Welcome to the Romer House!
Welcome to the Romer House!
Welcome to the Romer House!Welcome to the Romer House!Is That God's Necklace? by Kathy Romer
Is That God's Necklace? by Kathy Romer
Copyright @2020 by Kathy Romer
All Rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Nihil Obstat & Imprimatur
Nihil obstat
Rev. Gerald Azike, S.T.D.
Censor Deputatus
6 February 2020
Imprimatur
Most Rev. David P. Talley, M.S.W., J.C.D.
Bishop of Memphis in Tennessee
2 March 2020
Acknowledgements
+ For Jesus, Mary & Joseph, who make it all possible
+ For my husband & children, who are my greatest earthly treasures
+ For Anna Marie, Jana, Linda Marie & Mimi, whose unwavering friendships bring me great joy
+ For the Prayer Request Warriors, whose faithful and generous prayers brought me to this place
+ For Father Michael Okata, whose valuable input made the book better
+ For Monika Coates, who made the beautiful Rosary shown on the cover
Introduction
Greetings, dear reader! Please note these few items before you begin this book:
1. These conversations are based on real talks that I had with my own little girl. They are not “word for word” (although some parts are!), but I strove to keep the mood of those evening conversations.
2. In an effort to make it easier to tell who is talking, the mother and her little girl have different spacings from the edge of the book (i.e., the little girl’s conversation is indented).
3. When the mother is speaking about Jesus, I have tried to capitalize all the uses of the “holy pronouns” (“His friends,” “My Body,” etc.). At a certain point, the little girl’s speech also shows the capitalization of the “holy pronouns.” See if you can find out where the change occurs!
Is That God's Necklace?
The Joyful Mysteries
The next night, the little girl once again saw her mother praying the rosary. “Mommy?”
the little girl asked.
“Yes, dear?”
“Could you pray out loud?”
“All right,” the mother agreed. “But you have to keep your eyes closed, because you are here to sleep, remember?”
“I will,” the little girl promised, and promptly closed her eyes.
“Let’s see,” the mother began. “Today is Monday, so I will be praying about the Joyful Mysteries…”
“Mysteries?” the little girl repeated.
“Well, yes,” the mother answered. “But not like a mystery from a detective story, where no one knows what happened. Sometimes, the word ‘mystery’ can mean something that is very important, or something that we need to think about. You’ll see,” the mother promised. “So, I am praying about the Joyful Mysteries. That means that, while I pray, I am going to think about when Jesus was a joyful little boy.”
“Little like me?” asked the child.
“Yes. And the very First Joyful Mystery is called the ‘Annunciation.’” Noticing the little girl’s look of dismay, the mother asked with a grin, “That’s a big word, isn’t it?”
Sounding worried, the little girl answered, “Yes…”
“But doesn’t it sound like a word that you’ve heard before: ‘announce’?” the mother said. “Do you remember how, in some commercials, they say things like, ‘Announcing the biggest sale on earth!’ That just means that a person is telling us about something for the first time. And since this mystery was a special announcement, it gets a special name: the ‘Annunciation.’”
The little girl tried to repeat the long word, but said, “The Announce-iation.”
“Good try!” the mother said as she smiled. “Now, what was this special announcement that had never been heard before? It was God’s message to Mary that she was going to be Jesus’ Mommy.”
The little girl’s eyes opened wide, and she sat straight up in the bed. “Like the
Christmas story?” she asked excitedly.
“Exactly like the Christmas story,” the mother agreed. “In fact, it is the very first part of the Christmas story. Now, please lie back down and close your eyes.”
The little girl obediently lay down, but in a moment asked, “Mommy, didn’t Mary talk to
an angel? You said it was God.”
The mother smiled again, “It was an angel who brought the message to Mary: a special angel named Gabriel,” she said. “But angels only do what God tells them to do. The angel Gabriel was telling Mary what God wanted her to know – kind of like how sometimes you take a message to Daddy when I ask you to.”
“So, I’m an angel?” the little girl asked in wonder.
“Not quite,” the mother replied with a smile. “But you are very special, because you’re my good girl. And now, you need to go to sleep.”
The little girl felt her mother kiss her forehead.
“I’ll tell you more, tomorrow night. I love you.”
The next night, the little girl saw her mother with the rosary, and said, “Mommy, you
promised you would tell me more about the rosary tonight.”
The mother replied, “So I did. Let’s talk about the Second Joyful Mystery, the Visitation.”
The little girl asked, “Is that when the angel visits Mary?”
The mother smiled. “No, that’s the Annunciation, remember?”
The little girl said, “Oh, yeah.” The child thought for a moment, and asked, “Is it when
the wise men visit Baby Jesus?”
“No…” the mother began, but the little girl interrupted excitedly, and said, “Oh! Is it when Joseph visits Mary?”
“No,” said the mother, laughing. “Be patient. Let me get a word in edgewise, and I will tell you. Do you remember the Annunciation? That was the special announcement from the angel.”
The little girl nodded, but frowned. “Yes, but you just told me this isn’t about the angel
visiting Mary.”
The mother continued, “Yes, I did. Wait just one more moment. In the First Mystery – when the angel did come – not only did the angel tell Mary about Baby Jesus, he also told Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was going to have a baby, too. And so, Mary went to visit…” the mother paused. “Who do you think she went to visit?”
“Elizabeth!” the little girl shouted.
“Correct.” the mother congratulated her. “But please keep your voice down. This is bedtime, remember?”
The little girl covered her mouth and closed her eyes again, and said in a muffled voice,
“I remember, Mommy.”
“Thank you,” said the mother, and then continued. “So the Visitation is when Mary went to visit Elizabeth.”
The little girl opened her eyes once again, and blurted out, “I have an idea! We could
call it the Elizabeth-i-tation!”
The mother laughed out loud, but said, “No, dear. That would be silly, and we are not trying to be silly right now. In fact, what are we trying to do?”
The little girl answered, “Go to sleep?” and closed her eyes.
The mother said, “That’s right. So, no more stories now. I love you.”
The next night, the little girl asked her mother, “Could you tell me more about the
Eliza-tation? I mean, the Visitation?”
“Of course,” the mother replied. “Mary found out that she was going to be Jesus’ Mommy, and she also found out that her cousin Elizabeth was going to be a mommy, too! She was so excited that she went to visit Elizabeth, so they could share their good news together.”
The little girl asked, “What was Elizabeth’s baby’s name?”
“His name was John. In fact, there’s kind of a funny story about how he got his name.”
The little girl looked surprised. “There are funny stories in the Bible?”
“Oh, yes! Lots,” the mother smiled. “Let’s begin. Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, was married to a man named Zechariah…”
Giggling, the little girl said, “People had funny names back then, didn’t they?”
The mother stopped smiling. “That’s not the funny part. And that’s not a very nice thing to say, dear,” the mother corrected the little girl. “You wouldn’t want someone making fun of your name, would you? So please don’t make fun of other people and their names. Getting back to the story, though: one day an angel came to Zechariah. The angel told Zechariah that his wife, Elizabeth, was going to have a baby, and that they should call him John…”
“An angel visited him, just like the angel that came to visit Mary?”
“Yes,” said the mother. “In fact, it was the very same angel, Gabriel. But there was a big difference this time – because Zechariah didn’t believe Gabriel!”
The little girl looked shocked. “He didn’t believe an angel?”
“Well, no. Zechariah and Elizabeth were very old, and they had never had any babies,” the mother explained. “Zechariah thought that Elizabeth just couldn’t have a baby.”
Confused, the little girl said, “This doesn’t sound like a very funny story.”
“Just wait,” said the mother. “The angel did not appreciate that Zechariah didn’t believe him. Gabriel told him that Zechariah wouldn’t be able to talk until the baby was born. And so for nine months, Zechariah couldn’t talk at all.”
“Wow!”
“I know,” the mother agreed. “Now, here’s the funny part. When the baby was finally born, everyone asked Elizabeth what the baby’s name should be. Elizabeth told them it was John – but they didn’t believe her.”
The little girl giggled. “So, first, the man didn’t believe the angel, and now the people
don’t believe Elizabeth?”
“That’s right,” said the mother, also giggling. “The other people in the town were getting ready to give the new baby a different name, but Zechariah got out a tablet and wrote – in great, big letters – ‘His name is JOHN!’ And then he could finally talk again.”
This time the little girl laughed, and said, “I’ll bet he was glad!”
“Oh, yes. He was,” the mother agreed. “But now we need to stop talking, so you can go to sleep. I love you.”
“What story will you tell me about tonight, Mommy?” the little girl asked.
“Actually, you could probably tell me this story,” the mother answered. “The Third Joyful Mystery, the Birth of Jesus.”
“Oh, sure!” the little girl began excitedly. Without stopping for breath, she continued in
a great rush of words, “That was when Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem but there
was no room in the inn and so they went to the stable and Mary had the baby right next
to the cows and they put him in a manger and the angels came and they sang a song
and the shepherds came and the Wise Men came and they gave him gifts.”
The mother laughed. “That just about covers it, yes.”
“Mommy?”
“Yes, dear?”
“Why do you tell yourself stories when you pray?”
“Good question, smart girl! Have you ever noticed how you can think of many different things at one time? Just now, while you are listening to me, I bet you are thinking about what I’m saying, and also about what you might say next, and what you might do tomorrow, and about your favorite song, and just all kinds of things.”
“Yes! I think about lots of things because I’m smart.”
“You certainly are smart, my sweet girl! But everyone can think of many different things at one time. It’s part of what makes us human, and it’s how God made us. But God also knew that – sometimes – when we would try to pray, we might start thinking of other things that aren’t prayers. So when God gave someone the idea to make the Rosary, he made different parts to it – because He knew that we would try to think of more than one thing at a time.”
“So, first you think of the story, and then you think of the prayers?”
“Not quite. Each time you pray a prayer, you also think about the story – at the same time. And by trying to think about the two things at the same time, it helps to keep you from thinking about other things.”
“Wow! Does that work?”
“Well, most of the time. Unless someone has a curious child – who is asking questions instead of trying to go to sleep – while that person is trying to pray…”
“Like me? I’m sorry, Mommy.”
“That’s all right; but no more now. You need to sleep, and I’ll finish praying. I love you.”
The following night, the little girl asked, “So, what happened next, Mommy?”
“This story is known as the Fourth Joyful Mystery,” the mother replied, “and it is called the Presentation in the Temple. It is the story of when Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the Temple right after He was born.”
“What’s a temple?”
“That was a special meeting place for God and His people,” the mother said.
“Like a church? Were they going to church?” asked the little girl.
“Well, yes, but… not like they normally did every week.” The mother continued, “This was a special visit. It was sort of like going to a neighbor’s house to show off the new baby – Mary and Joseph were bringing Jesus to the Temple to introduce Him to God.”
The little girl opened her eyes in astonishment, “They met God?!”
“Hmmm…” the mother smiled at the child. “Wow – this is making me think more than I usually do! Thank you, sweetie – you are helping me clear this up in my own head, too! Okay, they took Jesus to the Temple to introduce Him to the priest, who acted on God’s behalf.”
“What’s a bee-half?”
The mother laughed, and said, “Good question, my cute girl! Do you remember when Grandma and Grandpa went out of town, and we went over to their house to get their mail and feed their dogs?”
“Oh, yes!” the little girl replied.
“Well, we were acting on their ‘behalf.’ We were doing what Grandma and Grandpa would normally have done if they had been there,” the mother explained. “And that’s sort of what the priests were doing at the Temple.”
“So, God wasn’t there?” the little girl sounded disappointed.
“Aha…” the mother said. “Actually, He was – that’s where the ‘sort of’ comes in. You see, God the Father doesn’t have a human body, does He?”
“No.”
“So, He wouldn’t be able to pick up a baby in His arms and give Him a big hug like He would want to. That’s why God had priests there – to be His hands and His voice.” The mother continued, “Now, back to the story… There was a special man in the Temple that day, whose name was Simeon, and God the Father had told Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah, which is a fancy word for a person who was going to save his people.”
“Was Simeon a priest?”
Surprised, the mother said, “Actually, the Bible doesn’t say. It just says that he loved God all he could.”
“I love God all I can!” the little girl stated.
The mother smiled and said, “I can tell, sweetheart, and I know that God is very happy about that. Well, Simeon was in the Temple, and when he saw Jesus, he was so happy! Because he knew – even though Jesus was only a teeny baby – he knew that Jesus was the one that God had sent to save everyone. And Simeon went right up to Joseph and Mary, took Jesus in his arms, and told them how special Jesus was!”
The little girl smiled, and said, “I’ll bet Jesus was a cute baby.”
“I’m sure He was,” the mother replied. “You can think about that as you go to sleep now. Good night, dear. I love you.”
When the mother walked into the room that night, the little girl commanded, “Tell me
another story, Mommy!”
The mother gently reproved her, saying, “I’d appreciate it if you would say ‘please,’ dear. We want to be polite, don’t we?”
“Sorry, Mommy. Please tell me another story?”
Smiling, the mother replied, “All right. Tonight we will talk about the Fifth Joyful Mystery, the Finding of Jesus in the Temple. Each year, Jesus and His family would travel to a big city called Jerusalem, for a special feast called Passover.”
“What’s Passover?” asked the little girl.
“That’s a story for another time. For now, let’s just say it was an important festival. Anyway, when Jesus was twelve years old, his family went to Jerusalem for the Passover like they always did.” The mother leaned forward, as if to tell a secret, before continuing, “But this time something different happened.”
“What was it?”
“The festival was over, and it was time to go back home,” the mother replied. “Everyone started leaving – everyone, except Jesus! He stayed behind without telling anyone, to be in the Temple with the priests and the teachers and the holy people.”
“I’ll bet Mary and Joseph were mad!” the little girl declared.
The mother said, “Well, I’m sure they were very worried. Mary and Joseph were traveling with a large group of people, and I think they figured that Jesus must be with some of His friends. They traveled all day, and didn’t realize that Jesus wasn’t with the group. That night, they went around the camp, asking if anyone had seen Him. But no one had. That’s when they realized Jesus wasn’t with them. So the next day, they had to walk all the way back to Jerusalem – which took the whole day. So that made another day that Mary and Joseph had to wait before they could even begin to look for Jesus!”
“Wow! They were probably scared.”
“That is probably true,” the mother agreed. “The third day after they realized He was gone, Mary and Joseph finally got to go to the Temple, to ask if anyone had seen Jesus. And there He was! Just sitting with people, listening and asking questions, like nothing was wrong at all. But when Mary and Joseph saw Him, they were so confused. They asked Jesus why He had stayed behind, and do you know what He said?”
“What?”
“Jesus said, ‘Why were you looking for Me? Didn’t you know that I would be in My Father’s house?’”
The child’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. She said, “I thought Joseph was his father;
what did Jesus mean?”
“Joseph was only His foster father, remember? God was His real Father.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Anyway, Mary and Joseph were very glad to find Jesus, and this time they all went home together.”
The little girl announced, “I like our home.”
“I like it, too. It’s a nice place to sleep, don’t you think?”
“Yes, Mommy.”
“Close your eyes, dear. I love you.”
“Mommy?”
“Yes, dear?”
“You said that you think of stories while you pray?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, what do you say when you pray?”
“There are several different prayers, actually. One is called ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, or the ‘Our Father.’ Another is called the ‘Hail Mary.’”
“How do they go?”
“The Lord’s Prayer goes like this: ‘Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name….’”
“What does ‘hallowed’ mean?”
“I’ll tell you in just a moment, dear; but I’d like to say the prayer all the way through the first time, please.”
“Okay, Mommy.”
“Thank you: ‘Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed 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. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.’”
“That’s a lot of words.”
“I suppose so: although there are prayers that are even longer. But this prayer is special, because Jesus Himself taught His disciples this prayer. That is why we call it The Lord’s Prayer – the Lord Jesus taught it to us. And it really has a lot to say. Lots of people have written lots of books about this one prayer.”
“Wow!”
“But you wanted to know what ‘hallowed’ meant. It means ‘holy.’ When we say, ‘hallowed be Thy Name,’ we are asking God to help us remember that the name of God is important and holy, and that we don’t want to just throw it around like an old sack of potatoes.”
“A sack of potatoes? Mommy, that’s silly!”
“Well, yes. But I’m being serious, too. Some people go around all day saying, ‘Oh my God! Oh my God!’ and they have no idea how sad that makes God feel. It would be like someone calling you on the phone, but then never talking to you. Wouldn’t that make you sad if someone did that?”
“Yes, it would. I don’t say those words.”
“No, you don’t, and God really appreciates that. But here’s a question for you: do you know how you like to call Grandma and Grandpa lots of times to tell them things?”
“Oh, yes!”
“Well, praying is like talking to God on the phone – except He doesn’t need a phone. And just like calling Grandma: God doesn’t mind if you call Him. You and God can talk together all day long, and He won’t mind a bit.”
“God sounds nice.”
“Oh, He is! And like any nice person, He wouldn’t want to keep you awake when you need to sleep. Close your eyes now, dear. I love you.”
The Luminous Mysteries
“Mommy, will you tell me another story?”
“All right. Let’s talk about the next set of mysteries. They are called the Luminous Mysteries, or the Mysteries of Light.”
“That sounds pretty!”
“Yes, it does… During these mysteries, we think about the time when Jesus got older and began teaching people.”
“Jesus was a teacher?”
“Jesus did many things. But for a time of about three years, He was a teacher.”
“What did he teach?”
“Many things, but let’s start tonight’s story. The First Luminous Mystery is called the Baptism of Jesus.”
Shocked, the little girl asked, “Jesus was baptized?” Then, she excitedly added, “I was
baptized, too!”
“Yes, dear; but can I tell you a secret?” When the child nodded her head, the mother continued, “Good. Actually, it’s not really that secret. Here it is: Jesus’ Baptism was different than yours and mine in two very special ways. First, when you were baptized, it was to wash away all your past sins. And that’s what Baptism does for every other person – except for Jesus.”
“Oh, no!” the little girl cried out. Concerned, she asked, “Why didn’t it work for Jesus?”
“For two reasons, my cutie girl. First, it didn’t work for Jesus because He didn’t have any sins to be forgiven. He’s God, remember?”
“Oh, yeah. What was the other reason?”
“The other reason is – and this just blows my mind – Jesus is the One who made the waters of Baptism holy. He was baptized so that, when we are baptized, the effect of washing away our sins truly does work. Before Jesus was baptized, when people would come to the river, they were just… well, kind of making a commitment not to sin. But it didn’t really wash away their sins. But now Jesus’ Baptism has made the waters of Baptism holy, and it truly does wash away our sins.”
“Yay!”
“I know. Here’s the other special thing that happened when Jesus was baptized. Do you remember us talking about Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, and how she had a baby right around the same time Mary did?”
“Yes! And the man wrote, ‘His name is JOHN!’ in great, big letters!”
“Good job remembering. But please be quiet; we’re still getting ready for sleeping.” The mother continued, “When John grew up, he really loved God a whole lot, and he wanted everyone else to love God, too. So, he went out to a river called the Jordan River and began asking everyone to come over and be baptized. And most people came, including Jesus.”
The little girl suddenly asked, “Did they have sleepovers?”
Confused, the mother stammered, “Wh-who, dear?”
“Jesus and John. Did they spend the night together when they were little?”
The mother’s eyes widened with understanding, and she said, “Oh!” Then she continued, a little sadly, “Probably not. When they were growing up, I think they lived in different towns. But they loved each other, and they were friends. Let’s get back to the story again. When Jesus came to John to be baptized, a pretty amazing thing happened.”
“What was it?”
“Do you remember how I told you that John baptized people at a river? So it was outside – that becomes important to know in a minute. John took Jesus and dunked Him in the water – head to toe, clothes and everything.”
“Wow!”
“Oh, that’s not the amazing part. This is the amazing part: when Jesus came up out of the water, what looked like a bird flew down from the sky and landed on Jesus, and a voice from the sky told everyone that Jesus made God happy.”
“Wow!”
“Yes, that’s ‘Wow!’ But now you need to sleep; close your eyes, dear. I love you.”
“Are you ready for another story, dear?”
“Yes, Mommy!”
“Okay. This is the Second Luminous Mystery, the Wedding at Cana.”
The little girl was surprised, and asked, “Did Jesus get married?”
“No, dear. One of His friends was getting married, and Jesus had been invited.”
“Who was it?”
“The Bible doesn’t say. What it does say is what happened at the wedding.”
“What happened?”
“It started with something a little sad. After the wedding, everyone went to a party to celebrate, but they drank all the wine. Now, in Jesus’ time, if a party ran out of wine they had to stop the party. So Mary went to Jesus, and told Him that all the wine was gone. And do you know what He did?”
“Did he go to the store and buy some?”
“Even better – He made some! And in a pretty remarkable way, too.” The mother asked the little girl, “Do you know how grape juice is made?”
“By squishing grapes?”
“That’s right, my smart girl! Well, wine is also made from grapes – it just takes longer for the juice to turn into wine. But Jesus didn’t have any grapes to squish. He didn’t even have any grape juice – all He had was water.”
“How can you make wine with just water?”
“Well, you and I can’t; but Jesus could!”
“But how?”
“Because He’s God, and He can do whatever He wants. He made the whole world, remember? And all the stars? So, making wine for a party was no problem for Him,” the mother said. “By the way, when God does a super-special thing like that, it’s called a ‘miracle.’”
“A miracle…”
“That’s right. Would you like to hear about another miracle?”
“Oh, yes.”
Eyes twinkling, the mother said, “Once, there was a little girl, and it was her bedtime, and she went right to sleep.”
“Mommm-my!!”
“Okay, maybe that was a joke. But you really do need to go sleep, dear. Good night. I love you.”
“Mommy, aren’t you going to tell me another story tonight?”
The mother pretended to be surprised, and asked, “What? Just because I’ve been telling you stories every night, you think I should keep going?”
“Yes!”
“Well, all right. But you need to lie down and be still, remember? That was your part of the deal.”
“Okay, Mommy.”
The mother sighed, and said. “Let’s see. Tonight we will talk about the Third Luminous Mystery, the Proclamation of the Kingdom of God.”
Confused, the little girl asked, “What?”
“That’s a fancy way of saying, ‘Let’s remember all the things Jesus did and all the stories Jesus told us while He was on earth.’”
The child’s eyes widened, and she said, “All the stories? Tonight?”
“Perhaps I shouldn’t have said it that way,” the mother agreed. “How about: ‘Let’s remember – in a general sort of way – what Jesus talked about.’ Is that better?”
“I guess so; but what kind of stories did Jesus tell?”
“Oh, wow – lots. But one of His main topics was the Kingdom of God. That’s where we get the name of the mystery: The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God.” The mother continued, “Do you remember that long word ‘Annunciation,’ which came from the word ‘announce’?”
“Yes.”
“The word ‘Proclamation’ comes from the word ‘proclaim,’ which is – well, it’s very close to announce, really, but slightly more official than just announcing. Basically, Jesus walked from town to town, telling people: ‘This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’ That’s a quote – which means it’s something someone said, word for word.”
“But what is the Kingdom of God?” asked the little girl.
“Good question. Let me think…” and the mother paused for a moment. “It means a couple of slightly different things, but they are also kind of connected together.” The mother laughed at her words, and continued, “I know that doesn’t make any sense yet, but just hold on. First: Jesus is God, right?”
“Yes.”
“Second: God is mightier and more wonderful than anybody else – and He created us, so there’s that. Third: He makes the rules that everyone else has to follow. So, all these things pretty much make Him – King.”
“Okay.”
“And kings have kingdoms, don’t they?”
“Yes, but where is the Kingdom of God?”
“I’m almost done. Obviously, everyone who goes to Heaven agrees that God is King. So you could say that Heaven is the Kingdom of God. However, part of the reason that Jesus came to earth was to spread God’s Kingdom here, as well.”
“Oh! So, where is it?”
“It’s not in a particular country. I can’t get out a map, and say, ‘There is the Kingdom of God.’ But I can point at your heart, and say, ‘There is the Kingdom of God’ – when you repent of your past sins, and try your best to love Him, with the help of His grace. The same goes for anyone else who repents and tries to love God.”
Thoughtfully, the little girl said, “The Kingdom of God is in me.” Then she asked, “What
was that other part you said?”
“The part about how we need to repent of our past sins?” The child nodded, and the mother said, “It means that we need to tell God we’re sorry when we hurt Him – like when we don’t pray, or when we don’t wash the dishes, or if we act mad at someone for no reason. It also means that we try really hard not to do those things again.”
“I don’t mean to hurt you or God, Mommy!” said the little girl, sadly.
“My sweet girl,” said the mother, as she gave the child a hug. “I know that you don’t. And I forgive you, just like God forgives you, too. And for the same reason – because we both love you a whole lot.” Then the mother said, “But you need to go to sleep now. I love you.”
The next night, the little girl asked, “Mommy?”
“Yes, dear?”
“Last night, when you told me about the Star Mystery – about the Kingdom of God – you
said that it was about things that Jesus said and did.”
The mother smiled, and said, “Star Mystery does sound pretty, dear; but the words you are searching for are ‘Mysteries of Light.’ We should say the right words, or we might confuse other people.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, Mommy.”
“That’s all right, my beautiful girl,” said the mother. “Did you have a question about the Third Mystery?”
“Yes. What did Jesus do?”
The mother grinned, and said, “I know – we can talk about what Jesus did.”
“Mommm-my!”
“All right. I’ll stop being silly.” The mother continued, “Jesus did so many different things. He healed people, and He forgave people, and He taught people, and He walked on water, and He…”
“Mommm-my! You said you weren’t going to be silly!”
“But I wasn’t being silly, dear,” the mother said. “Jesus really did walk on water – during a thunderstorm, no less! He walked for four miles on the water, to a boat where His friends were. And then He told the storm to stop, and guess what happened?”
“Did the rain stop?”
“Yes, it did. Jesus got into the boat with His friends, and everyone realized that Jesus was Someone who was very, very special,” the mother said. “Here’s another thing that really happened. One time, Jesus’ friend, Peter, was talking to someone, and they asked Peter if Jesus paid a certain tax. Jesus wasn’t with Peter at the time, so Peter couldn’t ask Him – but Peter told the people anyway that Jesus did pay the tax. When Peter met with Jesus a little later – and before Peter had a chance to say anything – Jesus asked Peter, ‘Peter, who does a king collect taxes from? Does the king get money from foreign people or from his own people?’” The mother told the little girl, “Then Jesus looked at his friend, Peter, who was a fisherman, and asked him to go over to the lake. He told Peter to place a hook in the water and take the first fish that came up. Then Jesus told Peter to open its mouth, and he would find a coin that was worth enough to pay the tax for both Jesus and Peter. Peter did what Jesus told him to do, and it all happened just the way Jesus said it would. So Peter took that slimy, smelly coin that had just fallen out of a fish, and gave it to the man who wanted the money.”
“Eww! Gross!”
The mother said, “I agree.”
“That was funny. Are you going to tell me to go to sleep now?”
“How about one more story? In fact, it’s about Jesus and a little girl.”
The little girl asked with a pout, “Did Jesus tell her to go to sleep?”
“No, dear – and let’s remember the difference between being silly and being disrespectful.”
Sadly, the child answered. “I’m sorry, Mommy.”
“I forgive you, of course,” the mother said. “But do please try to be polite. Anyway, in this story, a man’s daughter was very sick. The man went to Jesus and asked Him to come help his little girl feel better. Jesus agreed to come with him. On the way there, though, someone came up and told the man that his daughter had died.”
“Oh, no!”
“Yes. But Jesus told the man to have faith in Him.” The mother continued, “Jesus and the man went to the man’s house. The little girl was dead; but Jesus went into the girl’s room, took her by the hand, and said, ‘Little girl, wake up!’ And she came back to life.”
The little girl squealed with excitement. “Jesus told a little girl to wake up!!”
“Yes, He did,” the mother said. “But Jesus would probably ask you to have your regular sleep now, dear. Good night; I love you.”
“I’m ready for my story, Mommy.”
“I see that; I’d better get started. The Fourth Luminous Mystery is an exciting one called the Transfiguration. That’s the special word for when one thing changes into something else.”
“Like at the wedding?”
“Oh!” Surprised, the mother said, “When Jesus turned the water into wine? Yes, I guess you could say that was a transfiguration of sorts. What a good listening girl I have! But this Transfiguration gets its own mystery because it was a very special change.”
“Jesus did a lot of special things, didn’t he?”
“He sure did. This particular special thing happened one day when Jesus – and three of His friends – went mountain climbing.”
“Jesus went mountain climbing?”
“Apparently so. The Bible doesn’t actually say why they were climbing the mountain. It just says that they did it. Anyway, once they made it to the top of the mountain, an amazing thing happened.”
“What was it?”
“Suddenly, Jesus became really shiny – like a light was coming out of Him. Then, showing up out of nowhere, a cloud surrounded Jesus and his friends. To top it all off, two other people were suddenly standing with Jesus.”
“Who were they?”
“Interesting question, my smart girl,” said the mother. “I’m not sure how Peter and the others knew this, but somehow they knew that the two other men were Moses and Elijah.”
“Moses and Elijah?” the child asked. “I’m confused. I thought they were really old.”
“Do you mean that they were born a long time before Jesus and His friends? Yes – Moses and Elijah both lived a long time before Jesus. In fact, Moses lived a long time before Elijah.” Smiling, the mother said, “But you know how God is – always doing anything He wants – which is also always the best thing. God wanted Peter and his friends to see Jesus talking with the two most important men in the history of their people. God wanted Peter, James, and John to realize that Jesus was just as important – in fact, even more important – than Moses and Elijah.”
“Oh.”
“Yes – and then something even more amazing happened.”
“What was it?”
“Suddenly, they all heard a voice – God’s voice – seeming to come from the cloud itself, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him.’ And then, Jesus stopped shining, and the two men disappeared!”
“What did Jesus’ friends do?”
“They were a little scared, and a little confused; but mostly very happy that Jesus had shared such a special thing with them,” the mother said. “Just like I am very happy to have shared it with you. But you need to sleep now. Good night. I love you.”
As the mother walked into the little girl’s room, the child sat up in the bed and opened
her mouth to speak, but then closed her mouth and lay down again without saying a
single word.
The mother grinned, and asked, “Are you waiting for me?”
The little girl nodded enthusiastically.
“I’d better get started, then,” and she sat down. “Tonight we talk about a very special mystery – the Fifth Luminous Mystery, the Institution of the Holy Eucharist.”
The little girl’s forehead scrunched in confusion, but she remained silent.
“Yes, that’s a lot of strange words,” the mother said. “But it’s just a fancy way of saying ‘The Last Supper’.”
The little girl still looked confused.
The mother smiled and sighed. She said, “Fair enough, I’ll just tell the story. On the night before He died, Jesus and all His closest friends ate one last meal together, which became known as…”
Finally, the little girl’s confusion disappeared, and she finished the sentence along with
her mother, “…The Last Supper!”
“Yes, my smart girl.” congratulated the mother. “Now, this last supper happened to be on the same night as a very important and very holy meal for the Jewish people, the Passover meal.”
“Passover?” the little girl asked. “Wasn’t that the special festival you talked about
before?”
“That’s the one,” the mother agreed. “In fact, the Jewish people had been celebrating the Passover meal every year – exactly the same way for thousands of years, ever since Moses started it – all the way up to the time of Jesus.”
“Wow!”
The mother agreed, “Yes, that’s a long time.” She said, “But on that special night, Jesus did something different at the Passover meal.”
The child gasped. “Did he get in trouble?” she asked in a worried voice.
“His friends were surprised,” her mother said, “but they knew that Jesus was a very, very special Someone – because of all of His miracles, and from the Transfiguration. He had done many things that surprised them, but they were always for the best. So His friends had learned to trust Him – even when they didn’t understand Him.”
The little girl relaxed, and the mother went on. “At the Last Supper – during the Passover meal – Jesus took the bread from the table and told His friends, ‘This is My Body.’ And then He took a cup of wine and said, ‘This is My Blood.’”
“Blood? It turned into a cup of blood?” the little girl’s eyes grew round in shock.
“No,” the mother reassured her. “But then again, yes. Let me think for a moment,” and the mother paused. Finally, she said, “Do you remember when Jesus went to the wedding, and He changed the water into wine, and it really looked and tasted different?”
The little girl nodded weakly.
“Good,” said the mother, and smiled. “When we talked about that, we said that it was because Jesus was God and could do anything He wanted.” Again, the little girl nodded. “Well, on this night – at this meal – He did something even more amazing. He took the bread and the wine, and even though they really changed into His Body and His Blood, they still looked and tasted exactly like bread and wine.”
The little girl asked, “Then, how did they know it wasn’t bread and wine?”
“Good question,” the mother said. “Because Jesus told them it wasn’t. Jesus’ friends knew that Jesus always told the truth. So they knew that – somehow – what Jesus had said was true, even though they didn’t see a difference.”
“This is making me tired,” complained the little girl.
The mother smiled, and said, “That’s okay, because it’s time for sleep anyway. Good night, dear. I love you.”
The Sorrowful Mysteries
The mother walked into the little girl’s room slowly, and the child asked, “What’s wrong,
Mommy?”
“I was just thinking about the story you will hear tonight,” the mother replied.
“What is it?”
“Tonight we begin the Sorrowful Mysteries,” the mother began. “These are the stories about how Jesus died… to save us.”
Confused, the little girl asked, “Us?”
The mother smiled. “Not only us, but everyone in the whole world who accepts the love of Jesus.” The mother continued, “Tonight’s mystery is the First Sorrowful Mystery, the Agony in the Garden.”
“Jesus had a garden?”
“It may have been more like a park, because I think anyone could go there,” the mother said. “Or maybe it was a friend’s garden – I really don’t know. But what’s important is what happened there.”
“What happened?”
“Jesus asked His friends to come with Him to this garden. And all of them came with Him – except for one man, named Judas. Once they got to the garden, Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to come with Him a little farther. Then Jesus told them that He was sad, and wanted to pray – because He was about to die.”
“Oh, no!” said the little girl. “Was Jesus sick?”
“No. Jesus knew that some people were – unfortunately – planning to kill Him.”
“Why? Had Jesus done something wrong?”
“No. As a matter of fact, He had never done anything wrong, ever. And that’s why those people wanted to kill Him.”
“I don’t understand – why would they kill him if he was good?”
“Think of this as an example: Police officers are good, right?”
“Yes.”
“What would happen if someone robbed a bank, and took everyone else’s money? That person wouldn’t want to have the police around, would they?”
“No.”
“Well, the people who wanted to kill Jesus hadn’t robbed a bank, and Jesus didn’t want to put them in jail. However, He did tell them that they weren’t acting the way they should be. And Jesus was so very good that – even without saying anything – everyone could see that Jesus loved God a lot more than they did, and that got them mad.”
“So they killed him?”
“Yes. But in this mystery, we are only thinking about Jesus’ prayer in the garden, and how Jesus was sad because He knew that they were about to kill Him. But do you know what?”
“What, Mommy?”
“Even though Jesus was sad and afraid, He prayed for strength to do what God wanted Him to do. Jesus wanted to save us so much that He prayed that He would be able to suffer whatever He had to, so that we could be with Him in Heaven someday.”
“Jesus is so good!”
“Oh, yes. He is,” the mother agreed. “I almost forgot – there was one other thing that also made Jesus sad. Do you remember me saying a moment ago that all His friends came with Him – all but one?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that one friend – Judas…” and the mother paused. Then she said, “Judas told the mean people where to find Jesus.”
“He doesn’t sound like a good friend.”
“No, he doesn’t. But we’ll talk more tomorrow night. Go to sleep now. I love you.”
“Is tonight another sad story, Mommy?”
“I’m afraid so, sweetheart. It’s the Second Sorrowful Mystery, called the Scourging at the Pillar.”
“The What at the Pillow?”
“No, dear.” The mother spoke slowly, and saying, “The Scour-ging at the Pil-lar. A pillar is a big, tall stone that stands up – kind of like a tree trunk, but made of stone.”
“Oh.”
“And a scourge is a yucky kind of whip. Have you ever seen old pictures of lion-tamers with those long rope-like things that they hit the lions with? That is a whip; and a scourge is like that, only worse. It’s shorter, but a scourge has five or six ends on it, and each end has pieces of metal on them. And the soldiers hit people with it.”
“I don’t like this story, Mommy.”
“I can understand that. After all, that’s why they are called the Sorrowful Mysteries.”
“Can you tell me a different story?”
“That’s tempting, but there is a reason why we need to think about this story.”
“Why?”
“Because Jesus went through this sad and yucky stuff because of us.”
“What? Because of us?”
“Yes. Let me see if I can put it into words. Sometimes, you and I don’t always do what we are supposed to do, right? In fact, we could say that about anybody who ever lived, except Jesus and Mary.”
“Yes…”
“And you know about the devil?”
“He’s bad!”
“Yes, he is. Well, it was the devil who really wanted Jesus to go away. In fact, the devil wants everyone to go away. He doesn’t like anybody.”
“Poor devil. Should we pray for him?”
“You are the best girl ever, dear. But we can’t. You see, human beings learn things a little bit at a time, day by day. A little girl like you, for example, might learn something new one day and need to change her mind about something from before. But when angels are created by God – and the devil, too, because he was created as an angel – they find out everything all at once. They make up their minds right away, and they never change them again. So the devil can’t change his mind.”
“That’s sad.”
“I think you’re right. The devil could have chosen to love God, but he didn’t.” The mother sighed. “Anyway, what the devil wanted to do to Jesus is what he wants to do to everyone. But Jesus told the devil, ‘No!’ Jesus told the devil that he couldn’t hurt us, because Jesus was going to go through all the pain that we deserve because of our sins. That’s what we mean when we say that Jesus died for us – He died in our place.”
“Poor Jesus!”
“Yes, dear. Jesus was very loving – and very brave – to take our place like that. That’s why we try to remember just how brave and loving He was, so that we can love Him even more.”
“I love Jesus even more!”
“That’s wonderful, dear. But try to sleep now. I love you.”
The mother walked into the little girl’s room, and saw the child lying in her bed under
the covers. The child saw her mother, and said, “Hi, Mommy!”
“Hello, dear. I see you are ready for sleep.”
“Yes,” she replied. “But I want you to tell me a story.”
The mother looked gently at the little girl. “Okay,” she said. “You do remember that we’re on the Sorrowful Mysteries?”
“Yes, but I love to hear your stories.”
“You sweet girl!” the mother said. “Okay, then. That means that tonight’s story will be about the Third Sorrowful Mystery, Jesus is Crowned with Thorns.”
“Thorns?”
“Yes. Do you remember when we went to the park a few days ago, and we saw those beautiful roses that smelled so pretty?”
“Oh, yes!”
“And do you remember – when you tried to hold one – how it had those pokey parts on the stem?”
“Yes. That hurt!”
“Those pokey parts are called thorns.”
“Oh, okay,” said the little girl. Then the child asked, “What are we talking about, again?”
“The Third Sorrowful Mystery, Jesus is Crowned with Thorns.”
“A crown? Like a princess wears?”
“Sort of, but made from thorns.”
“Made from thorns? But that would hurt!”
“Yes, I’m afraid it did hurt a lot.”
“Why would Jesus want to wear a crown of thorns?”
“He didn’t want to wear it. There were some mean soldiers who were being bullies, and they were making fun of Jesus. The soldiers heard someone say Jesus was a king, so they put together a mean crown – made of thorns – and put it on his head.”
“They put the thorns on his head? But that means they touched it.”
“Yes.”
“But why didn’t the thorns hurt the soldiers when they touched them?”
“Oh – you are such a clever girl,” the mother answered. “You are absolutely right. The thorns really did hurt the soldiers’ hands – but they did it anyway.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know why bullies are so mean, honey. It’s sad.”
“Can we pray for them?”
“Well, it certainly wouldn’t hurt. What would you like to say?”
“Dear Jesus, protect us from bullies and let mean people understand about love for
God and for people. Amen.”
“Amen! Thank you for being such a good girl, honey. You make God so happy. But you really need to go to sleep now. I love you.”
The next night, the little girl asked her mother, “Mommy, can we talk about something
else tonight?”
“All right. How would you like to talk about some of those other prayers that I pray during the Rosary?”
“Oh! Okay.”
“Good. So, there’s the ‘Our Father’ prayer, which we talked about the other night. The ‘Hail Mary’ prayer is another one; it’s the prayer we say most often during the Rosary. There are also two other prayers – called the ‘Glory Be’ prayer and the ‘Fatima Prayer.’ Oops! I almost forgot a couple. There is the prayer that we say at the very beginning of the Rosary, and one more that we say at the very end.”
“What are they?”
“The very first one is called the Apostle’s Creed, which is kind of long, and tells all about God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.”
“Why are there so many Gods?”
“Interesting question, my good girl. There are not many Gods – there is only one God.”
“But you just called them God the Father and God the Son and God the…” the little girl
tried to think of the third name, and – giving up – finished, “the other one?”
“God the Holy Spirit,” the mother supplied for her daughter. “Yes, I did. But, here’s why we say there is only one God. In the Bible, just before Jesus went back up to Heaven, He asked His friends, the apostles, to do something for Him: to baptize people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
“That’s three!”
“Wait – listen carefully: Jesus says, ‘in the NAME of’ and not ‘in the NAMES of.’ So that means that – somehow – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are only one God, even though there’s three of them.”
“I don’t understand, Mommy.”
“I really can’t say that I understand it myself, sweetheart. But then again, do you understand how Jesus turned the water into wine?”
“No…”
“Or exactly how He creates the stars, or gives someone life?”
“No.”
“There are lots of things about God that we don’t understand. But, that kind of makes sense, if you think about it. God can do so much more than we can. And He is much smarter than I am, and even smarter than you.”
“Mommm-my! You’re smart!”
“Yes, I was joking a bit. But I’m only smart for a human – I don’t know even a little bit of what God knows. But one thing I do know: we can trust God. And if He tells us that God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are still only one God… Well, I have to believe He knows what He’s talking about – even if I don’t know what He’s talking about.”
Gruffly, the little girl said, “Okay.”
“I get the impression that you aren’t happy with my explanation,” came the mother’s gentle reply.
“Well… no.”
“Would it help if I tell you that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are sometimes called The Trinity? Now you have only one name for the Three Persons.”
“No.”
“Well, I’m sorry, my dear girl,” the mother replied. “But sometimes, that’s all there is – a big question that we may never know the answer to.” The mother’s eyes brightened, and she said, “Hey, I have an idea.”
Interested, the little girl asked, “What is it?”
“Maybe when you go to sleep tonight, you can ask Jesus about the Trinity in your dreams.”
“Mommm-my! Stop being silly.”
“All right, dear. But I’m also going to stop talking, so that you can sleep. I love you.”
“Hello, dear. Why don’t we talk about the ‘Hail Mary’ prayer tonight?”
“Okay.”
“The ‘Hail Mary’ is the prayer that we say the most often in the Rosary. In fact, we pray the ‘Hail Mary’ ten times for each mystery – each story that we have been talking about.”
“Ten times! That’s so many!”
“Yes. Do you want to know why we pray that prayer ten times?”
“Yes, because that’s so many!”
Smiling, the mother said, “Um, yes. You said that already.” She thought for a moment, and then said, “Way back, when the Rosary was first made up, it was because regular people wanted to try to say prayers every day like the priests did.”
“Did the priests say so many ‘Hail Mary’ prayers?”
“No. They actually prayed from a part of the Bible called the Book of Psalms – which has 150 chapters, or Psalms.”
“That’s so many!”
“Yes, it is. And way back, when the Rosary was first made up, people didn’t have books like we have today. Every book had to be written out by hand, which is why it took a really long time to make even one book. People didn’t have ways to make lots of books at one time like we do today. Not many people could get books, which meant that not many people could read.”
“I’m learning to read.”
“Yes, you are; and you are doing a great job with that. But back then, not many people could read, so not many people could read the Bible. But they still wanted to be holy, and pray like the priests did. So someone made up the Rosary, with 150 Hail Marys to equal the 150 Psalms.”
“So you say lots of Hail Marys every day?”
“Well, actually, most people only say one set of the Mysteries each day, which is 50 Hail Marys a day. Do you remember how I told you once that – since it was Monday – I would be praying about the Joyful Mysteries?”
“No.”
The mother smiled, and said, “That’s okay. I did. The Church decided that people should pray certain mysteries on certain days, and other mysteries on other days, so that we wouldn’t forget about any of them.”
“Oh.”
“Anyway, getting to the actual prayer: the ‘Hail Mary.’ And please remember to wait until I say ‘Amen’ before you talk again, all right?”
“Okay, Mommy.”
“Thank you. ‘Hail, Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.’”
“Why do you pray about fruit?”
“Oh, you cutie!” The mother giggled, and explained, “What the line says is ‘blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.’ The phrase ‘fruit of your womb’ is an old-timey way of talking about how a baby grows in a mommy’s belly. The ‘womb’ part is the mommy’s belly, and the ‘fruit’ part is the baby.”
“Oh!”
“And since Jesus was the baby that was in Mary’s belly – or the ‘fruit of her womb’ – and since He was such a blessing to us, we say how special He was by praying ‘blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.’”
“Oh!”
“But now, you should probably sleep. Good night, dear. I love you.”
“Hello, my sleepy girl. It’s time to continue with the Sorrowful Mysteries.”
A bit scared, the little girl asked, “Do we have to, Mommy?”
“I’m afraid so, dear. It’s the only way to get to the best stories of all.”
“Really? What are they?”
“The Glorious Mysteries! There wouldn’t be any Glorious Mysteries without the Sorrowful Mysteries. Life is kind of like that – sometimes you have to go through what can be a bad time to get to the really amazing stuff. It’s like climbing a mountain – getting up a mountain is really hard. But the view from the top is so beautiful, and you can be really proud of how hard you worked to get there!”
“Okay.”
“You are such a brave girl! So, tonight we will be talking about the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery, Jesus Carries His Cross.”
“Like the one on your Rosary?”
“Kind of. Except, well – do you see how, on my Rosary, Jesus is on the Cross? So, Jesus wasn’t carrying a little bitty pretend cross like mine. He was carrying a big cross – one as big as He was. But fortunately He had some help – the soldiers made a man named Simon help him.”
“That was nice.”
The mother was quiet for a moment, and then continued, “I would love to let you think that the soldiers were actually being nice for once, but – and I’m sorry – the soldiers were not being nice.”
“What do you mean, Mommy? They got someone to help Jesus.”
“Yes, they did. But the soldiers only did that because they were afraid that Jesus was going to die right then. They wanted to make sure He got to the place where they wanted Him to die. They made sure that He stayed alive, so that they could kill Him later in an even yuckier way. I’m sorry.”
“But why?”
“I have wondered about that, too. And I’m afraid I can’t think of too many reasons for why they would do that. One reason might be that – as soldiers – they were just following their orders, and they did what they were told to do. Maybe they would get in trouble if Jesus died before they told Him to. Another reason might have been that – again, as soldiers – they would only get paid if Jesus was crucified. Maybe if He died on the way there, they wouldn’t get their money, and they wanted their money. And the third reason – the yuckiest reason – is that they were bullies, and they just wanted to be as mean as they could. Those were some of the soldiers that put that mean crown of thorns on His head, remember? So, maybe they just wanted Jesus to hurt, even more than He was already hurting.”
“But why?”
“There are just people in the world who are like that, honey. I don’t know why, but they just seem to want to hurt other people. Maybe someone hurt them once, and they just think that’s what you’re supposed to do.”
“Well, it’s not!” the little girl declared.
“No, dear, it’s not. But, that’s also part of why Jesus came to earth, and died for us – to show us how to love one another, and to show us that you don’t have to hurt other people just because someone hurts you.”
“Mommy, I’m crying!” The little girl said, “I love Jesus so much! I wish He didn’t have to
be hurt!”
“My sweet, beautiful girl.” The mother hugged the little girl close, and said, “Did you know that you are thinking exactly like Jesus, right now?”
Puzzled, the little girl looked up at her mother, and asked, “I am?”
“Yes. That’s why Jesus came to earth. He was in Heaven, and He saw that people were hurting – and it made Him so sad. So He decided to come to earth and to help us – and to save us, and to show us how to love.”
“I know how to love!”
“Yes, my dear. Why don’t you go to sleep with that love on your mind? Good night, dear. I love you.”
“Hi, Mommy.”
“Hello, dear. Are you ready for the last Sorrowful Mystery tonight?”
“You’re sure this is the last one?”
“This is the last Sorrowful Mystery, and then we go on to the Glorious Mysteries!”
“Okay.”
“Thank you, my good girl! Okay, then. Tonight we will talk about the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery, the Crucifixion.”
“The Crucifixion?”
“Yes. Sometimes this mystery is also called, ‘Jesus Dies on the Cross.’”
“Oh, no!”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. But did you know that, even in the sadness of that day, several beautiful things happened?”
“What were they?”
“Well, unfortunately, there were two other men, criminals, being killed that day – the same way that Jesus was being killed. Now, both of these men had done some really bad things. But one of them – while he was on another cross, dying right next to Jesus – he told Jesus that he was sad that Jesus had to die that way, because he knew that Jesus hadn’t done anything wrong. And this man was also given a special knowledge that Jesus really was a king, and he asked Jesus, ‘Remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.’ And do you know what Jesus said?”
“No.”
“Jesus told the man, ‘Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.’”
“Paradise?”
“Yes – that means Heaven.”
“Oh. That’s nice.”
“Yes, it was. Jesus’ words to that man gives all of us hope. Someone who had done bad things his whole life was still able to go to Heaven – just because he felt sorry for Jesus, who was dying unfairly, and because he asked Jesus for help. That man felt compassion for Jesus, and compassion is a kind of love. Jesus loves us so much, and is just waiting for us to love Him back so He can save us, no matter what else we’ve done in our life.”
“I love Jesus so much!”
“That’s wonderful, my sweet girl. And it’s a good idea, too. We should all learn to love Jesus, and do as much good as we can for love of Him. That will be a lot better than doing bad things and then trying to remember at the last moment to love Him. Someone might end up forgetting, and that would be bad.”
“Yeah!”
“Another really nice thing that Jesus did – right before He died – was that He asked His friend to look after His Mother, and He asked His Mother to look after His friend.”
“Aw! That’s so nice!”
“Yes. But it goes beyond that, even. In the Bible, instead of calling His friend by name, the Bible calls him ‘the beloved disciple.’ And that becomes important because – later – God helped Christians realize that we are ‘beloved disciples,’ and that Mary is our Mother, too.”
The little girl gasped, and said, “She is?”
“She is – isn’t that neat?”
“Yeah!”
Grinning, the mother asked, “And do you know what mothers like for their children to do at bedtime?”
“Yes, Mommy. Go to sleep.”
“That’s right, my smart girl. I love you. And Mary loves you, too.”
The Glorious Mysteries
“So, my beautiful girl, are you ready?”
“For another Rosary story?”
In an excited voice, the mother said, “Not just any Rosary story – the beginning of the Glorious Mysteries!”
Very quickly, the little girl shouted, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
Laughing, the mother replied, “Me, too!” Then she took a deep breath, pretending to frown. “Listen to me – I’m not being very quiet, am I?”
Pretending to sound serious, the child said, “It’s okay, Mommy – this time.”
Laughing again, the mother said, “Oh – this time, huh? I see. Well, thank you. I will try to hold in my excitement while I tell you about the First Glorious Mystery, the Resurrection of Jesus.”
“The Resurrection?”
“You know… also known as Easter Sunday.”
The little girl squealed with delight, “Oh!”
“That’s right,” the mother said. “Now, you and I already know that Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday; but try to imagine how the poor apostles felt. Peter, James, John – all of the apostles – they were still so sad that Jesus had died only a few days ago. And to make matters worse, they were afraid that maybe the people who killed Jesus might come looking for them – to kill them, too. So they had hidden in a house and locked all the doors.”
“But, didn’t someone go to see Jesus, and found out He was gone?”
“Yes, my smart girl! You are just a smidge ahead of me in the story. I was about to tell you that some of Jesus’ friends – who were women – did go to the tomb to see Jesus’ body.”
“The tomb?”
“Yes, that’s a special word for the place where you put a dead body. But the word ‘tomb’ is a lot shorter to say than ‘place where you put a dead body,’ isn’t it?”
“Yes,” the little girl answered. “But weren’t the women afraid?”
“Not as much. Because back in that time – and it seems really strange to us now – women were not counted as equals to men, so they weren’t really in as much danger as the men were. Weird, huh?”
“Yes.”
“Anyway, back on the day that Jesus died – Good Friday – no one was allowed time to clean off Jesus’ wounds and give Him a proper burial. So, the women went to the tomb to clean Jesus’ body from all the yuckiness that had happened on Good Friday. But they couldn’t – because the cave where they put Jesus’ body was open, and His body was gone.”
“Where was it?”
“Good question, my smart girl. There are actually a couple different answers to that question. Which is odd, because – normally – if you asked me where Daddy is, I can only say one place, right? Because Daddy can only be in one place with his body, right?”
“Yes.”
“When Jesus rose from the dead, His risen Body had superpowers.”
“Really?”
“Listen to what happened, and you tell me. Two of Jesus’ friends were very sad and decided to leave the city, to go to another town. They met Jesus along the way, and He walked with them all day. Even though these friends had been around Jesus for years, they didn’t recognize Him. So somehow, His body must have looked different. That’s one superpower, but that’s not all. While Jesus was walking with those two people all day, Jesus also went and visited the apostles – the ones who were hiding in the locked house. Superpower Number Two: being in two places at once. And here’s another – no one had moved, but suddenly Jesus was standing right in front of them. No one had let Jesus in, and the door was still locked. So, not only was He in two places at one time, but one of those places was somewhere He wasn’t supposed to be able to get into. Sounds like superpowers to me.”
“Me, too!”
“You see – didn’t I tell you? But please close your eyes, dear. I love you.”
“Hi, Mommy!”
“Hello, dear. You look happy.”
“Yes! Because you’re telling a Glory story tonight!”
“Oh. You mean a Glorious mystery? Yes, I am. The Second Glorious Mystery is called The Ascension of Jesus. It can also be called ‘Jesus Goes Up into Heaven.’”
Suddenly sad, the little girl said, “Jesus went up to Heaven?”
Puzzled, the mother answered, “Yes. You don’t sound very happy about that.”
“Well, no. I wanted Him to stay with us forever.”
The mother looked at the child in wonder, and said, “It amazes me how very smart you are, my beautiful girl.”
“What do you mean, Mommy?”
“I mean that, even though Jesus went up Heaven, He also stayed with us.”
“Really? How?”
“First, let’s talk about the Ascension. Jesus stayed with His friends for about 40 days – talking to them, eating with them, and basically doing all the things that a totally alive person would do, so that His friends could really know that Jesus had risen from the dead.”
“Oh. Is that how Jesus stayed?”
“Not quite. You see, at the end of those 40 days, Jesus told His friends that He had to go up to Heaven. Before He left, though, Jesus told them that He would send a special Someone to come and help them. They needed to stay in the city and pray, and then He would send His special Friend to them. And after He said that, Jesus rose from the ground; and kept going up and up and up, into the clouds – just like a balloon.”
“Mommm-my! You’re being silly again!”
“Yes, kind of silly – but, kind of serious, too. He really did rise up, and no one else helped Him. He didn’t get on a plane or a helicopter or in an elevator – He just rose up, all by Himself. And then He was gone.”
“He was gone?”
“Yes. And then something sort of comical happened.”
“Not something silly that you made up?”
“No, ma’am. Jesus’ friends, the apostles, were staring up at the sky where Jesus had gone into the clouds.” The mother added for emphasis, “Just standing there and staring – standing and staring.” The mother paused for a moment, and then said, “Suddenly, two men dressed in white – who were probably angels – appeared next to them. The two men said, ‘What are you doing, just standing there and staring? Jesus told you to get back to the city and start praying! So, go already!’”
“Really?”
“Those weren’t the exact words, but they’re pretty close. The apostles were quite surprised that other people were suddenly there; but they went back into the city and began praying for the special Friend that Jesus said He would send.”
“Who did Jesus send?”
“That is what we find out tomorrow night,” the mother said. “But do you remember that I said that Jesus really did stay with us, even though He went to Heaven?”
“Yes. How did He do that?”
“Do you remember how Jesus’ risen Body had superpowers? He could be in many places at once, and things like that? And do you also remember that, on the night before He died, Jesus held up the bread and said, ‘This is My Body’? And that it really was His Body?”
“Yes…”
“That’s how He stays with us. At each Mass, when a priest says those words, ‘This is My Body,’ Jesus is really there again. Jesus lets priests use His words so that Jesus – all of Him: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity – can be with us again.”
“Wow!”
“Yes, but now it’s time for bed, my sweet girl. I love you.”
“Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!”
“Please calm down, dear. I’m right here, after all, and it is bedtime.”
“I’m sorry, Mommy. But I really want to know who the special Friend is!”
“You certainly do. That puts us at the Third Glorious Mystery, the Descent of the Holy Spirit.”
“The Holy Spirit? Is that Jesus’ special Friend?”
“Yes, He is. Although He is much more than just a Friend, really. He is also God, the One we call the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. And there is something very special about the Holy Spirit. Do you remember how Jesus came into the room without moving the door, after He rose from the dead?”
“Yes.”
“Well, the Holy Spirit – if you allow Him to – He can come right into the deepest part of you, called your soul. You don’t see Him, but you know He’s there – helping you know what God wants you to do, and even helping you to do it, sometimes. Now, getting back to the story: the apostles stayed in the city and prayed – just like Jesus asked them to – and after those days the Holy Spirit came into the room where the apostles were. At first, the Holy Spirit looked like little candle flames that were floating in the air, but without any candles underneath.”
“That sounds a little scary, Mommy.”
“It does sound a little scary, but one of the things about the Holy Spirit is that He gives people the gift of courage. So the apostles weren’t afraid. Then the flames came down and – boop! – rested on the top of each person’s head. And I’m not even being silly – that really happened.”
“Did their hair catch on fire?”
“No, it didn’t. And something even more wonderful happened next.”
“What was it?”
“Do you remember how the apostles had been really afraid right after Jesus had died, and they were hiding all the time?”
“Yes.”
“When the Holy Spirit came to them, they became super-brave. They went right out into the middle of the city and started telling everyone about Jesus.”
“Yay!”
“But wait – there’s more. Once the apostles started talking, everyone noticed something really mind-blowing.”
“What was it?”
“Well, lots of people were in the city again – people from all over the world. They were celebrating another holy festival. But every single person – no matter where that person was from – heard the apostles speaking to them in their own language.”
“Wow!”
“You bet – wow,” the mother said. “Eventually, there was only one apostle talking – Peter – and there were people from over thirteen different countries, and everyone understood him. To top it all off, Peter wasn’t speaking in all those different languages at once. He was only talking in the language he normally used. It was the Holy Spirit Who helped every single person understand what Peter had to say.”
“Wow!”
“Yes. And the Holy Spirit helped the apostles do lots of other things, too.”
“Like what?”
“Like heal people, and not be afraid, and they were able to give wise answers to people.” The mother paused, and continued in a sad voice, “But there was still one thing the apostles had to do by themselves.”
“What was it?”
“They still had to go to sleep at night.”
“Mommm-my!”
“I know, dear. I’m being silly. But you need to sleep now. I love you.”
“Are we finished with the stories, Mommy?”
“No; there are two more mysteries. Tonight we will talk about the Fourth Glorious Mystery, the Assumption of Mary into Heaven.”
“The What of Mary?”
“The Assumption, dear. It means that…” the mother stopped, and began again. “It’s when… Um…”
Concerned, the little girl asked, “Is it something bad?”
“Oh – no, dear,” the mother reassured the child. “I’m just not sure how to explain it, other than just telling the story.” The mother took a deep breath, and said, “First, let’s remember that Mary was Jesus’ Mommy, right? And Jesus loved His Mommy very, very much.”
“Like I love you!”
“Thank you, dear. And I love you, too; but of course Jesus loved His Mommy best of all. And because Jesus is God, He got to be the only person ever to create His own Mommy.”
“Aw! I bet He made her perfect!”
“Yes, my smart girl – that is exactly what He did. Now, do you remember the story of Adam and Eve? They ate from the tree that God told them not to eat from, and that was wrong. It was a sin, and that sin hurt them spiritually. Since Adam and Eve were the first people – and since everyone else comes from them – it hurt us too. So now, our bodies grow old and die, and our souls go to Heaven.”
“I wish people wouldn’t die.”
“It is a sad thing. But it gets our souls to Heaven, so that’s good, right?”
“I guess so.”
“Anyway, let’s pretend for a minute that the first sin of Adam and Eve was kind of like someone making a big, muddy place on a sidewalk. Everyone who walks on that sidewalk after them falls in the big, muddy place.”
“Eww!”
“Yes; that is pretty gross. But then, Jesus came to save us. He is the person who pulls people out of the big, muddy place and cleans them off so they can go down the rest of the sidewalk.”
“Jesus is nice.”
“Yes, He is. When Jesus decided that Mary would be His Mommy, He wanted her to be the best mommy ever. So Jesus did something very special for Mary, which we call the Immaculate Conception.”
“What’s that?”
“That means that Jesus kept Mary from sin, even before she was born! When Mary’s mommy became pregnant, Jesus didn’t want her to fall into that muddy place. So He helped her over that spot before she got dirty.”
“Why didn’t He do that for everyone?”
“I’m not sure, honey. But I know that Jesus has a reason, and we can trust Him.” The mother said, “Maybe that’s what it is – for us to learn how to trust Jesus.”
“I trust Jesus!”
“And that makes Jesus very happy. Now, let’s take that idea of the mud one step further. Pretend the mud has some kind of poison in it, and that’s what makes people die when they grow old.”
“Oh, no!”
“Yes. But – since Mary didn’t fall in the mud – she didn’t get poisoned, so she didn’t have to die when she got old.”
“But you said we have to die to get to Heaven.”
“I love it when you listen so closely, my smart girl. Yes, I did. Which is why this is a special mystery. Because Jesus took Mary – not just her soul, but even her body – into Heaven when it was time.”
“Wow!”
“I agree. And guess what time it is for you?”
“Time to go to sleep now?”
“That’s right. Good night, dear; I love you.”
“You look happy this evening, my sweet girl!”
“I am happy, because I’m thinking about how nice it is that everyone goes to Heaven
when they die.”
“Oh… You mean what I said last night?” the mother looked gently at the little girl. “Well, I’m afraid I was just trying to keep things short, dear. Unfortunately, not everyone goes to Heaven when they die.”
“They don’t?”
“Don’t get me wrong. Everyone is invited to go to Heaven, because God loves everyone and wants everyone to be with Him in Heaven. But not everyone wants to go there.”
“Why would someone not want to go to Heaven?”
“That’s an important question, my good girl. It has to do with something called ‘free will.’ It means that each person can make her own decisions to do things. If we want to love God and do good things, we are allowed to do that; and if we decide to something bad, God allows us to do that, too.”
“Why would God let us do bad things?”
“It’s because God doesn’t want to force us to love Him – that wouldn’t be right. God wants us to be able to make our own decisions, and be able to love Him just because we want to.” The mother continued, “How can you really know that someone loves you if that person has no other choice? A person has to be free to say ‘No’ about something, if you want to know whether a person really means ‘Yes’ about that thing.”
“Oh.”
“I just wanted you to know that – sadly – not everyone goes to Heaven.”
“Where do you go if you don’t go to Heaven?”
“Well, there are only two options. When your body dies, your soul will either go to where God is – which is called Heaven – or your soul will go away from God – which is called Hell. Hell is a very bad place. It’s where the devil is, and people are very unhappy there.”
“Why would people want to go there?”
“It’s like I told you, if you don’t want to love God and be with Him, then God won’t make you stay with Him.”
“I want to be with God!”
“Well, then you just keep loving God – just like you’re doing right now – and He will bring you to Heaven when it’s time.”
“Yay!”
“But guess what time it is now?”
“Time to sleep?”
“That is exactly right. Good night, my smart girl. I love you.”
“Hello, dear. It’s time for the final Glorious Mystery.”
“Aw! Does it have to be the last one?”
“Yes, honey, it does. There are other things we can talk about on other nights, but this story has come to its close.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you for understanding, my big girl. Tonight’s story is the Fifth Glorious Mystery, Mary is Crowned Queen of Heaven and Earth.”
“Mary gets a crown? Why?”
“Do you remember back in the Sorrowful Mysteries, when those mean soldiers gave Jesus the Crown of Thorns? And that they did it because they heard someone say that Jesus was a king. Well, they were right: Jesus is a king. In fact, Jesus’ actual title is ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords.’”
“Wow. So Mary is a queen! But… she doesn’t get some yucky thorn crown, does she?”
“Oh, no. That was given to Jesus by people who didn’t like Him. But this crown is given to Mary by her Son, Jesus, Who loves her a whole lot. So what kind of crown do you think Jesus would give His Mommy?”
“The prettiest crown ever! With flowers and beads and feathers and glitter and
everything!”
The mother laughed, and said, “I would agree with you about it being the prettiest crown ever, my imaginative girl. But Mary would need a giant head for a crown with all that on it.”
Defiantly, the little girl said, “No, she wouldn’t! God could do it! He can do anything!”
“Well, you’ve got me there. We can add another miracle to our list – every beautiful thing ever is on Mary’s crown, and it still fits on her regular head.” Smiling, the mother said, “You are amazing, my special girl.”
The child looked slightly suspicious, and asked in a worried voice, “You’re not making
fun of me, are you, Mommy!”
“No,” the mother’s serious voice replied. “You changed my mind, and I am glad that you did. You reminded me that God can do anything – that He made the entire gigantic universe, and He made the tiniest, most eenie-meenie-teenie things we can imagine, and He even made things that we can’t imagine. And if Jesus wants a crown for His Mommy that has every beautiful thing on it, He can do it. Thank you, my beautiful girl, for helping me to deepen my faith again – that God really can do anything.”
“I love you, Mommy!”
Pretending to be panicked, the mother gasped and said, “Wait a minute – I just thought of something.”
Concerned, the little girl asked, “What is it?”
“We just said that every beautiful thing is on Mary’s crown. And I just said that you are a beautiful girl. So… YOU are going to be on Mary’s crown!”
“Mommm-my!”
The mother’s laughter echoed in the room. “Okay, that part was silly. I admit it. And here I am, making it harder for you to sleep with all this silliness. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, Mommy.”
“Oops – do you know what I just remembered? The Bible tells us what kind of crown Mary has.”
“It does?”
“Yes, in the last book of the Bible, there is a vision of a ‘beautiful woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and with a crown of twelve stars on her head.’”
“Mommm-my! Stop being silly.”
“I’m not being silly this time, dear. That’s exactly what it says. So you really were right about God being able to do anything He wants. But why don’t you close your eyes now, and I’ll finish my Rosary?”
“All right.”
“Thank you, my good girl. I love you.”
The little girl opened her sleepy eyes one more time and looked up at her mother.
“Mommy?”
“Yes, dear?”
In exasperation, the child asked, “Why do you always say, ‘I love you,’ every single
night?”
The mother laughed a rich, warm laugh, smoothed the little girl’s hair, and said with a smile, “Because every single night, my dear girl, I love you! Now, good night.”
“Good night,” said the child as she closed her eyes again.
After a moment, the little girl called out, “Mommy?”
“Yes, dear?” asked the mother.
“I love you, too.”
THE END
