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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
In Africa we have a saying that “it takes a whole village to raise a child” everyone in the community has a responsibility to make sure that a child grows into a responsible, respectful, well integrated person. A neighbor can offer discipline to a neighbor's child. In our faith as Catholics or believers there is also what we refer to as “interdependence of faith” which implies that as believers we rely on each other as parts of a larger whole, the Body of Christ” to grow, find strength, and live out our beliefs. As Christians we can move beyond our individualism to mutual support, shared burdens and collective witness to Christ’s teaching of mercy and love.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Pope Francis in one of his writings tells us; "The Holy Spirit makes us look to the horizon and drive us to the very outskirts of existence in order to proclaim life in Jesus Christ” What Pope Francis is portraying here is a belief in the transformative power or authority of Jesus in the world. In today’s gospel we have Jesus who teaches with authority unlike the scribes who simply relied on previous interpretations and traditions. He taught with divine authority. And as he is preaching, there is a sporadic outburst of a person disturbed by the evil Spirit. “What do you want with us Jesus of Nazareth....” This was an aggressive reaction directed at Jesus.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Why pray?
Thomas Merton, a great Trappist monk, is one of those people whose life exemplifies how a seemingly isolated monastic existence could still become powerful for global connection and spiritual insight. He embodied the idea that deep contemplation could lead to profound engagement with the world’s struggles, rather than withdrawal from them. Through his spiritual insights, shared from his monastic setting, he influenced many spiritual seekers worldwide. He highlighted that true spiritual life involves connecting with God through our daily experiences, rather than separating from the world. In today’s Gospel reading, we have Jesus who had spent time preaching and feeding the crowds, sending his disciples off across the Lake while he took some time to pray, to be in communion with God the Father. No sooner had the disciples set off than a turbulent storm struck the sea of Galilee. They were gripped with fear for their lives despite being experienced fishermen. For Jesus, although he was not with them in the boat, he nonetheless was aware of their struggles. Prayer did not remove him from the disciples. While in prayer, he perceived their trouble and decided to come to their rescue.
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Learn more about our faith | Why pray?
As the director of the Formation program for seminarians of the Congregation of Holy Cross, there is a term I used frequently as I cautioned the young men in formation. “Please don’t jump ahead of oneself.” Some with an ambitious mind wanted to act like deacons already. They were focusing too much on future outcomes even before completing the current stages of training. Of course, the dangers of becoming overly confident and unrealistic can be significant. No growth takes place then. Why am I saying all this, we just celebrated the birth of Jesus a few days ago and here we are with today’s Gospel already highlighting the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry after John the Baptist’s arrest. It might sound like jumping ahead of oneself.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Immaculate Conception | Learn more about our faith
“We can draw strength, love and so many other blessings from our ancestors as we learn about them, practice gratitude for them, and perform sacred ordinances for them in the temple” If Only Our Ancestors Could Talk by Sheiyenne Baloo What has this got to do with the gospel reading today? We are presented with a genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, arranged into three neat sections of fourteen generations all connected to Abraham and David. What is it about all these generations of people named that should even attract our attention?
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Holy lives of inspiration | Immaculate Conception | Learn more about our faith
The church celebrates our Mother Mary as a model of holiness. From the earliest times, the Church has always believed and held our Blessed Virgin Mother in high esteem as the mother of Jesus Christ. Officially, Pope Pius IX proclaimed Mary’s Immaculate Conception in 1854. Basically, highlighting that God preserved Mary from sin because of her unique privilege of being the mother of God’s son. I have some friends from other religious denominations in Uganda who always ask; Why do you (Catholics) pray to Mary, worship her statues, and put her on the same level as Jesus, yet she is human like us? You don’t need to pray through Mary; pray directly to Jesus Christ, that we need to look towards God alone. To these comments, my response is and always has been...
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