7 October 2025 - Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary - homily for Tuesday of the 27th week in Ordinary Time - Luke 10:38-42 - Jonah 3:1-10

We have two readings today that should be very familiar to us.  I think all of us remember the story of Jonah and the whale.  I remember hearing this story from Sunday school when I was a child growing up in the Methodist church in Chicago. We also hear the story of Mary and Martha from Luke’s Gospel.  These two readings are about choices. In the book of Jonah, the city of Nineveh had made a choice of turning its back on God and choosing another path. However, after being called to repentance and conversion by the Lord through his messenger Jonah, the city chooses to repent and to return to the faith. In the Gospel, Mary and Martha both make choices in how to live out their faith. Martha chooses to serve the Lord through her work and her actions, wanting him to feel welcomed and honored in her home, trying to be attentive to his needs. Mary, however, chooses to sit and listen to Jesus’ stories and teachings. Those of us who are people of work and action, of which I can identify with, know what it is like to have so much work to do, that we can identify with Martha and can understand how she feels. However, taking time to be silent, to pray, and to enjoy the presence of the Lord are important parts of life as well. We need to make time for those things in our daily lives, to make them a priority. The story of Mary and Martha calls our attention the way we need to slow down and be present to the Lord. 

October is a month dedicated to Mary and to praying the Rosary. Today we celebrate the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. Pope Pius V had established a coalition of forces from Spain and other Christian kingdoms to fight the Ottoman empire.  Their victory at the battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571 against the naval forces of the Ottoman empire led to the establishment of today’s feast. The victory was attributed to the prayers offered to the Blessed Mother through the praying of the rosary.  Today’s celebration invites all of us to reflect upon the mysteries of Christ that we pray throughout the rosary, following the example of his mother who is so uniquely associated with her son’s incarnation, ministry, passion, and resurrection.