Not exactly the Nobel Prize or the Academy Awards, but August 10th is the day of the year I begin a new year of saying the daily Rosary, with a new intention.
The choice was easier in simpler times of days gone by.
With no immediate family nearby and no apparent prospects for the future, sometimes the intention was obvious. I would look within myself, and around at the world, and decide.
With both parents dead, I should pray for them. Certain desperate places in the world cry out for prayer. I’d wonder if my heart need forever remain a moribund thing of stone. How could I not pray for my own flesh and blood?
After reciting the Rosary, I recall every intention I’ve had and remain mindful of the work that remains toward accomplishing the results my prayers were meant to help achieve.
Not so simple anymore, life.
As today approached, weeks away, days away, hours away, I tried to listen closely to my conscience, to the most urgent whispers, to decide what this year to focus upon.
Which of three things: something my wife and I hope for, or for a change of circumstances for someone in dire need of positive changes and good luck, or for the establishment of a lasting foundation for myself in a new field I’ve just entered into which could settle the details of the remaining 20 years of my work life?
Obviously, the first thing cannot be dismissed, because it’s not just me, it’s my wife and I, and our child, and a possible sister or brother for our firstborn. But the second option isn’t speculative, or meant to supplement positive factors already in place– it’s meant possibly to divert disaster and radically change someone’s course for the better, possibly with exponentially positive, self-perpetuating offshoots that would be a boon to a wide circle of people. And the third option would be a prayer of thanksgiving and also somewhat of desperation from one who cannot take anything for granted, who knows full well that any good fortune that falls into my hands, might, in a forgetful moment, drop.
The solution is in the Rosary: the Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, the Glorious Mysteries. Sunrise is a joyful mystery, the excessive heat of the Summer midday Sun in these days of global warming is a sorrowful mystery, and a cool, beautiful sunset can be a glorious mystery, especially when the full Sturgeon Moon rises during the Perseids meteor shower. One life, with many aspects, one year of prayer, one Rosary, of many aspects.
My wife and I hope to experience a new joyful mystery, so I will pray for that during those five decades. For my friend undergoing severe trials, I will pray the Sorrowful Mysteries, and to celebrate my personal good fortune and emphasize my need to work hard toward a positive judgment upon my efforts, I will pray the Glorious Mysteries.
Maybe next year, the choice will be easier!