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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
We all draw lines. Sometimes with a pen. Sometimes with our eyes. Sometimes just in our heads, where we don’t say it out loud, but we know, who belongs and who doesn’t. Who’s one of “us,” and who’s one of “them.” Who’s good and who’s just off. Who deserves help, and who brought it on themselves. Let’s talk about one of the most universal lines we all draw, the kind that shows up not in theology books, but in traffic. If I’m driving slowly, I’m responsible. I’m aware. Maybe even holy. But if someone else is driving slowly? They are an idiot, holding everyone back. Probably texting. Or sightseeing on the highway.
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Catholic Family Fun | Catholic Schools Week | Try Prayer! It Works! | family prayer
Family Rosary announces theme for 2025-26: Try Prayer! Contest for students in Catholic schools. Find out how to share contest info with your local Catholic school! Inspired by the founder of Family Rosary, Venerable Patrick Peyton, the Try Prayer! It Works! Contest focuses on Father Peyton’s message: “The Family that Prays Together Stays Together.” In an effort to find enriching, reflective, and interactive ways to strengthen family prayer in our homes, we’ve created a family-faith experience. Our mission at Family Rosary is to help families pray, especially the Rosary. We strive to bring the Catholic Church’s teachings to life around the dinner table, during family time, or even on your daily commute, with discussion prompts, reflection questions, prayer ideas, and creative activities. Help children of all ages tell the story of family prayer in writing, artwork, or video production.
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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.
Family Rosary | Feast of the Holy Rosary | Parenthood | family prayer
Catholic Mom contributor Lea McCarthy reflects with humor on how, even though the attempt at the Family Rosary can fall short of being picture-perfect, it’s still a grace-filled occasion. Both my husband and I were blessed to have grown up praying the Rosary with our families. Rain or shine, no matter what was happening, when it was time for the Rosary, all activities ceased, and we gathered to pray. My parents waited until we kids were older to have us join them in praying, so there were no toddlers present, causing mayhem, and it was actually a peaceful rendition of a family Rosary. I’m not saying we would be on the front page of the Faith & Family magazine, but maybe somewhere near the back.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
On September 7, 2025, Pope Leo, by God’s grace, raised Carlo Acutis, an Italian teenager, to the altar as a saint. This canonization was an extraordinary family affair. For the first time ever, twin brother and sister and both parents celebrated the sainthood of their son and brother. Carlo died as an only child in 2006 at age fifteen. His mother and father yearned for other children without success and began the long process of adoption. Antonia, his mother, said Carlo appeared to her in a dream to tell her that she would be a mother again soon. Not long after, she discovered she was pregnant with twins. The boy, Michele, proclaimed the first reading at Mass and Francesca presented relics of Saint Carlo at the offertory.
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Learn more about our faith | Strengthening family unity | Why pray?
In 1968, Apollo 8 astronauts became the first humans to orbit the moon. As they swung around the far side, completely cut off from all radio contact with Earth, alone in the cosmic dark, astronaut Jim Lovell looked out into the void and said something unexpected: “I feel like there were more than three of us up there.” He couldn’t explain it. No religious vision, no sudden apparition, just an unmistakable sense of presence. Years later, he still maintained: “We were not alone.” Today, on the feast of the Guardian Angels, we hear a curious reading from Nehemiah. The people of Israel gathered to hear words they had forgotten, and when they remembered, they wept. But Ezra told them to stop crying and start celebrating. Because they discovered again what it means to be accompanied, what it means to not be forgotten.
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Learn more about our faith | Strengthening family unity | Why pray?
As we begin October, the month of the Holy Rosary, we celebrate St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus—a saint who reminds us that holiness is not found in great deeds, but in doing ordinary things with extraordinary love. This is a message families deeply need today. In today’s Gospel, Jesus says simply: “Follow me.” Not "Follow me when the kids are older," or "Follow me after you finish your degree," or "Follow me when life settles down." Just follow me—now, in the midst of everything.
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