x Close
World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Catholicism | New Evangelization | Parenting | raising kids in the faith
A Special Invitation My son loves to altar serve. He started doing it as soon as he received his first Communion, and now that he’s been doing it for almost two years, he’s begun training some of his younger friends. He started off by serving just daily Masses, where a kindly teenage server taught him a new task each week until he had learned to do everything from holding the hand towel to ringing the bells. Now, he’s begun doing the same for his friends as they’ve all reached the age to begin altar server training. Back when he first started his training, he loved it when he could see his friends sitting in the pews. He was always excited when his friends attended the Masses that he was serving, and after one of his first Sunday Masses, one of his friends approached him afterward to tell him what a good job he had done. When asked how he had learned to serve, my son told his friend that he had someone teaching him during daily Masses, which are generally shorter and have less pomp and circumstance than Sunday liturgies. And then, without missing a beat, my son invited his friend to attend daily Mass with him.
Share
Charity | Family Activities | corporal works of mercy
With Thanksgiving and Christmas rapidly approaching, many families like to get into the season by donating to their local food banks. Food can drives and other charity programs are a common part of the holiday season when many people are feeling more generous, grateful, and charitable. Before becoming a stay-at-home mom, I worked as a youth minister, and our youth group assisted with organization and distribution at the local food bank. I grew up giving to food banks, but after several years of serving the poor, I’ve learned quite a few surprising facts about food banks and donation needs.
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.
motherhood | pray the rosary | prayer life
The Rosary was never my favorite form of prayer. In fact, I used to complain about how repetitive it was. I really struggled to pray it, and I struggled with the fact that the Church held the Rosary in such high regard. It was obvious that the Rosary was a significant form of prayer in the lives of many Catholics, including many saints. If they all upheld the Rosary’s value, who was I to ignore it?
Share
A few months back, our family was about halfway through Sunday Mass when our son declared that he was tired of moving so much. He was kind of right- there is a lot of moving. The Catholic Mass involves a lot of movement. We stand, we sit, we stand, sit some more, stand again, kneel, take a walk to receive Communion, kneel again, and finally stand up before walking out of church on the heels of the priest. To say that Catholics move a lot during Mass would be an understatement. I’ve heard people jokingly refer to it as a Catholic workout, and more recently, Catholic acrobatics. It’s a fitting description of what we do. But that leaves the question: Why the Catholic acrobatics?
Share
Shannon Whitmore shares 10 strategies to help your family pray together.
Share
