The Rosary and the Spiritual Journey – An Encounter with Grace | The Spiritual Journey for the Discerning Heart Podcast
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St. Bernard of Clairvaux on Contemplating the Life of Jesus with Mary About This Episode How can the life of Jesus help us through fear, uncertainty, suffering, difficult decisions, waiting, loss, and hope? In this episode of The Spiritual Journey for the Discerning Heart, Kris McGregor reflects on a sermon from St. Bernard of Clairvaux and what it can teach us about contemplative prayer and the Holy Rosary. St. Bernard says that Christ dwells within our hearts, our memory, our understanding, and even our imagination. Although Bernard lived before the Rosary developed into the form familiar to us today, his reflection helps us understand why returning prayerfully to the life of Jesus can become such an important part of the spiritual journey. When we stay with the Gospel, the events in Jesus’ life begin to speak into our own circumstances. Gethsemane can accompany us when we’re afraid of what lies ahead. The carrying of the Cross can speak to burdens we never chose. Cana can teach us something about trust when we cannot yet see what Jesus is going to do. The Resurrection can bring hope into places where we see no clear way forward. The Rosary gives us a way to return to these moments in the life of Jesus through prayer. Memory recalls what happened, our understanding considers what it reveals, the imagination helps us remain with the Gospel scene, and the heart begins to respond. Mary is an important companion in this prayer because this was also her spiritual journey. She received Christ, lived beside him, pondered what she did not yet understand, remained with him at the Cross, and waited in prayer with the disciples for the Holy Spirit. Her words at Cana continue to direct us toward her Son: “Do whatever he tells you.” For those who have prayed the Rosary for many years, this episode is an invitation to enter a familiar prayer more deeply. For those who have never prayed it, come from another Christian tradition, or are simply searching spiritually, it offers a way to understand how contemplating the life of Jesus can become a genuine encounter with Christ and with the grace he offers in every season of life. As St. Bernard writes: “Whatever of all this I consider, it is God I am considering; in all this he is my God.” Discerning Hearts Reflection Question * Is there a moment in the life of Jesus that speaks particularly strongly to something you are facing now, whether fear, uncertainty, suffering, waiting, loss, or hope? What changes when you remain with Jesus there in prayer? * St. Bernard speaks about Christ entering our memory, understanding, and imagination. How might prayerfully returning to a Gospel scene help you move from simply knowing the story to encountering Jesus within it? * Mary kept and pondered what happened in her heart, even when she could not yet see where everything would lead. What can her way of remembering, waiting, trusting, and remaining with Jesus teach you about your own spiritual journey? * If the Rosary is already familiar to you, how might slowing down before each decade help the life of Jesus speak more directly into the circumstances you are facing? From a sermon of St Bernard of Clairvaux The child to be born of you will be called holy, the Son of God, the fountain of wisdom, the Word of the Father on high. Through you, blessed Virgin, this Word will become flesh, so that even though, as he says: I am in the Father and the Father is in me, it is still true for him to say: “I came forth from God and am here.” In the beginning was the Word. The spring was gushing forth, yet still within himself. Indeed, the Word was with God, truly dwelling in inaccessible light. And the Lord said from the beginning: I think thoughts of peace and not of affliction. Yet your thought was locked within you, and whatever you thought, we did not know; for who knew the mind of the Lord, or who was his counsellor? And so the idea of peace came down to do the work of peace: The Word was made flesh and even now dwells among us. It is by faith that he dwells in our hearts, in our memory, our intellect and penetrates even into our imagination. What concept could man have of God if he did not first fashion an image of him in his heart? By nature incomprehensible and inaccessible, he was invisible and unthinkable, but now he wished to be understood, to be seen and thought of. But how, you ask, was this done? He lay in a manger and rested on a virgin’s breast, preached on a mountain, and spent the night in prayer. He hung on a cross, grew pale in death, and roamed free among the dead and ruled over those in hell. He rose again on the third day, and showed the apostles the wounds of the nails, the signs of victory; and finally in their presence he ascended to the sanctuary of heaven. How can we not contemplate this story in truth, piety and holiness? Whatever of all this I consider, it is God I am considering; in all this he is my God. I have said it is wise to meditate on these truths, and I have thought it right to recall the abundant sweetness, given by the fruits of this priestly root; and Mary, drawing abundantly from heaven, has caused this sweetness to overflow for us. Excerpts from the English translation of The Liturgy of the Hours (Four Volumes), © 1974, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved. Scripture for Reflection Luke 2:19, RSV-CE “But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” John 2:5, RSV-CE “His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’” St. Bernard of Clairvaux “It is by faith that he dwells in our hearts, in our memory, our intellect, and penetrates even into our imagination.” “How can we not contemplate this story in truth, piety, and holiness?” “Whatever of all this I consider, it is God I am considering; in all this, he is my God.” Continue the Journey with Discerning Hearts ➜ Explore Discerning Hearts ➜ Discerning Hearts Series Programming ➜ The Spiritual Journey with Kris McGregor Continue Exploring ➜ The Holy Rosary of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary – Discerning Hearts ➜ Scriptural Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Discerning Hearts ➜ Our Lady of the Rosary: Praying with the Blessed Virgin Mary – Fr. Mark Cyza ➜ The Rosary – How to Pray with David Torkington ➜ The Spiritual Journey for the Discerning Heart ➜ Blessed Virgin Mary Devotionals, Prayers, Chaplets, and Novenas