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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Let me take you to a CCD class of confirmation students today. The teacher asked students in her class which part of the Eucharist or Mass was the most important. One bright student immediately answered, “it is the Consecration.” Another one said, “no, it's the rite of penitential service.” Another said, “it's the rite of communion when we receive Jesus through His body and Blood.” Another one added that it's “the proclamation of the Word.” What would your answer be if I asked you this question?
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Family Time | pray the rosary | summer activities
A creative way to count your blessings A few weeks ago, Chris Stefanick — a Catholic writer, speaker, and founder of Real Life Catholic — spoke at my parish about joy. During this incredible evening, Chris discussed the importance of living with joy and suggested ways to attain it. By adding gratefulness to our days, he explained, and by giving thanks for everything, we can increase the joy we feel and the joy we project outward. One of the ways he said he expresses thanks is by holding his Rosary and giving thanks for one thing on each bead. I loved that idea, and I started doing it immediately. Every day since then, I have either started or ended my day with that practice. And I can tell already that it has made a difference.
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Family Time | Grandpa's Garden | Grandparenting
We recently had a delightful visit with our youngest grandkids. When one of them ventured into the backyard, we reminded him not to leave the gate open. Our dog loves the yard, but dogs have a way of following their noses. A fenced yard is of little value without a latched gate. As a child, when I forgot to close the door after coming in from outside, I was sometimes asked, “Do you live in a barn?” Years later, I worked briefly in a barn and realized how ironic the question was. Leaving a door or gate unsecured in a barn is unwise – unless you want to chase a startled animal everywhere.
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Learn more about our faith | Why pray?
Sometimes, like the people in the time of Hosea, we need to have the Lord call out to us to come back to Him to change our ways with the promise of a better life. The Lord speaks to us through His Word (as we have just heard proclaimed), our times of silent prayer and meditation, our times in Eucharistic Adoration, and all forms of prayer, including our meditations upon the Rosary. The Lord can certainly speak to us through the words and actions of others. On Wednesday afternoon, as I stood impatiently waiting for someone to come to the coffee shop counter to take my order, I turned around to see a young man in line behind me. I asked if they still took your order there or if you needed to use the tablet on the counter.
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Healing the family | Learn more about our faith
The Scriptures and Church tradition use many images to describe God, reflecting His infinite nature of love. Similarly, various images depict the people of God whom God has drawn to Himself throughout salvation history. Prophet Hosea paints another beautiful metaphor of God as a parent to a wayward child. Hosea speaks of God's love for Israel: "I taught Ephraim to walk. I took them in my arms and fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks; I stooped to feed my child." In the year 2018, the school where I worked suffered the loss of a 6-year-old child.
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Strengthening family unity | Why pray?
Imagine a family dinner. Laughter fills the room as stories are shared, connections are made. But what happens when the conversation stops? When the busyness of life pushes family time aside? Today's reading from Hosea speaks to that reality, a reality where families drift apart, not just from each other, but also from their faith.
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