29th Sunday - Rosary

   

Today’s readings cause us to reflect upon persistent prayer. The story from the book of Exodus, when understood as being symbolic of prayer, shows us that if we keep praying and do not give up, our prayers will be answered. The Israelites battled against the Amalek, who waged war against them. During the battle, when Moses raised his hands, God’s strength and power would be given to the Israelites. But when Moses lowered his hands, the enemy would begin to win. When we raise our hands in prayer, God’s blessings and graces are with us. But when we lower our hands in prayer, because we give up—we lose God’s graces.

Have you ever got tired of praying because it seemed like it did no good? In somewhat of a different way, we can also ask the same question for husbands and wives. Have you ever got tired of telling your spouse, “I love you”? Of course not. No one would ever stop telling your spouse, “I love you”. When we come home from work, we don’t walk into the house without first kissing our spouse, saying, “I love you.” The wife would never tell her husband, “O honey, you don’t need to tell me you love me again, after all, you told me you loved me this morning.” We never get tired of hearing the words, “I love you”, nor do we tire of saying, “I love you”. So it is with prayer. God never tires of hearing our prayers and we should never tire of praying-- because we love Him, even if we don’t get what we want, when we want it.

St. Paul states to “pray without ceasing”. The widow in today’s Gospel never ceased asking for what she wanted. She never gave up. She persevered. How much more does God look with favor on us, when we pray to Him, as He looks at our heart’s desires?

Some of you might recall the plight of the 33 Chilean miners who in 2010 spent more than two months trapped almost a half mile below the ground. But the story behind their rescue is not well known, especially that the man who spearheaded it, a Catholic deacon from Texas, says the only explanation for the rescue was a miracle. And we can now say today it was because of the persevering prayer of the Holy Rosary.

The disaster was caused when a rock 550 feet tall and twice the weight of the Empire State Building shifted, causing a chain reaction that blocked all passages of escape. Rescuers began to drill round the clock. But they never to drill so deep before. They knew they wouldn’t be able to drill that deep, but they decided to try it anyway.

Near the end of the drilling, only 100 feet away from the miners, everything stopped. The drill would not go any further, it was stuck. The deacon said, “That is when the miracle happened.  The drill moved again all by itself. Meter after meter, it kept moving until it reached the miners. “God drilled the hole. We just had a good seat.” Years later the drilling company tried to repeat the depth of drilling, but it never could. It happened only one time due to the miracle of the Rosary.

As you probably know, the country of Chile is predominately Catholic. When the mine accident happened, the people of Chile placed a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary near the mine, seeking Her motherly intercession. The trapped miners prayed the Rosary everyday together until they were rescued. They persevered and did not give up. Mary did not let them down. She continued to intercede for them. It is no coincidence they were rescued on the anniversary of the last apparition of Fatima, Oct. 13^th, 1917, when Mary told the children, “I am the Lady of the Rosary”. Our Lady asked the world to pray the Rosary every day. The miners prayed the Rosary everyday and were rescued by God, through Mary’s intercession.

Pope John Paul II in his encyclical “Rosary of the Virgin Mary”, said, “The rosary is nothing more than to contemplate with Mary, the face of Christ.” When we pray the Rosary we pray it in two ways. First, we pray with vocal prayers, as we recite the Our Fathers and the Hail Marys. But second, as we pray the vocal prayers, we also meditate on the life of Jesus and Mary in the mysteries we contemplate. For example, if we meditate on the Birth of Jesus praying the Our Father and 10 Hail Marys, we think about His birth in Bethlehem. In our heart--- we see the face of the Infant Jesus, as Mary holds Him in Her arms and lays Him in a manger.

When we pray the Rosary, we should pray it with love and attention and not fast. Years before I became a priest, I went to Mass at church in western Kansas. When Mass was over, a well intentioned lady began to pray the Rosary. The people prayed so fast, I couldn’t keep up with them. They sounded like they were auctioneers. It’s difficult to see how they could be praying the Rosary reverently, with love, and attention, rather than praying the rosary to hurry up and get it done. When we pray the Rosary, we should pray it slowly and with meaning. We should ask Mary to intercede for our particular intentions, which we mention before we begin.

As we look at the world, our country, and our families, we see the problems of abortion, murders, terrorism, gangs, violence, drugs, premarital relations, society’s immorality--- now more than ever--- we need to keep praying--- without losing hope. We need to be like the miners of Chile, and pray the Rosary every day, trusting God hears and will answer our prayers.

Pope Pius XI said, “If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors."

My friends, pray the Rosary. Pray it every day, especially at home with your family. St. Louis De Montfort said that when we pray the Rosary, we crown Mary with a spiritual crown of roses in heaven. Surely, when we enter eternal life, Our Lord and His Mother will show us the many blessings and graces we received for ourselves, our family and the world, when we prayed the Rosary, -----especially the grace of gaining heaven.