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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Have you ever been driving somewhere with a tight schedule, feeling good about your trip, and then suddenly run into roadwork, see the orange-and-black sign, and a mystery detour? Yesterday morning, while driving to the audiologist’s office to drop off my Dad’s hearing aids, that’s what happened. At first, like all good Boston drivers, I was completely calm, well, not really! The detour increased my trip by about 5 minutes, but as I was speaking to the receptionist, the audiologist came out and asked if she could help. She told me she had just had a cancellation and could work on the hearing aids right away. Then she added something striking: “I heard your voice and remembered it.”
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I have a question for you…how does your family handle goodbyes? My family seems to have adopted the procrastination technique of being the last to leave a cookout or party, or even on phone calls, having one more story that rekindles the conversation…but parting and farewells, as much as we might want to avoid them, are a part of life.
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Today we celebrate what can seem like a paradox. After Jesus leaves His disciples, the Gospel tells us they return to Jerusalem with “great joy.” Normally, when someone we love leaves us, we experience sadness and loss. But the Ascension is different because it is not about Jesus becoming absent; it is about His presence taking on a new form. If Jesus had remained on earth in His physical body, He would still be limited by time and space—present in one village, one home, one gathering at a time. Through the Ascension, however, Jesus is no longer beside us in the same physical way as He was over 2,000 years ago, but He is now present to all people everywhere and at every moment; 24/7.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Today’s dramatic healing in the first reading takes place just outside the Temple at what was called the Beautiful Gate. We’re told it was named this because it was grand in size and ornate in design… something to behold, something fitting. But what took place just outside of it that we’ve just heard… brought a different kind of beauty…one that was wrought from the power of Jesus’ Name…one that was shared by Peter and John with that man begging for alms. The meaning of the Beautiful Gate changed…when a man born with a physical disability encountered Peter and John, who had faith in Jesus. If you think about it, the man whose life was changed forever, up until that day, had the same routine, which included being carried to the Temple gate to beg for alms to survive each day. And it must have worked; he must have received enough money or food from others to make it through the day, and then been carried home. That is, until he met two men who had something else to offer.
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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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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
One of my new favorite commercials involves a young woman talking to her friend, pouring out her concerns about her relationship with her boyfriend. Her friend, who sits across the table from her, is engrossed with her cell phone and whatever’s on the screen. She’s barely listening and gives the occasional uh-huh type of reply. That’s when the narrator calls for Tedy Bridgewater, a professional athlete, to take the friend’s place. Tedy immediately sits down and locks in, maintaining eye contact and using the type of affirmation that shows he’s really listening and cares.
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