Men's Rosary

THE ANNUNCIATION

And when the angel had come to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28)

Fruit of the mystery: Humility

Mary was the humble servant of God. She listened and accepted. I can only imagine how puzzled she must have been that this was happening to her, but she trusted in God. Her faith was such that she knew He was in control of all things. She had questions about what was happening to her, but she never questioned what God was doing. Ultimately, she accepted and totally gave herself to God, conforming her will to His will.

As men, we need to follow her example. As leaders in our families and parishes we can easily become too self-reliant. We can begin to control things. We must step back and remember that God is in control of all things, and we are to conform our will to His. It is important to humble ourselves before Him and realize that we are not independent but dependent on Him for everything. It will be in our humility that we will be strong and lead well. St. Paul said, in 2 Corinthians 12:10, that when he is weak, he is strong. When we have challenges rather than fight through with the “I’ll deal with it attitude”, we will be better served to acknowledge the struggle, the weakness, and submit to God’s will and act with the full strength of the Lord.

This is why prayer is an integral part of manhood. This is where God will speak to us and direct our actions. This is how we will conform our will to His. It is where we will find our strength, the strength to overcome all weaknesses. Meditating on Christ’s life through praying the Rosary and time with Him in Adoration gives us the opportunity to draw close to Him and hear God’s voice. This is a wonderful way to come to understand how God wants us to act and handle life. I remember as I was growing older and coming into manhood, I thought, “I don’t need to go to dad! I am a man; I can figure it out!” Then, many times, I would make a bigger mess of things. I would then go to dad about the issue. Most of the time he gave me advise and instruction and things got squared away! I don’t want to do that with God, even though I do. It is much better to go to Him first and see what He has to say and then act. Life will be better, I will be able to serve my family, parish, community, and friends more.

The great thing about God is that He is patient! So, it is never too late to start going to Him first. Every moment is a time to start conforming our will to His. Every moment is a time to humble ourselves and accept our weakness and dependence on God. Every moment is a time to be the man God calls us to be!

Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire. St. Catherine of Siena