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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Blessed Virgin Mary | Rosary Stories | family prayer
A story of how a gathering with my closest friends budded into a love for our Heavenly Mother.
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Easter season | Learn more about our faith
I would like to invite us to briefly reflect on the First Reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles. There is a question in there that was directed at the Apostles, but it is also directed at each of us as followers of Jesus. “By what power or by what name have you done this?” Or as they say in politics, “Who paid you for this?” In the text we have today, there is a tension between the apostles Peter and John, on the one hand, and the religious leaders, on the other. After the resurrection, the apostles were went about healing the sick and preaching and they were arrested by the authorities.
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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.
Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
A few years ago, a father named Mark sat in his car, gripping the steering wheel, unable to walk into his own house. Inside, his teenage daughter was drifting further away, and their home had become a quiet battlefield. He whispered to himself words no parent ever wants to say: “We had hoped things would be different by now.” He felt like he had failed. Finally, he went inside… sat on the floor outside her bedroom… and said, “I don’t have the answers. But I am here. And I love you.” That moment—was not strength. It was vulnerability.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Today’s dramatic healing in the first reading takes place just outside the Temple at what was called the Beautiful Gate. We’re told it was named this because it was grand in size and ornate in design… something to behold, something fitting. But what took place just outside of it that we’ve just heard… brought a different kind of beauty…one that was wrought from the power of Jesus’ Name…one that was shared by Peter and John with that man begging for alms. The meaning of the Beautiful Gate changed…when a man born with a physical disability encountered Peter and John, who had faith in Jesus. If you think about it, the man whose life was changed forever, up until that day, had the same routine, which included being carried to the Temple gate to beg for alms to survive each day. And it must have worked; he must have received enough money or food from others to make it through the day, and then been carried home. That is, until he met two men who had something else to offer.
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From despair to Hope. Easter is about restoring hope. The news of Jesus’s resurrection brought hope to people who were overwhelmed by despair and grief. The disciples were wrapped in disappointment that all their hopes on Jesus as the Messiah had been dashed by his brutal death. It is possible that some were grappling with guilt of having abandoned Jesus and fleeing in fear. The gospel today, we have Mary Magdalene described as weeping. She was despondent that not only had Jesus died, but also the idea that his body had been taken to an unknown location and is not able to give a proper burial. It was to this kind of despair that, the fact of Jesus’ resurrection broke in with life-changing hope. Easter tells us that the risen Christ can break into our lives with genuine hope amid our worst trials.
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We are on the octave of Easter celebrations. As Christians who believe in the Lord’s resurrection as the foundation of our faith, Easter brings us great joy and wonder, why? it is a manifestation of how God’s love can overpower human sin. Easter brings us into a new life that is more profound than the death we human beings inflict on each other. Easter commemorates Jesus rising from the dead, overcoming the ultimate consequences of sin and death. It brings all of us into a new relationship with God demonstrated through God’s power and love. As believers we become forgiven through faith in the risen Christ, and we can attain salvation.
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