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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
I was intrigued by an article I read about the Miracle of the Holy Fire that appeared in a newspaper at Easter time. Orthodox tradition holds that the Holy Fire happens annually on the day preceding Orthodox Easter. During this time, blue light is said to emit within Jesus’ tomb. The light is believed to form a column of fire, from which candles are lit. This fire is then used to light the candles of the clergy and pilgrims in attendance. Pilgrims and clergy say that the Holy Fire does not burn them.
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Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes an incredibly cohesive and charitable way of living, including selflessly not claiming any possession of one's own. It all begins with the foundation that the "Apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all." The result: there was no needy person among them. Imagine a parish, town, city, or nation like that!
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Is it wrong to steal the relics of a saint? Let me return to that question in a moment. First, Venice. The Republic of Venice, traditionally known as La Serenissima, or Most Serene Republic of Venice in English, was a proud world superpower in the middle ages, under the special patronage of Saint Mark of Alexandria in Egypt. La Serenissima was so rich, and had such a powerful navy and commercial trading fleet, that it dominated the Adriatic and Eastern Mediterranean Seas for centuries.
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I lost my faith when I was 20. I don’t think I have talked much about that in these homilies. It was the late ‘60s-early ‘70s: the time of the hippies and the Vietnam War. It was a time that gave a big push to the kind of confusion that seems to plague our world now. I was a good kid from a good Catholic family – but, frankly, naïve and impressionable. I got lost in the confusion of the 'blind leading the blind,' as they say.
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While visiting parts of Brazil or the Dominican Republic, I was often reminded of the scene in the Acts of the Apostles, as I witnessed people in need seeking help as I was walking in and out of various churches.
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When our children were young, we would do a project with construction paper to prepare for Easter. The concept was to create a three-dimensional “garden.”
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