Spending Time With Mom
By Father Abraham Feliciano
Recently a Salesian priest was talking with his mother on the telephone to plan a visit with her. Although he had a pastoral commitment scheduled on the day in question, it was near her home, and he wanted to see if he could stop by to spend about an hour with his mother, maybe even to have a quick dinner with her. However, the day that he proposed for his visit was a day that his mother was going to travel to visit some other family members. Upon learning this, the priest told his mother that he would then look for another time to visit, because “a one-hour visit wasn’t worth cancelling the trip.” To this, his mother immediately replied, “You’re my son. Even if I only get to see you for an hour, it’s always worth it.”
It is amazing how something as simple and seemingly insignificant as one hour spent with her child could mean so much to a mother. Yet, how often does a quick visit, phone call or even text message from her son or daughter make a mother happy. More often than not, a mother wants the chance to see her child or children so that she can dote on them. She wants to feed them, embrace them, and make sure that they are doing well. Even a short visit, no matter how quick is usually “worth it” to her.
During this month of October, we celebrate Our Lady of the Rosary. A beautiful and centuries-old part of our Catholic Tradition, the rosary is a simple, but very loving way for us to spend time with our Heavenly Mother. Usually taking less than a half-hour, it is very much a way for us to “visit with Mom.” When we pray the rosary, we share life with Mary as we reflect on the mysteries of the life of Jesus accompanied by His mother. We enter into those mysteries of their earthly and heavenly life, and in turn, we allow her and Jesus to more fully enter ours. In those brief but beautiful moments, we allow Mary to feed us, to embrace us, and to care for us with all of the maternal love that she has for us. Above all, we allow her to bring us closer to her Divine Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Don Bosco always encouraged the young people at the Oratory to be close to Mary, knowing that such devotion always brings us closer to Jesus:
"Having been redeemed by Jesus Christ, we become Her children and the brothers of Her Divine Son. Thus, by becoming Mother of Jesus, true God and true man, She also becomes our Mother. Jesus Christ, in His great Mercy, wants to call us brothers, and by doing so makes us adopted children of Mary," (St. John Bosco).
Sometimes our time spent praying the rosary is like a short visit to ‘mom’. Maybe we pray the scriptural rosary (using the Bible passages that form the foundation of the mysteries). Maybe we use recordings of music and reflections to accompany our recitation of each decade (one Our Father, ten Hail Maries, and one Glory Be). Maybe we use visual images to help us meditate on each of the mysteries. Maybe we pray the rosary while walking (going for a walk with ‘Mom’) or maybe we pray it before going to sleep (allowing her to “tuck us in”). Maybe we pray the rosary individually or maybe we say it as group with family or members of our church. There are so many lovely variations that can be used to spend this time with Our Mother.
What is most essential, nonetheless, is that we actually pray it. Ideally, each and every one of us who is blessed to still have their mother with them communicates with their mother frequently, if not daily. How often do we communicate with our Heavenly Mother? Maybe we cannot pray the entire rosary every day, just as we cannot always visit with our mothers daily. However, each of us could probably find enough time to at least say a decade of the rosary, just as we can send our mothers a quick text message or give a quick call to say “Hello!” Doing so ensures that our relationship with Mary, and therefore with Jesus, will be healthy and grow stronger. Pope Francis encouraged us all to do this early n his pontificate on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary in 2013 when he stated:
“Mary joins us, she fights at our side. She supports Christians in the fight against the forces of evil. Especially through prayer, through the rosary. Hear me out, the rosary... Do you pray the Rosary each day? I don't know, are you sure? There we go!”
October is a great month to spend time with “Our Mom.” It is a wonderful opportunity to cultivate or strengthen the practice of saying the rosary and growing closer to Jesus and His Mother. Whether we develop the habit of saying a decade of the rosary daily or we manage to carve out enough time to say the rosary in its entirety, we know that we will be making Jesus and Our Heavenly Mother very happy. Even just a few minutes of our time, for her, is worth it.
It is amazing how something as simple and seemingly insignificant as one hour spent with her child could mean so much to a mother. Yet, how often does a quick visit, phone call or even text message from her son or daughter make a mother happy. More often than not, a mother wants the chance to see her child or children so that she can dote on them. She wants to feed them, embrace them, and make sure that they are doing well. Even a short visit, no matter how quick is usually “worth it” to her.
During this month of October, we celebrate Our Lady of the Rosary. A beautiful and centuries-old part of our Catholic Tradition, the rosary is a simple, but very loving way for us to spend time with our Heavenly Mother. Usually taking less than a half-hour, it is very much a way for us to “visit with Mom.” When we pray the rosary, we share life with Mary as we reflect on the mysteries of the life of Jesus accompanied by His mother. We enter into those mysteries of their earthly and heavenly life, and in turn, we allow her and Jesus to more fully enter ours. In those brief but beautiful moments, we allow Mary to feed us, to embrace us, and to care for us with all of the maternal love that she has for us. Above all, we allow her to bring us closer to her Divine Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Don Bosco always encouraged the young people at the Oratory to be close to Mary, knowing that such devotion always brings us closer to Jesus:
"Having been redeemed by Jesus Christ, we become Her children and the brothers of Her Divine Son. Thus, by becoming Mother of Jesus, true God and true man, She also becomes our Mother. Jesus Christ, in His great Mercy, wants to call us brothers, and by doing so makes us adopted children of Mary," (St. John Bosco).
Sometimes our time spent praying the rosary is like a short visit to ‘mom’. Maybe we pray the scriptural rosary (using the Bible passages that form the foundation of the mysteries). Maybe we use recordings of music and reflections to accompany our recitation of each decade (one Our Father, ten Hail Maries, and one Glory Be). Maybe we use visual images to help us meditate on each of the mysteries. Maybe we pray the rosary while walking (going for a walk with ‘Mom’) or maybe we pray it before going to sleep (allowing her to “tuck us in”). Maybe we pray the rosary individually or maybe we say it as group with family or members of our church. There are so many lovely variations that can be used to spend this time with Our Mother.
What is most essential, nonetheless, is that we actually pray it. Ideally, each and every one of us who is blessed to still have their mother with them communicates with their mother frequently, if not daily. How often do we communicate with our Heavenly Mother? Maybe we cannot pray the entire rosary every day, just as we cannot always visit with our mothers daily. However, each of us could probably find enough time to at least say a decade of the rosary, just as we can send our mothers a quick text message or give a quick call to say “Hello!” Doing so ensures that our relationship with Mary, and therefore with Jesus, will be healthy and grow stronger. Pope Francis encouraged us all to do this early n his pontificate on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary in 2013 when he stated:
“Mary joins us, she fights at our side. She supports Christians in the fight against the forces of evil. Especially through prayer, through the rosary. Hear me out, the rosary... Do you pray the Rosary each day? I don't know, are you sure? There we go!”
October is a great month to spend time with “Our Mom.” It is a wonderful opportunity to cultivate or strengthen the practice of saying the rosary and growing closer to Jesus and His Mother. Whether we develop the habit of saying a decade of the rosary daily or we manage to carve out enough time to say the rosary in its entirety, we know that we will be making Jesus and Our Heavenly Mother very happy. Even just a few minutes of our time, for her, is worth it.
For more information on how to pray the Rosary click the following link:
http://www.netusa.org/praytherosary/#
http://www.netusa.org/praytherosary/#
