Reflection on the Joyful Mysteries

This was a note I wrote (with pen and paper! So rare these days that I have to add that disclaimer) and gave to Anthony this past Monday after I prayed a Rosary, and here I will transcribe it as he has told me to do. I edited it slightly, but mostly this is what was originally written:

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It occurred to me that these are the steps of Christian life/initiation in allegory:

1. The Annunciation. God speaks to our human hearts and asks us if we will bear Christ in the world; we become like Mary if we say 'yes', albeit in our small ways, to not only our own salvation but that of others around us, to be co-redeemers with Christ; if we say 'no', we become Eve, and allow evil to propagate; this is a joyful mystery because there is no joy in refusing God.

2. The Visitation. This 'yes' is then confirmed by action; Mary goes in haste, despite her own medical needs, to help another yet needier. Doesn't Christ do this also when He takes up His cross? We are beginning to have Christ dwell within us. In our good works, Christ - already present from the 'yes' - grows in us, and He is yet, even at this early stage, able to inspire others through us.

3. The Nativity. Christ, after this prior preparation, is now ready to come into the world; the individual ceases to be, except for Christ's sake - notice how Mary becomes silent in Scripture after His birth - Christ lives, and is incarnated (meaning, He comes into flesh) in and through the believer who says 'yes' to His will and follows it with good works. Here, the nations and non-believers will see Christ clearly and those who love wisdom will honor you and adore Christ in you; you will manifest Christ to them and give Him to them, and may give them faith.

4. The Presentation. Even despite these marvellous signs, there may be a temptation to pride, to assume these good things come from you and not God. Here, the true believer must submit to the laws and decrees of God; He will enter into God's covenant - circumcised of heart, now bodily - the body manifests the spirit. Obedience becomes fitting to a maturing soul, and accepting joys with sorrows, pleasure with pain, benefits the soul, if for the sake of Christ - the Christian must suffer the world's scorn, even as he experiences the benefits of divine grace. Mary's heart is to be pierced, even as her Son is exalted (and becomes a sign to be contradicted against). The Christian must gird his soul with strength, or be swept away by the follies of his age - whatever heresy or fad of heteropraxy (unorthodox practice/ritual or immorality, if I have got the term correctly). The Christian's consolation is in his covenant with God, God's faithfulness, Christ - nowhere else may a soul rest in total peace. Obedience and humility - accepting God's rightful place as giving Him His due - is necessary for Christian life. "Whosoever loves me, keeps my commandments".

5. Finding Jesus in the Temple. Here, the believer grows in wisdom and the favor of men; he can be the scribes, learning from the mouth of Jesus, and be burning in their souls for charity. He can be Mary and Joseph, who never stop seeking their Lord, who rest when He is found in His Father's House - the lost find Him. One, humbly speaking, may be Jesus, as by baptism's covenant we are Christs - anointed ones - and heirs of God. With His wisdom, the more we conform to Christ. We will be able to better confront the errors of our time, instructing the ignorant with God's Word. We may be one with God - and in our lives we must take the positions of all 3 mentioned here - the scribes, Mary and Joseph, and our Lord. We must continually be converted, renewed, and seeking; this path we must follow. Like the manifesting of doctrine, Christ draws us ever closer to Himself, more deeply intimate.

+n Christ+