When you help your college bound son or daughter prepare to leave for school later this month, will you pack a bullet proof vest? Fire retardant PJs? A protective helmet? Probably not...Nevertheless, a mother's urge to protect and shelter rarely feels stronger than when she's about to drop a child off at college, right?
As the moment approaches, emotions may be mixed. We hope that we've done our best to help them succeed, but can't help but wonder if they're really prepared for the academic, social and emotional environment of college. We've heard that some college kids drink too much, party too often for their own good, do silly, sometimes dangerous things, and just plain exhaust themselves.
Saint John Paul II understands our motherly concerns: In a society of advanced technology, of mass communications and globalization, everything has become hurried, and the cultural distance between generations is growing ever greater. The most diverse messages and the most unpredictable experiences rapidly make their way into the lives of children and adolescents, and parents can become quite anxious about the dangers their children face. At times parents suffer acute disappointment at the failure of their children to resist the seductions of the drug culture, the lure of an unbridled hedonism, the temptation to violence, and the manifold expressions of meaninglessness and despair. source
And so we worry. And, in that frame of mind, we fall prey to nagging, hovering, enabling, even bribing in a last-ditch effort to control (I mean "protect") them as they head off. We know well that fear based parenting doesn't work, but can't seem to find our equilibrium.
Fortunately, Christ has anticipated our tendency to worry. Through His mother, He has given us a powerful weapon to both bring us peace and help to keep our children safe--The Rosary. The crazier our world gets, the more we need the intercession of Mary as we contemplate her Son's life through the Rosary.
Our saintly pope had some very encouraging things to say about the power of praying the rosary for our families:
Simple yet profound, it still remains, at the dawn of this third millennium, a prayer of great significance, destined to bring forth a harvest of holiness.
Insistent prayer to the Mother of God is based on confidence that her maternal intercession can obtain all things from the heart of her Son.
Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.
As a prayer for peace, the Rosary is also, and always has been, a prayer of and for the family. At one time this prayer was particularly dear to Christian families, and it certainly brought them closer together. It is important not to lose this precious inheritance. We need to return to the practice of family prayer and prayer for families, continuing to use the Rosary.
Rosary...an effective spiritual weapon against the evils afflicting society.
The Rosary belongs among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation.
The rosary is a preeminent shield and protection for our college-aged young adults. Did you know that Praying College Moms say the rosary monthly for more than 500 college-aged young adults BY NAME? If you'd like to include the name of your college-aged young adult contact Anita. And don't forget all praying college moms the next time you say the rosary.
P.S. If you need a few tips on how to say the rosary, see Appendix 6 in And So We Pray, Guidance for Moms with College-Aged Young Adults.