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
Father Wilson Thoppilan, C.S.C., a priest of The Congregation of Holy Cross and Executive Director of Family Rosary Crusade Philippines, provides today's Homily Video Reflection. In addition to the homily video, we've included questions to encourage family discussion on this thought-provoking topic.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Father Aji Paul, C.S.C., a priest of The Congregation of Holy Cross from India, provides today's Homily Video Reflection.
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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.
Faith Life | Gospel Reflection | prayer
I came across a photo of me from long ago—very long ago. At that time, I was in great shape; I had what you would call six-pack abs. I worked out and ran three to four miles daily, which showed. Now, not so much. Now I fish. I try to convince myself that fishing is a sport, but I don't look like I used to, so it's difficult to convince people I'm still an athlete! Like any sport or endeavor, you must practice it if you want to advance. You must keep up with whatever is required to sustain your desired results, which, frankly, if you could see me, you would know I have not! This type of diligent workout routine is also vital for maintaining our spiritual health, bringing us to the Readings for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
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Strengthening family unity | Why pray?
I am delighted to be here today at the Father Peyton Center in North Easton, Massachusetts — the Global headquarters for Holy Cross Family Ministries. I was blessed to grow up in a family. Families are found everywhere, and their challenges are pretty much the same. I come from India, the Diocese of Agartala, where I have been Bishop for the last 28 years. Today, I am also the Chairman of the Health Commission of the Bishops’ Conference in India. We have 171 Dioceses in India, and traveling through some of them, I find that a major health issue is mental health. Mental health affects families at all levels: divorced families, faithful families, hurting families, and dysfunctional families.
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In the Gospel of Matthew we hear, "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it."
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Catholic Faith | Gospel of John | Living the Faith | Mass
This is the tale of two fruit plants. In my yard, I have an apple tree in my backyard and a blueberry bush in the front. The apple trees I never prune, and they are now a bit out of hand — they produce bad fruit or, honestly, no fruit most years. The blueberry bush in the front, however, I prune the dead and fruitless branches each year. Because I do this pruning, we get a good crop of blueberries each year. My daughter, Faith and I pick and eat the berries right from the bush; you can’t get any fresher than that!
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