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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
A traveler came to an old inn and knocked on the door with the iron knocker. No answer. He tried again; only a hollow echo. But he knew people were inside; he had seen them in the window. So, with growing anger, he grabbed the knocker and banged it 10-15 times. Then he heard footsteps approaching and saw a face of an older woman out of the latch hole who timidly inquired whether the good gentleman wanted to come in. "Did I want to come in?" he shouted. "Anyone who knocked as I did must have."
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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. Family Rosary is dedicated every day to inspiring, promoting, and fostering the spiritual well-being of families throughout the world—including yours! Families face many challenges; just navigating everyday life requires daily prayer. Praying the Rosary as a family is a powerful practice we hope your family will embrace. We believe that participating in this Rosary Novena is a wonderful way to start the new year and help you establish a routine of daily prayer. Our free downloadable Rosary Novena booklet includes all instructions and prayers. Keep in mind that there's no wrong way to pray. You might begin with just one or two Rosary prayers, gradually adding a decade each day. Over time, it will become a quiet, peaceful part of the day that you and your family will 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.
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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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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