I prayed the Rosary today for the first time in a long time, too long. As I was praying there were a few things I reflected on. First of all, I was wondering why I don’t pray the Rosary more often. It is a truly wonderful prayer and an awesome way to focus in prayer. I have a tendency to allow my mind to wander when I attempt to pray and the Rosary helps me to focus, not only on the repetitive Hail Marys and Our Fathers, but also to focus on the movement of the Lord in my heart. God spoke to me today through the rosary.
As I was praying the Sorrowful Mysteries and reflecting on the events surrounding Christ’s death, there were two things that came to mind.
First of all, Christ did all of this for us. He endured pain, suffering, ridicule, and even death for us – for me. That is a hard concept for me to understand sometimes. I understand the theology behind it, but what I fail to grasp is the impact Christ’s death has on my day to day life — because oftentimes it has no impact at all. I go about my daily life without thought about what Christ endured for me, for my sins. I continue to sin, and am not at all thankful for the price He paid for me. I need to change that in my life.
That need to change leads me to the second thing that came to mind while praying the Sorrowful Mysteries: How does one change? Christ, through His example those last days of His life, shows us how to change. We need to look to Him and how He reacted to those events and to try to live our lives in the same way.
Through the agony in the garden Christ gives us an example of surrender and obedience. We must be willing to surrender our wills to the Father’s. This is so hard to do! Christ pleaded with His Father to let the cup He was about to drink to pass Him. In His humanness, He did not want to die. Yet, He let it all go. He knew and understood God’s will for Him and was willing to sacrifice His own desires for the desires of the Father.
The scourging of the pillar and the crowning of thorns give us an example of humility. Christ was beaten, spit upon, and ridiculed. Yet, He did not lash out in anger at those who persecuted Him. He did not try to defend himself and His pride, but He let go. Christ humbled Himself before others and allowed the Father’s will to be done in His life.
In the carrying of the cross we see an example of perseverance. Christ was forced to carry the heavy piece of wood that would become His cross through the streets of Jerusalem. He was forced to do so after He was whipped and beaten. He was already a broken man, in pain, weak, and tired. Yet, He persevered. He did not give up. He did not ask for help. Simon of Cyrene came to His aid, but at the request of the soldiers, not Christ’s.
Then Christ is crucified. Here we have an example of forgiveness. After all Christ has been through–being whipped, spit on, crowned with thorns, forced to carry a heavy chunk of wood, and then hammered to that wood with nails — after all of this, Christ still has love in His heart: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” Christ forgives.
If I want to be more like Christ, if I want to understand the impact that His suffering and death has had on my life, then I need to live out His example. I need to surrender and be obedient. I need to be humble. I need to persevere through all my trials. And most importantly, I need to have enough love in my heart to forgive.
I need to more fully understand life’s lessons in the Rosary.
I need to pray the Rosary more.
