A ROSARY 

AS A  REMINDER 

INTRODUCTION

Today – is the feast of the Most Holy Rosary – so the title of my homily is, “A  Rosary as a Reminder.”

What’s your take on a rosary?

What does it remind you of?

Every time I see a rosary  around a rear view mirror in a car – I wonder, “What is the meaning of that rosary for that person in that car?” Safety? Putting all in God’s hands? A prayer now and then? Not getting a ticket – hey it might be a Catholic police officer? A reminder?

Last night I was watching a few innings of the Dodger-Cards baseball game.  Yasiel Puig, of the Dodgers, struck out 7 times in a row – and I notice he wears a rosary around his neck.  What does the rosary mean to him? That he’s a Catholic? That he wants an edge? That it connects him with relatives back home in Cuba? That it’s part of his cultural roots?

This parish makes Ranger Rosaries – and they are being used – by our men and women – in the service – all around the world. I assume bullet proof vests are better – but I also assume a rosary has a meaning for the person who wears a rosary around her or his neck – or has one in her or his pocket or pack – and prays with it in good times and in bad.

Every time I visit a funeral parlor – and if there is an open coffin – and the body is there – I like to go up and kneel down at the casket in the presence of the dead person. If they have a rosary in their hand, I like to put my hand on one bead – and say just one Hair Mary – and  unite myself in prayer with this person – who is in the hands of God  - and unite with all the rosaries this person has ever said and I ask God to bring this person into Paradise. I add: “Lord bless all these people in this space and place and in this world today.”

Whenever I pick up an old rosary – I wonder about all the thoughts and prayers – that are contained in each bead.

WHAT DO ROSARIES MEAN TO YOU?

What do rosaries remind you off?

What do they trigger for you?

Before coming back to the United States, I went into the interdenominational chapel in Heathrow Airport last Thursday afternoon to say a prayer.

I look for them in any airport or hospital I visit.

I’ve noticed the big airports often have Moslem Prayer Rugs on the floor in these chapels.

Sure enough – last Thursday there were two prayer rugs in the first section one entered.  I saw three people praying on the floor in the second section.

I stood there and said some prayers for safe flights – and a good life for all.

I see taking out one’s prayer rug as a reminder to pray. I also see taking out one’s rosary  – as a reminder to a person – that I am now entering into the space and place of prayer – in a car, in a church, on a porch, in an easy chair, in an uncomfortable seat in a plane, in the night.

The flight of life is a mystery.

The mysteries of the rosary get us into the life and moments of Mary’s and Jesus’ life – connecting them with the moments and mysteries of our life.

Life is loaded with annunciation moments – along with visits, births – presentations, loses and findings – along with agonies in gardens and hospitals, moments when we feel beaten – or have headaches, or crosses we have to carry and deaths we are dealing with. There are joyful, sorrowful, glorious and mysteries that bring us out of the darkness into the light.

CONCLUSION

Take out your rosary today – and remind yourself – refresh your memory – about all the mysteries and moments that make up the chain of your life so far. Say a whole rosary or a decade or just say a Hail Mary, an Our Father, a Glory Be or two – or just use your rosary beads to say 10 or 59 times, “Thanks” or “Help!”

Rosary beads are great worry beads as well as reminder beads. Amen.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

THREE NOTES:

First, painting on top - Old Woman Praying, by Nicolas Laurens.

Second, from time to time on my blog I stress, "Rosary beads are not just for Hail Mary's."  They can be used to say short one word prayers - or to come up with 59 people in our life - who we ask the lord to bless - or to come up with 59 moments in our life we loved - or using just decades for the 10 top books we've read, or 10 top moments of your life, or 10 top questions we have or what have you.

Third, I also have two E-Books or two series of meditations on the mysteries of the rosary. If interested, check October 26, 2007 and May 30, 2008.