x Close
World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
God's mercy | Learn more about our faith | Saint Matthew
In his work “The Rule,” Saint Augustine writes, “Strict adherence to religious rules cannot save a person without the prior intervention of divine mercy.” According to Saint Augustine, the law exposes human weakness, while mercy provides the healing grace required to fulfill it. He prioritized fraternal charity and love over blind rigidity, and championed mercy as God’s greatest attribute. Jesus Searches for Us Where We Are The gospel today affirms the same teaching when Jesus welcomes Matthew to be one of his disciples. In calling Matthew, a tax collector and assumed sinner, to follow him, Jesus values mercy more than strict religious rules. Matthew responds promptly and positively by leaving his booth, where he collected taxes, to join Jesus. He leaves his old life behind right away and follows Jesus. He even goes over and beyond to invite Jesus and his disciples to a dinner, where other tax collectors and social outcasts gather. To the dismay of the Scribes and Pharisees, Jesus also accepts the invitation; he joins in with all other people considered unfit by the religious leaders to celebrate a fellowship. By doing so, Jesus highlights the fact that his ministry reaches into the messy margins of society to provide transformation.
Share
Congregation of Holy Cross | Learn more about our faith | Our Lady of Sorrows
Yesterday we celebrated the feast of the Triumph of the Cross. Now we celebrate the memorial of our Lady of the Sorrows. We honor the Blessed Virgin Mary and her deep sufferings and the grief during the life and passion of Jesus Christ. We take time to reflect on Mary’s sorrows, a woman who let her trust in God hold her in the darkest moments.
Share
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.
Blessings | Learn more about our faith | Poverty
When I joined the Congregation of Holy Cross as a seminarian, our formation staff, composed of two Holy Cross expatriates, was deeply involved in the social teaching of the preferential option for the poor. They opted to place our formation house in one of Nairobi's largest slums. They emphasized the importance of living a simple life, identifying with the poor and the needy. We barely had any amenities for a student studying theology. One day, one of us, who was accustomed to stirring the waters with his provocative utterances, confronted the rector; we Africans come from poor villages, humble beginnings, lived all our lives in poverty, why do you force us to glorify poverty, or push us into even more unfortunate and miserable situations again? What is there to learn that we haven’t experienced? Don’t ask me what happened to him later. Blessed Are Those From the Gospel today, to many, it may sound strange that Jesus should declare the poor, the hungry, and those who weep as happy and blessed, and then a hopeless future for the rich. Probably many of us might find it disturbing, who does not need comfort, safety, and a good life!
Share
I do believe some of us, if not all, have run into someone who becomes a friend for a while, helps you out, but all of a sudden something happens, and you realize the person you thought you knew is not actually that person at all. The saying goes; “Not all that glitters is gold” People can seem one way on the outside but are completely different underneath. For those who have experienced betrayal, it speaks to the fact that people can mask cruel ambitions behind loyal faces. In the gospel today, Jesus accuses the religious leaders of hypocrisy, comparing them to “whitewashed tombs” – outwardly beautiful, but inwardly full of decay, dead bones. How they appear to others does not correspond to reality in their lives. There is a disconnect between the outside and the inside. They care more about having presented a good image and reputation while having neglected the unclean inner life. They honor God with their pious life, yet they mask a hardened heart.
Share
At one time or another, as human beings we tend to compare ourselves to others, “I am smarter” or “he/she is better than me”, or “I am a hardworking and conscientious individual and they are not.” Constantly comparing ourselves to others can easily lead to feelings of pride, jealousy, resentment towards others, friends, colleagues, or even our loved ones. The habit of comparison can stain relationships and create a sense of competition rather than fostering genuine connections and support. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of Joy.” In today’s gospel, we have laborers who worked all day and received their payment, complaining to the master for paying the same wage to those who came later in the day. The issue being, how could those who did less than a day’s work be entitled to a day’s wage? Yet, all were paid what had been agreed upon prior to starting work. They are getting worked up because they are comparing the amount of time and energy invested in the whole day as opposed to just a few hours or minutes.
Share
Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
“Abba Anthony taught that while a solitary person escapes the external wars of hearing, speaking, and seeing, the constant battle remains within the heart.” Put in different words, purity of heart is and must be the core goal of our spiritual life, our anchor for striving for holiness. The caution here is: we should not fool ourselves into believing that external purity habits do equate to a holy life. Experience teaches that religious performance can easily mask a prideful and spiteful heart. Our words and reactions are a reflection of what truly sits deep within our hearts.
Share
