Oct.7, Memorial of the Rosary

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Scripture: Lectionary # 653 (Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary) Acts 1:12-14. Resp. Magnificat. Luke 1:46-56. Gospel Luke 1:26-38:

What was your first word that you said as a child? You would have to depend on your mom or dad to tell you. Hopefully, among your first words was “YES”or mommy or daddy. Our celebration of the Feast of the Holy Rosary is our favored devotion to Mary and it is all about her YES to God. It is in the very first mystery of the Rosary, the Annunciation that we discover her YES to the Lord seen within the context of the narrative between Gabriel, the messenger of God, and Mary the young woman from Nazareth. She will be mother while remaining virgin and we see the beginning of her life as a disciple of the Lord God and then of her son Jesus.

Luke followed the story of Mary with all of the resources and traditions that he would learn from those who knew Jesus or heard about him from the apostles. He encases his whole Gospel with a helpful insight as to how he went about being the third Evangelist and the greatest portrait painter of Mary through his literary skills as a writer and a story teller. Her entire life, though thinly remembered, is recorded more in Luke’s Gospel than elsewhere. We are able to contemplate almost all of the mysteries of the rosary through what this Evangelist tells us about Mary and about her motherhood, her virginity, and her discipleship. His first two chapters are unique to him and serve as a showcase for the rest of the Gospel with a featuring of most of its themes: prayer, temple, Holy Spirit, discipleship, holiness, and beatitudes.

Blessed John Paul II has given us an encyclical on the Rosary and has added the luminous mysteries of the rosary which open up to our hearts and minds a way to pray the rosary while thinking of the active ministry of Jesus with some of its key moments: his baptism by John, the wedding feast at Cana, the preaching of the word of God through parables, the Transfiguration and the greatest gift of himself in the Eucharist.

We now have four sets of mysteries that touch upon the life of Mary with Jesus always as the center of our prayer (and “blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus”). Her initial YES is repeated ten times through each of the twenty mysteries (faith reflections from the Gospels and from a living tradition). We may think of the rosary as a lengthened mantra (a mystical incantation) through the repetition of so many Ave Maria invocations.

She is always with her son when she shows us how to say YES to God and does something about saying YES by doing God’s will in the ordinary facets of life. Without preaching or saying too much in the Gospels even in that of Luke she shows us how to do God’s will for she is foremost among all women and men in putting her YES into action. As a humble Jewess from Nazareth she knew that God’s love has to be shown more than talked about.

Luke gives us her song which is a Psalm of praising God and trusting in God’s providential care for the poor and the lowly. We have as our response for this feast the entire hymn of Mary which contains themes and praise from the entire Bible that she read and prayed: the Torah, the Prophets, the Psalms or Writings. We enter into the whole of the Bible when we remember her Magnificat and when we contemplate her mysteries in the recitation or contemplating the rosary. The Magnificat becomes a model for our own discipleship and it teaches us the meaning of YES in the context of Mary’s role in the unveiling of each epoch and stage of salvation history.

Jesus, her son, learned how the YES of Mary was central to his life and his preaching and healing of people. Like mother, like son! Jesus says YES to God in all that he does and says even though his life is a limited and shortened one. His mother outlives him.

The baby Jesus and the child Jesus echoed the YES of Mary and led him to continue an eternal YES to God and to the Holy Spirit. He was so much in harmony with them that they were One though distinct in Persons. That is why we say the doxology or Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit in our saying of the Rosary.

Jesus continued his YES to God while Mary stood by him as he ultimately confirmed that YES through his death and then made it eternal through his resurrection. She was there just as she was at Cana and she tells us “DO whatever he tells you.” Her words led to doing the will of God through Jesus and the Spirit. Mary would continue her YES in the upper room while all of Jesus friends and disciples were gathered awaiting the same Holy Spirit that hovered over the Virgin Mary. Jesus was born through the power of the Spirit; the Church too is born by that same Spirit in that fiery coming of the Spirit upon all who were there. They were being prepared to go forth and bring the good news and its fruits to the world.

Both Jesus and Mary show us the meaning of what YES means in relationship to union with God. Paul has an insight into this eternal YES of Jesus in his tremendous words in II Corinthians 1:18-22: IN HIM (JESUS)IT IS ALWAYS YES. FOR IN HIM EVERYONE OF GOD’S PROMISES IS A YES. FOR THIS REASON IT IS THROUGH HIM THAT WE SAY AMEN TO THE GLORY OF GOD.

Each Hail Mary, Our Father, and Glory be ends with an Amen which is a confirmation in faith of the word YES. Our liturgy and Eucharist for this feast of the holy rosary Is the great AMEN and YES of Jesus, son of Mary, for our salvation. Amen. YES, Amen!