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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
Saint Therese of the Child Jesus whose feast day we celebrate today is one of the most beloved saints. But like most future saints, her life was not easy, and her plan to live it was different than God’s. After death of Therese’s mother when she was only four, she received a maternal care and faith formation from her sister, Pauline. However, Pauline felt the call to religious life and entered the Carmelite convent. Therese would recount how this caused her to want to follow in her sister’s footsteps. When Therese was fourteen, her sister, Mary, would enter the same convent as Pauline.
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The-Rosary-In-Our-Hands | family prayer
In my life, I haven’t always been close to Our Lady. In fact, even though I was usually all in for pretty much every youth group event, when they began the Consecration to Mary during my junior year of high school, I just sort of hung back … I didn’t get it. I couldn’t understand the need for a Mother in Heaven who lived a life so incredibly different from mine. I had a great relationship with my earthly mother and with Jesus, so I just didn’t feel a need to embrace a spiritual one. I had this image of her in my mind … you probably know the one I’m talking about; it’s usually the one we see on Christmas cards. The beautiful 20-something woman with perfect hair, flawless skin, looking so quiet and peaceful, hands delicately folded in prayer. Perfect. It was so far removed from the mess I saw when I looked in the mirror.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
The Book of Job (1:6-22) offers us a profound perspective on life’s fleeting nature. Job, in his suffering, reflects, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return” (Job 1:21). His words remind us that everything we accumulate and achieve in this life will ultimately be left behind when we depart from this world. We often hear people speak of a “bucket list”—a list of things they wish to experience before they die. "I am reminded of a film titled ‘The Bucket List’ which is a heartwarming film that explores life’s deeper meaning through the unexpected friendship of two terminally ill men, played by Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. As they embark on a journey to complete a list of dreams and adventures, the movie delves into themes of mortality, forgiveness, and self-discovery. With humor and poignancy, it reminds us that life’s true richness lies not in the number of days we have but in how we choose to live them—making each moment count, embracing the joy of connection, relationship and daring to pursue the dreams we’ve put on hold."
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The-Rosary-In-Our-Hands | family prayer
How’s your prayer life? Is it sporadic, on fire, barely started, or still at the "what is a prayer life?" stage? In my lifetime of practicing the Catholic faith, I have experienced all of the above and everything in between. I know I should pray, and I am fully aware of the blessing of regular prayer in my life, yet, some days, I am stuck! Where do I begin, how long should I pray for, and what’s the best way to pray — simply wondering: What does one say to the God of the Universe? First and most importantly, there is no wrong way to pray, and gratefully, God, through the Church, has provided us with a plethora of prayer options.
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Gospel Reflection | Sunday Mass | prayer
We live in a world of rules and protocols. Everywhere we look, there are guidelines, laws that must be followed, and traffic cops hiding behind billboards to enforce them. We are comforted, and kept safe, by laws. Yet sometimes laws that seem reasonable in one moment become self-serving in another. In yesterday's Gospel (Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23), the Pharisees are back in the game of trying to trap Jesus for His lack of strict adherence to Jewish law, this time as it pertains to the washing of hands and ritual purification before eating. As usual, Jesus doesn't mince His words. He calls the Pharisees hypocrites, citing Isaiah's prophecies as specific to them: “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts."
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catholic mom | power of prayer | praying
Over the summer I had the privilege of attending a women’s retreat at a nearby parish. I jumped at the opportunity to grow in my spirituality and potentially meet some other faithful women in my town. During the retreat, our presenter, Catholic Mom writer Sheri Wohlfert, shared with us a formula for praying with people. Like out loud, spontaneous prayer. I don’t know about you, but this was a fairly foreign concept to me, reserved for the Evangelical Protestants who simply pray differently than we do.
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