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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Celebrating family life | Holy lives of inspiration
Last week on Monday, the staff at the Father Peyton Center organized and celebrated a small and beautiful surprise birthday party for me. We were all together in the same space. It was a wonderful time—there was cake, donuts, and drinks; everyone was relaxing and laughing. In addition, I got all sorts of messages from around the world. The online East African Catholic community overdid itself with beautiful graphics and messages! In celebrating birthdays, we offer a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the gift of the life of the person whose birthday we celebrate. We are telling God that we don't take the gift of the life of that person lightly. We are telling God that we are grateful for the gift of that life, and we deeply value it.
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When my father-in-law retired, he spent considerable time in his basement workshop. He became a skilled woodworker, crafting many projects that he generously gifted to family members. Some of his most delightful endeavors were wooden toys for his grandchildren – a cradle, trucks, planes, cars, a dollhouse, a toy train, boats, and many more. His great-grandchildren now enjoy the toys; they keep them in the box he also made. Things we treasure have a way of enduring.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Mary’s birth is not recorded in the Bible. What we celebrate on September 8 each year is not Mary’s birthday in the traditional sense, but we honor the blessing of her being born. The word nativity refers to the circumstance or occasion of one being born.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Luke’s version of the beatitudes sounds like an echo of Mary’s Magnificat when she meets Elizabeth. They both express a hope to be realized in the future. Luke follows the beatitudes with the pronouncement of woes addressed to the disciples. They would be blessed or condemned depending on how they live their discipleship.
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Jesus went up a mountain and there he stayed the night praying to God. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what this could have been like. Were any words exchanged? Maybe none were needed.
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children at Mass | family life
Megan Cottam encourages families of young children to focus on the joys and the building of faith-filled memories, even with the squirmiest of kids, while celebrating Mass together.
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