BBB Part Three: The Rosary

BBB = “Bob, Be Bold!” This was said to me in the presence of Jesus by Mother Mary when having Communion in CommunionFire last year. By December 2015 Camille and I crossed the mark of 1,000 daily Communions in our living room.

There are three powerful miracles over the past three years that are so natural the only way to describe them is ‘supernatural’.

Contained, released and revealed within each one are innumerable other miracles!

The Third is “The Rosary”

As expressed in the previous three posts in this series, Communion with Jesus is personal, intimate and one-on-one. As Queen of Heaven and Mother of the Church, Mary is never far from Her Son. She is ever near her heavenly Father and one cannot imagine what the intercession of Heaven might look like.

He chose to personally introduce me to Mother Mary. When I first met her it was not dramatic but, you’ve read this phrase before from me, ‘so natural that it had to be super-natural’.

Note: in ancient Israel the mother, not the wife, became Queen of the kingdom if her son was the King. This was because there were multiple wives and concubines. So when Jesus was coronated King of kings and Lord of lords, Mary was in position to become Queen in the Kingdom. She also becomes the spiritual Mother to all the children in the Kingdom of Heaven by virtue of giving birth to Jesus and our new birth in Him. If it is no longer I that lives but Christ who lives in me then Mary becomes our Mother as well!

This Methodist, Charismatic, Evangelical, Southern Baptist preacher in one brief miraculous moment became Communion-Centric! Do you know what Communion with Jesus at His Table does?  When I dine with Him, He is the host. In the midst of sharing so much life, love and peace with me, He also provides introductions to the people of God. He chose first to introduce, after over 700 Communion experiences He chose to introduce Mother Mary to me.

When that happened, I started studying the 2,000 years of paintings, drawings, statues, frescoes and images of the Holy Mother, The Virgin Mary, The Queen of Heaven etc… I also studied the various appearances she made throughout the history of the Church and did research and reading about just a few of the myriads who also witnessed to encounters with her.

The Lord said, 'Follow Me." He has been leading me into fellowship, church history and scriptures. It is not me trying in my own strength or temporal thought trying to find Jesus as in the first 40 years.

In the same way, the Rosary found me. I studied it, prayed it and then it became part of my daily prayer life. What an amazing side of the Kingdom of God, the people of God and mystery of praying with those in heaven and an others on earth.

I am a street level Christian. Everything is subject to doubt first. I once heard from a periodical I used to read called “The Wittenberg Door” that ‘to believe greatly is to doubt greatly.’ After a lifetime of ‘avoidance’, ‘skepticism’, ‘doubt and fear’ the holy spirit won me to the side of faith and the faithful.

First I will tell you who may have been part of the non-Catholic resistance that with any study of The Rosary, it is 75% pure Scripture!

Second I will tell you that The Rosary glorifies Jesus. It is devoted to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and honors Mary for just who she is! She is Jesus’ Mom, She gave birth to Him pure and holy, full of grace and the Holy Spirit as a virgin! Truth!

She is Mother, Queen and co-intercessor with her Son and the rest of heaven. She is ‘blessed among women’. In the language of the day, this meant that there is only one of her and none other like her before or afer!

Third I will tell you that since I started praying the Rosary (and I have been a prayer warrior if nothing else for 40 years) I have never seen more consistently answered prayer in my life and I am no stranger to prayer! I have never seen so much answered prayer since praying the rosary every day since June 12, 2015. 

Praying The Rosary somehow makes you aware that you are part of a prayer army that is in heaven and on earth. Mary is a real person. Mother Mary is your spiritual and eternal Mother and your eternal Queen. This is not exclusive to the faith of only 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, 600 million Eastern Catholics (Orthodox, Coptics, etc…) on the planet today it is scriptural, historical and part of Christian Orthodoxy. Thi is true whether you choose to allow Jesus to share His family or not! It may have been born within the Roman Catholic tradition but it belongs to all of God's people.
 
In the basic "Hail Mary" part of the Rosary here is a quick look at the associated Scriptures:

Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you! Blessed are you among women.

“And the Angel (Gabriel) came in unto her, and said, Hail (Mary), full of grace, the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women.” Luke 1:28

Blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus!

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb (Jesus)!” Luke 1:41-42

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25

‘Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit and Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary’ (Apostle’s Creed). Mary was with Jesus from conception to birth to the way of the Cross, at His death, resurrection and ascension. She most likely conducted the prayer meeting for the 9 days prior to the sending of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

As Jesus is ever at the right hand of the Father, then Mary is part of heaven’s royalty. As on earth she is always at her Son’s side. For nine months she was the "Ark of the Covenant"! In the Upper Room the week before Pentecost, she is involved in conducting the prayer meeting as the 120 await the coming of the Holy Spirit. (These nine days are where the Roman Catholic Church get the tradition of the "Novena Prayers".

Jesus ever intercedes and now so does Mary. She prays, as we do, with the Lord not just to Him. She and all of heaven are a symphony of praise, worship, prayer and intercession. She prays that we might each know the way of Jesus into eternal life now and in the great transition in death from our mortal bodies to the heavenly.

Have you left all to follow Jesus? Consider Jesus' cousin John. While on the Cross before His last breath:

“When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.”

Like John, have you heard Jesus saying, “Behold your Mother!” Have you taken Mary into your ‘eternal household’?

I have. I can’t believe it took 40 years and a heart ploughed by Communion to make my me tender enough to receive her sweet embrace. In eternity we will all know her love and the love of the heavenly host but now it is just a matter of believing.

Take an honest look at The Rosary.

Watch those who pray The Rosary on EWTN.

Study it, try it before you make judgements. It has been developing within the Roman Catholic tradition since 1221 A.D. after St. Dominic had a visitation from the Blessed Virgin
Mary. As late as the 2002 the Luminous Mysteries were added to the other three (Sorrowful, Joyful and Glorious Mysteries) by Pope John Paul II