How Can Twenty Minutes Be So Hard to Find?

A week or two ago, I heard a Catholic radio host say he recently forced himself to complete a Rosary because he felt self-conscious about proclaiming the faith as strongly as he does without a devotion to a prayer so many saints and others he admires have found essential.

He was probably being too hard on himself. Not praying the Rosary because it’s not your cup of prayer tea doesn’t make you a bad or lackluster Catholic any more than not being able to understand Lectio Divina or not being into wearing scapulars. At least I don’t think it does; I certainly hope it doesn’t.

What are the odds on finishing a Rosary?

Even AS a Rosary person, which I consider myself, it can be easy to fall out of habit. On days when I don’t have my commuter train ride in the evening, the odds on me getting to my Rosary drop considerably. You could lose quite a packet betting on me to even place with a decade or two, let alone make it all the way around my beads to the finish.

I get very frustrated with myself when I skip my Rosary, because I know from experience that even the Sorrowful Mysteries bring me an incredible sense of calm and closeness to Our Lord and Our Lady. It’s stupid to pass that up simply because I need to TAKE some time to do it instead of USE some otherwise unoccupied commuting time.

If we really understood the Rosary, we’d beg to pray it.

One thing that does add a sense of urgency and necessity to our consideration of the Rosary is the fact that Our Lady has specifically asked us to pray the Rosary for peace. She didn’t demand it, but when Mom asks for something so strongly, it’s probably more than a hint.

Why should the Rosary be a path to peace? Because walking with Mary through the Rosary is a sure way to grow closer to her Son, the Prince of Peace. A world drawn closer to Him is a world drawn closer to peace like nothing we can imagine.

The Rosary is like verses in the song of Christ’s life.

The Rosary is also a song of sorts—with verses and refrains that draw us closer to Jesus because they’re about His life, not Our Lady’s. Even the two most Marian mysteries—the Assumption and the Coronation, are about actions He took with regard to His mother.

When you look at the path through the life of Christ the Rosary represents, to call it Mary-worship is just absurd. As a matter of fact, if Catholics are Mary worshippers, and the Rosary is Mary worship, the great majority of us are slacking off in a big way.

“Honey! Where are the Rosary beads?!”

Having felt for a long time that Catholicism and the blues were made for each other, I wrote a blues song about a fellow who finds himself caught between his earthly sources of emotional relief and the only thing he knows will ALWAYS work. Please listen to the song or the watch the lyric video.

Just like the guy in the song, however much I procrastinate, I always feel better once I’ve settled into the familiar rhythms and scenes of the Rosary.