Posted on January 16, 2025
Catechism Meditation:
Meditation engages thought, imagination, emotion, and desire. This mobilization of faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the conversion of our heart, and strengthen our will to follow Christ. Christian prayer tries above all to meditate on the mysteries of Christ, as in lectio divina or the rosary. This form of prayerful reflection is of great value, but Christian prayer should go further: to the knowledge of the love of the Lord Jesus, to union with him. ―No. 2708
REFLECTION. Lectio Divina is a Latin term that means “divine reading”. It is a traditional way of praying the Scriptures so that this living Word may penetrate our hearts and minds and that we may grow in an intimate relationship with Christ Jesus our Lord. When using this form of prayer as reading (lectio): you take a short passage from the Bible and read it carefully, perhaps three or more times. Let it really soak-in.
When praying the Rosary as in Lectio Divina: contemplating the different Mysteries of Jesus’ life, with Mary’s eyes. This is the classical usual way of meditating on the mysteries of the Lord’s life. Typically when praying the Rosary, an individual will announce a particular mystery from the life of Jesus Christ before each decade of Hail Marys. In order to deepen your meditation on this mystery, some have found it beneficial to read a short passage from the Bible that corresponds to each mystery of the Rosary. The purpose of the Rosary, therefore, is a deeper understanding of all the mysteries concerning Christ. A mystery is something divine, because the Persons associated with it are divine. Human reflection alone reaches a limit of understanding. But by seeking God in what we can know by prayerful reflection, we dispose ourselves to His grace and to a deeper understanding of the truths of the Faith, and of ourselves in light of them.
Ascension’s latest podcast, “The Rosary in a Year,” hosted by Father Mark-Mary Ames of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, topped the Apple Podcast charts after its release on January 1st. The podcast consists of daily 10 to 15 minute episodes that guide listeners through a deeper encounter with all the elements of the rosary. Ames hopes listeners will “grow in their life of prayer and that particularly they fall in love, maybe for the first time, maybe again, with prayer and with the Lord and with Our Lady and with the rosary because they experience the rosary as this privileged doorway in which they get to encounter the Lord.”
PRAYER. Father, help us to meditate on You.
Timeless Wisdom Quote:
“If you wish to convert anyone to the fullness of the knowledge of Our Lord and of His Mystical Body, then teach him the Rosary. One of two things will happen. Either he will stop saying the Rosary — or he will get the gift of faith.” ―Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
Featured Video:
The Rosary in A Year: Grow in Love with Our Lady (10:58)
