Where do you expect to find God, if not in prison or the middle of a civil war? Why not create your own mysteries of the rosary? Jesuit Father William Reiser posed these possibilities in his reflection Wednesday at the Knights of Columbus Silver Rose prayer service at Our Lady of Providence Parish in Worcester. The rose, made of silver, sat on a cushion in front of the altar during the service, which included Scripture, music, praying of the rosary, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and benediction. An image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was also displayed. The rose is one of five traveling through North America to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe and encourage respect for life. It came to the Worcester Diocese Sunday and is to be here through next Thursday at prayer services and Masses in various churches. It is part of a Knights of Columbus program called “Our Lady of Guadalupe Silver Rose – One Life, One Rose.” (Our Lady of Guadalupe is patroness of the Americas and of the unborn.) At St. Bernard Church at Our Lady of Providence Parish the St. Bernard’s Council #13455 Knights of Columbus council organized the service, with help from the state council. Father Reiser said he chose the Gospel in which Jesus says, “I was hungry and you gave me food…” (Mt 25:31-46) for the occasion because the “rose of life,” was there. “We hear about the profound respect for life that the Gospel has, that Christ has … and that includes so many people, from the beginning of life to people who are old and sick,” he said. He said Pope John Paul II chose the luminous mysteries of the rosary. “We might be able to … create our own mysteries,” he said. “Jesus meets the one who is about to be unjustly condemned,” or is or might be in prison. Often it is people who look least like him, he said. “Why not create a set of five mysteries that have to do with our own lives … people who are shut ins, people who are sick?” Father Reiser proposed. He referred to Hebrews 13:1-3, about loving one another and showing hospitality, possibly entertaining angels without realizing it. People who show hospitality might be doing it to Jesus, he said. “Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoner,” he continued from the passage. “When you pray, put yourself in those scenes” – as if you were in prison or the middle of a civil war. He asked where one expects to find God, if not in such places. “As we think about life … maybe we can think about developing a set of mysteries about where the God of life is to be found,” he concluded.
Where the silver rose is to be found during the rest of its time in the Diocese is as follows: There is a prayer service at 7 p.m. Friday. Sept. 13, at Our Lady of Providence Parish at St. Bernard Church, 228 Lincoln St., Worcester. The rose is to travel Saturday. There is a prayer service at 11 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 15 at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, 7 East Main St., Milford. The rose is to be at Masses at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept 17 and 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept 18 at St. Augustine Church, 15 Lincoln Street, Millville. There is to be a Mass at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19 at St. Mark Church, 356 Boston Road, Sutton.