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Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
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The second day of February is always special. It is forty days after the Solemnity of the Birth of Jesus. In the Bible, forty days is a sacred time of cleansing and readiness before something holy happens. Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai before receiving the Law. After childbirth, a mother waited forty days before being purified and presenting the child in the Temple. Noah endured forty days of rain before the world was cleansed and renewed. Nineveh was given forty days to repent and change. Even today, the Church gives us forty days of Lent, time to cleanse our hearts and prepare for a new life. Today's feast has multifaceted perspectives. Do we discuss the mother's purification after birth, thanksgiving, and offering the gift of a new child? Or the revelations of Simeon and Anna? Or Candlemas and Jesus as the light to the nations? Today is also the World Day of Consecrated Life, to thank God for the gift of consecrated life, religious sisters, brothers, monks, nuns, and consecrated lay people. Today should be a good day to focus on both parents together, In the image of Joseph and Mary presenting Jesus in the Temple, we have a wonderful model of husband and wife united in practicing the faith and in raising their child in the faith.
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Building habits to support steady spiritual growth became easier for Kathie Scott-Avery when she began using these four strategies. Although rooted in good intentions, we can overwhelm ourselves when deciding to revamp our spiritual life. Major resolutions, no matter how enthusiastically embraced at the outset, frequently wane or backfire, often leading us to conclude that we lack ability, conviction, willpower, good timing, or even faith. Thinking small can help, particularly when we are fashioning a path to a new spiritual habit or trying to improve upon one already established. Of course, the process still requires a commitment to specific and concrete actions related to what we want to accomplish. Is it just for ourselves, or for the whole family? Are we trying to fill a spiritual gap in knowledge? Refresh a practice that’s gone a little stale? Combat a particular sin? Improve on a virtue?
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Brief and contemporary inspiration focused on hope and family prayer will be delivered to your inbox! Articles include live video, written word, and links to resources that will lead you and your family deeper into faith.
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We are in snow season here on the East Coast. Having grown up in the African tropics where the sun comes out almost every day, snow season is something to behold! From the abundance of snow, people created snowball games. From the snowball, people created the analogy of a “snowball effect.” Out of the snow one can create snowballs, and when you throw a snowball downhill, it rolls and picks up a lot more snow, becoming big and bigger, and gaining even higher momentum as it rolls downhill. The “snowball effect” is an analogy about something that starts small and speed yet grows larger and its speed accelerates.
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We have at some point told someone you are just or someone told us we are just. Justice presupposes both inner disposition as well as outward expositions. It is how I view myself and others inwardly that generates my actions towards myself and others. Thomas Aquinas will say justice is a capability of doing what is just and of being just in action and intention. That means my deed presupposes fulfilling my desire or interest. But our will which in a way generates justice is not perpetually just. It is only God’s will that is perpetually just. God will alone remain eternally just (Anselm). However, the desire to do good promotes the tendency of doing good. If I desire to do good always then the action to do that good will likely occur and be sustained in me. In desiring of doing good and attempting to do it I generate a virtue. If I desire to be just and try my level best to administer justice in my dealing I will be practicing justice.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Miss Clara, a fourth-grade Catechism teacher told her kids one day: Children, let me tell you today about a quiet man, who used to be immersed into much reading and writing. This man was big and gentle, but because he stayed silent, people thought he wasn’t very smart. One day, his friends played a trick on him. As he was busy writing, one of them pointed to the window and shouted, ‘Look, there’s an angel!’ He ran to see, but there was nothing there. Everyone laughed.”
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From its origins in nineteenth-century France, the Congregation of Holy Cross has expanded around the world, bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to the farthest reaches of the planet in its mission to make God known, loved, and served. As of 2026, the Congregation of Holy Cross has a presence in 17 countries across 6 continents. The process of expansion took place gradually over the course of the community’s 190-year history. Below, in a snapshot, is a list of the countries where Holy Cross serves today, along with the dates of the community’s arrival:
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