Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

Today's Mass Readings

The month of October is dedicated to the rosary, and today is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. How appropriate that we find in today's Gospel reading from the Gospel of Luke a passage which focuses on the contemplation of Jesus by a woman named Mary. This Mary is of course not the same Mary that is Jesus' mother, but like Jesus' mother Mary, this Mary contemplates Jesus, sitting at His feet listening to Him. This passage is not meant to demean work, but it does emphasize the importance of contemplating Jesus. And this is exactly what we do when we pray the rosary. When we pray the rosary, we contemplate various key events in the life of Jesus. Such meditative prayer is a wonderful means of spiritual transformation, and a wonderful opportunity to experience the grace of God.

If you haven't been in the practice of praying the rosary, perhaps today would be a good time to pick it up and pray. If you don't have the time or the patience, you don't necessarily have to pray the whole thing, perhaps you can start at one decade, just 10 beads, or one our father and 10 hail Mary's, picking one of the mysteries to meditate on. Talking to God and to our Holy Mother while contemplating the life of Christ can be a wonderful way of practicing what Martha's sister did in today's reading from Luke's Gospel.

- Jeff Morrow