Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The Joyful mysteries of the rosary begin with the Annunciation. “The Angel Gabriel was sent to Nazareth to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph and the virgin’s name was Mary” You have a young woman probably preparing for an arranged marriage negotiated on her behalf by her parents and on to that scene comes a messenger Gabriel. It must have been terrifying even for one who knew the scriptures. Mary‘s reaction in the turmoil seems calm and her responses and actions are also very calm and deliberate. She reaches out to the one person who will understand, her cousin Elizabeth. Together the two women can reflect on what is happening while helping each other. As we read on in this account the makeup of the rosary is here. We have the words of the prayer we use in every decade The Hail Mary. . It’s all here in the opening verses of the Gospel. From the very beginnings the prayer it is scripturally based. We are praying about the life of Christ. We announce the event, we use prayers that come from the gospels and as we pray them we reflect on the event. The third mystery of the joyful mysteries is the Nativity the birth of Christ and the angels proclaim Glory to God in the highest and we say after every decade Glory be to the Father the.. And then we announce and we pray the prayer Jesus gave us. The fourth decade Jesus is presented according to Jewish custom in the temple. Joseph and Mary are not wealthy people so the offering again according to custom is the doves. The final decade of the Joyful mysteries is the finding of the child Jesus in the temple. You could call this Mystery a reflection on Jesus’s teenage years. He is becoming aware of Himself as God and Man realizing what his work is about and his “rebellion” is to stay behind in the temple beginning the work of His Father, but as a true teenage boy he does not realize the pain and suffering it will cause Joseph and Mary. He is doing his thing and that’s what is important and real to him at that moment in time. As we pray we journey with Jesus and we reflect on his life and how we can learn more and understand that this person is real God and Man. He had a life, he struggled, he rebelled he lived and as we pray the rosary we journey through the events that are our salvation history and that continue to give us life and lead us to God. Let us continue the journey. Pray for me as I pray for you. Fr Karl