Day 66: Wait and Pray - The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames)

Summary of "Day 66: Wait and Pray" from The Rosary in a Year Podcast

Podcast Title: The Rosary in a Year
Episode: Day 66: Wait and Pray
Guest: Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR
Host/Author: Ascension
Release Date: March 7, 2025

In the 66th episode of The Rosary in a Year podcast, Fr. Mark-Mary Ames delves deep into the profound theme of patience and steadfastness in prayer. Titled "Wait and Pray," this episode intertwines biblical reflections, personal anecdotes, and spiritual insights to guide listeners through moments of trial and faith.

Introduction to Day 66: Wait and Pray

Fr. Mark-Mary opens the episode by setting the tone for the day’s reflection, emphasizing the transformative power of the Rosary in fostering a deeper relationship with Jesus and Mary. He encourages listeners to utilize the Rosary in a Year prayer plan, available through Ascension, to cultivate a daily prayer habit that evolves over time.

Reflections on the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost)

Central to the episode is the scriptural passage from Acts 2:1-13, detailing the Descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Fr. Mark-Mary reads the passage thoughtfully:

"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place and suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind..." (00:00)

He marvels at the diversity of languages spoken by the disciples, highlighting the miraculous nature of the event and its significance in empowering the early Church.

The Story of Father Innocent’s Second Conversion

Fr. Mark-Mary shares an inspiring story about Brother Father Innocent, a fellow friar whose experience exemplifies the episode's theme. He recounts Father Innocent's initial years in the friars, marked by exemplary devotion and active service. However, everything changed when Father Innocent underwent a routine back surgery that left him paralyzed from the waist down.

"He notices, like, the doctors and the nurses starting to visit with an increasing frequency. And eventually the doctor comes in and says... you’re paralyzed from the waist down." (00:XX)

Faced with this sudden disability, Father Innocent experienced profound vulnerability and dependence on God. Alone in the hospital, devoid of the comforts of his friar life, he reached out in prayer from a place of absolute need.

"He just cried out from this place of poverty to the Lord and my brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit came. The Holy Spirit descended upon him, and Jesus came to him..." (00:XX)

Over nine months of physical therapy, Father Innocent regained movement, but his spiritual life was forever changed. No longer driven by the need to prove himself, he approached his duties with newfound freedom and unconditional love, deeply rooted in his assurance of God's unwavering support.

Lessons on Faith and Dependency on God

Fr. Mark-Mary draws parallels between Father Innocent’s experience and the biblical narrative of Pentecost. He emphasizes that just as the disciples waited and prayed for the Holy Spirit, believers today are called to trust in God's timing and power during their own times of need.

"We might experience a variety of pains and sufferings. And we're told of the good news of God... How can this be? And with Our Lady, like God says, like, wait and pray..." (00:XX)

Connection to the Day of Pentecost

The episode revisits the Day of Pentecost, highlighting the disciples' reliance on prayer during their moment of need. Fr. Mark-Mary underscores that the Holy Spirit's arrival was not a response to their attempts to force a solution but a gift received through patient prayer and trust.

"Jesus says to them, I will ascend to my Father, and I will send the promise of the Father... wait and pray." (00:XX)

Encouragement to Wait and Pray

Fr. Mark-Mary encourages listeners to emulate the disciples' example by embracing moments of uncertainty with faith and patience. He reassures that God’s promises are steadfast and that prayer is a powerful conduit for receiving His grace.

"The Holy Spirit will come. With this confidence and hope, let us pray." (05:45)

Integrating the Rosary in Daily Life

Concluding the episode, Fr. Mark-Mary ties the reflections back to the Rosary, advocating it as a means to deepen one's spiritual life and foster a closer relationship with Jesus and Mary. He invites listeners to continue their journey with the Rosary in a Year prayer plan, promising ongoing spiritual growth and the acquisition of grace.

Notable Quotes

"Wait and pray. Nothing will be impossible for God." (00:XX)
"He is living as a son who knows he's loved." (02:30)
"The Holy Spirit will come. With this confidence and hope, let us pray." (05:45)

Conclusion

"Day 66: Wait and Pray" serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of patience, trust, and unwavering faith in God’s plan. Through the inspiring story of Father Innocent and the biblical account of Pentecost, Fr. Mark-Mary Ames reinforces the message that in times of trial, believers are called to wait in prayer, confident in the knowledge that God’s grace is ever-present and transformative.

Listeners are left with a renewed commitment to their prayer lives, encouraged to persevere through challenges by drawing strength from the Rosary and the example of saints like Father Innocent.

Transcript

Father Mark Mary (0:00)

Foreign Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and this is the Rosary in the Year podcast where through prayer and meditation, the Rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is day 66. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a year, visit ascensionpress.com rosary in a year or text RIY to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month and it's a great way to track your progress. The best place to listen to the podcast is in the Ascension app. There are special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full Rosary with myself and other friars. I encourage you to pick up a copy of the Rosary in a Year Prayer Guide, a book published by Ascension that was designed to complement this podcast. You'll find all the daily readings from Scripture, Saint reflections and beautiful full page images of the sacred art we'll be reflecting on. The third glorious mystery is the Descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Acts 2:1 13 when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place and suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting, and there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were amazed and wondered, saying, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus in Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene and visitors from Rome, both Jews and Proselytes, Cretans and Arabians. We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another what does this mean? But others mocking said they are filled with new wine. Honestly, I felt like I needed a Pentecost to get all those names right, not only just speak their languages to Sam, right? I think I did okay. I think I did okay. That was one. Take one Take wonder over here. Hopefully I did okay on some of those names. Anyway, you know, one of the gifts of being a friar is that, like, when you enter, you have classmates, and your classmates become your friends, become your brothers, and eventually they become your heroes. And one of these guys, one of these brothers in my life is Father Innocent. And I'm going to share a story that he shares often publicly. And it's kind of like a story of his second conversion. He entered the friars, and for the first few years, he was just a total champ, like, total super fryer. He talked about, like, yeah, I just made it look good. You know, I was praying and I was generous, and I was working with the poor, and I was doing all of the things. And still, when he was early on his friars, he was just beginning his third year vow. So about four and a half years in, he was having some back pain. So he had. He ended up having to go in for, like, what they call, like, a routine back surgery. It's like the bread and butter of back surgeries. You know, as a young man, he goes in the surgery and he starts to come out of the anesthesia in the hospital room. He notices, like, the doctors and the nurses starting to visit with an increasing frequency. And at first they're not really communicating what's happening. And eventually the doctor comes in and says, father Innocent, we don't know what happened. As of right now, you don't have movement or feeling in the lower half of your body, and you should. And so, Father, it looks like at this moment, you're paralyzed from the waist down. The worst case scenario is we don't know if the movement and the feeling is going to come back again in the lower half of your body. And, of course, this is, you know, shocking to the young Father Innocent. You know, a lot happens. And his mother was already in town because of the surgery. But eventually it gets towards the end of visiting hours, he's there all alone in the hospital room. You know, it's totally dark and totally silent, except for the little movements of light and beeps from the medical devices. And here's this young man who'd excelled in really everything in his life, including being a friar, like a young super friar. He's paralyzed from the waist down. He has no answers. He has no way to do anything to try and solve the problem. And he's alone, without his brothers, without his family, without the tabernacle. He doesn't even have his habit. And he shares that he was, in this moment, like, absolutely and totally poor. And so he just cried out from this place of poverty to the Lord and my brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit came. The Holy Spirit descended upon him, and Jesus came to him and my brothers and sisters. In that little, lonely, dark hospital room, something happened. And this young man, Father Innocent, was changed forever. He experienced unconditional love and a radical and new freedom because he knew he was loved unconditionally and didn't have to perform and achieve and earn anymore. Eventually, over a very, very slow and long process, over nine months, he would receive feeling back in his toes and then his feet and his legs. And eventually, through extended periods of physical therapy, he would learn how to walk again. And at this point, he's, you know, kind of a fully functioning, normal friar, but he lives different. He does all of the things, and he's still a super friar, but he's not doing it from this place of poverty and need and insecurity, but he's doing it from a place of freedom. He's living as a son who knows he's loved. And it's really powerful and beautiful to see him live this way. But also what's a profound grace from this moment is the way in which he prays and the ways in which he teaches other people to pray. Father Innocent has that experience of being totally in need and totally poor and praying and God coming and answering the prayer and that being the answer. And so when he needs something or when people come to him and bring to him their poverty and their need, that experience of, like, the thing I need the most, I can't give myself. I need God. With radical faith and confidence and hope, he says, pray, my brothers and sisters. The day of Pentecost, after the Lord's ascension, the disciples are gathered with Our lady in the upper room. And they're in a place of real dependence and real poverty. That which they need the most, they can't give themselves. They need God. They need the gift of the Holy Spirit, and they can't earn it and they can't manufacture it, and they can't make it happen. Jesus says to them, I will ascend to my Father, and I will send the promise of the Father. But, like, wait and pray. And so for about those nine days after the Lord's ascension, I just imagine Our lady being with them and them feeling all of the things that we feel when we're told, you just gotta pray. You gotta ask God. The discouragement, the impatience, perhaps the distrust, the frustration. And I just imagine Our lady, like, going to them and calling to mind and reminding them of what she experienced at the Annunciation as she. As the birth of the Savior was foretold. And she says to the angel Gabriel, how can this be? Because I don't know, man. And the angel says to her, like Mary, the Holy Spirit will come. He will overshadow you, because nothing will be impossible for God. So how many times our lady, who experienced this and knew it to be true, like Father Innocent, who experienced it and knows it to be true, said to them, like, pray, nothing will be impossible for God. The Holy Spirit will come. And my brothers and sisters, what did they do? They waited and they prayed. And what happened? The Holy Spirit came. And they were transformed. Their hearts were set on fire. And they went forth with a new boldness and a new power and a new confidence to proclaim the Gospel. My brothers and sisters, again and again, again we experience in our lives this poverty, this need. We might experience a variety of pains and sufferings. And we're told of the good news of God. We're told he's a good father. And we might say, like, how can this be? Because I don't have my health, because I don't have the vocation I'm looking for. How can this be? How can this be? And with Our lady, like God says, like, wait and pray. The Holy Spirit will come. The promise of the Father will come. And my brothers and sisters, I deeply believe and have seen again and again and again. We see it in the life of Our Lady. We see it in the life of Father Innocent. I've experienced it in my own life. When Jesus says, the Holy Spirit will come, I will send the promise of the Father, like he means it. We have a God who keeps his promises. Wait and pray and ask Our Lady's prayers. Ask her to encourage you. Nothing will be impossible for God. The Holy Spirit will come. And so we bring our own hearts, our own needs, our families, and we bring our church, and we bring our world. We need more of the Holy Spirit. Come, Lord. Come, Holy Spirit. My brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit will come. With this confidence and hope, let us pray. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, The Lord is with the Blessed Art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. All right, friends, thanks for joining me and praying with me again today. I look forward to continuing this journey with you again tomorrow. All right. Poco Poco. God bless y'all.