For Catholics, October is the month of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The rosary is a simple yet profound prayer. It is both a shelter from the storm of temptation and a prayer of confidence in God. We ask Mary, the mother of Christ, to intercede for us as we walk the difficult and arduous journey that we call life.
Life is difficult sometimes. We fall beneath the weight of our crosses, and struggle to get up. We would prefer to remain on the ground and give up, yet Our Lady stands beside us and lovingly encourages us to go on and continue to follow her son.
God’s paths can be mysterious and uncertain. We are called to trust in God and all He has planned. Mary is a perfect example of trust in God. From her selfless “fiat” at the Annunciation in Nazareth (Lk 1:26-38) to the Cross on Calvary (Jn 19:25-27), Mary trusted in God. She did not doubt His goodness or His plan once, but submitted to God as a servant and accepted the cross which she was given to carry.
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Let us find comfort and strength in Our Lady, who, even though she rejoices in heaven’s bliss, still befriends us suffering sinners and intercedes for us before Christ. The power of Mary’s intercession is clearly demonstrated in the Gospel of John, where Mary intercedes to Jesus on behalf of a newlywed couple, whose marriage celebration was about to be ruined when the wine ran out (Jn 2:1-11). Mary asks Jesus to help them, but He responds that His time has not yet come. In the end, He joyfully and lovingly obeys His mother, who was concerned about others and their needs rather than herself.
We must not fear, for Mary continues to intercede every day as she watches over her children on Earth, just like at Cana. We must trust in God as Mary did, and leave our fears and worries at His feet.
The rosary is a prayer that helps us meditate on the goodness of God and the mysteries of the life of Christ. Let us say it with confidence, knowing that Mary is always interceding to God for us, and that He listens.
The rosary is a prayer of trust and hope. Let us live that trust and hope, casting away our fear, stress and anxiety with each Hail Mary we say.
Azee Romero climbed barefoot on the wrinkled trunk of the massive Emory oak tree at the center of the Oak Flat Campground. The 5-year-old in his black dinosaur t-shirt with hair tied under a backwards baseball cap scaled higher and higher until he found the perfect seat. There, cradled by the sturdy trunk, the boy flashed a gap-toothed smile and rested comfortably as if he’d just climbed onto the lap of a grandparent. In fact, that centuries-old oak tree and the ground below it – the sacred, ancestral flats that stretch for miles east of Phoenix -- are like kin to Azee’s family. The family is Chiricahua Apache and Oak Flat, or Chi’chil Bildagoteel, is a consecrated place used for prayer and ritual by them and many other Native Americans in the region. Elders say the land was blessed by Usen, their Creator, and inhabited by Ga’an, the mountain spirits or angels who provide spiritual succor and guidance to seekers. But they fear for its future, seeing plans to carve a huge copper mine into the heart of Oak Flat as if it were a threat to their own flesh and blood – an obliteration of a piece of their spiritual heritage.
