Much to my annoyance, at the announcement that instant mac n cheese was for dinner, my kids cheered. I’m sorry…but I am a above average cook. I have bombed sometimes, but generally what I cook is good, above average good. Regardless of this, many nights I have at least two of my four kids seated at the table, asking me many times over: “Is this enough?” hoping to minimize the amount of my homecooked meal they have to eat.
When my kids cheer over a boxed mac n cheese, that consist of powdered cheese and pasta that I have to add milk and/or butter to, I feel irritated. How can they not appreciate what I have to offer as a cook?
This got me thinking about prayer. I used to really have a very long, involved prayer routine. Lots of pamphlets and booklets, rattling off litanies and trying to do all the things that would impress the Lord. He however taught me that sometimes an easier way is the best way.
For all my friends who loathe the Rosary, I have found a special prayer. You might call it the boxed mac n cheese of Catholic prayers, but for me, it’s a gourmet meal: how my kids think of the real mac n cheese—a delicious meal to celebrate.
I know some of you who love the Rosary as much as me might be getting offended, like how dare I compare the Rosary to boxed mac n cheese, but the truth is, when prayer beads first became a thing, they were the poor man’s breviary. Illiterate monks used prayer beads because they couldn’t read the psalms, so instead they repeated the Our Father 150 times—it was an “ready made” and easy replacement for the 150 psalms.
This practice later became repeating the Hail Mary, until Mary appeared to St. Dominic and told him to preach her psalter (150 Hail Marys). Because of this, St. Dominic preached Christ’s life and prayed 150 Hail Marys throughout the course of his preaching.
The Roots of the Rosary have basic beginnings, and I believe it’s designed to be a very basic design of prayers so that our minds have the space to explode with love for Jesus and His life. I imagine that’s how my kids are exploding with gratitude for me in return for this very basic dish that they thoroughly enjoy.
Does sticking with the routine of the Rosary mean I can’t occasionally dig into a more elaborate morning prayer which might include a novena or a litany or some other elaboration? Of course not, I like something different occasionally too. I do morning prayers in addition to the Rosary, and sometimes add in other elements.
The point is everyone is different. Maybe someone’s “pre-packaged” prayers are simply an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be. Maybe those prayers give them a satisfaction we cannot understand and feel it doesn’t compare to our Rosary or other prayer routine. But the truth is prayer is about relationship with God. How God is working in our prayers is between us and God. No one else can really see or feel how our relationship is growing or not.
My hope is if your “pre-packaged” prayers aren’t hitting the spot anymore that you might consider trying something a little more homemade, bringing your own flavor and recipe to be fed by the Lord in new and unexpected ways. But at the end of the day, basic is OK too. You and the Lord have your own unique relationship and no one can tell you how to feed that relationship except you.
“Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.” Romans 12:12
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