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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Saint Paul talks about his call: “God called me, the least of all his people”. The Melrose Suspension Bridge on the Niagara links the United States to Canada. The bridge was reportedly built in 1848 by engineer Theodore Elliot, in this fashion. First, a kite with a thread attached to it was flown across the Niagara River. Next, a cord was attached to the thread and pulled across. Then, a rope was attached to the cord. Finally, a cable was attached to the rope. The larger cables and the rest of the bridge were moved into place from the cable. Had Paul lived in our modern times, he might have used this story to make the point he stressed in today's reading. He, "the least of all God's people," was the tiny, fragile thread by which God began the conversion of the Gentile world. "I'm only a spark, / Make me a fire, I'm only a string, / Make me a lyre" said the poet, Amado Nervo.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Why pray? | family prayer
After hearing the sermon "Let your light shine," little Jane only fully grasped its meaning when her mother explained that it meant being good, obedient, and cheerful. Later that day, after misbehaving with her friends, Jane returned to her mother and said, "Ma, sorry I have blown myself out! Can you light me again?" This heartfelt request serves as a reminder that every Christian is called to be a beacon of light in the world, shining a light on the darkness around them. Jane's simple yet profound question encourages us to contemplate the Light of Christ that we receive at Baptism. We are not only called to preserve this light, but also to nurture it and keep it burning brightly throughout our lives.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Why pray? | family prayer
Once upon a time, two families came to a Rabbi, wanting him to settle a dispute over boundaries over their land. He listened to the members of one family as they recounted how they had received this land as their inheritance from their ancestors and how it had been in their family for generations. They had maps and papers to prove it. Then, the Rabbi listened to the other family. Its members described how they had lived on the same land for years, working and harvesting it. They claimed that they knew the land intimately and that it was their land. They didn't have papers to prove it, but they had calluses and sore backs and the harvest and the produce of the land. The Rabbi looked at them both and backed away from between them. They turned on him and said, "Decide, Rabbi, who owns this land."
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There is a legend which goes this way. A destitute woman, reeling from the loss of her husband and engulfed in relentless agony, received a tattered pamphlet from her neighbor. The neighbor had stumbled upon it lying on the street and, upon reading it, immediately thought of the sorrowful woman. The pamphlet contained a captivating story of a Man who offered solace to the afflicted. The grief-stricken woman read it and found her entire life transformed by its profound message! Astoundingly, the pamphlet turned out to be a copy of the Gospel of Saint Luke, which brought an overwhelming sense of peace and relief to the woman with its powerful themes of consolation and comfort.
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A young couple moved into a new neighborhood. One morning, while they were having breakfast, the woman noticed her neighbor hanging laundry outside to dry. “That laundry is not very clean,” she commented. “She doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.” Her husband looked on but remained silent. Every time the neighbor hung clothes to dry, the woman repeated her observation about the dirty laundry. One month later, the woman was surprised to see clean clothes on the line and said to her husband, “Look, she has finally learned how to wash her clothes properly. Her husband responded, “I was up early this morning and cleaned our windows! ”
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"I'll pray for you; keep me in your prayers." So often, those phrases are tossed out during a casual goodbye or especially when trouble is on the loose, or when some worry hovers in the air. They are perhaps forgotten as soon as the next person or crisis pops into our minds.
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