Spring and Change

 The Spring season is now upon us, and the weather has actually gotten more pleasant outside today.  I am on a week's break from work too, as it is also now Holy Week in the Church, which kicked off yesterday with the observance of Palm Sunday.  We attended Mass at the parish I have been going to here in Baltimore, Saints Philip and James, and it was actually a nice Mass.  In case you are familiar with how the traditional Palm Sunday Mass is celebrated, it is a bit different - the Gospel is read like a drama, with the priest and two others reading parts in the dialogue,  and it is actually a very participatory experience.  The audience also is brought into it as well, as we have parts we say in it too.  It is a powerful - albeit lengthy, as it is the longest Gospel reading of the year - re-enactment of the Passion narrative.  Although it deals with more of what happens in Good Friday, it still is traditionally the Gospel read on Palm Sunday as it marks the beginning of the short season of Holy Week, which will culminate in Easter Sunday and the new season of Pentecost that begins shortly afterward.  That will last roughly until Pentecost Sunday in June, and is then followed by Trinity Sunday the following week and then the Feast of Corpus Cristi a week after that.  Corpus Christi ends the official Church year, and we are then in what is called the Ordinary Season until Advent, which starts at the end of November.  For me personally, this also means a change in my personal devotional life as well, that I will explain briefly.

For about 10 years or so now, I have incorporated a decade of the Rosary into my daily devotions, and although it is more customary to say all five decades of the Rosary in one prayer, I do it this way for two reasons.  For one, it is practical, as the time doesn't allow for me to say an entire Rosary of a day given one decade usually takes about 5 minutes to pray.  Secondly, the Rosary is not a mandated devotional practice, and although it has immense spiritual value, it is not typically required except by some religious orders or apostolates.  That being said, I will give you my way of praying it which is a bit abbreviated and different.

My practice has been to take a set of mysteries each week - which consist of 5 decades - and I focus on one decade a day of each of those mysteries.  A decade of the Rosary for me consists of the following - the Sign of the Cross, the Apostles Creed, the Our Father, three Hail Marys, a Glory Be, then the announcement of the first mystery, then an Our Father, ten Hail Marys, the Glory Be, the Fatima Prayer, and then the closing prayers - the Salve Regina, Final Prayer, the St. Michael Prayer, and the sign of the Cross to close.  On average, I organize the sets of Mysteries - there are four, which include the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious - according to the Church year, and during the Ordinary (Green) season I alternate one set of Mysteries each week.   So, being that I am in Lent and Holy Week now, the Mysteries I pray during that season will be the Sorrowful Mysteries.  Beginning the Monday after Easter, I will switch to the Glorious Mysteries, which I will pray until the Monday after Trinity Sunday. My praying of the Mysteries of the Rosary is a bit different, but I feel they are adequate given my own lifestyle.  And, they constitute the first part of my 3-part morning devotionals, which start with the decade of the Rosary, then the daily Scripture reading (I go by the USCCB Readings schedule for that) and then followed by a more informal prayer I use to focus on my personal petitions.  While my prayers have evolved over the years, I have a pretty consistent prayer regimen and it has served me well all these years too.  I also exclude the weekends, based on some good advice a former professor shared - Saturday I have no personal devotion, and Sunday it is Mass that is the focus.  Although God doesn't technically need it, Saturdays are days I give him a rest from listening to me, at least formally - I always have prayers and petitions on my mind, but I feel God deserves a Sabbath too, so Saturday I do that.  For those that ask about my personal devotional practices, there it is for you. 

My prayer life has been more detailed lately as far as personal petitions due to many changes I am facing now - I will share more on those later.  And it is this which I motivate my own reflections today. 

Although I will elaborate more in a later discussion, I have not been offered a contract for the next school year where I am teaching, and to be honest that is not really a bad thing.  There are situations at my current school I consider uncomfortable, and the principal thankfully knows this and understands. So, I will be finishing up my year here, and then will be moving on.  I am not exactly sure what will happen, but I do have applications out there and I don't think it will be a huge problem getting decent work, preferably outside of Baltimore.  And, in all honesty, I just had what were perhaps the most restful two nights of sleep I have had in months, as this takes from me a tremendous burden.  At some point - probably after I accept another offer and move on - I will tell that whole story, but this is not the time for that.  However, I do covet the prayers of those of you reading this, as it will be a big change.  But, mentally I am ready for that too.  That was primarily the issue I wanted to address today.  

I plan on enjoying this week off, and hope and pray everyone else has a good week ahead as well too, as we approach the Easter Season.  And, as our Greek brethren say, I say to you - Kristos anesti!