1 Peter: Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name.
Last night, I watched the Passion of the Christ again. Every time I watch it, I have a new insight. The torture is unbearable to watch, but I try and I weep every time. What struck me this year were the high priests. What would have happened if they had just believed that Jesus was the Messiah? I also paid close attention to Mary.
The high priests were fine with Jesus' teachings until he proclaimed that Isiah's prophecy was fulfilled with Him. How different the story would have been, had they just believed that Jesus was the Messiah.
God sent His only son to earth, to live and teach among His chosen people, and yet HIs own chosen people are the ones who demand Christ to be crucified. How hurt God must have been. Though it must have been all part of His plan that Christ came for ALL.
I also viewed Mary in a new light.
One time, when I was in high school, my parents went out of town and I stayed at my grandmother's house. One morning before school, she took me to church, which was completely foreign to me at the time. Why would you go to church on a weekday? I thought I would be late for class for sure. She knelt and pulled her Rosary with its shiny black beads out of her handbag. I knelt too.
"Do you have your Rosary," she asked and I shook my head. "That's okay dear, just use your fingers to count the Hail Marys," she whispered.
The Rosary was foreign to me. Sure, I knew the Our Father and the Hail Mary, but the Mysteries were a mystery for many years.
It must have been the Lent when I asked my wasband to move out of the house. During that Lent, I chose to pray the Rosary every day, but even then I don't think I understood the Mysteries. The repetition of the Hail Marys had a meditative effect, and oftentimes, I fell asleep. At that same time, a friend introduced me to the Divine Mercy Chaplet and I prayed that instead because it was so much faster.
A few weeks ago, I attended a Catholic Women's Conference and there was a lot of talk about Mary, and especially Our Lady of Guadalupe (she's a favorite of mine). In our gift bags, was a bracelet Rosary, and we all prayed the Divine Mercy and the Rosary. Since then, I've added praying the Rosary to my daily practice, with the help of an interactive Rosary on the Laudate app.
I don't know if it always works out this way but the Sorrowful Mysteries were part of the Rosary last night. Was it a coincidence that the Sorrowful Mysteries fell on Good Friday? I have no idea, but after watching the Passion of the Christ, paying attention to Mary's broken heart during it, and then praying the Rosary and really reading each of the Sorrowful Mysteries, it was a profound meditation.
I've heard it said that praying the Rosary every day is a way to bring peace to the world. I'm choosing to give it a try.
Peace to you this day and joy for Easter!
April 16
Matthew: the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”
Mark: And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy.
Luke: When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,
John: Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.”
Acts: They said, “What will we do with them? For it is obvious to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable sign has been done through them; we cannot deny it.
Romans: For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us,
1 Corinthians: I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me.
2 Corinthians: So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.
Galatians: Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?
Ephesians: from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
Philippians: For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs more than once.
Colossians: And when this letter has been read among you, have it read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you read also the letter from Laodicea.
1 Thessalonians: For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Timothy: Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.
2 Timothy: At my first defense no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them!
Hebrews: Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
James: As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.
1 Peter: Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name.
1 John: So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.