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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Holy Week | The Way of the Cross | family prayer | mercy
"Ready, Set…Bang!" My arms pumped with high energy, my feet pounded confidently across the field and my legs steadily pulled me forward. I started the race and felt so great and alive! This time would be different. I would run with endurance, control, and speed. By the time I got to the halfway mark, however, my thoughts had turned sour. My chest tightened as my lungs cried out in anguish with each erratic breath and I began to wonder if my feet were still attached to my burning legs. The clear blue sky gave me no hope of a sudden tornado or lightning storm to whisk me away from my misery. I pathetically kept trudging along, feeling like my shins would rip apart any minute. I yearned to drop to the ground and crawl into a ditch somewhere until after the medals were passed out and everyone had packed up and gone home. In much the same way, the Lenten journey starts with a bang of grand resolutions and lively hopes.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
“Denounce! Let us denounce him!” – “Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail and take our vengeance on him.” These are words we hear in the reading of the prophet Jeremiah's report about his friends and close associates. They wanted the prophet destroyed. In the Gospel, we have also heard Jesus faced similar challenges from his own people. They wanted him dead.
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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.
Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
As I read and re-read today’s first reading from Genesis, I couldn’t help but notice that it was a great deal for Abram and his descendants in perpetuity. With just one condition: they had to keep God’s covenant. In Genesis, five sentences describe the incredible life-changing benefits God promised Abram.
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The story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the story of three young men whom the king wanted to be burned but who were delivered from the furnace, is a story of faithfulness. These men refused to bow down and worship an idol. They were threatened with death, but they stood by their principles. As a result, God rescued them for their faithfulness.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Today, we celebrate the feast of Saint Joseph. My guess is that we all know someone named Joseph, most of whom we call Joe. I’ve been blessed by knowing both good laymen and priests by that name, and each, in their own way, embody the virtue and holiness of Joseph.
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There’s a striking parallel with the incidents in the readings from the Book of Daniel and from the Gospel of John. In both stories, a woman, threatened by a crowd, is saved because one person intervenes and alters things. The stories, however, end very differently: one in peace and the other in violence.
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