Today's Rosary | Holy Rosary University

Friends of the Rosary: In his apostolic letter "Salvici Doloris" , St. John Paul II wrote on the Christian meaning of human suffering: "It is through suffering that Jesus redeems us." Benedict XVI wrote in his book Jesus of Nazareth : "In Jesus’ Passion, the filth of the world is wiped out in the pain of infinite love." Great pain is God’s chosen way, because, as the...

Friends of the Rosary: The faithful, who see their lives increasingly perfected by the grace of God, find it incomprehensible why many among us, especially friends and family members, prefer to stay attached to sin and darkness. The Holy Spirit explained yesterday’s Gospel reading (John 3:14-21).” “And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world,  but people preferred darkness to light...

Friends of the Rosary: The Fourth Sunday of Lent is traditionally called  Laetare Sunday . Laetare is a Latin word that means "rejoice." Today's Gospel (John 3:14-21) describes the reason for our joy: God's great love for us has been revealed in Jesus. Through his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, Christ has reconciled us with God and one another. "For God so loved the world...

Friends of the Rosary: "I have come not to abolish the law but to fulfill it," Jesus said to the Pharisees, as we read this Wednesday (Matthew 5:17–19). The Son of God Jesus denounced the hypocrisy of the instructional religion of that time, but He didn’t call for its dismantling. "What He effected was a transfiguration of the best of that classical Israelite religion—temple, law, p...

Friends of the Rosary: Lent is a time for a new conversion. By the sacrifice of penance, the Lord sends us abundant grace to purify us.  Benedict XVI said that Lent disciplines us, so we can be centered on the Paschal Mystery and change our daily lives. It’s a new beginning. Benedict focused on three practical solutions. First, he mentions faith in a Creator God, and then "the renewal of the...

Friends of the Rosary: Man's pride exceeds all bounds. We all too frequently boast of our spiritual and material accomplishments as if no one had ever equaled us, even seeking to place himself on a level with, and at times even above, Our Lord. Yet Christ, Who was true God, "emptied Himself, taking the nature of a slave and being made like unto men, and appearing in the form of man, He hu...

Friends of the Rosary: Building a culture that protects human and Christian vocations is critical. But this is at risk, due to the danger of gender ideology, said Pope Francis. "Today the ugliest danger is gender ideology, which seeks to blur differences between men and women through movements such as transgenderism," explained the Pope during an audience in Rome this month. "Erasin...

Friends of the Rosary: At that time, the crowd was asking Jesus for a sign from Heaven to believe, despite the countless miracles He performed — as we recently read in the Gospel (Lk 11:29-32). The Son of God Jesus said to them: "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah." The sign of Jonah was the victory of his death...

Friends of the Rosary: In his first letter to the Corinthians, which we read yesterday (1 Cor 1:22-25), St. Paul explains how Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom. “But we proclaim Christ crucified.” For the Jews, Greeks, and Gentiles, Christ did not fit their preconceived ideas of the Messiah. They all looked to philosophy or human wisdom for the solution of man’s problems. Our Lord’s mes...

Friends of the Rosary: The Catholic Church begins today the second phase of the Forty Days of Lent with the Gospel passage of the long dialogue of Jesus and the Samaritan woman from He asks for a drink of water (Jn 4:13-16). Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become...

Friends of the Rosary: We see a portrait of our Holy God in today's Gospel of Luke and the well-known parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:1–3, 11-32). This is the story: A son asks his father for his inheritance, then squanders it recklessly, as he lives a life of indulgence. With nothing left, he is forced to work as a hired hand for a pig farmer. He is so destitute that he longs to eat the...

Friends of the Rosary: The Forty Days of Lent is also a period of education and formation for adults who have not yet been baptized. They are being prepared to receive Baptism, Confirmation, and the Holy Eucharist, the three sacraments of Christian initiation, at the Easter Vigil. But the baptismal character of Lent is not only for catechumens. All of the faithful are reminded that Baptism is for...

Friends of the Rosary: Today, we read in the Gospel the story told by Jesus to the Pharisees of a poor man named Lazarus covered with sores who sat outside the door of a rich man dressed finely and dining sumptuously each day. When Lazarus died, he was carried away by angels to "the bosom of Abraham" and comforted there. The rich man also died and was buried, and carried to the netherwor...

Friends of the Rosary: In today’s reading (Mt 20:17-28), Christ Jesus anticipates to the Twelve disciples His Sorrowful Passion: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day....

Friends of the Rosary: As we read in the Gospel today (Mt 23:1-12), Jesus said to his disciples and the crowd: "The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted." The Son of God was talking about the spiritual pride shown by the scribes and Pharisees: "Do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,...

Friends of the Rosary: Christ Jesus asked us to stop judging, and be forgiving and merciful — as we read today in the Gospel of Luke (Lk 6:36-38). "For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you." For this behavior, we need to ask God's grace. "I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your he...

Friends of the Rosary: The Holy Trinity speaks to us in many ways, including through the Sunday Scripture readings. And today, on the second Sunday of Lent, we move from Jesus' retreat to the desert and the temptations by the devil to the splendor of the Transfiguration .  This episode, when Christ was transformed into pure light, is told in the three Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luk...

Friends of the Rosary: During Lent, we renew our baptismal vows and reaffirm our identity as Jesus’ disciples. The Lenten season — with its three main pillars of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving — helps us strive to be better followers of Christ The Faithful rediscover the penitential season that precedes Easter. On Ash Wednesday we accepted the ashes placed upon each of one’s foreheads as an essen...

Friends of the Rosary: In Lent, from Ash Wednesday until the sundown in Holy Thursday, we engage in a 40-day battle to overcome sin. Through intense prayer, fasting and self-discipline, almsgiving and sharing our time and talents, and deep reflection, we prepare to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops  says ,  “During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer...

Friends of the Rosary: Today we celebrate the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter. The feast commemorates the unity of the Church, founded upon the Apostle and continued in an unbroken line down to the present Pope. In today’s Gospel (Mt 16:13-19), we see how Peter is appointed to lead the Church of Christ on earth. Jesus said: “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates o...

Friends of the Rosary: Yesterday, the Catholic Church honored St. Jacinta Marto (1910-1920), the youngest visionary of Our Lady of Fatima. She and her brother Francisco — whose feast is April 4 — were officially declared saints on May 13, 2017, in Fatima, Portugal. St. Francisco's feast is on April 4. Both under 12 years old, they were the youngest non-martyrs to be beatified in the history of...

Friends of the Rosary: Christ Jesus didn't promise us smooth discipleship, but one filled with suffering — even much suffering.  In His three falls beneath the weight of the Cross, Jesus was tested in His faith. Freely and willingly, He emptied Himself and became obedient unto death for our sake.  Christ's Via Crucis is a time of trial for us, too. A test of faith.  Our earthly journey is...

Friends of the Rosary: In today's reading in the Gospel (Mt 25:31-46), Christ Jesus explains what is needed to inherit eternal life. "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me." "Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of min...

Friends of the Rosary: Today's Gospel (Mk 1:12-15) shows Christ Jesus being tempted by Satan in the desert for forty days and consoled by angels of God. After the temptations, Jesus went into Galilee and began to preach. "The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. A...

Friends of the Rosary: Today’s Gospel tells the episode (Lk 5:27-32) of the instant conversion of the tax collector Levi — St. Matthew. Jesus passed by, gazed at Matthew, and simply said, "Follow me." "And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him." Bishop Barron asks: "Was Jesus responding to a request from Matthew or some longing in the sinner’s heart? Certai...