Saint Luke, Evangelist
2 Timothy 4:10-17 | Psalm 144:10-13,17-18 | Luke 10:1-9
The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest. (Luke 10:2)
But will they be day labourers, or permanent employees? Will they just do their job for a while and disappear, or be in it for the long haul?
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You’ve probably received the “chain mail” depicted at right by the time you read this blog entry. In case you haven’t, it simply claims that all Catholics worldwide have been called to drop whatever they’re doing and pray the rosary at 9am, on 18th October 2016, giving less than 24 hours’ notice in some cases.
There’s much that’s “off” about this message, starting with the fact that “9am” happens at different times around the planet, so this wouldn’t result in all Catholics praying at the same instance, as you might have assumed. Also, there are many people at work during their local “9am” who should obviously not be distracted from their daily tasks – heavy vehicle drivers and surgeons are just the folks that spring to mind.
The most generous conclusion I can draw: this is a grassroots attempt to encourage praying of the rosary, and that something of the underlying intent was lost in translation. For instance, the creator’s intent may have been to “guilt-trip” those who haven’t prayed the rosary in a while to pick theirs up again. Unfortunately, the wording would seem to encourage a Herculean effort to pray the rosary on the morning of 18th October…and then carefully put the beads back into a jewelry box, to be unearthed the next time someone posts a “WORLDWIDE ROSARY TIME!” message.
The cynic in me, however, suspects it may be someone tapping into the wellsprings of Christian piety to make millions of Catholics dance to his/her tune. Perhaps it was the result of an idle bet (“let’s see who can get more reshares”), or something more sinister. Once trust is implicitly established (“see, I’m a pious Catholic just like you all”), how easy it would then be to spread messages containing deliberate doctrinal errors or scandalous lies (“it came from this pious Catholic, so it must be true – Pope Francis to allow female priests! Woohoo! Reshare!”).
This is why I always ponder and fact-check “holy messages” before forwarding, especially if it looks like the Holy of Holies.
That said, I do support the idea of getting as many Catholics as possible to pray the rosary regularly, so I propose a different message, one that doesn’t place undue demands on the individual:
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On Wednesday 19th October 2016, block out a half-hour of your time. Any time will do: immediately after you wake up, just before you sleep, on the train to work, after your lunch, etc. Just find a quiet spot (bed, office pantry, standing in the train with eyes closed to cut out distractions) and pray the rosary. Breathe deeply as you pray, and focus on the words you recite. Don’t rush. Feel the calming presence of God and Mother Mary.
On Thursday 20th October 2016, block out a half-hour of your time (perhaps a different half-hour from Wednesday’s), find a quiet spot and pray the rosary. Breathe deeply as you pray, and focus on the words you recite. Don’t rush. Feel the calming presence of God and Mother Mary.
On Friday 21st October 2016, do as you did Thursday.
On Saturday 22nd October 2016, do as you did Friday.
On Sunday 23rd October 2016, do as you did Saturday. Don’t forget the call of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist!
On Monday 24th October 2016, do as you did Sunday.
On Tuesday 25th October 2016, do as you did Monday.
You have now prayed the rosary for an entire week. I bet you didn’t think you could do it. Feels good, right?
If you miss a day or two, don’t beat yourself up. Just remember the peace and joy that you received while praying the rosary, and let that encourage you to continue with the schedule.
Oh, and you don’t have to stop after a week. Keep going, it only gets easier.
You’ve now formed a praying habit, and it’s a lot better than smoking.
If you’ve tried this, and found it worthy to be shared, won’t you please share it? Better yet, how about getting others you know involved as well, at work or in your neighborhood?
God Bless!
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Brothers and sisters, shall we not become full-time prayer “staff” instead of day-rated “temps”? Like all habits, this one happens one day after another, not in a paroxysm of prayerful effort at one particular moment.
Amen.