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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Catholic Faith | Marian devotion | Nativity of Mary
Last year, the staff at the Father Peyton Center organized and celebrated a small and beautiful surprise birthday party for me. We were all together in the same space. It was a wonderful time—there was cake, donuts, and drinks; everyone was relaxing and laughing. In addition, I got all sorts of messages from around the world. When we celebrate birthdays, we offer a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the gift of the life of the person whose birthday we celebrate. We tell God that we don't take the gift of that person's life lightly, that we are grateful for it, and that we deeply value it.
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Have you ever lived with someone who thinks there is only one way, one style, one method of doing something - and that one method is what they are familiar with? Jesus in our gospel today is dealing with a similar situation. The Pharisees and Scribes confronted him about why his disciples didn’t follow the devotional practices that everyone else followed. To them, there was one road to holiness and his disciples weren’t following that path, and that was a huge problem!
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Brief and contemporary inspiration focused on hope and family prayer will be delivered to your inbox! Articles include live video, written word, and links to resources that will lead you and your family deeper into faith.
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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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
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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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
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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