The Call to Action and the Way Forward
One
One of the common criticisms this rosary podcasts receives is that we can be too negative. And it is true, the messages that are sent out can be negative, and we are well aware these meditations are far from perfect. I sympathize with those who feel this way, because I hate discussing the depressing statistics and trends of our culture. Whether it’s the number of Catholics coming back to Mass, the rising number of divorces, the falling number of those who profess to believe in God, all of it annoys me. It’s easy to feel like world is going to hell in a handbasket and there is nothing one can do about it.
But the truth is that all these statistics are meaningless if all they do is cause us to worry. This world has enough worry. And we hope that the challenges discussed in our rosaries are taken as challenges and opportunities, not reasons to worry. A challenge is a call to action. And invitation to get up and go.
Watch any blockbusting hero, Luke Skywalker, John McClain, Frodo Baggins, Harry Potter, Tony Stark to name a few, and you will see a story of someone given a challenge, a call to action, and then they take it up and have an adventure.
After speaking to many members of the Movement, I know that some of you are still apprehensive about the challenges we discuss for various reasons. It is hard to get in the habit of Meditation, it is intimidating to invite others over to my house, it is terrifying to open to others and let them in to my broken life. But I have also witnessed tremendous responses from many of you who thought at first you couldn’t rise to these challenges, yet now you are conversing deeply with Our Lord, you are bold in inviting others into friendship, you are leading friends and Family to Jesus through Mary!
Lord, we thank you for sending laborers into the harvest. Continue to bless our efforts with courageous responses and fruitful energies so that together with Our Lady, we can defeat the culture of death by building Your civilization of Divine love.
Two
The mission of the Movement of the Holy Family is to respond to Our Lady’s call to action. She sees the problems and knows how to solve them. And Her way is a simple way, a way She will teach us, because it is the way she lived. Our Lady calls us to a life of attention to her son, to live simply among our friends and family, introducing them to our friend, Jesus.
As cliché as this sounds, it is the heart of Christian life. We know the challenge, we have heard the stakes, we see the way our world is going. And so we follow Our Lady, and live as She did. Her home was a place of prayer and closeness to Jesus, ours should be as well. Her hometown was enriched by her loving care. If she was willing to save a family from shame in Cana, how much more did she care for those who lived around her.
Our homes provide us with the proper location and resources (food, furniture, and freedom to make noise, laugh, allow for children, etc.) to live this Marian way of life.
The Church was born in the home and the Church in crisis today will be reborn in the home. Our Lady, Mother of the Holy Family, pray for us.
Three
Together, we can do this. God calls us to grow where we are planted, and we all share life with a wide variety of people. Jesus calls us to action, but action where we are. As Mother Theresa said, “If you want to change the world, Go home and love your family”.
Our daily life is the mission field God has given. From this pool the Lord shows us who to ask into our homes in order to share in His joy. We need only take initiative, we need only to invite.
But we must take the risk. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
In the Acts of the Apostles, we see the early Church spreading in exactly the same way. We read, “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…Every day they continued to meet together...They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42; 47).
Four
Mary’s apparitions are very heavy, but they are not negative for the sake of negativity. Her consistent message throughout the last two hundred years has been a warning, a call to action against evil. However, our Mother does not abandon us in the danger. She gives us the way forward. She calls us to the daily Rosary, and a life of meditation and the sacraments. She calls us to a simple, authentic care for others, where we are interested in where they will go tomorrow, and where they will go when they die. She calls us to trust in her son, and she is with us every step of the way.
My life changed when I gave it to Jesus. My joy is found in sharing the love of Our Lord and Our Lady with others. But I have far to go, and I have yet to invite many in my life into my home. Pray for me that I may have the courage! Everyday I pray for you, my brothers and sisters in this Movement. I am greatly encouraged when I see that a fire is lit in your hearts, and you do the same! Perseverance in our prayer and mission life entails struggle, but this makes for the sweetness of success.
Five
I am so energized when I spend time with you all during these rosary visits! I plan on keeping it up while you are sustaining your efforts to form your teams and invite me and Mike. You are a blessing!
I am reminded of the words Our Lady speaks in San Nicolas, Argentina. She says, “the weapon that has the greatest influence on evil is the Rosary.” She emphasized that for those who pray it, this is not a time for anguish but of “hope,” “peace,” and “fortitude.” “Fear nothing, because the Lord goes in front to each battle. May your will not shrink; be strong because you have the Presence of the Almighty.”
We have been given a challenge. God is with us through prayer in the sacraments. And if God is with us, we cannot fail. But we must fight; we must grow; we must rescue. As my father is fond of saying, ‘I’ve read the book; I know the end. We win!’ Praise be to Jesus.