mark a:
Is this terrible? As soon as I realize it has happened I come back to the mystery and really feel guilty about it.
Any suggestions on how to better contemplate the mysteries?
Dear friend
What does your mind wander to? Is it relevant in the world today. Do you think of someone who has hurt people or indeed yourself, or the people you may have hurt when you think of Christ’s suffering? Do you think of a great joy in your life, like the birth of one of your children and their baptism in comparison of Mary presenting Jesus at the temple to Simeon? This is perfectly fine and I think good in that it links Sacred Scripture with the happenings of our lives today and helps us to appreciate more what happened in Sacred Scripture. I think it is very human and natural to meditate on Christ’s life and then see comparisons in our own lives. This is not a wandering mind , this is the mind and soul reflecting deeply on Christ and Mary.
Or is it something totally irrelevant, like remembering to buy sugar when you go shopping? This is purely a distracted mind, so when you think of things like this, don’t worry, don’t feel guilty, we all do it, just think ok, I’ve remembered that, now back to my Rosary! I have a Rosary guide with little pictures of each meditation, looking at those refocuses my mind and helps me ‘see’ more graphically the events in Sacred Scripture. Also, if these thoughts are popping into your mind, it may just be an indicator that you may need to re-organise your life so that you do not feel as though you are ‘fitting’ your Rosary into all the other chores in life, we all have these chores and if a person is especially busy , the smallest tasks can seem a huge burden. Re-prioritise and make your Rosary a part of the day that has it’s own time. You will find that these thoughts lessen during your Rosary prayer.
The most difficult thing we can ever do is try not to think, the more you try not to, the more your mind will wander off into these areas that you don’t want them to. Main thing is relax about this and don’t feel guilty at all, this is not the aim of the Rosary, to cause you angst. Pray the prayers and concentrate first on the words of the Rosary, the rythmn of the sound of the words and as you do this, think about Jesus and His Mother, think how you were with your mother, try drawing comparisons here and the love you both shared. Try thinking about the people in your life and how this applies to the mysteries of the Rosary, this will bring those so-called distractions out into the open and not something you are trying to shove out of your mind…they will keep popping up until you have ‘aired’ them, spend a few Rosaries doing this and you may then also find many solutions to things in your life and those of others whilst reflecting on how Christ Jesus lived and His Mother.
Your Blessed Mother Mary prays with you whilst you pray the Rosary, so ask her to help you to focus, understand and grow spiritually in the meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary, she will never deny you, it has never been known for anyone who sought her help to be denied…xxxx
God Bless you and much love and peace to you
Teresa
