Just few days after his election to the papacy,
Pope John Paul II, now Blessed John Paul II, on 29th October 1978,
during the month of the Holy Rosary, admitted openly that; “The Rosary is my
favorite prayer. A marvelous one!”
The prayer of the Rosary is purely
Christ-centered with in-depth outlines of the faith-enriching Gospel message.
In it, the most important part of our history of salvation is reveled; from the
incarnation of the Word to His passion, death and resurrection, up to His
ascension into heavenly glory.
It is also a prayer that all believers find
their place. Men and women, young and old, mighty and weak, clergy and lay, all
are chained and linked together to God, just as its beads are linked to each
other forming a unity.
In the Seed Magazine, December 2011, vol. 23,
n° 12, issue 242, which reached me many days after its publication, I read with a lot of
delight in my heart, the insert Youth
Alive entitled My Rosary by
Gwendo Joy. I was extremely delighted because of two factors:
First, since I was reading it on my birthday, I
found myself considering it as a birthday gift to my spiritual sojourn. It was
a gift to help me simplify my prayers. An eye opener!
Second, I was delighted because it was great
seeing a simple Christian creating her own way of praying this ‘difficult’
prayer, which makes a lot of sense to her.
It is in this delightful mood that I wish to
outline my humble critiques to the author of My Prayer.
My former professor of Theodicy, the late Rev. Fr.
Klinger, a Benedictine monk, once confessed to us, his dear students, of his
difficulties in finishing the whole rosary. I was extremely shocked and even
felt scandalized, for what else could the monks be doing in the monastery apart
from praying?
In fact, he was frank with us and told us his
personal way of reciting this prayer.
For him, it was one Hail Mary, and I mean one, said meditatively and in
a contemplating position to a point that he would at times feel that those
words were being proclaimed not by himself but by the angel Gabriel himself.
This is just to show how this pray could seem
cumbersome, but if simplified can bring transformation in one’s spiritual life.
As Christians, while simplifying this special
and catholic prayer, it is important to understand the role of Mary in our
spiritual sojourn. Mary, the mother of God was incorporated by God in the
project of saving humankind. After human
beings fell into original sin, which is an obstacle that cropped in between them
(Adam and Eve) and God, hence their great need for salvation, God promised them
salvation. (cf. Gen. 3:15).
For this promise to be achieved, something
extraordinarily great had to happen.
St. Paul tells us clearly of this great event,
“…God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law…” (cf. Gal. 4:4). This
woman is Mary.
It is this role of being the channel through
which God’s saving grace would reach mankind that Mary is proclaimed
blessedness by all generation, (cf. Lk. 1:48), and to which the angel Gabriel
would proclaim, “Hail favoured one!” (cf. Lk. 1:28).
In realizing and proclaiming the blessedness of
Mary, we should not risk falling into adoring her as goddess. Instead, as she
did while reciting the Magnificat in glorifying the Lord who did wonders in her
life, in the Rosary, together with her, we should praise God who does wonders
in our lives.
With this marian approach, I am tongue-tied
reading the eighth Hail Mary of Gwendo. It goes, “Mother of God, when I look at
my fingers, they are all different, just like you created us differently…”
Mary mother of God is and will always remain a
creature of God like you and me. She was created by God. As a creature, she was
limited in space and time. She never created human beings and was not present
at the creation time. Her son, Jesus, was present but not her. The act of
creation is God’s solemn act. As human beings, we only secondarily participates
in this work that God Himself is the Beginner.
With Gwendo’s My Rosary I still find it interesting. It is a magnificent way of
meditating the mysteries that surrounds us with Mary. Have a wonderful
contemplation with Mary mother of God guiding us through our earthly sojourn.
