Knock On Wood | October 7, 2015

 October 7, 2015

Today is the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, hence the title “Knock On Wood.” There are many origins for this common expression; however, one of those origins comes from the practice of moving wooden rosary beads through ones fingers most especially during times of distress. If you get a chance today, knock on some wood and call your Mother, she’d love to hear from you and she’d love to tell you stories about her Son!!

The first reading from the book of Jonah is a great example of a living parable. Jonah had lost heart over his mission in Nineveh and he prayed for death. He ran away and watched from the sidelines to see what would happen. God gave him a lovely shade tree to sit under while he sulked and watched from afar. This tree gave him comfort and then God took the tree away. Jonah was so mad that he prayed for death yet again and then God was annoyed. Really? You want to die over the loss of a silly little tree that you didn’t even grow?? How do you think I feel about the loss of my actual children living in Nineveh??? Now stop your whining, get in there, and work with me here!! I’ll admit it: I’ve cried during a football game or two when my beloved team loses; I have prayed for death when I don’t get my way; I have run away from uncomfortable situations; I avoid conflict like the plague; I complain when my comfort zone becomes a tension-filled ring of anxiety. Raise your hand if any of these apply in your own life? This reading helps me to put that all into perspective. If I really do trust in the Lord, then these things should not pull my focus, disturb my inner peace, or send me into a tailspin. Trust is an anchor that keeps my soul centered and grounded and yes, my ship will be tossed and turned, and spun around by these kinds of foul weather, but my soul is always safe in the arms of trust.

I find that the more I pray the rosary, the more stable and constant my trust in God becomes. The rosary is the line that keeps the anchor and the boat attached to one another and it strengthens every time I pray it. Why? Because the rosary is a meditation on the life of Christ, taken directly from Scripture, and whenever we turn our minds and hearts toward Him, our soul is fortified in His Word, in His love, and in His life. The beads are the stepping stones into a deeper relationship with Jesus and the repeated prayers serve as the rhythm of our hearts aligning to His. We become one pulse when we pray as one voice and that is the genius of the rosary. With every Hail Mary we quote the Angel Gabriel when he introduced the Christ to the world (Luke 1:28), and we ask for prayer because we are sinners. What a powerful proclamation? Lord, you are God and I am not. The rosary gives us humility and trust.

In today’s gospel, Jesus gives us the prayer that binds the mysteries of the rosary together. His disciples had been watching him take his own alone time in prayer on a daily basis and they finally asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” Let that be a lesson to us that our actions speak volumes and eventually people will ask us about them. He said to them, “When YOU pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name,

your Kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread

and forgive us our sins

for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,

and do not subject us to the final test.”

Take note that Jesus did not say that this was how he prayed for he does not need to ask for forgiveness of his sins. He gives us 7 daily petitions that we should include in our prayer. The Luke version is slightly different than the Matthew version, but the 7 daily petitions are:

1. Give praise to God for His holiness,

2. Ask that His Kingdom will come, 

3. Ask for His will to be done on earth AS it is in heaven,

4. Ask for our daily sustenance or bread (Eucharist),

5. Ask for forgiveness of our sins AS we forgive others,

6. Ask for the strength to resist the temptation of sin,

7. Ask for deliverance from evil.

This prayer covers it all beginning with praising God, giving our wills over to Him, fortifying our souls with true food, taking care of others, and resisting the devil. It makes sense that this prayer is the glue that holds all the meditations of the rosary together for in it is all that we need to thrive. Let today’s readings permeate our hearts, minds, and souls with life giving and practical spirituality so that when we are tested, we will not be shaken. Don’t forget to knock on wood and let the mysteries of Christ’s life transform your life.

Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary
Lectionary: 463

Reading 1 JON 4:1-11

Jonah was greatly displeased
and became angry that God did not carry out the evil
he threatened against Nineveh.
He prayed, “I beseech you, LORD,
is not this what I said while I was still in my own country?
This is why I fled at first to Tarshish.
I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God,
slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish.
And now, LORD, please take my life from me;
for it is better for me to die than to live.”
But the LORD asked, “Have you reason to be angry?”

Jonah then left the city for a place to the east of it,
where he built himself a hut and waited under it in the shade,
to see what would happen to the city.
And when the LORD God provided a gourd plant
that grew up over Jonah’s head,
giving shade that relieved him of any discomfort,
Jonah was very happy over the plant.
But the next morning at dawn
God sent a worm that attacked the plant,
so that it withered.
And when the sun arose, God sent a burning east wind;
and the sun beat upon Jonah’s head till he became faint.
Then Jonah asked for death, saying,
“I would be better off dead than alive.”

But God said to Jonah,
“Have you reason to be angry over the plant?”
“I have reason to be angry,” Jonah answered, “angry enough to die.”
Then the LORD said,
“You are concerned over the plant which cost you no labor
and which you did not raise;
it came up in one night and in one night it perished.
And should I not be concerned over Nineveh, the great city,
in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons
who cannot distinguish their right hand from their left,
not to mention the many cattle?”

Responsorial Psalm PS 86:3-4, 5-6, 9-10

R. (15) Lord, you are merciful and gracious.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to you I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
R. Lord, you are merciful and gracious.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
R. Lord, you are merciful and gracious.
All the nations you have made shall come
and worship you, O Lord,
and glorify your name.
For you are great, and you do wondrous deeds;
you alone are God.
R. Lord, you are merciful and gracious.

Alleluia ROM 8:15BC

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You have received a spirit of adoption as sons
through which we cry: Abba! Father!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 11:1-4

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”