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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?
Today’s first reading from Genesis is a crucial moment in the story of Joseph and his brothers, the sons of Jacob. This whole narrative, which stretches over fourteen chapters, is one of the true gems in the Bible. Even people who aren’t believers can appreciate its artistry. After all, they didn’t make a smash Broadway musical out of it for nothing! But it’s only as believers, with the eyes of faith, that we can appreciate the story’s deepest meanings.
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Faith Reflection | Hope-2025 | Jubilee of Hope | power of prayer
I was barely a teenager when I became chronically ill. It was just before my 13th birthday, lining up in the school hall, completely oblivious that my world was about to change and all my hopes and dreams were about to vaporize. Within 20 minutes, I was experiencing symptoms that gradually became worse, and I was eventually bedridden. I missed about three months of school, and although I ultimately returned to school, I continued to struggle with attending full-time. My friends informed me that the school had held a meeting with the entire Year 7 grade, during which the school counsellor explained that I was unwell and that when I returned, everyone was to treat me with kindness and say hello.
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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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