Rosary

October is a BIG Catholic month believe it or not. Not only is it packed with all kinds of great saints feast days,(Theresa, Therese, Francis, Guardian Angels etc.) but it is also the month of the rosary. For any of you who don't know about the rosary I'll try to dispel your fears. First off- we cannot worship any other being but GOD, so get that silly thought out of your head.  And just because someone you know may have got this wrong- it doesn't make it OK to dismiss the idea all together. That would kind of being like never listening to music your whole life because someone you know  sang off key once.We venerate ( honor)Mary because ( and this is really tricky to understand) in doing nothing she got it all right.She is the simple soul we all should long to be. Mary has no great claim to fame other then a simple yes to God. She wasn't proud enough to say 'send someone else' or gee I'm not good enough'- she just trusted God. BUT in doing that right she becomes the best example humanity has of how we are to trust God. (My advice-follow the leader.)

OK so why pray the rosary? Well a couple of reasons. First off because it is modeled after the Jewish traditions of  praying the psalms daily. That is why it contains 150 Hail Mary's,(150 psalms) I think it is kind of neat to maintain that long held tradition. Second the prayer is a simple way of asking God for grace. Yes it is repetitive, yes it can seem monotonous- but really it is meant as a 'mental place holder' in order to meditate on things of God. 

Second-If you are trying to prepare your souls to live in heaven, you might want to know a little bit about that place before you go and visit there. Seriously, can you imagine hearing you were going to Tahiti and not doing a little research on it- say 15 minutes worth? You would want to know what to look for and how to behave. The rosary really helps us to remember God is 'the other'. We can get so confused and stuck in our own heads that we either don't bother to think of what a God who is sheer LOVE truly must be like, or we project our own good and bad behaviors on Him and 'create' a distorted picture of God. Praying the rosary gives you a little mental time to try think on: whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. (Phillipians4;8). 

Lastly, I would really like you to try praying the rosary because I think you deserve it. I know that may sound a little strange, but this world is really hard and stressful, and confusing, and in some places downright bad. You have so many responsibilities weighing on your shoulders and that can get you down after a while. Sometimes just sitting in prayer for a few minutes and not having to 'worry' about what we're going to say makes it easier to remember that God really does LOVE  US and want us to be with Him in heaven. No matter what our struggles may be, it is good to take the time to let God have a minute of our time to simply love us. So go ahead, be self centered for a moment and pray the rosary.