World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Learn more about our faith | Why pray?
Yesterday, I was shocked to learn that a week from Thursday is Thanksgiving Day! One clue that we are well into November is the readings for the Mass. Once you get to the Book of Revelation it’s a sure sign we’re heading toward the end of Ordinary Time.
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Learn more about our faith | Why pray?
Psalm 23 is one of the most well-known, even to people with limited knowledge of scripture. It is a beautiful and encouraging song of faith and hope in God's role as shepherd of our lives. When I was in my final year of seminary, there were a lot of last-minute details to take care of, and one that had escaped me was to create a small ordination prayer card. Some of my classmates probably had theirs done at the beginning of the year, but there I was about two weeks before ordination, looking for an image of Jesus and a suitable scriptural verse.
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Learn more about our faith | Love thy Neighbor
Saint Paul sets up a clear dichotomy between two groups of people, much like Jesus does in the Gospel as He references “…the children of this world being more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of the light.” As I thought about Jesus’ observation and the steward in the Gospel who finds a way to survive after he’d lost his job for poor performance, it reminded me of how we all discover at some point the ways of the world.
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We can sometimes hear or read the Word of God and wonder, is that even possible and why would God say that? For example, when Jesus says, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife, and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”
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“Where do they find the strength?” That’s a question that most of us find ourselves asking about a family member, friend, or co-worker who is somehow persevering through an extraordinary challenge or challenges. It could be an illness, death of a loved one, troubled marriage, loss of a job or financial concerns, or perhaps a crisis of faith. Well, in the Letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul instructs the Ephesians, and all of us, through his opening sentence: “Brothers and sisters: Draw your strength from the Lord and from His mighty power.”
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One of my co-workers often greets me with the question, “What’s going on?” This question came to mind as I read and prayed over the readings from Saint Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: what was going on in their community that led Saint Paul to focus on family relationships and how they tied to God’s relationship with us and His Church?
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