The Joyful Mysteries
In the Joyful Mysteries, we meditate on the beginning of the redemption of humanity, from the annunciation to Mary and the incarnation of the Son of God in her womb until the end of Jesus’ childhood.
FIRST – In the first Joyful Mystery we contemplate the Annunciation of the angel to the Blessed Virgin Mary – Through Archangel Gabriel, the messenger of the Good News, God decides to intervene in the history of humanity, as he has done so many times throughout the history of Israel.
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son… Hebrews 1:1-10
The communications of the prophets of ancient times were always imprecise, imperfect, and incomplete. Through His Son, God decides to come Himself, to show us step by step, as in a video, how human life should be lived.
SECOND – In the second Joyful Mystery we contemplate the Visitation of Mary Most Holy to her cousin Saint Elizabeth – If at the Annunciation Mary is in prayer, then in the Visitation Mary is in action; if at the Annunciation Mary is listening to the word of God, then in the Visitation Mary is putting that same word into practice, as her son so often exhorts; if at the Annunciation Mary is loving God above all things, then in the Visitation she is loving her neighbor as herself. If at the Annunciation Mary has an experience of God as a disciple, then at the Visitation by singing her Magnificat, bearing witness to her experience of God, Mary is being a missionary by witnessing to her cousin to that same experience and of all that God has worked in her.
In these two Joyful Mysteries, the whole Christian life unfolds; for this reason, Mary is for us a model of discipleship, of missionary and Christian life; all the virtues that a Christian must cultivate in his life are concentrated in her. Mary is therefore for us not only the mother of Jesus and Our Mother, but she is also our model for following Christ.
THIRD – In the third Joyful Mystery we contemplate the Birth of Jesus – “And the Word became flesh and lived among us…” John 1:14 – God the Creator incarnated in a creature. For many religions it seems impossible that God would incarnate in a human being, that the sea could enter into a puddle of water. If we only think of God’s transcendence then yes, it will seem impossible, illogical, improbable, even though nothing is impossible to God.
But God is not only transcendent, he is also immanent, he already exists in the here and now, in the heart of everything and every person. Deus intimior intimo meo applies to all things; God is the heart of matter of material entities and of spiritual beings. Therefore, God is already here, and thinking of his immanence, it becomes easier to understand the fact that He acquired a human form.
God encamped among us, set up his tent among us as he once did when he journeyed for 40 years in the desert with the people he delivered from slavery. This tent, where Moses, representing God's people, met God in dialogue, was called the tent of meeting. Jesus of Nazareth, the Emmanuel, God with us, is the new Tent of Meeting, for in Him God meets Man and Man meets God. Through Jesus, God comes to man, and also through Jesus, man goes to God.
As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him (Jesus). Matthew 20:29
God became man so that man might become God. Saint Irenaeus
Jericho is both the oldest city, with 8,000 years of existence, and the lowest city on our planet, at about 500 meters below sea level. Jericho in the Bible signifies sin; in the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jerusalem represents grace while Jericho represents sin.
The man who fell into the hands of robbers fell into disgrace because he was going down from Jerusalem, 800 meters above sea level, to Jericho. He journeyed from grace to sin; as the people say, he who does not remember God lacks all good. To save Man from sin, Jesus also goes down to Jericho, but he does not stay there; he leaves Jericho and a great crowd follows him, going up from the sin of Jericho to the grace of Jerusalem.
FOURTH – In the fourth Joyful Mystery we contemplate the Presentation of the child Jesus in the temple and the ritual purification of Our Lady – Jesus does not break with the traditions of the past but submits himself to the laws of the land where he lived and of the people where he incarnated as man. However, in obeying or satisfying these laws, he makes them pass through his moral conscience, because the law was made for man and not man for the law.
Mary, being after Jesus the purest among all living beings, also submits herself to the tradition, of the ritual purification. Those who refer to this second part of the mystery must include the word "ritual", because Mary was always pure: before, during and after childbirth.
FIFTH – In the fifth Joyful Mystery we contemplate the loss and the encounter of the child Jesus in the temple among the doctors of the law – Many exegetes consider it an exaggeration that Jesus was in dialogue with the doctors of the law, as an equal. I don't understand why this couldn’t have happened; Jesus was probably a child prodigy like so many that have existed and exist in all times and places. If Mozart, Beethoven and others were child prodigies, why couldn't Jesus have been one?
The Luminous Mysteries
In the Luminous Mysteries, we meditate on the most important moments of Jesus' public life, from his baptismal investiture to the institution of the Eucharist as a memorial of his passion. It is in the years of his public life that Jesus truly reveals himself as the Light of the World (Jn 8:12), by his attitudes in the most diverse life situations in which he found himself, by the doctrine he taught and by his actions.
FIRST – In the first Luminous Mystery we contemplate the Baptism of Jesus – “Libris ex libris fiunt" or books come from books. Jesus consecrated himself to a movement that probably began with the monks of Qumran, located very close to the place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, a monk who offered forgiveness of sins, as was done in Qumran through an ablution of water. Jesus continues this movement and takes the forgiveness of sins beyond the Jordan River and beyond the symbol of water.
SECOND – In the second Luminous Mystery we contemplate the Wedding at Cana – In Cana of Galilee, Mary sees a need and tries to solve the problem by pushing Jesus into his public life, when He had not yet planned to begin. Jesus, obedient to the Father in Heaven, also obeys his Mother, even as an adult. This obedience is important to us because it institutionalizes Mary, his mother, as the intercessor of all graces.
THIRD – In the third Luminous Mystery we contemplate the miracles worked by Jesus as proof of the presence of the Kingdom of God among us – This is how I write this mystery dedicated to the thaumaturgical activity of Jesus, as proof that the Kingdom is already among us, although not yet in its fullness.
FOURTH – In the fourth Luminous Mystery we contemplate the Sermon on the Mount as the magna carta of the Kingdom of God – If in the previous mystery I mentioned the works of the Kingdom, in this one I mention the doctrine that inspires them, the Sermon on the Mount, as the fine print of all that Jesus told us and taught us. I think this is more important than the Transfiguration.
FIFTH – In the fifth Luminous Mystery we contemplate the Institution of the Eucharist – Without the Eucharist there is no Church, without the Church there is no Eucharist. The Eucharist is first and foremost the gathering of Christians or this association founded by Jesus and called the Church, as members of the Body of Christ to celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Christ, just as he has commanded us.
The Sorrowful Mysteries
In the Sorrowful Mysteries, we meditate on the process, the passion and the death of Jesus, from his agony in the Garden of Olives to his last breath on top of the cross. When we say that Jesus died for our sins, it means that he paid in full the debt we were unable to pay; but it also means that the sins of those who intervened in his death are still being committed today, so we can conclude that it was the sin of all humanity that killed Jesus.
FIRST – In the first Sorrowful Mystery we contemplate the Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Olives – Jesus was tempted all his life, not only at the beginning; one of the last temptations took place here, when he considered the possibility of not drinking from the chalice that was in front of him, his passion and death. All he had to do was to climb a short way up the hill and go down into the Judean desert, hide in one of the deep valleys and no one would ever find him again. But Jesus chose to pay the price for his ideals against a corrupt and degenerate world. If he had saved his own skin, he would have been lost as the savior of the whole world.
SECOND – In the second Sorrowful Mystery we contemplate the Scourging of Jesus tied to a pillar – If Pilate had condemned Jesus to death directly, Jesus would not have been scourged. Flogging was the punishment given to those whose lives were spared. Pilate thought that after seeing Jesus badly scourged, the people would pity him and let him go, but this did not happen; the hatred of the scribes, the elders, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees for Jesus was so great that they were not stricken with compassion even after seeing Him so terribly scourged.
THIRD – In the third Sorrowful Mystery we contemplate the Coronation of Jesus with a crown of thorns – It was when he was already in a very difficult situation that Jesus recognized and accepted the title of King, though not of this world, for the kings of this world do not ride on donkeys as he did nor are crucified as he was, and wear a crown of gold and not one of thorns as he did.
FOURTH – In the fourth Sorrowful Mystery we contemplate the Condemnation of Jesus to death and the walk to Calvary with the cross on his back – By consenting to put Jesus to death, Pilate also cancelled his previous transgressions. There already had been so many in the past that now, despite being convinced that Jesus was innocent and seeking a ploy to save Him, Pilate failed to save him: the charges against him were already many in Rome, that he could not afford one more added to the list.
FIFTH – In the fifth Sorrowful Mystery we contemplate the Crucifixion and Death of Jesus – Abandoned by his people in general, by his fellow disciples and apostles, crucified in the midst of two criminals, he felt in the end that even God had abandoned him, perhaps because the sin of humanity weighed so heavily on his shoulders. Even so, he hoped in God and did not despair, since to the same God who had abandoned him, he surrendered his spirit.
The Glorious Mysteries
In the Glorious Mysteries, we meditate on Jesus' triumph over death with his Resurrection. Death has been conquered, as has the sin that caused it. After Jesus’ Resurrection, death is no longer the final destiny of mankind, but a passage to eternal life. The life of Jesus, which begins with Mary's "Yes" to God's plan, now ends with the glorification of the One who is, for us all, a model of Christian life.
FIRST – In the first Glorious Mystery we contemplate the Resurrection of Jesus – The Resurrection of Jesus is God having the last laugh, the Resurrection of Jesus proves that evil does not have the last word, as seen in almost every movie in which good ultimately wins over evil. Not even death has eternal power over life. After the Resurrection of Jesus, death is no longer the end of life, but a passage to a life in God for those who lived with God and for God.
SECOND – In the second Glorious Mystery we contemplate Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven – Jesus in his glorious body did not ascend immediately to his Father, as he himself told Mary Magdalene, but stayed for some time with his disciples, appearing to comfort them from the scandal of the cross and to give them the final instructions before ascending definitively to the Father.
THIRD – In the third Glorious Mystery we contemplate the Coming of the Holy Spirit – As he had promised, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit soon after he went to heaven, so that we would not be left orphans, to be the Soul of the Church and the center of our being, to be with us, to be God within us who inspires, comforts, guides and gives us strength and courage to face an adverse world.
FOURTH - In the fourth Glorious Mystery we contemplate the Assumption of Mary, body and soul, into Heaven – In the Dormition or Assumption, Mary goes to heaven to be by her son’s side just as she has always been by his side on earth. We too like her will be received into heaven, where Jesus, her son, has gone to prepare a place for us.
FIFTH – In the fifth Glorious Mystery we contemplate the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth – Mary's earthly life as Mother of the Saviour began before Jesus and ended after Jesus. After becoming the mother of the Church because she was the mother of the Church’s founder, she now reigns in heaven and on earth as the Queen Mother alongside her son who is the King of the Universe.
Conclusion:
The mysteries of the Rosary are about the salvific acts of Christ on earth, the path he walked with us, as he did with the disciples at Emmaus, to explain the scriptures to us, and to plant in the world the seeds of the Kingdom of God.
Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC
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