Praying the rosary/God and COVID-19

Q Why should I pray the rosary?  Didn’t Jesus condemn repetitious prayer when he said “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words” (Mt 6:7)?

A The rosary is a devotion to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary.  We can never go wrong honoring the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ.  St. Padre Pio called the rosary beads a weapon of extraordinary power against Satan.  Father Gabriel Amorth, the former chief exorcist of the Vatican, once wrote:  “One day a colleague of mine heard the devil say during an exorcism, ‘Every Hail Mary is like a blow on my head. If Christians knew how powerful the rosary was, it would be my end.’ ”  

Yes, Jesus did say “do not babble like the pagans,” but he was not condemning repetitive prayer.  According to the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, New Testament, Jesus was condemning the religious feelings of the pagans who “would recite long litanies of divine names to gain attention of gods. Jesus considers the practice empty, i.e., devoid of faith and of love for the deity.  Note that his warning is not aimed at repetitious or lengthy prayer in itself.  With a pure heart, such prayer can be fruitful and intimate.  Jesus himself prayed to the father in Gethsemane three times ‘saying the same words’ (Mt 26:44) and ‘all night’ (Lk 6:12) before choosing the apostles.” 

When praying the rosary, we should not just repeat the prayers of the rosary. We should mediate on the mysteries of the rosary (the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries in the life of Jesus and his mother).  This is easier said than done.  Many times our minds might wonder because we are human.  However, the Thomas Merton prayer should give us comfort that our rosary was not in vain.  Part of that prayer includes “the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.  But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.  And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.”  No prayer, no rosary, is ever wasted.      

Q As the effects of COVID-19 and the delta variant continue to affect us, I wonder why God has caused this widespread epidemic to happen.

A First of all, God has not caused this virus to happen.  Everything that God created was good but God created us to share his love with us.  To give us the ability to love he gave us free will, and love involves a choice.  Sin and suffering entered the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, when they chose their will instead of God’s will.  God did not create evil and suffering but he allows it to happen.  All human suffering is the result of the sin of Adam and Eve and their rebellion against God.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states God did not create a perfect world.  In fact, God could have created a better world but he created one that is “in a state of journeying.”  

In our world, the more perfect exists alongside the less perfect.  Nature has both constructive and destructive forces. Physical good will always be mixed with physical evil until creation reaches perfection. 

Although suffering is not good in itself, good can come from it.  Romans 8:28 states: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”  

If you doubt that, think about it.  Who suffered one of the cruelest deaths ever?  Jesus, our Lord and God.  His passion and death had to be one of the vilest ever, but it opened up the gates of heaven for us, the greatest gift that anyone has ever given us.

Suffering can bring us closer to God.  We can know Christ more fully when we suffer and share our suffering with him.  Suffering also helps us to understand that we are not in control.  Who knows how many people will come back to him because of the suffering that we are now experiencing?  

This is an opportunity for us to offer up our sufferings for the conversion of many souls, who appear to be lost.   

Of course, these are not the only reasons why God allows suffering.  We must remember that God thinks and acts on a different level from ours.  Through the prophet Isaiah, God tells us: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways” (Is 55:8).  

Deacon Hooper is a deacon assistant at Immaculate Conception Church in Denham Springs. He can be reached at [email protected].