The difficulty of praying the Rosary is that we are supposed to meditate upon each mystery while reciting the words of the prayers at the same time. It'd been a back-and-forth thing for me, so I decided to do it this way to help me become more focused. Maybe you'll find it helpful too.
Before I start, I let the Lord know what my main intention is. It could be for world peace, mercy on all the souls, and/or anything that's on my heart. Before starting a decade, I declare the mystery to which the decade is to be dedicated and that I am going to commemorate that mystery by praying the decade. After making my intent clear, I can wholly concentrate upon praying the Our Father to put me in the right place before the Lord, the Hail Mary's to ask the Holy Mother to intercede for me, and the Glory to fully praise the Holy Trinity. The Fatima prayer the Holy Mother asked us to say at the end of each decade is also important. We must constantly ask the Lord to save souls, especially those in most need of his mercy.
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
**Praying the Rosary
**God Alone Our Judge
We should not judge others because we just don't know what's truly in their hearts. Sometimes we do not even understand ourselves. Compared to God, none of us is completely trustworthy. God being our creator is the only one who knows our hearts and can judge us fairly. Also, since we are all to be judged by God as equals, we are not qualified to judge anyone.
**Thinking Beyond Death*
We all know that we are going to die, yet we think mostly about things of the world. As we get older, we may start composing a will, think about how we can avoid paying too much death tax, and possibly look into where we might like to be buried. That's about it. The most important question about where our soul will go after death for all eternity is just not taken seriously enough. This is odd, sad, and bad. As soon as we realize that God, heaven, and hell all exist, we should focus upon this issue before all other worldly considerations. Know that the Lord God wants to save us from our sins and we are sinners. Once we are sure that our soul is safe, we'll feel a lot more peace in our heart.
Monday, October 19, 2020
**Heading for Self-Destruction*
We really should be mindful of what Jesus said in today's Gospel reading from Luke 12. He first spoke against greed. To the crowd, he said, "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one's life does not consist of possessions." Amen. Then he told the parable of the rich fool. "A rich man planned to build larger barns to store his bountiful harvest and other goods and thought that he would have so many things stored up for many years that he could just rest, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, 'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?' Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God." This message our material world would find most difficult to accept because it is what it needs to hear the most. Not to change the course is to head for self-destruction.
**Know Whom You Belong To
Today's response from Psalm 100: The Lord made us, we belong to him. It's such a simple statement, but it's absolutely true. I used to do a lot of wood working. Suppose I want to make a table. I would work out the design, buy the materials needed, cut each part to the right size, assemble the parts, and paint or stain the whole thing. The finished table is now mine! The Lord clearly made each of us, so we belong rightfully to him. And we should act like we were wonderfully made by God!
Sunday, October 18, 2020
**Peace and Agony
We can trust in the Lord fully and experience peace, but this does not exclude us from experiencing agony. Peace and agony can coexist with peace always underlying any other suffering. Doing the will of God promises peace, but not happiness.
Why Sermons Are Ineffective
Sermons from pulpits are weak when they are intellectually conceived without involvement of the heart. There is no inspiration from the Holy Spirit. As a result, they do not draw the listener any closer to the Lord. An effective sermon must exalt the Lord and not the speaker.
**Good to Know
No sin can escape God, but at the same time nothing you do for the glory of God will go unrewarded—just know this.
**Praying the Our Prayer
Before we pray the Our Father, the most perfect prayer the Lord has given us, we need to go before the Father with complete submissiveness, reverence, and openness. Otherwise, it would be a waste of time if you don't mean what you say much.