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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
The book of the Prophet Ezekiel was written during a time of extreme moral, spiritual, and political decay in the land of Israel. The most famous image in the book of the Prophet Ezekiel is the image of “the valley of dry bones.” The prophet saw a valley full of dead people, and the dead were not the kind whose skeletons were still intact; it was all human bones thrown everywhere! It is one of the most dramatic paintings of extreme hopelessness, yet the Lord in the book of Ezekiel promises to give life to all the dead who the Prophet Ezekiel saw in the vision.
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Today we celebrate the Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne who were the grandparents of Jesus. Yes, Jesus had grandparents too! These were the parents of Mary. Today we remember all our grandparents both living and deceased, that God blesses them and gives them good rest. There is actually a global Catholic Grandparents’ Association with proposed activities and prayers that they can use in fulfilling their role as ‘grandpa’ and ‘grandma.’
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My reflection comes from the Second Book of Kings. In that Book, we have heard about King Ahab and his pagan wife Jezebel—who instigated the murder of many people. Today's First Reading continues with King Ahab and Jezebel dead and their daughter Athalia (who was evil and a pagan like her mother Jezebel) at the center of things.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This feast is the titular feast of the Priests of the Congregation of Holy Cross. If you know any priests of the Congregation of Holy Cross, please wish them a good feast day! The founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, Blessed Basil Moreau wrote, “To give one’s heart is to give love. Jesus speaks our language when he holds out his heart to us, which tells the story of his love for us. The primary purpose of the devotion to the Sacred Heart is to return love for love.”
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Holy lives of inspiration | Love thy Neighbor
Today in our gospel we hear how the disciples of Christ found some villager who was blessing the sick and praying for their healing, all in the name of Jesus, and how they tried to stop him because he was not part of their group or company. When the disciples told Jesus about this, He reprimanded them for their envy and fear. Jesus told them that, “No one can perform a miracle in my name and at the same time speak ill of me. Anyone who is not against us is with us.”
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Today we celebrate the Feast Day of St. Matthias the Apostle. He was not among the first twelve Apostles of Jesus, but was a substitute for Judas Iscariot who committed suicide after betraying Jesus, decreasing the number of Apostles to eleven. The number twelve was important in Israel because it symbolized the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve divisions of the priestly order, and the twelve doors of the temple in Jerusalem. The number twelve symbolized completeness and perfection.
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