Mysteries, the rosary and the Bible This is an abbreviated version of the talk Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone gave at the rosary rally Oct. 11 at U.N. Plaza in San Francisco.
T
he rosary involves meditating on the mysteries of our faith. But many people misunderstand the meaning of “mystery.” In popular thought, a mystery is considered nothing more than a question to which no one can figure out the answer. In the Bible, though, a mystery is something quite different. In the Bible and in the Church, a mystery is something hidden by God, to be revealed at a point of God’s choosing. A mystery, even when revealed for example by Christ, is only partially revealed and understood. Finite minds cannot understand infinite realities. In each age the Church struggles to at least partially understand revealed mysteries and express them in the
culture of that age. One sees this in the deepening appreciation over time of the mysteries entrusted to the Church. Throughout the course of 2,000 years of Church history, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church has been able to explain in greater depth and with greater clarity the truths of our faith. This occurs as the SALVATORE J. Church reCORDILEONE sponds to challenges to the truths in different cultural, political and social circumstances.
FROM THE ARCHBISHOP
The Spirit continues to guide the Church in the way of truth. Our actions today, praying the rosary and promoting understanding of the power of this prayer, stem originally from a movement of the Holy Spirit that prompted people to adopt a new devotion. It was Our Lady herself who revealed the rosary to St. Dominic. She told him that the rosary would be one of the most powerful weapons against future errors and difficulties. Mysteries are good things God has revealed but not fully explained to us. When we pray the mysteries enumerated in the decades of the rosary, we accept our limited understanding but look forward to the end of time when we understand how these mysteries are integrated into the divine plan of human salvation. As the Church makes her pilgrim way through the time of this world to that great, final, eternal encounter, God uses the rosa-
ry as a revelation to keep the Church on the path of truth and to motivate her children to make progress in the way of holiness, even in the face of the temptations and obstacles that the evil one and the world place before us. Jesus Christ is the Word made Flesh, the Son of God become man. He is the one who fulfills all the prayers and aspirations of Israel as articulated by the Old Testament prophets. By praying the Psalms since the first Pentecost, the Church has joined the Jews, her ancestors in faith, in praying that most precious treasury collection of inspired prayers, the Psalms, which the Jews have bequeathed to the world. The three sets of mysteries – Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious – are prayed with 10 Hail Mary’s for each one, totaling 150 Hail Marys. The traditional complete rosary corresponds to the 150 Psalms in SEE ARCHBISHOP, PAGE 13
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Synod report: ‘A missionary conversion required’ of wounded couples, families STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
VATICAN CITY – The wounded state of marriage and family in the modern world calls for even greater evangelization and outreach to those who are divorced and remarried and to those who experience same-sex attraction, as well as better education of children and families in the faith, according to an interim report from the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family. The church needs to continue to minister pastorally to those in irregular unions, and stable heterosexual couples should be accompanied in a development toward the sacrament of marriage, the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops said in a midterm report issued Oct. 13. “A missionary conversion is required,” with a focus on people’s real problems, since “it must not be forgotten that the crisis of faith has led to a crisis in matrimony and the family and, as a result, the transmission of faith
Archbishop Cordileone: Expect Pope Francis to offer a pastoral plan by 2016
SEE SYNOD REPORT, PAGE 12
(PHOTO BY DENNIS CALLAHAN/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)
Archbishop Cordileone leads prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in United Nations Plaza in San Francisco Oct. 11.
Archbishop leads eucharistic procession VALERIE SCHMALZ CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO
San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone carried the exposed Eucharist in a monstrance through the streets of San Francisco, as more than 1,000 Catholics processed in a public display of faith
from St. Mary’s Cathedral to United Nations Plaza for the fourth annual rosary rally Oct. 11. “Pope Francis prays three rosaries a day,” said keynote speaker Father Andrew Apostoli, co-founder with Father Benedict Groeschel in 1988 of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, urging the about 2,000 people gath-
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ered in the Indian summer sun at the noon rally to pray the rosary daily. “The key to world peace is to be praying the rosary,” said Father Apostoli, an expert on the 1916 revelations of the Blessed Mother to the three children at Fatima, Portugal. SEE ROSARY RALLY, PAGE 13
INDEX On the Street . . . . . . . . .4 National . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . .22