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Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Our Lady of Guadalupe | family
It is not by accident that two major Marian feasts fall in the middle of Advent—the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12. They draw us more deeply into the warmth, the mystery, and the power of the season. Reminiscent of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem, Mary came to Guadalupe seeking a home where she could stay among us with her Son whom she carried in her womb. She invited families who did not yet know Christ to become part of His Holy Family, and, in doing so, healing the wounds of division.
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Life is full of limitations. As a mom of young children, I will not be founding a hospital in a leper colony or fasting on the Eucharist alone. Days—sometimes months—pass by without the opportunity for all those faithful devotions and Holy Hours our hallowed predecessors fulfilled. How are we to live our lives? Rather than becoming downcast at our constraints, what if we saw them as the Mercy of God? The love notes of our loving Father?
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Enough means having or doing what is required; nothing else is needed; stop. However, as I take in information from people around me and the world, I sense that enough can be taken as giving up or not doing your best. I hear the question, “Am I doing enough?” spoken quietly with a look of concern that somehow, the person is letting others down. Am I doing enough for my children husband, and employer? The list can be endless. And then the question is applied to our spiritual life.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Seasonal Reflections
Mary is alive! Yesterday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Today we are celebrating the memorial of St. Juan Diego, to whom our Lady appeared in 1531. Diego and his wife had been among the first to be baptized by the Franciscan missionaries in Mexico in 1524 when they were 50 years old. While on his way to morning mass one day, Juan Diego was visited by Mary.
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Learn more about our faith | Seasonal Reflections
In God’s Providence, at this point in our Advent journey we celebrate two great feasts of our Blessed Mother, The Immaculate Conception, and, in four days, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Holy Virgin is raised up for us as Model, Mother, and Guide on our way. The beauty and depth of these feasts illuminate our Advent hope!
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Blessed Virgin Mary | Celebrating Marian feasts
One of the ill effects of the breakdown of marriage and family life is the erosion of our ability to trust. The development of this muscle of the heart, which God intended to be exercised within the sanctuary of the family, is stunted when the word “vow” no longer implies permanence, and we are bombarded with private and public examples of infidelity. Trust is necessary if any relationship is to progress beyond superficiality, and this is no less true in our relationship with God.
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