REFLECTION FOR THE TWENTY- NINTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (YEAR C), Week beginning 16TH OCTOBER 2022
Catholics who have ”difficulties” in their approach to the Rosary presumably baulk at the prospect of being asked to complete 50 “Hail, Mary”s in 5 lots of 10.
For a mere moment, let us (biologist-like) dissect the “Hail, Mary”. The opening half hails Mary as ”FULL OF GRACE”. In human history, she has been the single human individual to have been the most graced by God – chosen to be the Mother of His Only Begotten Son – to this end, she alone in human history was to be conceived Immaculate, wholly free from the mark of Original Sin, passed on from Adam & Eve.
The 2nd half of the “Hail, Mary” prayer was added by the Church (whereas the 1st half gave the words of first, the Archangel Gabriel and then, soon after, of her cousin Elizabeth). In the 2nd half, we hear Mary’s title “Mother of God”, decreed at the Council of Ephesus in 431, with the Greek word “Theotokos” (‘God-bearer’). In the prayer, humankind is then mentioned in its totality – “Pray for us, sinners …” That is precisely what we are, in that we share in the overall historical sinfulness of all humankind – we are sinners, in that we are contrasted with the sinless Virgin Mary of the 1st half of the prayer.
The ”Hail Mary”s of the Rosary, when they are prayed alone, can be prayed so much more slowly and reflectively that they can become like a “mantra”, and can be very spiritually calming. Yes, the Rosary may flow more easily when prayed as a group. It is the prayer Mary our Mother requests. In this respect, “Mum” indeed knows best!
Good Shepherd Catholic Church 