Real Life Disciples: A real gem for discipleship

Every once in a while, I come across one of those books that is not just a one-time read. It has such a powerful effect that I find myself going back to it again and again. One of those little “gems” for me has been a short apostolic letter that Saint John Paul II wrote back in 2002, “On the Most Holy Rosary.” It was probably one of his shortest works at just more than 50 pages, and likely one of his easiest reads. 

It’s worth mentioning right now because October is traditionally dedicated by the Church as the Month of the Rosary. If you were interested in increasing your devotion to the Rosary, and deepening your understanding of it, this little book would definitely help you. I would even go so far as encouraging everyone to consider taking time during the month of October to explore the Rosary more, and to read this book as you do. I truly believe it will open new vistas before you in your prayer and the pursuit of discipleship. In this article, I hope to give you some tastes and, hopefully, whet your appetite for more!

As Saint John Paul said in the introduction, “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 … with the Rosary, the Christian people sits at the school of Mary, and is led to contemplate the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love.” What you start to realize is that the Rosary actually isn’t about the prayers you are saying, it’s about the mysteries you are meditating upon. Mary becomes this great “conduit” or “facilitator” of contemplation.

And, who better to help facilitate contemplation than Mary. She’s the perfect model because, as the mother of Jesus, no one else on the planet would have spent more time “contemplating” him. 

“The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance, which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary.
The eyes of her heart already turned to him at the Annunciation when she conceived him by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the months that followed, she began to sense his presence and to picture his features. When, at last, she gave birth to him in Bethlehem, her eyes were able to gaze tenderly on the face of her Son, as she “wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger” (Lk 2:7).

Thereafter, Mary's gaze, ever filled with adoration and wonder, would never leave him. At times, it would be a questioning look, as in the episode of the finding in the Temple: “Son, why have you treated us so?” (Lk 2:48); it would always be a penetrating gaze, one capable of deeply understanding Jesus, even to the point of perceiving his hidden feelings and anticipating his decisions, as at Cana (cf. Jn 2:5). 

At other times it would be a look of sorrow, especially beneath the Cross, where her vision would still be that of a mother giving birth, for Mary not only shared the passion and death of her Son, but she also received the new son given to her in the beloved disciple (cf. Jn 19:26-27). On the morning of Easter, hers would be a gaze radiant with the joy of the Resurrection, and finally, on the day of Pentecost, a gaze afire with the outpouring of the Spirit” (Rasarium Virgins Mariae, #10).

The reason why Mary and the Rosary can be so powerful for us as disciples is precisely because of these memories. Mary lived her whole life with her eyes fixed on Jesus, up close and personal, living in the same house with him, eating all her meals with him, caring for all his human needs as a mother. She has stored all these things in her memory, in her heart.

The mysteries of the Rosary are simply praying with Mary through her prominent “memories,” which makes the Rosary, according to Saint John Paul II, a “contemplative prayer.” He goes on in one of the chapters to talk about how when we pray the Rosary the way it is meant to be prayed, we find ourselves “remembering with Mary, learning Christ from Mary, being conformed to Christ with Mary, praying to Christ with Mary and proclaiming Christ with Mary.” These are all the very things we want to do as disciples, as followers of Jesus. The point is, who better to help us get there than her?!

As I have explored this all for myself and in my own prayer, I have discovered how the Rosary becomes a beautiful lens to evangelization. I have found myself praying a certain set of mysteries for one of my children or for a person that I have been sharing faith with. I’ve discovered a pattern in the mysteries of the Rosary that is strangely similar to the “kerygma” – the word the Church uses for “the core message of the Gospel.” 

Since next month is the month of the Rosary, I’m planning on sharing that beautiful discovery with you in my next column.