Power in my hands

The Rosary is a prayer that makes us look and listen, a prayer that makes us remember the mighty deeds of our Lord and Saviour. It takes our eyes off our own imperfections and lack of finesse. It teaches us to trust no longer in our independent efforts. We live no longer from our own meagre ration, but try to live every day out of the infinite resources of the finished work of Calvary.

Next time that you feel knackered, done in, unable to cope, pick up the Rosary beads and experience the divine energy that flows through this life-line. Personally, I would never venture out of the house without the Rosary in my pocket. It keeps me in touch when I’m alone. It links me up to the heavenly store-house. It supplies me with the oil of gladness and healing, with which to anoint the sick and the suffering whom I meet on the way.

It is my continual reminder that I do not try to touch people in my own power. In the open streets and in the bright city-lights as well as in the dirty lane-ways and in the dark alleys of life, I carry the precious healing power of Calvary in my hands.

I think of George MacLeod who said: “Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles. He died on a cross between two thieves, on a town garbage heap; at a cross-roads so cosmopolitan that they had to write his title in Hebrew, the language of the religious, Latin the language of the barbarian, and Greek the language of the cultured. It was the kind of place where cynics talked smut, and thieves cursed and soldiers gambled. But it’s where he died, and it’s what he died about. His weakness becomes our strength and enables us to get up and go.

Lord Jesus, you know, that on my own I cannot cope, but with your help, we can finish the work together. With the beads in my hands, I can walk with you and not only into the cathedral with its silver cross and golden candlesticks, but through the crossroads and byways of every day cosmopolitan life.


The author of this article