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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
As I prayed and reflected on Jesus taking the hand of the man who was blind in the Gospel of Mark, the words of the classic hymn, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” came to mind. If you can, imagine the scene where Jesus and His disciples arrive at Bethsaida, a small fishing town, and people bring Jesus to a blind man. Trusting in the healing power of Jesus, they ask Him to touch the man so he can see.
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Let’s start with a question: What if your life had a countdown timer? Imagine a digital clock on your wrist ticking away the seconds you have left. No snooze button, no extensions. That’s the premise of the movie, “In Time,”—where time is the currency, and people hustle, steal, or beg just to survive another day. But here’s the twist: we’re all living with an invisible countdown. We just don’t know when it hits zero.
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Catholic Family Fun | Daily Family Prayer | Family Vacation | praying the Rosary
I love taking trips and exploring new places, but I don’t always love the aftermath: the dirty laundry, settling back into “normal” life after fun adventures on the road, and facing the usual chores of cooking and cleaning once again. Yet what’s even worse is the state of my prayer life. When I prepare for a trip, I pore over maps and itineraries, restaurant choices and activities for hours on end. However, I often assume that prayer will “just happen.” Unfortunately, more times than I can count, this assumption has not held true. Despite my best intentions, my prayer life completely falls aside. In a way, this makes sense: when we take trips -- whether for business or pleasure -- our typical daily routine is lost. If our prayer life is tightly attached to our usual schedule, then losing our routine can easily mean losing our prayer.
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Catholic Motherhood | Confession | Life Lessons | Sacrament of Reconciliation
"I hate you. I hate you!” my daughter screams from behind her door. Her words cut me, but this is hardly the first tantrum that we’ve weathered. I stand outside, deaf to the sound of kicks and screams. They used to break me inside; familiarity has numbed their sting. “Let. Me. Out!” She punctuates every word with a pound of her fist against the door. This is her mantra, her fit of rage. I listen, but I don’t respond. In her anger, she has forgotten the truth: I am waiting for her outside. The door isn’t locked. If she chose, she could walk back into my arms at any time. Instead, my prodigal daughter sits and stews in the fumes of her own fury. Justice, Mercy, and Fear This is where I vacillate as a parent. I waver between wanting to toe the hard line of justice and wanting to embrace her with arms of mercy. I want her to learn her lesson, to have the discipline to calm down and sort through her feelings and transgressions in a productive way. I want her to seek reconciliation. At the same time, I feel for her. I know the paralysis of the fear of rejection, even as an adult woman. I want to reach in, salve her pain, and help her breathe again.
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Blessed Virgin Mary | Catholic Faith | praying the Rosary
Saint Louis de Montfort highlights ten imitation-worthy virtues of Our Blessed Mother in his writing True Devotion to Mary. Some of these virtues we may recognize in ourselves; others offer us an opportunity to grow in awareness and holiness. Let us examine each virtue and contemplate how to integrate these vital principles into our lives.
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Today we continue with our ongoing reflections on the Book of Genesis. I titled my reflection as “The dangers of putting words into God’s mouth.” This is what we see Eve do when he interacts with the Serpent in the Garden of Eden.
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