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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
As I reflected on today’s readings and Father Peyton's life, I was drawn to Luke’s account of Jesus’ healing through both word and touch. St. Luke, who had a medical background, describes the man who approached Jesus as being “full of leprosy.” This detail tells us that the man suffered not only physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. In that time, leprosy rendered a person ritually unclean, cutting him off from family, community, and worship. He was expected to live apart, carrying the weight of isolation and rejection. Unlike everyone else, Jesus is not afraid to draw near. Filled with the Holy Spirit, He reaches out and touches the man. Though ostracized and suffering, the man believes that Jesus can heal him both physically and ritually, and so he cries out in faith, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus responds with compassion and authority: “I do will it. Be made clean.” Immediately, the leprosy leaves him.
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As we come down the homestretch of Advent toward Christmas, it’s good to pause and remember why December 25th is a holy and special day. The opening prayer says it all: “O God, who seeing the human race fallen into death, willed to redeem it by the coming of your only begotten Son…” In just one line, we recognize our need for a Savior and profess that one has been sent. The prayer then turns to our response: “…grant, we pray, that those who confess his Incarnation with humble fervor may merit His company as their Redeemer.” That phrase—“confess his Incarnation with humble fervor”—is a powerful reminder of what we strive for in our faith: to proclaim that Jesus, the Son of God, took on our human nature to redeem us, and to do so both humbly and with passion. That balance is not always easy.
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Learn more about our faith | Strengthening family unity
Can you imagine finding out that your neighbor—the one everyone considered a bad person—made it into Heaven? Whatever emotions or questions that might stir up in us pale in comparison to the shock Jesus causes in today’s Gospel. In His parable of the man with two sons, Jesus compares the first son—the one who initially said “no” to his father but later changed his mind and did what was asked—to tax collectors and prostitutes. That alone would have been scandalous to His listeners. Tax collectors and prostitutes were considered the most shameful, the most morally corrupt, people of their time. Most believed they were beyond redemption—that the die had been cast, that they could not change. Like that imagined neighbor…or even someone closer to home.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Last night, driving home after our early sunset, there was a noticeable warmth in the homes decorated with lit trees and lights in the windows, piercing the wintry darkness and reminding us of the light of Christ. In a way, these Christmas lights can help us to gain a deeper understanding of how people found solace in the words, “Comfort, give comfort to my people.” Isaiah’s words convey God’s merciful approach to us, reminding us of a shepherd who gathers the weary and lost, carrying those who cannot walk on their own, and leveling the rugged paths of our lives.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
If you’ve ever looked at old pictures or home movies you notice how much has changed, say from the 70’s or 80’s and if you’re a movie buff, you’ll notice that the one constant through the decades is also change. It’s nostalgic for us to look back at the old cars, radios, tv’s, phones, and stereos…and we also recognize how people and organizations have changed too, including religious and political leaders, and even our parishes or physical churches that we’ve gone to each Sunday…. Change is part of life on earth and in both readings from Daniel and Luke, we receive a clear message which should cause us to wonder, how do we prepare for the change that the Word of God speaks to us about today?
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Holy lives of inspiration | Why pray?
I’d like you to imagine you’re on a dusty road near Jericho, or perhaps a road near where you live, and you encounter a man who is blind and forced to beg, sitting in the shadows, ignored or maybe even forgotten by those around him. Suddenly, a crowd stirs—Jesus of Nazareth is passing by! This man, though isolated by his blindness, doesn't hesitate or overthink the situation. Instead, he cries out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Despite the crowd's rebukes to him, he shouts louder; his faith is unyielding. Jesus stops, calls him near, and asks, "What do you want me to do for you?"
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