Praying a Rosary for Obama's conversion

Please join the Notre Dame students in praying for the conversion of President Obama and for their beloved University. Even if you can just pray one rosary it would be greatly appreciated. They are trying to record 1 million rosaries before commencement. Please record your rosaries here: http://ndresponse.com/million-rosaries.html

Luminous Mysteries

While driving through Georgia last night I listened to a CD created by ‘Children of Mary’ that prayed and explained the Luminous mysteries. (All while listening to my almost three year old yelling ‘Mom, turn this lady off!’).

Although I have had the opportunity to listen to the Luminous mysteries I have not really ‘listened’ to them. They are so beautiful! Honestly when I first heard that there was a new set of mysteries I couldn’t imagine what they would add to the already beautiful Sorrowful, Joyful and Glorious mysteries. Good thing I am not in charge of anything important because these mysteries are awesome. This CD explained each of the mysteries in detail and gave me the opportunity to truly meditate on how lovely these mysteries truly are.

Luminous Mysteries

The Baptism of Jesus:

The first mystery is the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan River. Christ, who was born without sin, asks us to be born again of water in the Spirit so we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Thanks to the decision making of Adam and Eve we are all born into sin. It is inevitable. We are stained. But Christ gives us a spiritual and physical sign of renewal through Baptism. What a celebration it is to enter the Church anew. I can remember my best friend’s husband being baptized as an adult. We marveled at the thought of being an adult, having a totally sinful soul and then having the opportunity to have it COMPLETELY washed away. Gone! It would be a moment in our adult lives that we were completely pure and sinless.

St. Teresa once said, ‘The soul in a state of grace is so beautiful that if we could see it we would think we were seeing God himself.’ That definitely says it all.

Changing of water into wine at the wedding Feast of Cana:

We all know the story of the Wedding Feast of Cana. There is a wedding, the wine runs dry and Mary petitions her Son to solve the problem. In our lives Mary petitions on our behalf, Jesus loves Mary so much that we know he is pleased when we love her too. As Christ dies upon the Cross he tells his beloved apostle John to behold His mother. Even during the last moments of His human life he is conscious of his Mother and wanting her to be cared for. We believe that Christ asks us to behold His mother and allow her to petition Him on our behalf. Of the beauty of asking a Jewish mom to intercede on our behalf!

Christ’s presence at this wedding further sanctifies the union of marriage and the union that Christ has with His bride, the Church. And of course we are the Church. We make a union, a covenant that we will be faithful to God and His teachings. And we break that union often through sin yet God remains faithful. We can use this mystery to pray for our families, our marriages, our faithfulness in marriage, and openness of life in marriage.

Teaching of the Kingdom and a call to repentance:

Obtaining the kingdom comes through repentance. When we were baptized we were filled with God’s grace but when we sin we lose that beautiful grace. When we have committed mortal sin there is really nothing that we can do to make it through those pearly gates to Heaven. Truly, if we are with mortal sin we have no hope of resting with God in eternity. What?! At what point do I forget this? Why do I think that maybe there will be exceptions to this rule and I can fudge it a little? Fortunately the Sacrament of Reconciliation is available for cleansing of the soul. Confession requires faith and humility in order to be restored to life. Once we have confessed and repented we actually can leave the confessional with more grace in our lives than we had before we sinned!

Transfiguration:

Jesus revealed the veil of his divinity during the Transfiguration. The Bible tells us that Jesus’ apostles were filled with fear and awe during this time. We see the Transfigured Christ in the Exposition of the Holy Sacrament. Jesus reveals himself through the humble appearance of bread and wine. How amazingly humble is that!?

When we receive Christ in the Holy Eucharist it is a time of an indescribable union with God. He comes to us whether we truly that it is Him we are receiving or whether our sins have been confessed. The good news is Jesus loves us all no matter if we are a sinner or a saint. It is important to receive Christ with a pure heart as Light and darkness cannot mix.

Let us remember that to be a member of the Catholic Church we must make a covenant to live life according to Scripture and Tradition. We must accept the responsibilities asked of us. We must be a faithful member of the church even following the teachings that we have a hard time with.

Institution of the Holy Eucharist:

The first Mass occurred on the night before Christ died. The Holy Mass is the highest form of praise. There is nothing that we can do that surpasses the praise that the Mass exudes. The Mass is infinite, never ending. It is the act of Jesus both sacrifice and meal. Christ is the lamb that was sacrificed and prefigured in the Old Testament. ‘This is my body. This is my blood. Take it and eat it. It will become for you the bread of life.’

If only we could begin to really understand what is happening during Mass. We are given the opportunity to receive Christ both body and blood! If we really were able to understand the Church would be filled everyday! Everyone would want to attend Mass! Only in eternity will we really know the true beauty of the Mass.

During Mass even if the music is dull and the preaching not extraordinary help us to remember that it is You that we seek in the Eucharist!

Let us pray that the Luminous mysteries be a beautiful opportunity to come to know our beloved!

Rosary Playdates

In the interest of getting to know us better I thought I would share one of the things that Tara and I do together. Yes Tara and I do know each other in real life outside of the blog world. We are involved in two great women's bible studies, one of which is AMAZING ( look for a future post all about it). Another thing we do is rosary play date. A group of catholic moms with children around the same age get together every Friday morning to pray the rosary for our marriages. We have a schedule and rotate houses. Each play date consists of toddlers and babies playing while we are praying then lunch. It is a great time of fellowship, support and faith. I get so much out of this group and dearly miss it when we don't have it ( like holidays or sickness). If you have young children I highly suggest organizing a group like this the benefits far outweigh any difficulties in organization.