My father always enjoyed taking family pictures, and for many years he took slides instead of prints. The good thing about slides was that we could all see the pictures at the same time. One of us would see a picture and remember something about it, and then someone else would add a few more details. I ended up with some good “memories” of things I had not even been present for. Those memories mean so much to me that a few years ago I scanned all of my father’s slides (about 8,000 or so from about thirty years) onto my computer.
Looking at old photos can be a good way to grow closer to our families. Something similar happens when we bring out the important stories of our faith and share them together. This month of October is dedicated in a special way to the Rosary. When we pray the Rosary, we can think of it as setting up the projector and bringing out the pictures. For in the Rosary, we contemplate the great mysteries of our faith. We see the live of Christ, from His Incarnation up through the Paschal Mystery of His Passion, Death and Resurrection. We see them not as a story from the distant past but as part of our own history. In the Nativity, Christ came to share our humanity completely and to be part of our human family. We share the life of the Risen Christ through the Salvation He has brought to us. The mysteries of the Rosary tell us our story.
As a slideshow lets us share memories, so in the Rosary, we contemplate the mysteries of our faith by joining with the Blessed Virgin Mary. The repetition of the “Hail, Mary” can quiet our minds and help us set aside all the distractions of life so that we can focus better on the various mysteries. By using the “Hail, Mary,” we invite the Blessed Mother to watch with us. We get Mary’s perspective. The faith and dedication that led her to accept God’s call helps us to see more deeply what a gift we are receiving.
In the Joyful Mysteries of Jesus’ birth as Mary’s Son, we see that Christ shares our life in every way. In 2002, Pope St. John Paul asked us to include a new set of five decades known as the Luminous Mysteries, from the word for “light.” These mysteries are events that shed light on the person of Christ. Through His ministry, He demonstrated who He was and showed Himself to us as “the Light of the World.” The Sorrowful Mysteries show us the depth of Christ’s love for us in that He would not abandon us, even at the cost of death. And finally, the Glorious Mysteries tie it all together by showing us Christ’s final triumph over sin and death. As we include Mary’s Assumption into heaven, we recall that we too are called to follow the way of Christ to everlasting life.
St. John Paul II said, “The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christ-centered prayer.” We meditate on these mysteries of Christ, but with the Blessed Mother to guide us. So during October, we have the invitation to look at our family pictures as a sign of God’s love.
Father H
