Jesus and the Rosary

Went to St. Joseph's church in Eureka, CA this week.

At the rear of the church there is a statue of Jesus with a rosary. Perhaps the rosary wasn't part of the original statue, and someone had just placed a rosary in Jesus's hand...

But it was a little surprising and shocking to me. One might expect to see Mary or one of the saints holding a rosary. But Jesus? Is there any precedent for that?

After thinking about things, the placement of the rosary seems right on-target. The mysteries of the rosary are all about Jesus.

Paraphrasing St. Paul's passage from Ephesians, Our Lord -- who was "... in the form of God, did not deem equality with God as something to be grasped at. But emptied himself..." and chose to unite with us in our practice of reciting the Holy Rosary...

Two Reflections

Two reflections today.

The first is from St. John of the Cross.

The discreet lover does not care to ask for what she lacks and desires, but only indicates this need so the Beloved may do what he pleases. When the Blessed Virgin spoke to her beloved Son at the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee, she did not ask directly for the wine, but merely remarked: “They have no wine”.
- Commentary on The Spiritual Canticle 2.8

Not much more to say here. St. John pretty much summarizes things nicely. Mary provides us with the perfect model (and example) of intercession.

Then there is this short phrase we find in St. John's gospel -- it's from the Wedding at Cana. Our Lady's words are:

Do whatever he tells you.
-- Jn. 2:5

Interestingly, these words of Mary are almost exactly those of God the Father at Jesus's Transfiguration. As yesterday (8/6/2022) was the Feast of the Transfiguration, it is timely:

This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.
-- Mark 8:7


Mary echoes the words of God. It occurs to me (please forgive me if what I say is theologically flawed or lacking / Me disculpo si digo algo que no tiene razon), she becomes a feminine impersonation of the Divine, of God. An "image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" as St. Paul says (Col. 3:15).

Therefore we must listen to her.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

Found this picture on the web by Josef Bosáček -- it's in the public domain and available here:

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel By Bosacek

Basketball and Sanctity

When I was a freshman / sophomore n high-school, sometimes I would go to the gym at lunch-time to play basketball. I wasn't good, but it was fun. Often the guys would just dribble around and shoot baskets. One day a boy named "Brian" made a nice free-throw. Swish! Someone passed him the ball back and he shot again. Swish! He got the ball back and shot a free-throw again. Swish! This same pattern kept continuing. Brian had fallen "into a good rhythm" and kept making basket after basket from the foul-line. I was thinking to myself "is this guy ever going to miss?" Finally after 15 or 16 shots, the ball hit the rim and bounced out. His streak was over.

Don't think Brian ever went "pro". In fact I don't even know if Brian even went out for college basketball. But for a short time, his free-throw shooting percentage was in the high 90s, Statistically unlikely--and better than a lot of the basketball pros. And he was just a 15- or 16-year old kid!

I wonder if this same phenomenon doesn't sometimes happen in our spiritual lives. Through the merits of grace -- we're suddenly placed in lofty places, light-years beyond what we've ever experienced in our ordinary lives. We've been given this "special rhythm". And we're on-fire. With God's help, we''re doing and accomplishing things no one would have believed possible. Statistically unlikely -- and yet surpassing what even some of the saints have done...

At least for a short time. Until the streak wears off...(grin)

Thank you Lord Jesus. Alleluia.

Angels

Today I was thinking about angels.

St. Faustina teaches that if the angels were capable of envy, they would envy humans in their capacity to suffer. Certainly suffering (if offered to God and for others) can be benefecial.

But at the same time, if suffering is so enviable -- what about joy? For example, could we envision an angel ever uttering the words attributed to Our Lady:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior... (Luke 1:46)

Could an angel ever experience this human emotion of joy like Mary did? Could an angel know this experience of being truly blessed by God? Something that powerfully permeates one's whole being -- so much so that it is undeniable...

Perhaps not.

Indeed, as some theoogians have taught, there may not be much advantage to being an angel...

St. Therese

The Carmelites in Darien sent me this lovely little picture.
Their website is here: https://www.littleflower.org/