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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
NASA has discovered something rather strange about astronauts: when they spend time in space, they actually become taller. Without gravity constantly compressing the spine, the vertebrae separate slightly, and the body can stretch by as much as three percent. A six-foot astronaut may temporarily gain nearly two inches. Apparently, if you want to become taller, there is still hope. The only small inconvenience is that you may have to leave the planet. But there is something beautiful in that image. When the environment changes, the body adjusts. It stretches. That is very close to what Jesus is getting at in today’s Gospel. New wine is still fermenting; it expands. A fresh wineskin can expand with it. An old, hardened one cannot. The problem is not that the wine is bad. The problem is that the container has lost its ability to stretch.
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There is something beautiful in today's Gospel. Jesus leaves the synagogue and goes into Simon Peter's home. And there he discovers that Peter's mother-in-law is sick. I love that detail. Jesus doesn't care only about Peter. He cares about Peter's family. He enters the home. He sees their concern. He comes close to her. And he heals her.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
There is something that happens in almost every family gathering. Somebody arrives late, sits quietly, hardly eats, and leaves early. Before the car has even disappeared from the driveway, the committee begins its investigation. “Something is wrong.” “He looked upset.” “She did not speak to me.” “They must be having problems.” Within ten minutes, people who have no actual information have produced a full documentary, complete with motive, and a conclusion with background music. Saint Paul says something today that should make all of us slightly less confident: “Who knows what pertains to a person except the spirit of the person that is within?”
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Today’s readings invite us to reflect on where we place our confidence. Since the beginning of time, people naturally admire intelligence, eloquence, success, and influence of others. And, so we’re easily tempted to believe that success comes from impressive words, clever arguments, or personal ability. But Saint Paul gives us a very different message. He reminds the Corinthians that when he arrived, he didn’t rely on lofty speech or human wisdom. Instead, he preached simply and poignantly only one thing: Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
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Today we commemorate the memorial of St. Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor of Church. This comes after we just celebrated his mother Monica yesterday. St. Augustine conversion life is highly attributed to the prayers of his mother. There are many things that we take from St. Augustine given his extensive wisdom on Theology, Philosophy and Scripture. Augustine born from North Africa, Algeria today, was baptized by St. Ambrose, and later became a bishop. There is a famous saying of him that, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in God.” This restlessness of not despair but of hope in waiting. Hope in doing all what is necessary, that we do not miss to be part of the wedding when the bridegroom comes. It is a calling to be alert, wise, and keep our lamp with oil always. The parable of ten virgins we heard was Jesus' teachings at Mt. Olive just few days before his arrest, and crucifixion. It is quite extensive, spiritually enlightening, and a warning of staying awake. In the Jewish wedding, it stretched for days. The bridegroom would come to the bride's home mostly after nightfall. The bridesmaids/virgins were required to meet the bridegroom on the road and escort him. Through the street the party would continue and so they needed lamps. Lacking a lamp and oil was a shame, failure and insult to the bridegroom.
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Every year when we remember and pray to St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine, I think of how fitting a role model she is for parents who are worried about their children of any age… Over these past weeks, I’ve been, and I’ll bet some of you have been part of conversations with parents of adult children…parents who are worried about things like addiction, mental health, and drifting away from the practice of the faith. In one conversation, I was moved as the two people listened with great compassion to each other's stories and offered spiritual encouragement, treatment resources, and an invitation to meet their family at next week's Mass.
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