"Mysteries of Christ - Mysteries of His Mother" - St. JPII

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In reading the beginning of this new Chapter of St. JPII’s Letter “On the Most Holy Rosary” I am so grateful for God’s work in His Saints, helping us to learn how we can better know, love and serve Him in this world. John Paul II’s words: “attentive listening is indispensible” seems to be more necessary today than ever! Mary who kept and pondered in her heart, all Jesus said and did, is Mother and Model for the Church.

CHAPTER II - MYSTERIES OF CHRIST – MYSTERIES OF HIS MOTHER

The Rosary, “a compendium of the Gospel”

1. **The only way to approach the contemplation of Christ’s face is by listening in the Spirit to the Father’s voice, since “no one knows the Son except the Father” (**Mt 11:27). In the region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus responded to Peter’s confession of faith by indicating the source of that clear intuition of his identity: “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 16:17). What is needed, then, is a revelation from above. In order to receive that revelation, attentive listening is indispensable: “Only the experience of silence and prayer offers the proper setting for the growth and development of a true, faithful and consistent knowledge of that mystery”.

The Rosary is one of the traditional paths of Christian prayer directed to the contemplation of Christ’s face. Pope Paul VI described it in these words: “As a Gospel prayer, centred on the mystery of the redemptive Incarnation, the Rosary is a prayer with a clearly Christological orientation. Its most characteristic element, in fact, the litany- like succession of Hail Marys, becomes in itself an unceasing praise of Christ, who is the ultimate object both of the Angel’s announcement and of the greeting of the Mother of John the Baptist: ‘Blessed is the fruit of your womb’ (Lk 1:42). We would go further and say that the succession of Hail Marys constitutes the warp on which is woven the contemplation of the mysteries. The Jesus that each Hail Mary recalls is the same Jesus whom the succession of mysteries proposes to us now as the Son of God, now as the Son of the Virgin”.

Forgive me again for underlining so much, but I almost want to shout the words from the rooftops! May God help us to rid ourselves of our preoccupations about ourselves. Like Martha we begin complaining and telling the Lord what He should do to help us, rather than sit at His feet and listen. May God help us in this new year, just beginning, to “make time” for prayer. By God’s grace let us seek out times for silence in which we can ponder the mysteries of His Life and Mary’s Life.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful. Kindle in us the Fire of Your Love! Enable us to “see” by faith, what Mary saw in the Face of Jesus.