This post comes to us from Fr. James Phalan, CSC, director of Family Rosary International. He wrote this during a recent visit to Africa. Saturday afternoon in a farming village outside of Jinja, Uganda: our host was pleading with his wife to give up her ancestor worship and sacrifices to evil spirits so as to truly embrace the Christian faith. Our Family Rosary team was translating from the Lisoga language enough of what was being said for me to understand as I did my part, praying the Rosary for this family while Father Fred Jenga, CSC and our team talked with the family. I was meditating the First Joyful Mystery, the Annunciation, calling on Our Lady to help this woman to conquer her fears and to say her ¨Yes¨ to God. By the end of an afternoon of prayer, concluding with the celebration of the Eucharist, our hostess was visibly changed, coming to an inner peace that I could see on her face. Christianity is still relatively young in Central Africa so traditional animist and spiritist practice is still widespread. As I have come to see it up close I can´t simply dismiss it as some silly superstition that psychology can explain away. There is much more to reality that we don´t see than what we do see, including spiritual forces much bigger than ourselves. Confronted with this reality I begin to comprehend more dimensions of the power of the Rosary! This world of Africa can seem so far from the more controlled environments of America and Europe. But on the other hand, what was going on today was essentially the struggle to follow Christ as a Christian family so as to live united, strong and happily in faith. Some of the particular challenges are different in Uganda than in New York, but everywhere the desire for love and happiness is the same. Everywhere family prayer is key. Our Lady and her Rosary can help so much. Photo courtesy of Fr. Phalan and Family Rosary International