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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
"Peace on Earth" is what Jesus promises to bring us at Christmastime. If you have a family, though, the weeks leading up to December 25 can feel anything but peaceful. Besides the shopping, decorating, visiting, cooking, and other preparations we make during Advent, there is the world at large - which can feel at odds with a message of peace. News of violence, political division, conflict, and poverty fill our television screens and social media accounts. What kind of peace can Jesus bring to a world like ours?
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There’s something both mystical and beautiful, and I’d add hopeful, about being on a mountaintop. Today, the prophet Isaiah brings us up on that high ground, far above the tough reality of human trials, by saying, "On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will provide…" not just for some, but for "all peoples."
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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.
What do we know about Andrew? Haven’t we all known someone like him? On fire, zealous, impatient to tell good news to others? Every family seems to have someone like him. There are two accounts of Andrew’s call as an apostle by Jesus in the Gospels.
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Friends, we are living in an interim period between the first and second comings of Jesus, God’s only Son. Yesterday, on the First Sunday of Advent, we learned that Advent speaks of God’s promise of both comings and movement through the history of salvation to Jesus the Son of God.
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Today we celebrate and honor the Martyrs of Vietnam, Saints Andrew Dung-Lac and his companions. This feast should make us pause and contemplate some profound questions. Over a period of 200 years, from the time of the arrival of Christianity in Vietnam in the mid-1600s, as many as 300,000 people were martyred for their Catholic faith.
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It’s funny how hearing the Word of God at certain times can cause you to think of different things, things that could appear disconnected, but somehow our minds make associations. Today’s first reading reminded me of a 17-year-old me asking my neighbor over the backyard fence what it felt like to turn 40…back then, 40 was old!
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