An Open Letter to All Those Who Lead the Holy Rosary

Dear Leaders,

First of all, let me say that I am so appreciative of your willingness to lead others in contemplating the mysteries of our salvation by virtue of the Holy Rosary. Your "yes" to this call from God is a great reflection of your imitation of Jesus, Our Lady, and all the saints! I firmly believe that it does and will reap a great harvest, some of which will only be known in Heaven! PLEASE continue this worthy work at all costs for the sake of the world, which so desperately needs the beautiful effects of this highly favored devotion!

I'd also like to preface my statements by letting you know that this is not an angry rant or a criticism, but it is a plea that I can't keep to myself any longer. Please consider it a loving cry for consideration.

I have noticed a trend when praying the Rosary in a group setting; one that makes me, and several others that I have spoken with, especially students, very uncomfortable. Based on my/our observation, I have a request:

Please slow down!

I know it may seem unimportant, but it really isn't. One of the great beauties of the Rosary is that it gives us the opportunity take remove ourselves from the rushing current of the world and sit on the banks and simply bask in the light of the Truth of who and Whose we are. The trend seems to be to get through it as quickly as possible. But I ask you, how can we be spending time with God and His Word in the Holy Rosary if we are rushing through it? I am open to the idea that many people can do this, but I can't. Many of the students that I have spoken with can't either. So as leaders, please consider the urgent necessity of what you are undertaking and remember that there are those who cannot contemplate when they are out of breath from the speed of the prayer they "praying".

I am very confident that your leadership is an act of love and devotion, but the rushed style in which some people lead the Rosary can make it seem unimportant and something that we "just have to get through" to get to the "more important" parts of the day. If you are praying so fast that your words are indistinguishable, you are most likely making it very difficult for your group to follow along with you and really relish the time spent contemplating the beauty of Jesus with our Blessed Mother.

As an act of love, lets unite our hearts together in tender love and devotion for our mother and our queen in the way that she most prefers: by fixing our eyes, thoughts, hearts, and souls on her son, the Lord Jesus Christ who is “wonderful, counselor, mighty God, the prince of peace, the everlasting father”, the everlasting Lord, and only begotten Son of God. In doing so, let us avoid even the appearance of indifferent and lukewarm prayer for the cause of reminding the world of God’s great love shown to us in the prayers and mysteries of Mary’s crown, the Most Holy Rosary!

Yours in Mary’s Immaculate Heart,
RM

My Thoughts on Personal Happiness

So I just found this in my drafts...mights as well go ahead and publish it, I guess!

So I've been stewing in these thoughts for a while now, and I think it's time to share. Over the last few weeks, I've noticed something about myself: I am constantly thinking about what will make me happy. In which career can I see myself being happy? How much money do I need to make to be happy? Which food, at the moment, will make me happy? The list, of course, goes on and on and on and on. I guess there is nothing really inherently wrong about that, but the result has been nauseating. I've become obsessed with running my own life and making the plan that I think will work best, and I must confess ("...and I ask...you my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord our God.") that I have concluded far too many thoughts and conversations about theology, morality, and politics with "Well, I think..." or "In my opinion..." etc. What I have come to realize is that I have no idea how to make myself or anybody else happy in the long-term. I know what feels good at the moment, but what about tomorrow, or next year, or twenty years down the road (if God sees fit to allow me to live that long!)? And here's the (very hard to accept) conclusion that I have come to:

I have no idea how to make myself happy, because I can't. Joy, real joy, is a fruit of the Spirit!! (Galatians 5:22) Unless I am plugged in to Christ and His Church, there is NO possibility for real joy; all there is outside of Him is a momentary impression of joy that doesn't last. So if I am to have real joy, I must prepare myself to be formed by the Holy Ghost into a vessel that can hold REAL joy...the kind that lasts, not the temporary fleeting kind that sin offers "for a short season". (Hebrews 11:25)

An update for updates' sake!

WOW! So...I stink at keeping up with a blog apparently! haha. I thought I might as well post an update, and who knows: I may actually start blogging again!

Ok..well...thanks be to God, I'm still Catholic and still ever so grateful for that tremendous grace!

I'm getting ready to begin my third year at Middle Tennessee State University in the Organizational Communication program. OH and I was just elected Internal Director for MTSU Catholic! It should be a great year!

I'm still praying and discerning God's will for my life after school, so who knows (but God) how that will turn out.

So yeah, that's the basic update. Hopefully, I'll be posting more "musings" soon!