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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Ave Maria Press | Family Activities | Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary | how to pray the rosary
Ivonne J. Hernandez recaps her own experience of using the new book, The Family That Prays Together Stays Together, to pray the Rosary. Father Willy Raymond, C.S.C., in his book, The Family That Prays Together Stays Together, encourages us to pray the Rosary a little bit at a time. As we stretch those muscles and create new habits, he invites us to pray a decade a night. The goal of this book is to help you establish a habit of daily prayer rooted in devotion to our Blessed Mother. To that end, each day’s prayerful reflection is built around the rhythm of the Rosary. I could immediately appreciate how this would be a gift to families with young children. To be introduced to this magnificent prayer in small bites, allowing the grace to flow as the roots deepen in their little hearts. Habits of virtue to last a lifetime. What surprised me was how praying with the Sorrowful Mysteries for a week with this little book impacted my prayer life.
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Family Rosary | Living the Faith | catholic family life
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? Once we know where we’re aiming and whether it’s a solo or family trip, four strategies can make the journey easier: starting small, combining, adding on, and tweaking or substituting.
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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
Whereas today’s gospel speaks about the Lord calling his first disciples, I invite you to focus on the relational matters that existed between David and King Saul that we have been reflecting on throughout the week. We have been hearing readings from the Book of Genesis specifically telling us about the complex dynamic that developed between David and King Saul. In our first reading today, David who was a loyal servant to King Saul, is on the run because the King thinks David had become too popular and the King feared David would take over his Kingdom. The complex relationship was borne out of jealousy and insecurity around power. We heard today that David, who had suffered so much harassment and persecution by David, got an opportunity to get revenge and destroy King Saul, but he restrained himself.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
“If heavenly grace and true charity come in, there shall be no envy or narrowness of heart, nor shall self-love keep its hold. For divine charity overcomes all and dilates all the powers of the soul.” Theresa of Child Jesus Let us reflect on where does envy stem from? What really causes envy? At many times we shall realize it comes from within. It is a force against self-defeat based on self-assertions which on all occasions does not cooperate with the Divine. It is a fight against the Divine. It rejects the voice of the Divine and so its outwards rage is to cause pain and death.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Can you remember the last time you needed courage to either do or not do something? It might take some thinking or it could come to right away…because you just faced it. I thought about this question in light of our two young heroes…David from the first reading and St. Agnes, virgin and martyr who despite their young ages overcame natural fear through their faith in God. In today’s gospel, Jesus, also displays the courage of his convictions when he teaches and heals the man with a withered hand. Jesus doesn’t let the Pharisees who were the key religious watchdogs enforcing Sabbath observance and who wielded significant popular influence deter Him from doing the will of His Father.
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The history of the Congregation of Holy Cross is rich and fascinating, filled with incredible stories of faith, courage, perseverance, and adventure in the face of great challenges to both the community and the world. As an apostolic congregation, Holy Cross has taken an active role in global affairs since the very beginning; in the nearly 190 years since its formation, the men and women of Holy Cross have been present for many of the most pivotal moments of the last three centuries.
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