Ask, but Don't Complain

Welcome to our daily rosary meditation. Today we take our next step in our journey through the Old Testament in preparation for Easter. So let's begin in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let's call to mind all those we've promised to pray for. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day, he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your 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 thee. Blessed art thou among women. 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 Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us in our ins now and at the hour of our death Amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among women Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Holy Mary, Mother of God Pray for us in our ins 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, as now and never shall be World without end, Amen Our first mystery When you read the story of Israel's journey through the desert to the Promised Land, a sharp contrast stands out. When challenges arise, the people react one way and Moses another. Here's the basic difference. The people complain, but Moses prays. prays. So for instance, as soon as the Israelites cross the Red Sea and are miraculously and definitely liberated from the Egyptians, they start to realize they're going to need some drinking water. So what do they do? They turn to Moses and complain, saying, what are we going to drink. And what does Moses do? He turns to God in prayer. Exodus tells us, Moses besought the Lord and the Lord showed him a tree and he threw it in the water and the water became sweet. Then they go a little farther and they realize they're going to need some food. So what do the Israelites do? They complain, saying, Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, for you've brought us out in the wilderness to kill this whole lot of us by hunger. And again, what does Moses do? He turns to God in prayer. and God gives the people bread in the form of manna as well as meat in the form of quail. So this is really an important distinction for us. Are we people who complain or are we people who pray? Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your 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 thee. Blessed art thou among women. 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, 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, 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, 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. 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. 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, 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, 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, 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. 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, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. lead all souls to heaven especially those most in need of thy mercy our second mystery it really helps that in the exodus we see the difference between asking and complaining when it comes to food and water because that's maybe the point where parents feel the difference between complaining and asking most clearly most parents know the difference between a kid asking politely versus complaining about a drink. Like when you're in the car and the kid says, Dad, may I please have a drink? Now, if there's any water around, the father very happily passes it back to the kid. But if the kid just suddenly shrieks out, Ah, I'm so thirsty. It's kind of like nails on a chalkboard. It's the same with the difference between asking nicely and complaining about food. If a kid says, excuse me mom, I'm a little hungry. Is there any way I could please have a snack Maybe the mom will give the kid a snack Maybe she won But it won really get on her nerves That really different from a kid who walks into the kitchen and says I starving Why isn supper on the table? That kid better hope his mom doesn't happen to be holding the frying pan just then. And the same is true for the Christian. Asking humbly for things is good. Complaining is always bad. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your 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 thee. Blessed art thou among women. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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, and now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our third mystery. A person who complains is always acting as though they deserve better. A kid who complains about dinner, when it is or what's on the menu, is acting like they deserve better than three square meals a day. Like they deserve better than having a parent who loves them and takes care of them and buys and prepares food for them. That's why their complaining is so outrageous and aggravating. So too with the Israelites complaining. It's like they're saying they deserve better than to have been rescued with miracles and wonders from a murderous and tyrannical dictator. It's like they're saying they deserve better than to be in the hands of the all-powerful God who's taken special interest in their welfare. It's like they're saying they deserve better than to be brought to a place of intimacy with God on Sinai and a land of milk and honey in Cana. That's what makes their complaining so outrageous and so aggravating. And what about us? What about when we complain? When we complain, it's like we're saying to God, We deserve better than to be forgiven for our countless sins, made a child of God, and an heir to the kingdom of heaven. It's like we're saying we deserve better than to be purified by trial and so made fit for heaven. It's like we're saying we deserve better than to pick up our cross in imitation of our Savior. like we deserve better than to be given the opportunity to offer up suffering for the salvation of our loved ones the way he did. That's what we do when we complain and that's what makes it so outrageous and so aggravating. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your 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 thee. Blessed art thou among women. 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. 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, 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, 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us to enter us now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us to enter us 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 as now and ever shall be world without end Amen O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our fourth mystery. The complaining of the Israelites isn't just a form of ingratitude and entitlement. It's also a very clear, I just don't trust you, God. Complaining says, this world, it must not be governed by an all-powerful, all-good and loving God. Because if there were such a God, He would never have allowed these events to happen. Because these events should not have been permitted to happen to me. that's a really blasphemous thing to imply but of course that is what our complaining does imply we're saying that the world it's not being run right and what is that except a denial of the governance of all things by the all-good all-powerful God and of course the Israelites had just experienced proof after proof after proof, all narrated in the first 15 chapters of Exodus, that there was a good God who loved them and had everything under control. So they had no excuse for their lack of trust. And what about us? Has God really taken any less care of us than he did of those Israelites? Has he not sent his own son to save us, his church to instruct us, his spirit to inspire us, his saints to show us the possibility and beauty of heroic love and holiness? How dare I ever complain? Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your 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 thee. Blessed art thou among women. 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. 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. 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. 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. and earns now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earns now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earns now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. 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. 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. 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, as now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus. Forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our fifth mystery. One of the best things to root out of our life this Lent is complaining. It's maybe the main thing that spoiled the Israelites in the desert. and it's one of the main things that can spoil our Lent and our lives. But that doesn't mean that God doesn't want us to ask for things. God does because He is an all-perfect Father. And I understand this perfectly. I have five kids and when my kids were little, they would ask us for stuff non-stop. And I loved it because it did some powerful things. By my kids coming to me and asking for things, it showed me that they trusted me, that they loved me, and it kept us in relationship. Now that they are adults and they are able to take care of themselves, I'm sad because they don't ask me for things anymore. God never wants us to get to the point where we don't need him because then we lose the relationship. So we should tell God constantly what we need and ask him. and we should also thank him constantly and then ask him, what can I do for you? But let's not complain. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your 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, then lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our midst now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. 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 Blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus Holy Mary Mother of God pray for us in her insan now and at the hour of our death Amen Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. 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. 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 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 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 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, 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, 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, as now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. So what struck you with that meditation? You know, you were wrong about one thing. What's that? All of your kids still ask you for stuff all of the time. We've barely even let up a little bit. I stormed into your house today and kind of like a toddler I was like I'm hungry but that's awesome well it's awesome because you were very kind enough to make me food because I was in dire need of some protein but I realized that this meditation is really perfect for me because I think it's easy to look at all of your language and try to start cutting out things that you can tell or not how you should talk you shouldn't for instance it's good not to curse it's good to speak well of others and that stuff we've talked about before but I've never thought about this kind of complaining where when I complain I never say do you have anything I could eat I would really appreciate some food I have to say if I don't get food I'll die and it's usually something that I actually won't die without usually it's if I don't have coffee right now I'm gonna die. And I think part of the problem with when little kids behave that way is this is what kills parents because they're always acting like they're about to die if they don't get that thing. It's not, if you politely ask, can I have some water? I think my nephews are actually, in my experience, they're pretty good about being, can I have some water? I want some water. That'd be That'd be nice. But it's when someone storms in and it's always the most intense experience of nothing is okay. I need this right now. It stresses out their parents, but really they're always just a little uncomfortable. They would be okay if they had to wait 10 minutes for water. It will pass. And that's kind of the Jews in that moment when they're like, immediately they've just been saved from death and they're like and we're gonna die again and so they're going to respond to every single thing that happens in their life with this extreme like they're gonna die like they're gonna die when god's like i just saved your life don't you think it will be just as easy for me to get you water as it was for me to stop the entire egyptian army yeah i parted the waters of the ocean and don't you think i can give you a drink of water so all we really owe him in return is a little patience, a little respect, a little tolerance. I think this is going to be huge because I think this is how I pray. I think this is how I talk at God, not to God. I'm mostly like, this is terrible and I can't survive it and I'll die. Yeah. So what you're saying is we tend to blow everything out of proportion. And that does show, like you said, a distrust for God, but also an inflated sense of self. I also know that a lot of times the things I blow out of proportion, in a lot of times, they're my fault. oh if i told you the amount of times that it's entirely my fault that i'm hungry or tired or thirsty or i haven't had coffee and i let things go a little too long and then i become impatient and out of control that's the worst part of it i usually i usually overreact when really something was at the root my fault and i just don't want to deal with the consequences now not all the time there are things that happen to us that are totally disconnected from anything we've thought or said or done but often i don't want to deal with a mess that i've made yeah so so what it would I mean, it's very simple with the analogy with kids is we should just go to God constantly, humbly, and just ask him for whatever we need and thank him. Ask and thank. Actually, turn it around. Thank and ask. Thank and ask. You know, a parent will give anything to a kid who's grateful. That was so true. Let's do that. Let's just thank and ask. Thank and ask. Thank and ask. That's our resolution. That's pretty simple. Thank him, ask. Thank him, ask. Yeah, Moses got the things he asked for. Yep. Big time. Yeah. Let's thank and ask. That's a good resolution. Thank you for the conversation. Thank you. Let's be apostles of friendship, good conversation, and the rosary. Share this with others.