Reminder, after this weekend I will be heading out to Phoenix for over a week.
Going forward we continue with Day 2 of the Surrender Novena.
Surrender to Me does not mean to fret, to be upset, or to lose hope, nor does it mean offering to Me a worried prayer asking Me to follow you and change your worry into prayer. It is against this surrender, deeply against it, to worry, to be nervous and to desire to think about the consequences of anything. It is like the confusion that children feel when they ask their mother to see to their needs, and then try to take care of those needs themselves so that their childlike efforts get in their mother’s way. Surrender means to placidly close the eyes of the soul, to turn away from thoughts of tribulation and to put yourself in My care, so that only I act; saying, ‘You take care of it.’” (After that prayer say 10 times) O Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything!
We began the year with the feast, Mary, Mother of God on January 1st. Mary helps us come to know Jesus; the Rosary helps us reflect on His life/the Gospel. From the Catechetical Review article by Joseph White, Teaching Children to Pray the Rosary, I offer the following paragraph. “Emphasize that the Rosary is a mediation of the Life of Jesus Christ and His Church. In the Rosary, we gaze with our Blessed Mother upon pivotal moments in the life of Christ, of her life, and the life of the Church and contemplate their meanings. Pope St. John Paul II wrote, ‘The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric prayer.’ Talk about the times in the life of Jesus, the Blessed Mother, and the Early Church that learners will meditate upon as they pray. These are called ‘mysteries’ in part because there is always more to explore and discover about these important moments. Reassure your learners that as they practice praying the Hail Mary throughout the decades of the Rosary, they will become more able to use the time to concentrate on the mystery associated with each decade. In fact, part of the genius of the Rosary is that the repeated recitation of the Hail Mary helps to occupy that part of our mind that might otherwise be susceptible to distraction, allowing us more focus as we contemplate the mysteries.”
Happy and blessed New Year!