by Jim Beckman, Executive Director of the Secretariat for Evangelization and Catechesis
This past month, I shared about an apostolic letter from Saint John Paul II, “On the Most Holy Rosary.” This is Pt. 2 to that article, focusing on the mysteries of the Rosary.
It’s an appropriate theme during this “Month of the Rosary,” and a beautiful way to begin getting ourselves ready for the coming season of Advent.
As I was reading this powerful little book, this is the line that gave me pause, “The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer. … It has all the depth of the Gospel message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium.”
I prayed and studied that sentence for a number of days, which led me to the discovery of a number of other letters written about the Rosary throughout the history of the Church. I started to realize a certain connection of the “mystery of the Gospel” intertwined with the mysteries of the Rosary.
Over the years, I have heard the core message of the Gospel, what we call the “kerygma,” unpacked more times than I could ever count. I would sum up the kerygma in five key points.
1) God has created us out of his incredible love, with a divine purpose;
2) Sin has separated us from God, damaged our relationship with him and dealt a deadly blow to us – there is no way we can recover on our own;
3) God sees us in our poverty and helplessness and sends himself in the form of a son to save us, take on the punishment for our sin, and reconcile us with him;
4) We have to accept and receive what Jesus has done for us, it’s an extraordinary gift that must be opened;
5) Jesus institutes the Church to give us grace through the Sacramental life, grace needed to restore us. The Church also provides a community of believers to pray with us, walk with us, help us along the way and even challenge us to grow in holiness beyond what we can pursue just on our own.
What I have come to realize is that these five key points come alive in the mysteries of the Rosary, all four sets of the mysteries! I recently led the pre-ordination retreat for the deacon candidates and their wives. (We’re praying for all of you getting ordained Nov. 5!) I was so excited about this new discovery that I changed the entire format of the retreat and did it on the Rosary. I never could squeeze all that content into a short article like this, but will try to give a few examples of how this Gospel “DNA stamp” shows up in the mysteries.
Consider the Joyful Mysteries: The Annunciation is God announcing his love and favor of Mary, and the unique plan he has for her life (created out of God’s love, for a divine purpose); in the Visitation we see the connection to our human condition, Mary is looking for a sign of confirmation, Elizabeth, who was “thought to be barren, in now in her sixth month,” (our human condition has separated us from God and damaged our relationship with him.
This is not a direct representation given the fact that Mary is without sin, but we can still see the raw humanity in the encounter between them); The Nativity is literally God sending himself in the form of a son; the Presentation is Joseph and Mary presenting Jesus in the temple, giving thanks and dedicating him to the service of God, accepting and receiving this great gift they have received (accept and receive what Jesus has done for us).
And the finding in the temple is Jesus in the “Church,” doing what the Father would have wanted him to be doing (God gives us the Church to access grace and walk with others who believe).
You can find the same pattern in the Luminous Mysteries: the Baptism in the Jordan is God announcing his great love and favor of Jesus, and the unique plan he has for his life (created out of God’s love, for a divine purpose); in the Wedding Feast at Cana we see the human poverty of this couple, having no more wine, in risk of huge embarrassment (our human condition has separated us from God and damaged our relationship with him); the proclamation of the kingdom of God is literally the Kerygma.
The Transfiguration is Jesus for a moment allowing his divinity to show, and his disciples accepting and receiving the gift unfolding before them, “Lord, it is good for us to be here” (accept and receive what Jesus has done for us); and the institution of the Eucharist is the definitive image of the Church (God gives us the Church to access grace).
This beautiful pattern of the Gospel is present in all four sets of mysteries. Over the past several months, this new discovery has completely changed the way I am praying the Rosary. I think this is a glimpse of what Saint John Paul II was talking about when he said the Rosary can be said to be a “compendium of the Gospel.”
The great mystery of the Gospel, this “good news,” comes alive when we pray “with” Mary. She helps us contemplate these mysteries and supplements them with her own memories as we pray!
I invite you and encourage you to discover more of all this for yourself. Mary is the model disciple. She can help us on this journey of discipleship better than anyone. What a great time of year to explore a deeper relationship with her.
We soon will be entering Advent where she will be carrying Jesus and each day getting closer and closer to celebrating his birth. Let Mary walk with you and join you in your prayer as you go along the way!