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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Some of us here are grandparents, parents, or even guardians. We have been or still are involved in the noble work of raising children into good, responsible, faith-filled adults. We give them all the parental love there is for a person to grow into a well-integrated individual. It is also possible that many of you have had situations where those being raised manifest behaviors that reflect stubbornness, rejecting the path you are trying to provide for them. Worse still, as teenagers, they retort, tell all kinds of lies, mock or ridicule you assuming that they are grown up, and they are free to chart their own course, making your life miserable. When in trouble then they call for help. As good parents, we always come back with love, care and forgiveness sometimes trying even to enable their dysfunctional behavior. Looking into our past, maybe we were not so different.
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Catholic Family Fun | Family Activities | rosary
Summer is here! Discover nine engaging ways to nurture family bonds and faith while creating cherished memories together, away from screens and distractions. A friend and I went out to dinner last weekend, and as we sat at an outside table chatting, we noticed a family of four at a table a few feet away. It was a mother, father, a daughter who looked to be about 14, and a son who looked to be about 11. All except the father had their faces buried in their phones. For nearly 15 minutes, he sat there forlornly just looking around. But then he too pulled out his phone. It made me incredibly sad, for it was a beautiful night and all this family could think about was escaping to social media or texting. As Ecclesiastes 3 teaches, There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens.
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Contemplative Prayer | Family Activities | rosary
Women who like to pair Scripture with praying the Rosary will appreciate the new book of Rosary meditations by Catholic Mom contributing writer Margaret Rash. Readers won't need to hunt down the Scripture readings, because they're all right there in the book. That means you won't have to juggle your Bible and your rosary beads and your book of meditations.
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One of difficult topics to comprehend in our Christian life is eschatology and judgement. We keep waiting in hope but also waiting needs a lot of patience while performing the Christian practices. We find the first Christian community struggling with this is the situation. Jesus had just resurrected and ascended to heaven and now they are in the last phase, waiting again for Jesus. We, too, are in the same waiting. The writer of the first reading knowis the anxiety that may creep in among the Christian community and warns them but also gives life directives. He reminds them to be self-controlled and clear-minded for prayer.
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Have you ever been driving somewhere with a tight schedule, feeling good about your trip, and then suddenly run into roadwork, see the orange-and-black sign, and a mystery detour? Yesterday morning, while driving to the audiologist’s office to drop off my Dad’s hearing aids, that’s what happened. At first, like all good Boston drivers, I was completely calm, well, not really! The detour increased my trip by about 5 minutes, but as I was speaking to the receptionist, the audiologist came out and asked if she could help. She told me she had just had a cancellation and could work on the hearing aids right away. Then she added something striking: “I heard your voice and remembered it.”
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There are two things in our lives as believers that are essential and yet complicated. That is; ambition verses divine calling. Ambition stems from individual desires to build a platform and achieve specific results. Calling stems from a form of surrender to God’s will to glorify God. Ambition often seeks control and personal legacy. Calling requires obedience and willingness to discern what the Lord is calling you for. Ambition often breeds anxiety and pressure “to climb the ladder”. Calling produces inner peace and contentment, even when the path is difficult.
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