World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Listening to the extensive missionary travels of Saint Paul for the past couple of weeks, I was reminded that although his travels were far more extensive, I had my own share of missionary travels during my six years living in Rome. I visited Holy Cross religious in Asia, Africa, and North and South America.
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At this time of the Easter Season and until Pentecost, the Church hears the Lord’s Farewell Discourse at Mass: chapters 14-17 of the Gospel of Saint John. I really want to encourage us all to pick up our Bibles! Read and reread it these days, in small pieces as we do at Mass. No words holier, truer, or more mystical have been spoken - and they are for us, all who believe. Yet they may seem hard to get a hold of and very confusing.
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After Mass on Easter, we returned home to prepare for a family visit. Our children, their spouses, and grandchildren gathered for brunch with us. These gatherings are brimming with conversation and celebration. Seeing everyone enjoy themselves and trying to listen to all the voices and stories attentively is a delightful challenge.
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Those of us in this part of our world who are experiencing Spring, flowers growing, trees sprouting leaves and bushes revealing new growth, new branches, welcome these words of Jesus today when he says that he is the vine, and we are the branches. He talked about the need to prune the branches, to give way to new growth.
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What words of assurance are we receiving today from God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit? What message might God and the Holy Spirit want us to hear today and to ponder. You can expect challenges, you can expect hardships as my followers, and some may find the challenges and hardships too much to bear but if you remain in me, I will remain with you.
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We meet the apostles Paul and Barnabas. Once again, they are attack. Not everyone appreciated their preaching, and we hear today they had to flee to avoid the crowd that was seeking to stone them. We heard about one of their healings, the cure of the cripple man. The crowds became ecstatic. It happens today. We hear of people going to different parts of the world once they hear that something extraordinary happened.
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