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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Today, we celebrate the feast of Saint Blaise, the fourth-century physician-bishop martyr famous for saving a boy choking on a fishbone. We will get our throats blessed with crossed candles later at the end of the mass, but the intersection of Blaise’s medical background and today’s Gospel from Mark offers us a radical perspective on what it means to be truly well. In the gospel today we meet two people at opposite ends of the social spectrum: Jairus, the "VIP", a synagogue leader, and an unnamed woman who has been hemorrhaging for twelve years. Usually, we focus on their faith. But today let’s look at their desperation through the eyes of a doctor like Blaise.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
The second day of February is always special. It is forty days after the Solemnity of the Birth of Jesus. In the Bible, forty days is a sacred time of cleansing and readiness before something holy happens. Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai before receiving the Law. After childbirth, a mother waited forty days before being purified and presenting the child in the Temple. Noah endured forty days of rain before the world was cleansed and renewed. Nineveh was given forty days to repent and change. Even today, the Church gives us forty days of Lent, time to cleanse our hearts and prepare for a new life. Today's feast has multifaceted perspectives. Do we discuss the mother's purification after birth, thanksgiving, and offering the gift of a new child? Or the revelations of Simeon and Anna? Or Candlemas and Jesus as the light to the nations? Today is also the World Day of Consecrated Life, to thank God for the gift of consecrated life, religious sisters, brothers, monks, nuns, and consecrated lay people. Today should be a good day to focus on both parents together, In the image of Joseph and Mary presenting Jesus in the Temple, we have a wonderful model of husband and wife united in practicing the faith and in raising their child in the faith.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Miss Clara, a fourth-grade Catechism teacher told her kids one day: Children, let me tell you today about a quiet man, who used to be immersed into much reading and writing. This man was big and gentle, but because he stayed silent, people thought he wasn’t very smart. One day, his friends played a trick on him. As he was busy writing, one of them pointed to the window and shouted, ‘Look, there’s an angel!’ He ran to see, but there was nothing there. Everyone laughed.”
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Feast of St. Stephen | Virtues
Let's remember St. Stephen today, who he was, and how he became the first Christian martyr. Why is his feast celebrated on December 26 and not today or tomorrow when we have the readings about his martyrdom? And following Stephen's story, let's examine what it has to offer us.
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Learn more about our faith | Why pray?
When climbers set out to conquer a great mountain, say, Everest or Kilimanjaro, they begin with backpacks overflowing. Food for every possibility, extra clothes, comforts from home, maybe even a favorite book. But the higher they climb, the heavier every ounce feels. Oxygen thins. Steps slow. At the base, you own your things; halfway up, they own you. So at every camp, they leave something behind: a pan, a sweater, a photo. The mountain strips them down to the essentials. Because the only way to reach the summit is to travel light.
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Learn more about our faith | Why pray?
You know what's fascinating about airport reunions? We've all seen those videos, People waiting to receive their loved ones after a gap of years. What is fascinating is Not the actual reunion, but what happens in the minutes before. Watch the people waiting at arrivals sometime. They're nervous, excited, checking their phones, craning their necks. They know the person is coming. The flight has landed. They've got confirmation. But that last bit, that walking through the doors part, that's the bit that feels endless. Today, on this remembrance day, we're standing in that arrivals hall. And the readings we've heard, from the book of Wisdom and from John's Gospel, They're giving us something to stand on while we wait.
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