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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Holy lives of inspiration | Why pray?
In the last couple of months in the US, the country has been struggling with how to manage its immigration. There has been an effort to regulate the people coming in, and to deport those with no papers to some other places. However, it has come to the awareness of a section of policymakers that the country relies heavily on labor whose immigration status is irregular. The hospitality industry, the construction industry, and the agricultural sector are such areas that are labor-intensive and require many hands-on people. Think of the vineyards in Napa Valley and Sonoma in California with hectares and hectares of ripe grapes and strawberries with no one to pick them. Imagine everything just rotting and going to waste and the economic losses to the farmers who invested so much in these expensive vineyards and wineries. Fruit Ripe for Harvesting In our gospel today, Jesus uses an agricultural or farming image to speak to us about matters that are spiritual. He says, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” Think of thousands and thousands of people with no one to reach out to them with the gospel, with no one to spiritually tend to them.
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Faith Reflection | Hope-2025 | Jubilee of Hope | power of prayer
There are times when life catches us off guard, and we want to shrivel and run from the messiness. In the moment, none of it makes sense — whether it’s a family illness, a miscarriage, a business disaster, or spiritual attacks. With our limited intellect, we want an explanation and a solution to the problems. It’s easier to simplify the problem, find a quick solution, and wrap it in a pretty box with a bow, only to hide it in a closet, than to see the bigger picture. But these “quick fixes” only push the problem down the road for a different day. Sometimes we find an earthly solution to the problem while ignoring the difficulties as gifts from God for the cultivation of our souls towards sainthood. It’s hard to imagine the loss of a baby, the illness of a family member, or financial strains as gifts from God, but it is in these moments that we are given an opportunity to trust in Our Lord, detach ourselves from the world, and to find hope where it is lacking.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Why pray?
One of the bonuses of the holiday, in this case Independence Day, falling on a Friday, was the long weekend. This allowed people to connect and reconnect with family and friends and even meet some new folks along the way. Today's Mass readings represent two experiences of encountering God that most of us will experience in our lives, sometimes multiple times. In the first, there is Jacob, who receives an important message in a dream that will strengthen his faith and guide him forward. And, in the Gospel, there is the official whose daughter is critically ill and the woman who has long suffered hemorrhages, who both place their full trust in the healing power of Jesus.
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Faith Reflection | Hope-2025 | Jubilee of Hope | power of prayer
I’m writing this less than a week after Pope Leo XIV emerged on the balcony at St. Peter’s Square in Rome, following the announcement: “Habemus Papam!” By the time this reaches you, our new Holy Father will have been with us a few months, but right now, he’s still brand new, and I’ve been filled with an incredible hope. My hope is our new pope! On May 8, when the exciting avalanche of news began unfolding, I was recording a remote podcast and had to ignore the 43 texts that had arrived. On our short break, my guest, glancing at his phone, suddenly announced, “We have some surprising news! We have a pope, and he’s American!” My resulting gasp is fixed in perpetuity through the recording. Still, even without it, I’ll long remember where I was when I heard Cardinal Robert Prevost had been elected our new shepherd.
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Faith Reflection | Hope-2025 | Jubilee of Hope | power of prayer
For years now I have been praying the Litany of Trust by the Sisters of Life. I offer it nearly every morning, except when small children or a needy dog alter my routine. Then I do my best to pray it in the afternoon or at least before bed. The prayer itself is beautiful and powerful. I have written elsewhere about my experience coming to know it and how it helped me learn to concretely live out trust in the Lord. This prayer has become my go-to, something I’ve recommended to friends and family (and probably a few near strangers). Lines of it will come back to me in difficult moments, like a favorite song that offers comfort. This prayer brings me back to the relationship I want to have with God in reminding me of what I have surrendered to him and challenging me to give up what I continue to hold on to.
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Faith Reflection | Hope-2025 | Jubilee of Hope | power of prayer
This Lent, I had big goals for re-energizing my relationship with Christ. I signed up to send prayer cards to 40 different people in need through my parish. I had planned on praying every time I wanted to buy something for myself because I wanted to stop relying on material things for happiness. I was going to go to Adoration and Confession more often, and then all would be right during Lent. Forgetting How to Pray Except that, very early on in Lent, I forgot how to pray. I would sit for minutes that felt like hours and just be blank. It was horrible; words wouldn’t come to me. Praise was not on my lips or in my heart. In a time when I was supposed to be focusing on my relationship with Christ, I was barely even present. I began to panic a bit. I have been a Christian my entire life. Yes, I have fallen asleep during prayer before and I have certainly miscounted rosary beads and missed a few Hail Marys, but I have never forgotten how to pray entirely! Where does this leave me? Where do I go, and what can I do to fix this? I was left to stew over all these questions for several days.
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