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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 | Why pray?
Today we remember and pray to Saint Cyril of Jerusalem. He was biblical scholar, cleric, and eventually bishop of Jerusalem in the 4th century. Saint Cyril gave this great instruction: “We proclaim the Crucified and devils quake. So don’t be ashamed of the cross of Christ. Openly seal it on your forehead that devils may behold the royal sign and flee trembling away.” For those who feel like you’re up against it with our current political and secular ideology at this time, Saint Cyril had to contend with both political and doctrinal controversies following the Council of Nicaea.
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Holy Women's History Month | Lenten Reflections | catholic mom | women's history month
The short Old Testament book, Esther, tells the story of a Jewish girl who unexpectedly finds herself Queen of Persia and the last hope for the Jewish people. Admittedly, my interest in this biblical heroine was first peaked by the Veggie Tales episode (circa 2000) titled “Esther, the Girl Who Became Queen.” There is nothing that grabs your attention like the story of a beautiful green onion who has the courage to stand up to an evil gourd and powerful zucchini. Prefer to Listen—Audio version available!
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Holy lives of inspiration | Why pray?
Picture this: a family road trip. The GPS fails, the kids fight over snacks, and Dad misses the exit—again. Mom finally snaps, “Whose idea was this?!” Silence follows until one child mumbles, “I lost the map.” Another adds, “I hid the snacks.” Dad sighs, “I ignored the signs.” Mom laughs, “And I didn’t pack patience.” Suddenly, blame turns into confession, the tension lifts, and they pull over for ice cream, ready to start over. That’s the heart of Daniel’s prayer in today’s reading. Exiled in Babylon, he gathers his people and says, “We have messed up—all of us” (v. 5-6). There’s no finger-pointing, just raw, family-style honesty. Lent invites us to do the same: ditch the blame game and clean up together.
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Holy Women's History Month | Lenten Reflections | catholic mom | women's history month
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, commonly known as Mother Teresa, is a household name around the world. You don’t have to be Catholic to know about her actions to serve the poorest of the poor in Calcutta, and if you’re over 30, there’s a good likelihood you remember seeing images of her on television or in print media while she was alive. I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t aware of Mother Teresa. She was everywhere from childhood through early adulthood. Her importance and influence snuck up on me. I guess you could say I took her example for granted throughout much of my life. It was only after she passed away and her cause for Sainthood was opened that I really allowed her example to influence my life. Prefer to Listen—Audio version available!
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Holy Women's History Month | Lenten Reflections | catholic mom | women's history month
One snowy New Year’s Eve, my Grandma Kathryn was on her way to Mass to celebrate the Feast of Mary, Mother of God. Having lived in rural Iowa her entire life, she was intimately familiar with icy road conditions, but she was still rather surprised when her copper Mercury Monterey slid right underneath a semi-trailer! Throwing herself sideways, she lay flat on the seat and emerged unscathed … but missed Mass. To make up for missing her obligation, she attended Mass twice the following Sunday. This kind of commitment to Mass attendance is unusual in today’s culture, but back then, Holy Days of Obligation were universal days off work, restaurants boasted fish specials on Fridays, and most businesses were closed on Sundays. My son’s seminary rector, Father Daniel Barnett, comments that today, we are living in a post-Christian society, observing that secular principles have trumped traditional Christian ideals. My friend, Margaret, lived in a similar time, albeit 500 years ago. Political and religious unrest made the time uncertain and even dangerous for Catholics. Sweeping pandemics and the loss of her husband to illness left her to fend for herself and her five young children alone. But her faith sustained her. Prefer to Listen—Audio version available!
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Holy Women's History Month | Lenten Reflections | catholic mom | women's history month
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux has become one of my favorite saints in recent years for a couple of reasons. First, I greatly admire her thoughts and writings about the Book of Nature. She consistently used the natural world as a way of growing in faith and deepening her relationship with God. She saw the love and tenderness with which God had created even the smallest daisy and recognized that he had created her with that same great affection. Just as He tended to and provided for even the humblest flower or the most ordinary brown bird, so, too, did the Lord care for and provide for her. For Thérèse, the Book of Nature really was like an ongoing love letter, written to her personally by the hand of Christ. But the second reason why I am fond of the Little Flower, as she is more frequently known, is more personal. I feel close to her because she was close to some of my family, even though I never met them. Prefer to Listen—Audio version available!
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