When you’re sunk in depression and you’re fighting through
doubt, discouragement, disappointment, defeat, failure, and all the other
negative emotions that you’ll go through in life, there is no greater help than
to spend quality time reflecting on the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary.
The Glorious Mysteries – the Rewards of Perseverance
In these 5 short passages from Scripture, we find reminders
that everything we’re going through now is only the doorway through which we
must pass in order to find greater things. Just one breath past the cross lies
the Resurrection. One breath beyond the Resurrection lies the Ascension.
Another breath and we reach the day of Pentecost when we are ignited with
passion and purpose and fused with life, sent forth to bring life to the dead
and healing to the broken hearted. Another breath and we are lifted up to greater
heights than we dared dream. One last breath and we find our crown awaiting,
the throne of honor given to those who dare to persevere through all that life
has to offer without losing hold of hope.
The Resurrection – Matthew 28:1-15
For those early disciples, laying the body of Christ in a
tomb on Friday wasn’t just the burial of their leader and their friend. It was
the burial of all of their hopes and their dreams of a better future. The
promises that Christ made during His lifetime of a kingdom of glory were laid
to rest. His death meant the death of it all.
Their lives, which had seemed so full of promise the
previous Sunday, were worse off than before they’d met Christ. Before Christ
came into their lives, they were peasants, slaves, living under oppression. But
they were left alone, ignored, unnoticed. They were nobody and nobody really
cared what became of them.
Following Christ changed all of that. It made them feel
stronger and important while He was with them, now it made them hunted and
vulnerable. They were wanted by the authorities. Their lives were endanger.
There was nowhere they could go that people wouldn’t recognize and know them as
the followers of Christ.
Carrying every ounce of this grief with them, the women
slipped out of the upper room where they were gathered for those three days
early morning on Sunday. They carried with them the spices to anoint the body.
They were prepared for the stench that would be present from a 3 days decayed
body. Tears streamed down their faces as they hurried together, but alone in
their grief at the same time.
Christ’s mother refused to join them. They couldn’t
understand, but she would not be moved and so they left her there with the
other apostles. She kept telling them her son was back, but they chalked it up
to a grieving mother’s fantasies. Christ was gone. He would not be returning.
An earthquake shook the ground just as they came to the
tomb. The women clung to one another in fright, watching in awe as the boulder
which sealed the tomb rolled to the side. An angel sat on top of the boulder,
radiant and glorious and fearful all at the same time. The guards that were in
charge of protecting the tomb from those who might try to steal the body became
frightened and passed out.
“Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who was
crucified. He is not here. He has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where
he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead
and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.”
The angel’s words broke through to the frightened women.
Tears transformed from sorrow to those of infinite joy. Laughter filled their
mouths. They felt like they were dreaming. Peace and Hope settled in the hearts
that were deadened by doubt and despair only moments earlier. Their trust was
not misplaced!
They turned to go as the angel commanded. Christ greeted
them. Joy returned along with their hopes and dreams. The promises of a kingdom
of glory returned to life in that same instant.
How often does this happen to us? God allows our dreams and
our hopes to be smashed to pieces right before our very eyes. The expectations
we have for how things are to go are not met and we find ourselves mourning the
death of everything we worked so hard to achieve.
Our belief is tested in fire.
Our faith is dismantled. Dismayed, doubtful, discouraged, and fearful we huddle
in silence, facing an uncertain future.
But God does not take things from us to be cruel. What is
smashed to pieces is taken away and something better rebuilt in its place. The
expectations we had before were built on lies and falsehoods. He gives us a new
understanding and new wisdom so that our expectations are based on truth which
cannot disappoint us.
He tears us down in order to build us up stronger, wiser,
and more capable than ever of doing the work needed to reach the promised land.
The Ascension – Acts 1: 6-12
Their dreams are resurrected, Christ walks among them again
and once more they feel powerful, hopeful, and filled with assurance. Then the
day comes when the disciples ask him when the time will come for him to fulfill
His promise of the restoration of the Kingdom of Glory. His response is not
what they expect.
“It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father
has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all
Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”
They were confused by his response. No one who is present
needs a witness. They can witness for themselves. Why did they need to become
witnesses?
Then Christ rises up from the ground right in front of their
eyes and a cloud removes him from their sight. They look up to try and see him,
and as they are looking upward two men in white robes speak up.
“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This
Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you
saw him go into the heavens.”
They don’t know what to do. This isn’t how things were
supposed to go. Jesus was supposed to stay here, with them. They return to the
upper room, remaining in Jerusalem as Jesus instructed them.
Day after day they wait and they pray – for what they aren’t
sure. Christ’s mother helps them to pass the time by telling them stories of
her own childhood and engagement, of her son’s birth and the time He was lost
to her in the Temple. She reassures them with her love and her confidence,
giving them more to think about than their doubts and fears. And every day,
they pray to be ready to receive whatever this Holy Spirit might be.
Peter leads them in choosing a replacement for Judas. They
cast lots, and the role falls to Matthias. He was one who accompanied them
during all the time the Lord Jesus walked among them from the baptism of John
until His ascension, so he was an eye witness to the events.
Ten days stretches out like eternity as they wait for Christ’s
promise to be fulfilled. Still hunted, still wanted, still threatened by
authorities, they have no place else to go. This place is all they know.
The resurrection comes, and then the ascension. The dream
revives, but the path forward seems to disappear and all we can do is wait.
Wait for further instructions, wait for something – we don’t know what – to happen.
Bewildered, abandoned, unsure, uncertain, confident and insecure at the same
time, we wait.
But the waiting time is not meant to torment us or to
discourage us. It is meant to prepare us. It is housekeeping time. Time to get
everything in order so that when it is time, we are ready to strike out in
force. Ready to claim the ministry that is ours and to serve with courage and
confidence those to whom we will be given charge.
Descent of the Holy Spirit – Acts 2:1-5
The Feast of Pentecost arrives. A sound like a mighty wind
fills the whole house. Tongues of fire appear, dividing to appear above each
person’s head. Like the burning bush of Moses, they are on fire but not
consumed by it. They begin to speak in tongues unknown to them. They burst
forth from the upper room filled with purpose, on fire with passion for
spreading the message, alive as they have never been alive before in their
lives.
They know exactly what needs to be said. They know exactly
what it is they need to do, and they are ready to commit themselves to doing
it. They face trials and tribulations, work tirelessly in service to others,
and carry more responsibilities than ever before in their lives. Countless
people turn to them for consolation, for healing, for help and for answers.
People marvel at the work they do, and their fame spreads.
Purpose ignites passion and spreads the message far and wide.
When you know why you are doing the work you are doing, and
you are alive with passion, you will go to the ends of the earth to share that
joy with others. No obstacle will be enough to stop you. Nothing will stand in
your way. As my friend and mentor Suria Sparks puts it,
“When you find the why so big it makes you cry, you’ll find
the things that give you wings to fly.”
The Assumption – Acts 13:35
When the time came for Mary to be reunited with her son,
Jesus, it was a painful moment for the disciples. She was like a mother to them
all, nurturing their hopes and bandaging their wounds, encouraging and guiding
them with the wisdom that came from knowing Christ so intimately.
Yet they loved her enough to know that every fiber of her
being ached for this moment of reunion with the Son whose home was in Heaven.
They loved her enough to rejoice that she would finally be fully united with
Him in the Glory of the Kingdom. She might have stayed longer if they’d asked
her, she loved them enough to make that sacrifice, but it was time to let her
go.
Mary felt their pain and anguish, but the joy at stepping
into her new role beside her son was more than her sorrow at saying goodbye.
She would continue to support them in their journey, just in a different way.
It was time to go to the place she truly belonged.
When you finally begin to achieve success in any area of
life, you will have to make changes and adjustments. You will leave behind some
of the people you’ve grown close to in order to be able to fulfill your new
role and take on your new responsibilities. It can be tough to let go of what
was and to embrace this new life, but rest assured that what is waiting ahead
is greater than the life you were living.
It is also true that as you do the work you must do to
improve your life, you will lose mentors along the way. It will be hard to say
goodbye. You will be tempted to hold them close to you, but if you love them
you must let them go where they are needed most. They will go on to bigger
things and your relationship with them will change dramatically. The way the
two of you connect will be different, but it will be no less powerful. Their
presence will continue to work in you, unseen, but very real.
The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin – 1 Corinthians 9:25, 1 Peter 5: 4, James
1:12, and 2 Timothy 2:12
“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict
training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a
crown that will last forever.” – 1 Corinthians 9:25
“when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown
of glory that will never fade away.” – 1 Peter 5:4
“Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood
the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who
love Him.” – James 1:12
“If we endure, we shall also reign with him.” - 2 Timothy 2:12
Mary lived her life faithful in the service of Love, patient
in the trials which came before her, willing to forgive and to love all those
who hurt her and her son. She exemplified the life we are all called to live,
and her reward was a crown of Glory and a seat at the side of Her Son.
When we persevere in seeking to love and to serve others, we
too will find our crown of glory awaits. The honor and glory will come in this
life from those whom we have served whose gratitude for what we have done will
be like a jewel in that crown and the service we’ve rendered the incorruptible
gold that holds up those jewels.
We will wear with pride the knowledge that the
world is better for our having been here, and that is a crown of glory that no
man can snatch from us.
Hope and Baptism
I have shown in these last few chapters the role that the
Rosary plays in helping us hold on to hope in life’s challenging moments. Next
I will take you through the role of the Sacraments in helping to armor us with
a hope that does not disappoint.
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