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LET'S BE MORE THAN JUST SUNDAY
CATHOLICS
by Basilio Magno (Spain)
You all must be knowing that the Holy
Father visited Spain early in May this year to canonize five Spaniards.
The Spanish
Television beamed all day the movements of Pope
John Paul II.
What struck me the most in his homily is what
he said over and
over again, that we must pray daily and, in
particular, we must
recite the holy Rosary.
I have been pondering on those words,
not that it affects me
personally, for I and my wife Rosi say our morning
prayer, recite
the rosary in the evening and say our night prayer
together before the family altar. We don't have our breakfast before
saying our morning prayer standing together before the holy
picture of the Last Supper that hangs on the wall
in the kitchen.
When we go out in the evening to
a Party or a Movie and
return home late tired, we won't go to bed
straight away;
we will first say our Rosary and the night
prayer. Our reasoning
is, if we have time for pleasure, we can stay awake
for another
fifteen minutes to say the rosary and three minutes
to say our
night prayer, and then go to bed.
We look forward to our
prayer-time together. Standing before the altar or the holy picture
togther helps to strenghten the bonds of love between a husband and wife because
you receive
daily the blessings of God. After saying our
morning and night prayers we kiss each other tenderly cementing daily our
love.
But how many of our Goan
Catholics out in the western world, settled with good jobs, good houses, cars,
etc. think of God or the Virgin Mary on daily basis? Most of them are
content to rank among the Sunday Catholics, who go to churh
once a Sunday, and that's all. The only other
time they rush to say extra prayer is when someone in the family is sick
or is
in trouble.
If that be so, is it the way to
live as a good Catholic? I presume that most of the netters om Goanet are
Catholics or Christians. But daily prayer, is part of the Catholic
culture, or
for that matter of any religion. And it gives
you such a good feeling to be communicating with God on daily basis, and
not
just when you are in need. Prayer is nothing
but talking with God in your own words in your own way.
I was brought up in a Catholic
culture. As children we were
taught to be back home by 8 O'clock in the evening
to pray
together the Rosary, and dinner was never served
before the
rosary was said. And before we went to sleep,
mother would ask: "Have you children said your night prayer?" It is what
you
learn as a child that you don't forget
easily. Are today's parents
teaching their children the culture of
prayer. As Konkani language is our cultural heritage, our Faith is our
religious heri-tage, be it Christian or Hindu.
I had the good fortune of
meeting with the Rosary Crusader
Fr. Peyton in Bombay in 1958 (I think), where I
interviewed him as the Correspondent for The Herald -a Catholic weekly in
Calcutta. After finishing my interview, he put me a question:
"Son, do you say daily your rosary?" I
replied: "Yes,
Monsignor." He told me: "Never
miss an occasion to crusade
for the Rosary. Don't write about me, write
about the rosary."
Today, as I was thinking of the Pope's
message to the Spanish people, I remembered of my meeting with Fr.
Peyton
and of the great impact he had made on the people
with his
slogan" A Family that prays together, stays
together." My prayer now is may more Goan families the world over,
pray
together and stay together happily. And don't
forget to teach that culture to your children too.
END
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