
of the feast, and in particular, the praying of the Rosary and the spiritual
benefits.
The Rosary is a versatile prayer. It is a physical prayer, a
vocal prayer and a mental prayer. It is a physical prayer because as the beads
of the Rosary are run through the fingers, it is a prayer in action. Even
holding the Rosary in silent prayer is a physical form of prayer.
It is a vocal prayer as when prayed by two or more people.
Hence it is a community prayer where the voices are united and raised up in
prayer and in praise of God. It is a mental prayer when the mysteries of the
Rosary are meditated upon and it leads to a union with God and graces are
bestowed. And all three, the physical, vocal and mental prayers, can be done at
the same time, and that is why the Rosary is such a versatile prayer.
The Rosary is also a simple prayer and a difficult prayer.
It is simple enough for children to learn to pray it, yet it can be difficult
as the monotony of the prayers can make distractions possible. But in praying
the Rosary, Our Lady prays with us and for us.
The first mention of Mary is at the Annunciation, which is
the beginning of fulfullment of salvation. The last mention of her is in the
Acts of the Apostles, where she is praying with the disciples. And Mary still
continues to pray with us and for us. Let us continue to pray the Rosary and to
help others to pray it too.
The Rosary has brought about abundant graces. The powerful
form of prayer is what we need, what the Church needs, and what the world
needs.
