Family Rosary World at Prayer

Where is Your Desert?

Nov 30, 2013 8:00:00 AM

Prepare-for-Advent
“In the desert prepare the way of the Lord!” (Isaiah 40:3)

What is a desert? What words describe one? … Hot, barren, empty, lonesome, fearsome. The desert is where no one can live for long, where not much grows, where we become uncomfortable and want to leave.

One might ask: Where’s the desert in my heart? Where’s the desert in my family? Where’s the desert in my parish?

The desert through which we must prepare the Lord’s way is not in the Holy Land, not in Bethlehem. It’s here – in our city, in our parish, beginning with our own hearts.

When we prepare for Advent and walk through the desert, we need to invite Jesus where he has never been before … to the barren, empty place within our hearts that need the loving, gentle touch of Jesus.

“In the desert prepare the way of the Lord!” We have to find the desert. We need to recognize that one place within our lives that needs healing or forgiveness. It’s that place in our heart, in our life, where we say: Yes, Jesus, You can have everything BUT …, I’ll love everyone EXCEPT …, I’ll be generous UNTIL …, I’ll forgive IF …

We have only to find our desert and prepare the way of the Lord for His coming. Jesus’ coming depends on our invitation, our welcome. It is exciting to be invited to go someplace where we have never been before. Jesus is waiting for our invitation. And His love will turn our deserts into oases.

Where is your desert? How will you prepare for Advent?

Topics: healing, forgiveness, Preparing for Advent

The Spirit of Thanksgiving … Every Day

Posted by Beth Mahoney

Nov 26, 2013 1:15:07 PM

Spirit-of-Thanksgiving

On Thursday, November 28th, families throughout the United States will gather to enjoy a Turkey dinner, some time together, some football and to pause to give thanks to God.

Living in New England, near Plymouth, MA, provides me with many signs and symbols of the first Thanksgiving dinner. There are cranberries, the Mayflower ship and so much more.

The other day a turkey came through my friend’s yard and was hiding under her deck as if to find a place to take refuge from being the centerpiece on the dining room table!

This picture caused me to think of what I am grateful for this Thanksgiving but more importantly, each and every day of my life. Thanksgiving gives us a day to pause … to acknowledge all the goodness that surrounds us … and to remember those who have gone before us.

But we can begin this Thanksgiving by practicing the spirit of this day throughout the year.

I was speaking with a friend who lives in Illinois and they had just been hit with a severe tornado which demolished much of the area. People lost everything they owned. I was struck by how often we complain when minor things do not go the way we think they should or if we don’t get something.

I paused to take a look at what I have in life: a God who loves me, good health, a roof over my head, food on the table and clothes on my back. This spirit of Thanksgiving is needed each and every day of our lives.

Perhaps on this special day we should begin a whole year of thanking God for his blessings and graces in our lives.

Pause now to give thanks to God for the blessings in your life and in your family! Enter your prayers of gratitude here and we’ll remember your blessings in our thanksgiving prayers too.

Topics: prayers of gratitude, Thankfulness, spirit of Thanksgiving

THE POWER OF PRAYER...

Posted by Father Jim Phalan, CSC

Nov 21, 2013 10:35:17 AM

Meet Yadhira.

She recently joined our Family Rosary Mission in Monterrey, Mexico. I went to visit the family - Rubén, Yadhira and their 10 year old daughter - a few days ago and I was blessed to hear her story of Yadhira-story-of-faith-and-healing faith.

For about ten years, Yadhira was plagued by Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Doctors could not isolate anything nor do anything for her but her symptoms were very real: frequent migraine headaches, muscle pain and fatigue, limited articulation of arms and legs. She was suffering!

She had not been so faithful to the practice of her faith at the start of this ordeal but her pain made her look for spiritual consolation, particularly as medicine seemed incapable of helping her. She became more active in her local parish.

When plagued by migraines at night she would sit before a very beautiful image of the Our Lady of Guadalupe in her house and cry to her.

A couple years ago she joined a Bible study in the chapel and discovered that she loved to study Scripture and particularly to pray with the Psalms.

One night, after Rubén had fallen asleep and she lay in bed feeling nearly crippled by pain, she began to call for help, praying the verses of psalms she had been studying. Suddenly she felt as though an invisible hand held her heart and massaged it twice, firmly and deeply. Then she saw a sort of glitter fall on her and enter her body until she felt an intense warmth. Slowly the glitter left her body and retreated - AND SHE REALIZED THAT ALL PAIN HAD GONE. SHE WAS WELL.

The next days she lived with an intense feeling of joy … All symptoms were gone and none have returned since! She was really reborn to a new life and she knew it.

Now, as a volunteer in our Family Rosary Mission, she shares her testimony. She wants to tell others of the wonders God has worked in her life.

This story is for real and I have absolutely no doubt about its truthfulness.

So many of us have stories of faith. Maybe not all are quite as dramatic but all are wonderful. Please share yours with us!

Topics: healing, stories of faith, Power of Prayer

Notes of Thanks from Around the World...

Posted by Beth Mahoney

Nov 18, 2013 10:19:31 AM

Thank_You_note_for_Beths_blog
As the month of the Rosary came to a close, we began to receive many thank you notes from people around the world who were grateful to receive Rosaries. The Rosaries for the World program has a very interesting history, beginning with Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton, CSC, desiring to send one million Rosaries to Russia for their conversion.

This program has grown over the years and we now send close to 1.2 million Rosaries around the world!

If you are interested in receiving Rosaries for your family, school, parish, hospital, nursing home or prison ministry, please visit our web site at Family Rosary.org

As we enter the month of November, we especially remember those who have died, those who serve in the military and the spirit of Thanksgiving. Let us pause, bring our intentions to prayer and invite our families to pray the Rosary together.

Let us also remember the encouraging and hopeful message of Father Peyton, a world at prayer is a world at peace.

We would enjoy hearing from you.

Topics: rosaries-for-the-world, Family Rosary, a world at prayer is a world at peace

Let The Children Come To Me...

Posted by Beth Mahoney

Nov 13, 2013 4:02:00 PM

We hear these words in scripture and we hear these words often from people. Let_the_children_come_to_me

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Mt 19:14).

Well, I have had that experience over the past 2 weeks.

I first found myself in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, LA at a school with children from grades Pre-K through 8. Then I was off to the Diocese of St. Cloud, MN at a school with children from grades Pre-3 through 8. Their principals invited me to share with them about the Rosary.

Let me tell you, from the little ones right to the older ones, they knew about Jesus, His mother Mary and St. Joseph.

After attending a school advisory committee meeting, one of the school principals shared this story with me:

One member explained that the session Beth shared with his daughter made such an impact on her that she came home asking to recite the Rosary as a family! He went on to say that they had never done so before.

Needless to say, his family stopped what they were doing and prayed the Rosary together.

All I could say was "Wow!" To impact a child in such a positive way speaks to the engaging, enlightening, informative, and thought-provoking message that Beth brings to the Catholic community.

It is all about bringing the little children to Jesus and bringing families together to pray, especially the praying of the Rosary. As Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton, CSC believed: the family that prays together stays together.

How often does your family pray together? What is this experience like for you and your family? Do you see yourself living the words from the gospel of Matthew?

Topics: family-prayer, Family Rosary, Let the children come to me