Word to the Wise
Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - Our Lady of the Rosary
[Jonah 4:1-11 and Luke 11:1-4]Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples."
One of my memories of my paternal grandmother is of our family going up to "the big house" to say the rosary with her. She was bedridden for a long time. I recall, too, that the movement, "The family that prays together, stays together." was very strong at that time and pictured a family saying the rosary together. All of this comes to mind with the line quoted above from today's gospel scripture: "Lord, teach us to pray!" For many of us, this request was granted through our parents and Catholic grade school teachers. For others, the process may be more indirect and situation-oriented. Certainly one of the ways most familiar to Catholics is the rosary. The reply of Jesus to the disciples' request is known as "the Lord's Prayer." The gospel of Luke has a slightly different version than the gospel of Matthew, but the Church has more or less "split the difference" and continues to use the traditional word "trespasses." We learn this prayer early in life and often in connection with learning how to say the rosary! However, there are times in life when the traditional forms cannot express what is happening in our life of faith! In those times, we have to ask the Lord to give us the words necessary. St. Paul tells us in the Letter to the Romans that the Holy Spirit will help us on those occasions. When my mother was dying, a Baptist cousin came to see her, and on the way out to the car after the visit, he asked me, "How do you pray for a Catholic?" I told him, the same way he prays for anyone else! The rosary is the way I pray for everyone, every morning. I wear it as a part of the Dominican habit (uniform). Perhaps if someone asks us to teach them how to pray, we might offer them this very portable and tangible form of prayer! They can even use their fingers, and if necessary they can use any incident from the life of Christ as a "mystery" if they can't recall the traditional ones! This feast day may be the inspiration for our efforts! AMEN
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