On the Catholic calendar, August 15 is the Feast of the Assumption. As one colleague recently put it, that’s the day Mom would make us go to Church during summer vacation on a weekday. Well, it’s not a holy day of obligation for Catholics this year, as it falls on a Saturday, and then there is COVID-19, which would have lifted the obligation any day. But if you have faith, get on your knees, wherever you are.
And I mean everyone. Non-Catholic Christians who were raised on warnings about Catholics and Mary, please know that we love her because she is the mother of God. I know you do, too. Join us in prayer. Mary is someone who can unite us all. She was Jewish. Muslims revere her.
The pitch is to pray all the mysteries of the Rosary this Saturday. And you really don’t have to be Catholic. There’s really nothing in the “Hail Mary” that a Christian can’t sign onto. But I respect your opt-out, of course, of the specific prayers — though you may find them a beautiful walk through the life of Christ. But Catholics — devout, ardent, practicing Catholics, or however our politicians who cast aside some important points describe themselves — pray! Pray the whole thing if you can. Pray what you can.
Pray for peace. Pray for healing. Pray for conversion — a transformation of this world to God’s light.
Believe in the power of prayer.
Do you believe “thoughts and prayers” can be the most intense, powerful action, when authentically entered into in love, and not just a throwaway line to fill an awkward space in the face of tragedy and hardship? Then — hello — we’re in a pandemic. Our politics is a mess. Families are falling apart. So many of us have felt at the end of their rope, and then some. There is tremendous suffering all around us. We must pray. It’s one of the greatest weapons we have in our supernatural toolbox.
Here’s the prayer pitch for tomorrow. Join in prayers for peace, however you feel comfortable. Thank you.
Some guides to the four mysteries of the rosary here, here, and here.
Let us pray! It certainly can’t hurt.
Update: You can pray the four mysteries of the Rosary along with the Sisters of Life here:
