The Rosary as Life's Journey

I was saying the entire rosary last Saturday when I realized that it is a  metaphor of and a guide to our entire life's journey.

The rosary begins with the Joyful Mysteries.  We start with the Annunciation. God knows everything about us, has counted all the hairs of our heads and knows our name before we are born.  We are loved individually by our Creator.

Next we go to Mary's visitation to her cousin, Elizabeth.  God's love causes us to reach out to others no matter what our own troubles may be.  This is His Kingdom on earth.  Like the Nativity, Christ is born in our hearts and we continue to experience the joy that God has given us.  We have found the Child Jesus.

Next in the sequence are the Luminous Mysteries.  Baptism is God's way of imparting His Grace to the newborn Christian.  In our walk, our faith becomes fruitful as we continue to show His Love to everyone.  We commit ourselves to spreading this joy.  Our faith deepens as we continue to respond to His call to repentance and the turning around of our former way of life.  We are transfigured on the mountain top of indescribable happiness and long to be one with Him.

But, then something odd happens.  We are in darkness.  The Sorrowful Mysteries aptly illustrate this dry period that falls on each Christian.  Just when we thought we were going along fine and living the life God called us to live, darkness falls.  We find ourselves alone in the garden--a place we used to take joy in.  We cry out to God and are unsure if we are even heard. Our emotions and our circumstances torture us in innumerable ways.  We are mocked and laughed at.  Surely, we think, God has abandoned us.  The joy is gone. We have no choice but to die to ourself.

Just as inevitably, resurrection takes place.  We are bathed in the Light of Christ and are visited by the Holy Spirit.  We are given the strength to carry on and show others the love of Christ.  We realize anew that God has not left us orphans, but given us His Mother and His saints to accompany us on our journey to Him.

We join them in spreading the Kingdom.