The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 17: Turn On the Light

Episode Date: January 17, 2025

Catholics may be very familiar with the Sign of the Cross, but this short prayer has deep significance. Fr. Mark-Mary shares the Biblical origins of the Sign of the Cross, reading from Matthew’s Gospel and the book of Psalms to explain how this prayer can allow us to see life as God does and proclaim our Faith as we say the Rosary. Today’s focus is “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” and we will be praying one Our Father, three Hail Marys, and one Glory Be. For the complete prayer plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.

Hi, I'm Father Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and this is the Rosary in the Year podcast. We're through prayer and meditation. The Rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in the Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is Day 17. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in the Year, visit ascensionpress.com forward slash

rosary in the year or text R-I-Y to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to preach month and it's a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen to podcasts is in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the whole Rosary with myself and other friars. On behalf of myself and the whole team here at Ascension, we want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped support this podcast financially. Your support is so appreciated and helps us to reach as many people as possible.

And if you haven't already, please consider supporting us at ascensionpress.com forward slash support. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The focus of today's episode will be on the sign of the cross. And to set us up for success, let's go ahead and root our conversation in two different

readings from the Holy Scripture. The first coming from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew. This is chapter 28, verse 19. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And the second reading is going to come from the book of Psalms. This is Psalm 36 verse 9. For with you is the fountain of life,

and in your light do we see light. We're going to look at praying in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and making the sign of the cross as an intentional act of faith, which is essentially like opening our eyes. All right, and first we're going to look at the Most Holy Trinity as the light. And then we're going to look at the grace of baptism

and one of the fruits of baptism as the gift of faith, which is like the gift of our sight. And so first is this, is the Most Holy Trinity. We pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in the name of the Most Holy Trinity. And this is what the catechism says. The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God and himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith. The light that enlightens them.

And that's what the book of Psalms says. In your light do we see light. So, God is the light which allows us to see light. And so, the book of Psalms says, in your light do we see light. So God is the light which allows us to see light. So what does it mean for God to be light? I think one image that could be helpful is imagine yourself, you're at, in Vatican City in Rome,

and you're at St. Peter's Basilica, and you're inside the basilica, and you're surrounded by masterpieces and sculptures and carvings and paintings and really, really, really incredible works of art. But it's night and all the lights are out. You're just in the dark, you know, and this, even though you're in and surrounded by great sort of masterpieces, you could be anywhere because all you're seeing is black. All you're seeing is darkness. you could be anywhere because all you're seeing is black. All you're seeing is darkness.

What all of these masterpieces are dependent on for their splendor to shine forth, to be experiential, is they need a source outside of themselves. They need light. And so as the sun rises and the lights go on, so now all of these works of art and all of these masterpieces, they begin to reflect this light.

And we can see them and understand them and receive and be moved by their beauty. So this is what it's saying, like when we're saying that the Most Holy Trinity is the light that enlightens all other mysteries, it's like this. All other mysteries are dependent on the light that radiates forth from the Most Holy Trinity, that is the Most Holy Trinity. And one other note on the character of the light that is God is it's not like a fluorescent light. The light of God flows from the fire of God. Scripture says that God is a consuming fire. And so the light, it enlightens, it shines, it reveals, it gives meaning and understanding,

but also it warms, it fills with love. It warms and it purifies. Let's go to part two. Part two is this, we are baptized in the name of the most holy Trinity. We are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And a couple of the fruits of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And a couple of the fruits of baptism are this,

is the Most Holy Trinity comes to dwell inside of our souls. One, if you will, name of participating in the Most Holy Trinity, one of the fruits of baptism is the gift of faith. And I think one way of understanding the grace and the gift of faith is it's like us receiving the gift of faith. And I think one way of understanding the grace and the gift of faith is, it's like us receiving the gift of sight. It is through, you know, functioning eyes and the brain, through sight, that we are able to see the light itself, the source, and also see all things that enlightens.

Faith allows us to see God and to participate in the life of God. And it allows us to see all things, all of the mysteries in this light. By baptism, we are given the gift of faith, which again, we can see as the gift of sight. And now when we make the Son of the Cross and when we pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we very freely make an act of faith. And when we pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we very freely make an act of faith. In other words, we step into the Basilica and we open our eyes and we see the light. Pope Benedict said something like this when he was talking about the sign of the cross. And this is on one of his angels.

He says, this is the sign of the cross in the name of the living God, therefore contain the proclamation that generates faith and inspires prayer. So when we pray in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, it's not that we're like turning on the lights. Like the eternal light of God is always shining. Our capacity, again, by baptism, the gift of faith, it's there. Like we have the gift of sight. And so, this again, what this allows us to do is now we're going to look at God.

And also, we're going to look at all other of the mysteries of our faith in the light of God. So, this includes the Blessed Virgin Mary. This includes all of the saints. This includes the different mysteries that we meditate on while we're praying the rosary. This includes looking at all of creation, our brothers and sisters, all in the light of God. But it also involves looking at ourselves and being seen in this light. But as we are stepping into this light, we see ourselves and our dignity, but also what's revealed is going to be the areas in which we are poor and dirty and broken.

Right? And so there is an act of courage and a vulnerability of coming out of hiding, of coming out of the darkness when we freely make an act of faith, we freely engage God. And so what we're doing is we're praying, as we're praying in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, we are making this proclamation of faith that inspires prayer, and we are freely and lovingly participating in the life of God through faith. So we are opening ourselves to all of it, to be enriched, to be enlightened, to be encouraged, to be strengthened,

but also to be converted, to be shown the areas where we're falling short, to be loved, but to be purified. In other words, as we make this prayer, as we say, we pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and we make the sign of the cross. We're stepping fully courageously out of hiding into his marvelous light. And just a little word, I'm sure for a lot of you, this question is going to rise. So like when we close our prayer with the sign of the cross, that means we're closing our eyes, turning off the lights. No, not at all. I think, again, the analogy limbs, but we can see that there's,

like, it's another act of faith by which we entrust to God the graces received in prayer, and we're asking him to continue to sort of care for us as we go about our day and continue to inspire prayer and continue to shine his light upon us. And so my brothers and sisters, as we pray, our Our Fathers, inhale Mary today, as we make the sound of the cross. Let's just remember what we're doing. We are making this act of faith by which we are coming before God.

We are opening our eyes to see Him, to see all of creation and all other mysteries in His light. So with this disposition and asking for the grace of the Holy Spirit to increase this disposition in us, let us pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, how thou'd be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of

our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. All right, thanks friends. Thanks for joining me and praying with me today. I look forward to continuing the journey with you again tomorrow. Poco Poco. Alright, bye y'all.