I recently went on an ACTS retreat at the Weber Center, and there’s one moment from it I keep returning to.
During the retreat, the other guys and I prayed a very big rosary. It was tied together with thick ropes and stretched across the lawn. The coordinators told us we could pray in any language we wanted. Out of the 20 or so of us there, only two chose Latin. Everyone else chose English.
I know the prayers in Latin, so when the other two people led their Hail Marys Latin, I said the responses in Latin. It seemed most everyone was impressed. Apparently my pronunciation was great, I thought better than the other two. But when it came to the beads I was responsible for, I said the Hail Mary in English.
Later, the coordinators asked me why I prayed in English when my Latin was so good. I told them it was because I wanted everyone to participate.
I’ve been thinking about that a lot, because I really did mean it. But why would I think about it, did I say truly say it if I didn’t understand how profound it was at the time? What i meant is that the rosary was more fun with everyone participating in the prayer. It did not feel as impactful to only have 3 people praying a rosary in a group of 20. But man is it powerful when you have 20 in unison, in prayer, how it is meant to be. 20 Men united briefly in meditative prayer on the same rosary, of course it’s better as a group.
But that brings me to Twitter. A lot of people on Twitter complain about the Novus Ordo. They say it’s just boomers singing imperfectly in English. But when I look at Mass at St. Joan of Arc, it’s packed with people who are all there to glorify God. Everyone can pick up the missal and participate, and in its own right, that’s beautiful. (We also have a good choir.) If you truly seek to glorify God with beauty, with song, prayer, is it not a net positive to include everyone?
I believe this retreat is what inspired me to make real progress on fullrosary.com, a private rosary app I’ve been building. I’ll never know when it’s complete. I’m still figuring out where it belongs on the web, and whether I only want to share it with my close friends or release it to everyone. I think once I collect enough feedback on it I’ll make it available for everyone. Obviously the Rosary has been important in my faith life, my conversion from atheism, and even the relaunch of rubenponce.com. The theme of the retreat was to like in ACTS, go forth and bear fruit. I believe there are some seeds left to sow on my part.
Ultimately I believe this retreat was a good experience. I want to be involved in the Christian community, in the fight against abortion, and deliverance of the homeless. Holy Spirit, guide me.
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