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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Christmas Season | catholic family life | holiday plans | imperfection
As a wife, mother, and hostess, there is so much to do to prepare for Christmas. I want everything to be just perfect at Christmas time—Christmas lights, Christmas cookies, Christmas cards, Christmas tree, Christmas clothes for the kids, Christmas presents—I feel this pressure sometimes to make everything the best that it can be, to create a “magical” kind of Christmas day. Much of this comes from my own struggle with pride, but our surrounding culture plays its own role, too. After all, aren’t we told that this is supposed to be the “most wonderful time of the year?” There are a lot of expectations to meet! There have been a number of Christmas days in the past, filled with all kinds of festivities, when, at the end of the day, I faced a strange realization: amidst all the celebrating, I didn’t really pray. The busyness of my Christmas day consumed my normal times of prayer.
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family prayer | how to pray the rosary | pray the rosary
If you were to visit my parish church, you’d find a little basket on a table in the narthex filled with plastic rosary beads. I imagine the ladies who make these free rosaries have been delighted by the alacrity by which the rosaries have disappeared of late. Perhaps they speculate that the fervency of the parishioners for this Marian devotion has sky-rocketed. What they don’t realize is my children are responsible for the majority of the disappearing rosaries. My kids see a striking new color bead (“Oh, Mom! I don’t have an orange rosary! This is perfect for fall!”) and thus our collection of plastic rosaries grows yet again.
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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.
corporal works of mercy | family life
To love our neighbor, means to open our hearts to all people, including the hungry, thirsty, homeless, truly anyone is need. I’m afraid that, for much of my life, I didn’t love them very much. Of course, I’d pray for them, but I had little direct interaction with those living in poverty.
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After her son's recent Baptism, Cassandra Spellman considers the eternal ramifications of this essential sacrament.
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