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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Healing the family | Strengthening family unity
Every now and then I’ll notice how people in television news or ads will refer to getting together with friends and family. Back when I was growing up, the order would have been reversed; we always said family and friends. It seems like such a simple thing; maybe even trivial. But as one of my seminary professors always said, “Words matter … pay attention to them and fight for their use and meaning.”
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Venerable Patrick Peyton | family prayer | rosary novena
The annual Family Rosary Novena for Family Unity and Peace Celebrating Venerable Patrick Peyton’s Anniversary of Birth, January 9–17, is a wonderful opportunity to seek Father Peyton and Our Blessed Mother’s intercession. Families face many challenges; just navigating everyday life requires daily prayer. The Rosary, especially prayed as a family, is a powerful devotion, and we honestly cannot think of a better way to begin a new year and build a habit of daily prayer, than with this Rosary Novena. Are you new to praying the Rosary? Our free downloadable Rosary Novena booklet includes all instructions and prayers to help you not feel intimidated or discouraged. Remember, there is no wrong way to pray. Maybe you can start with one or two prayers of the Rosary, then add a decade each day. It will get easier each time until it quickly becomes a peaceful and positive part of the day that you and your family look forward to. Read on for today's reflection and prayers.
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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.
Have you ever played with little children? When we elders play a game with little children, we usually change the rules. It could be baseball, basketball, football, or any board game. We relax some of the rules to make it easier for the child to enjoy the game a little more. For fun, we also sometimes intentionally play poorly to allow the child to win. We might even make adjustments to our gameplay, pretending not to know how to play well. At times, we act as if we are losing badly so that the child can enjoy the game even more. We do a bit of “acting” and some pretense to see the reaction of the children.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Return to the Church
As I read and reflected on today’s readings several questions arose: “When was the last time you felt Jesus’ compassion? When was the last time you felt compassion for another person? How do we grow in compassion?” We’ve just heard, “When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them…” In Jesus’ Sacred Heart there is more than enough compassion for all men and women and children who are experiencing suffering of any kind. The reason in today’s gospel that Jesus felt compassion was because the people were like sheep without a shepherd; a people who were lost and needed someone to guide them. And Jesus knew what that could lead to…
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Holy lives of inspiration | Return to the Church | Saint Andre Bessette
Saint Joseph’s best friend and tireless disciple, Saint Andre, always said, "Go to Joseph. You have a powerful friend in heaven. He will never let you down." Brother Andre Bessette, born August 9, 1845, drew his last breath at 12:50 AM on January 6th, 1937. It was the feast of the Epiphany, but because of the holiday, no paper was published that day. The radio spread the news like the wind, and early that morning, all knew that the holy man who had founded Saint Joseph's Oratory had passed away. Before setting the date and time for the funeral, two rather unusual decisions were made earlier that morning. One was to preserve his heart; the other was not to embalm his body.
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Humility | Saint Andre Bessette | Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal | intercession of saints
“Let not the wise boast of his wisdom, nor the strong boast of his strength, nor the rich man boast of his riches; But rather, let those who boast, boast of this, that in their prudence they know me.” (Jer 9:22-23) The prophet Jeremiah speaks of the invaluable role of the virtue of humility in cultivating a life of faith. Jeremiah understands that humility is what guides us to know God. If one is so in love with their own wisdom, their own strength, their own wealth, they will never know the love of God. Humility is the strength to submit to the will of God, the strength to recognize that God is far greater than oneself. Our human nature often leads us to hold tightly to our own will and constantly seek control. We want to know how each day will go and want to dictate as much as we can. This so often gets in the way of recognizing God in our lives. Saint André's humble life of service and profound faith demonstrate that we, too, can boast, as Jeremiah spoke in the Scriptures.
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