Rosary Promise #6
Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries shall never be conquered by
misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by
an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
In December’s Parish Health update, I wrote about the life of Christian James, a Westside man who recently passed away after a 7 year battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s
disease). As I read through this promise, I chuckled at the paradox of his devotion to the Rosary coupled by his misfortune of a diagnosis that is ultimately, a death sentence.
But one need only to dig a bit deeper to see how true this promise proves. Christian’s
devotion to the Rosary and to Mary were the result of his “misfortune”. Prior to Christian’s diagnosis, he confided that he disliked going to confession. In fact, in a testimony he gave to a group of men in February at a Christ Renews His Parish retreat, Christian admitted going 7 years without the sacrament. As one who believes in what our Catholic faith teaches about the need for frequent confession, I would argue that Christian was playing a very dangerous game of roulette with his eternal destiny. So
many of us, myself included, do or have done this.
As Catholics, we believe that when we die in a state of mortal sin, which assumes that we have been given the gift of the faith and willingly and knowingly reject what is good and right and choose what is not, we commit a mortal sin. To die in a state of mortal sin is to lose the ability to live with God in eternity, by choice. It’s hard to imagine anyone can go 7 years without occasional intentional rejection of good.
It was only in light of his diagnosis that Christian agreed to make a Pilgrimage to Lourdes, France with his sister. It was only because he was going to Lourdes that he decided it “might” be a good idea that he go to confession. It was only because he threw himself at the mercy of God that he experienced what he describes, “the miracle
of healing”, not of his body like he was hoping, but even better, of his soul.
When we look at our lives in light of eternity, it is easy to see that this life is fleeting, but eternal life is, well, ETERNAL.
Christian died completely physically helpless, but make no mistake, this was not due to “misfortune”. He had embraced his cross here on earth and found profound joy in his suffering, no doubt, in part due to the abundant graces of the Rosary. His love and devotion to Mary and the Rosary filled his soul and made him worthy of eternal life.