The Rosary meets the needs of our time

There is a revival for the rosary today that taps into a very deep need for reaching for the Divine in the midst of modern-day chaos and noise.

The medium for this search for God is the centuries-old tradition of repetitive prayers that in a counter-intuitive, but proven, manner brings quiet meditation and inner peace.

Interestingly, for many Catholics, praying the rosary has been relegated to the funeral wake, an occasion when we put aside all our concerns and join relatives and friends at a time of pain and sorrow to somehow travel beyond space and time and accompany the deceased as they make their journey into eternity and union with God.

But there is more than that to praying the Rosary.

Pope Francis has urged the faithful to avail themselves of this devotion linked, in the recitation of over fifty Hail Marys – prayers of praise and petition – to the Mother of our Redeemer.

Hers is the story of sorrow, resurrection, and hope, the Pope Francis reminds us. Our Lady shared in the struggles of her son, Jesus Christ. She suffered along with him and was the first to received redemption at his resurrection.

Mary “is the Mother who points to the path we are called to take in order to be true disciples of Jesus,” the Pope said. “In each mystery of the rosary, we feel her closeness and we contemplate her as the first disciple of her Son, for she does the Father’s will.”

“Throughout her life, Mary did everything that the Church is asked to do in perennial memory of Christ. In her faith, we learn to open our hearts to obey God; in her self-denial, we see the importance of tending to the needs of others; in her tears, we find the strength to console those experiencing pain. In each of these moments, Mary expresses the wealth of divine mercy that reaches out to all in their daily needs.”

In a mysterious way, praying the rosary is both about us and about others. Whether we pray alone or with others, we shut out worldly distractions around us and at the same we time join others – and the world – in a time need.

Recognizing our frailty, we ask on the behalf of all us, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and in the hour of death. Amen.”