Joe Rogan has been knocked off his perch as the #1 podcaster in the world. The new most popular show is owned by Father Mark-Mary Ames of Ascension Press. “The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR)” ascended to #1 on Apple Podcasts to start the new year and held that spot for three consecutive days. The host is the director of Priestly Studies of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFR).
The priest says his primary mission is the “wholehearted embracing of Jesus Christ and their Holy Father, St. Francis of Assisi.” The Author of “Habits for Holiness” spoke about his background and how that informed his work. He says that he was born to a “wealthy family” in California, but was inspired by Mother Teresa to give up a life of privilege for the service of others.
“I heard that there’s a group of Franciscans in New York who are hardcore and sleep on the ground. And I looked them up, and I read our constitutions — which are what we say we’re about — and I’m like, ‘if that’s true, that’s everything I’m looking for.’“ he explained. “So I was a very, very normal kid, on a normal path. And then God just sort of made this happen.”
“I‘m made to give my life to the poorest of the poor,” he went on to say. “The big, deep experience of my life is what God’s done in generosity. And so there’s nothing I’ve left behind or sacrificed that he hasn’t been repaid a hundred-fold. It’s in new and deeper ways.” Father Mike Schmitz handed off the “Rosary in a Year” podcast to Father Mark-Mary Ames.
The priest said “There’s something particular that God wants to do through Mary that also continues now. So, it’s interesting that even Mary’s the one who continues to come.” He added “I think the number one thing is [that] there seems to be some sort of special grace given by God to the Rosary where he wants to do some special work. And the rosary is the thing that unlocks it. It opens the door to grace.”
He said the Rosary was really good for our humanity. We’re all over the place. It’s really hard for us to focus and to concentrate and the human ability to focus in the concrete for an extended period of time is somewhat of like, the foundation on which prayer is built.“ He added “It’s going to be really hard to hear God, to come to God if you can’t pay attention at all. And so I think there’s a part of praying the rosary, which is like physical therapy for the soul. The content works the concentration muscle within. It’s really atrophied.”
Father Ames clarified that “[Praying the rosary] is not actually a commandment, but you do have to go to Mass on Sunday.“ But he said “Whether or not it’s a good thing for you, there’s actually some space for you to make that decision within it. There’s much more space for personalization.” The humble priest admits that he loses focus sometimes while praying the rosary.
“A million percent,” he fessed up. “And that’s something that’s like…it shouldn’t be controversial to people or put them off. This is my own journey because I want to do better and grow deeper.“ He continued “I just try to be faithful to what’s before me. And if God wants to make this thing number one, awesome. If he wants to do all sorts of awesome, that’s kind of for him.” He looked to the future saying there are “more beautiful” things to come.
Featured image: Steven Crowder, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons