JMJ. I admit it. I'm not the most persevering person in the world. My dear wife, to whom I'd been married for a good 25 years at the time, I'm sure, shook her head at my conversion to the Catholic Church and wondered how long this enthusiasm would last. I can't fault her--I wondered, too. I remember thinking, "Lord please don't let this be just another passing fancy."
Well, it's lasted now for over eleven years. And it just keeps getting gooder and gooder. So--I've written about my perpetual Rosary and how it's helped to focus my devotion to the Blessed Mother while relieving me from having to remember which day I should say which mystery on. (I've never been anything if not frugal of my energy, mental or physical.) As part of this on-going theme I've tried something else and it's proving to be a real boon to my prayer life, too.
Before I forget, it's only fair that I give the credit for the idea to my friend, Charlie. And I'm sure he would not hesitate to say that it wasn't original to him but he's such an important part of my spiritual development that I'll always associate it with him. You see, his hot button is the Divine Mercy. He lives and breathes it. He leads its recitation at the hospice he volunteers at, he makes rosaries with beads spelling it, and can't help but pass on this enthusiasm to everyone he meets.
Charlie and I were talking one morning over breakfast at Perkins and he said, "You know, Jim, your mission is converting souls. Have you ever thought of saying the novena for the Divine Mercy from now on instead of just the nine days before the Feast [of the Divine Mercy]?" I allowed as how I hadn't so I decided finally to give it a try. I was gob-smacked when I got to the fourth day and read the introduction: "Today bring to Me the pagans and those who do not yet know Me. I was thinking also of them during My bitter Passion, and their future zeal comforted My Heart."
Someone, sometime had been praying this for ME! Our Lord had foreseen ME! Wow. And as is sometimes said nowadays, I decided to pay it forward. I pray now that the whole world might be converted, not just this one wee part of it. What could be more natural than a perpetual novena to the Divine Mercy and a perpetual Rosary? Won't you join me?
