Walking the Chaplet of Divine Mercy

Divine Mercy Chaplet made at Etsy.com

Today I am trapped inside by the frigid temps, but last weekend I was able to get out for a five mile walk; and with both spring and Lent just around the corner I wanted to suggest a method of prayer. 

Now, on a five mile walk there is plenty of time to pray the Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy - and the latter, multiple times.  I often find it hard to focus during the Chaplet, but last weekend I found two different ways of praying it that, combined with the physicality of walking, held my attention. 

Each of the fifty times I prayed, "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion have mercy on us and on the whole world," I imagined:

1. Our Lord receiving one more blow from the whip
2. Jesus taking one more agonizing step under the weight of the Cross

Prayed while walking at a good clip - breathing a little heavier, with ankles a bit sore - it kept my focus on Jesus' pain, and how little my discomfort is in comparison ... and then I went ahead and united my little discomfort to His Passion.

God's Temple - A Mobile Home?

A few months back I caught Peggy Bowes on Relevant Radio, fielding questions about The Rosary Workout.  One of the callers was concerned that Peggy's combining of the Rosary with walking and running was irreverent, that the Rosary should be prayed while one was stationary, stilled both interiorly and exteriorly.  Peggy's response, which I really enjoyed, appealed to the example of the Blessed Mother herself:  Luke's Gospel tells us how following the Annunciation "Mary rose and went with haste into the hill country of Judah" (Lk.1:39), to visit Elizabeth.  Isn't it natural to assume that Mary prayed as she trekked the over 75 miles from Nazareth to the outskirts of Jerusalem?  Of course it is.  And not only was Mary speaking to God; she was also meditating on Scripture - look at how quickly the words of the Old Testament (1 Sam.2:1-8) leapt to her lips when she met Elizabeth and burst into the Magnificat (Lk.1:46-55).  Prayer and meditation upon Scripture - that's the Rosary - and our Blessed Mother was engaged in it while on a 75 mile hike!  I ask you to keep Peggy's insights in mind as you continue to read.


After Mass this morning I remained seated, directing my gaze at the Tabernacle and praying.  "Lord, thank You for coming into me.  I can't believe that You have made me Your tabernacle too, and that You're coming with me as I visit my family this afternoon, as I head to work tomorrow . . . Lord, You've made my body a mobile Temple, a mobile home."  And then the connections started coming fast and furious:  God had dwelt with Israel for 400 years before Solomon built Him a stationary Temple of stone - and He was a God on the move.  His dwelling throughout those 400 years was a series of tents known as the Tabernacle.  When God picked up and moved, Israel packed up the Tabernacle and set off through the desert following Him.  The Ark of the Covenant, God's Old Testament throne, was even equipped with poles so that the priests could carry it.


Luke brought Tabernacle and Ark imagery together in the way he worded his narratives of the Annunciation and visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (Ex.40:34 and Lk.1:35; 2 Sam.6:2-16 and Lk.1:39-56).  Yes, in the Visitation Mary acted as Jesus' mobile home - the Tabernacle and Ark of the New Covenant.  You and I continue this awesome reality.  We bodily carry Jesus' presence into our homes, workplaces, etc.  That is our impetus in taking care of our bodies - giving them the right fuel, keeping them as agile as possible, and with sufficient strength to perform acts of love (e.g., helping your best friend move, throwing your kids up over your head).


Our Lord Jesus is of course the greatest example of this.  Tramping across Galilee, the Decapolis, and Judea, up on the mountains and out in the desert - He was a Temple on the move!  Like our Lord, the day will come when our bodies will finally yield to death, when we will find ourselves on a Cross, a bed of pain.  At that moment we will unite our agony and the failure of our bodies to His sacrifice.  (And like Him, we will one day receive them back, glorified, in the Resurrection.)  In anticipation of our Passover from the present order we daily offer our bodies in service to the Father, just as Jesus did - as Temples on the move.  We train our bodies (1 Cor.9:27) and through them offer ourselves as "living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God."  It is through the body that we Christians offer our "spiritual worship" (Rom.12:1).

Are You Body Conscious?

Who isn't, right?  I feel it every day when I go to the pool.  After my swim today though, as I was sitting poolside and letting the kids play, I experienced a different kind of "body consciousness."  I was praying the Glorious Mysteries and realized that it had been awhile since I had really been struck by the awesomeness of Jesus' Resurrection.  The Lord that I am praying too is not just spirit, He is flesh and blood!  He is physically alive, like me - well, more than me! 


The day will come when He will share this bodily resurrection with all of us.  The Blessed Mother already experiences it; that's what the Assumption was about.  It wasn't enough for Jesus that His Mother experience eternal life in her spirit; He wanted her to experience it in her body - the same body that carried him to term, nursed him, and served him in hundreds of thousands of ways during earthly life.  And that's what He is going to do for you and me too.

These truths get at the value we Christians attribute to the body.  Don't confuse Christians' talk about bodily health and fitness with society's worship of the body. Catholicism knows that we are, to use Aquinas' terminology, hylomorphic beings. We are a union of body and soul; that's our human nature.  Jesus saved us by offering Himself to the Father in both, not one or the other; and we are responsible to God for the care of both. "The flesh is the hinge of salvation" (CCC 1015). As Paul put it, "I drive my body and train it, for fear that, after having preached to others, I myself should be disqualified" (1 Cor.9:27).  Our cognizance of the importance of the body can even be seen in how we express salvation - it's not a matter of "faith alone" but of faith (interior) and works (exterior).  That's the big picture, the "full, body shot" if you will (James 2:14-20); and it's Good News.

I want to recognize my body and those of others for the gifts they are - allowing us, like Jesus, to express our love for God and others.  No need to fret over what people are thinking when they see me at the pool; that's such a myopic view of the value of our bodies, and I want the joy of God's big picture.

The Blessed Mother & Physical Fitness

On Jan.1, I found myself thinking about two topics - the Blessed Mother (we celebrate her Motherhood the first day of every year) and physical fitness (because that's something I have been aspiring to).  From the outset I have to tell you that I do not look at physical fitness as an ego thing or trying to get someone to look my way.  No, it's about taking care of the gift God has entrusted to us and putting it to use in works of love for our families and others (a.k.a., "doing God's will").  God isn't just interested in our souls.  He created us as a COMPOSITE of body and soul.  He became a man to redeem our WHOLE person, soul and body.  Jesus loved us with His whole Body and Soul on the Cross, and He desires to be loved that way in return.  And what really struck me on Jan.1, was how the Blessed Mother is the ultimate example of loving the Lord with her ENTIRE body and soul, of putting her entire person at His disposal.  Man, I love her!  She is an example to us in absolutely everything!  (This icon is titled "Helper in Childbirth."  I found it through a Google search, but do not know who wrote it.  If anyone is privy to that information please let me know so I can give the proper attribution; it is amazing!)