October 7, Rosary Altar Network Mass

Rosary-Altar Network Mass

Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary—7 October 2017

Our Lady of Sorrows Church
Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

Rosarians Can Be—Should Be—Evangelizers!

A friend who is a pastor in Italy placed a sign on the gate to the entrance of his church which reads:

When you were baptized, your parents took you to church.
When you were confirmed, your sponsor took you to church.
When you marry, your spouse takes you to church.
When you die, the pallbearers will take you to church.
Why not try coming on your own once in a while!

I hope the sign was not his only attempt to evangelize but I know that he, like all of us, has a great desire to see our churches filled and our parishes vibrant! But to do this we need, a “new evangelization” to take root in the soil of our secular culture. Evangelization is the greatest challenge we face as a Church. St. John Paul II said, “No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty.”
 
Why do I mention this in today’s celebration? Because the Holy Rosary is, to use the words of Blessed Paul VI, “the Gospel Prayer” and the Gospel must be shared! With every mystery of Rosary comes a mission…a motivation to share the faith, to share our love of the Lord, his Blessed Mother and his holy Church. In fact, Mary has been called, “Star of the New Evangelization” because she is the model for drawing people to her Son.
 
I mention this because every Rosarian can be—and should be an evangelizer. Baptism and Confirmation makes us evangelizers and the Eucharist and the Rosary provide the strength for the work. You might ask, “Father, how can I be an evangelizer? Are we supposed to like the Mormons and go from house to house? You might say, “What more can you expect from me? After all, I’m a senior citizen! I’ve reached the snapdragon years of my life—parts of me have snapped and the rest of me is dragging! I get excited when I can find my car in the parking lot!”
 
But we never retire from the school of the Lord’s service. So how can I be an evangelizer? Let’s not forget that family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers observe us!
 
Years before St. John XXIII became Pope, he served as the Vatican’s ambassador or Nuncio to Paris where it was expected that he host a number of elegant dinner parties. At one such dinner, he found himself seated across the table from a woman who was wearing, shall we say, a very low cut and revealing dress. Someone turned to the Nuncio and said, “What a scandal, aren’t you embarrassed your Excellency, that everyone is looking at that woman?” He replied, “Not at all, because everyone is looking at ME to see if I am looking at HER!”
 
People observe and they often like to observe those who profess to be people of faith. But what do they see? Mary, the Star of Evangelization, provides the ingredients for evangelization. Being Italian, I like to think of cooking. So let’s put three ingredients into the pot.
 
The first is JOY! Our Lady had her share of sorrows but her neighbors would have surely felt her joy. Hers was a house of joy! She who was full of grace, radiated joy! At the sound of her voice the Baptist leaped for joy in his mother’s womb. Mary sang out “My spirit rejoices in God my savior!” Our faith should bring us joy! “We cannot proclaim Christ with funeral faces,” says Pope Francis. Our faith is always serious but never somber. One saint expressed it so well: “Leave sadness to those in the world. We who work for God should be joyful.” Joy attracts. Isaiah tells us that the ungodly nations would taunt the Israelites saying, “Let us see your joy!” Let’s meet the apathy of the world with the joy that comes from our comes from our prayer, from the Mass, the sacraments?
 
The second ingredient is the COURAGE TO BE DIFFERENT. The people of Nazareth would have surely recognized Mary as being very different. Mary was out of the ordinary. She surely attracted people who were captivated by what made her so unique.
 
Disciples--Rosarians must be different. We cannot be just like everybody else. Like Mary we must have the courage to stand apart. How often out of a misguided sense of good manners we fail to speak about our faith. When the Church blends into the world, it doesn’t help the world.
 
When we look the same, hold the same opinions as anyone else, who needs us? When we are as dark or unfocused as anyone else, when we become a vague echo of the prevailing culture, what difference can we make in the lives of others? It’s not easy. We risk being criticized. Mary had her envious detractors. Pope Francis reminds us that “we must evangelize with a heart that is not afraid and that we cannot be “a Church of weak thinking.”
 
The third ingredient is TRUST. Our Blessed Mother had a trust in God that was beyond compare. In prayer she came to understand God’s plan of salvation. She did not allow the storms of life to upset her perspective that God was present and at work. She did not panic, despair or rebel. The Rosary helps us to trust, to know that God is present and at work in our life.
In the end, we must always remember that evangelization is not a human enterprise. It is God’s work. The motto of my elementary school was, “Do your duty and leave the rest to God.”
 
Dear Rosarians, don’t just plod along, but take up this “supreme duty” so that people may see your joy, your courage to be different and your firm trust.
 
O Mary, Queen of the Holy Rosary and Bright Star of Evangelization, walk with us!