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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Marian Consecration | family prayer
On September 15, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, we conclude our 33-day preparation of a Catholic Mom Marian Consecration to Jesus through Mary, which has been shared on our various social media platforms. We invite you to join in praying this special Consecration prayer for mothers. If you have been taking this preparation journey as a family, an alternative consecration prayer is included as well. *Free downloads available below.
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Eucharist | Gospel Reflection | Jesus heals
I have a question: “What do you need to hear from Jesus today?” Some of us could answer immediately: "I want Jesus to tell me if my loved one will get better." For others, we’d want Jesus to tell us whether to look for another job or school. Or maybe it is the perennial question: “Jesus, how do I get my life back on track?” We all experience times when we know we have things to decide or manage, but life has become so overwhelming that we either don’t have the energy to engage or don’t know where to start. This is when we need family and friends, like the Deaf man in Mark's Gospel. It says right in the beginning, “And the people brought to Jesus a deaf man with a speech impediment and begged Him to lay His hand on him.” Even if you don’t have someone to bring you to Jesus, we can always call on the Holy Spirit to give us the strength to approach Jesus with the faith of that man’s friends.
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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.
Most often people who are overly critical of others have a lot going on in their personal lives. By shining some light on the brokenness in the lives of other people, they hope they can deflect attention on the inadequacies in their own lives. It also makes them feel much better about their own situation. Friends, we don’t get any points by making someone else look so horrible. Our situation does not improve by putting down someone else. The Lord tells us in the gospel that we need to carefully address what is going on in our lives first before we shift our gaze to what is happening in other people’s lives. “Remove the wooden beam from your eye first, then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.”
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A nine-year-old girl was walking through the fields a little away from her home when two men approached her and asked for help collecting fruits from the forest. Because she was brought up with the good habit of showing courtesy to her elders, the girl quickly agreed to help.
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Strengthening family unity | Why pray?
Today's Mass Readings offer a profound invitation to re-evaluate what truly matters in our lives. St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians reminds us that our time on Earth is fleeting. He urges us to live with purpose and not become overly attached to worldly concerns. While we may not share Paul's sense of imminent urgency, his message rings true: our earthly lives are a journey toward eternity.
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Learn more about our faith | Why pray?
My grandfather had a radio, and he was very fond of it. As a young boy, I noticed him exposing batteries from this transistor radio under the sun. Once, I asked him, "Are they wet?" "No!" he replied. "But why do you put them under the sun?" I asked again. "I placed them under the sun because they are already weak. The heat of the sun will restore their power." I don't know how scientific that is, but he believed that batteries, when exposed to the sun for some time, will regain some power to run flashlights or transistor radios for an extended time. Choosing the twelve disciples, walking on water, healing those who touched Him, the transfiguration, and the crucifixion, what took place before these powerful events in Jesus's life? Jesus spent the whole night on the mountain to pray, which I am sure recharged him for the following events.
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