Now is the Month of Praying 1. The Joyful Mysteries
- May 17, 2014
- 3 min read
May and October are the months dedicated to Our Blessed Lady – and therefore to the Rosary. During the next couple of weeks we shall have meditations on the mysteries of the Rosary
The Rosary summons us to meditate on the truths of our faith, and predominantly this means reflecting on the causes of joy that being a Christian should bring: Our Blessed Lady, chosen from eternity to be the mother of Our Lord, says the words that unlock the story of salvation ‘Be it done to me according to thy word’ The verb in Latin used to translate what she said is ‘fiat’ which means ‘be, become, be made.’ It is the word of creation ‘fiat Lux’ – 'let there be light'. It is the word of acceptance by Our Blessed Lord in the Garden of Gethsemene ‘Let not my will but then be done.’ In between the word of Creation and the word of Re-creation comes the word of virginal procreation, in which the Blessed Virgin standing in for all of us accepts the means of our redemption.
Scarcely has the angel taken his leave, when Mary departs to the hill country, to greet, to see, to help her cousin Elizabeth, also with child. Joyfully is she received, and joyfully responds, while the infant John within his mothers womb leaps for joy at His approaching Lord. So much emphasis has been made of the burden and sorrows of pregnancy and childbirth of late – but this is the image for Christian women – Joy is the proper and natural response to the arrival of new life, most eloquently imaged for us here at the beginning of the story of our salvation.
This joy rings out in the angels song announcing the birth of the Saviour, choosing as their audience men on the fringes of society, poor and ignorant. Joy too, infuses the wise men as they see the star that leads them to the Promised King. Joy even amid poverty, displacement, loss and exile. This Child is our ultimate good, but that good is reflected again and again in every baby that is born, as people unconsciously acknowledge, kneeling as they do before the newborn image of God in every new child.
Joy again in the Presentation – This time for the old, for Simeon and Anna who have always believed that the promised Messiah would come. Here at last the salvation of the world begins, and is accomplished. Mary and Joseph, perhaps by this time beginning to settle into normality, jolted, reminded again of the huge joy, the huge destiny that they have become part of in nurturing this child.
Joy of a more difficult kind in the Finding in the temple – the relief and delight of finding the child that was lost, the joy of the Boy, found in His Father’s house, the joy of the teachers , taught by the Word Himself, Joy and strangeness in the words that are spoken ‘knew you not that I must be about my Father’s business?’ , words that are laid to heart and pondered through all the years until Mary finally told them to the evangelist.
How can I rejoice, that have so many causes of anxiety? Think on the poverty and extremity of the Childhood of Our Lord, and rejoice that you can share your trouble with Him and with His Blessed Mother. ‘How can I rejoice, when I have lost the one I love?’ Rejoice with her, whose heart was pierced again and again by successive losses of the One she loved, until the final brutality of the Cross seemed to destroy Him utterly.
Christian Joy is not about having a jolly time or being happy in any ordinary sense of the word. It is those who mourn, who are persecuted that are invited to Joy. Christian Joy is an inner disposition of soul that lays itself fully open in complete trust to the Love of God. It shines out in people who confess to deep spiritual darkness, Like Mother Theresa or St. Therese of Lisieux. It is the fruit of a constant attitude of thanks and praise of God that nothing can shake or spoil or take away.
So pray the Rosary with JOY!
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