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Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
In his article, "The Fragrance of the Ointment," J.R. Miller says that the fragrance of Mary of Bethany's ointment that filled the house is a beautiful symbol of Mary's life. "She was not an active follower of Christ, except in her home and quiet daily life. She did not leave all and go with Him, as some other women and men did. Her name is not connected, even in tradition, with anything startling or great. Our first glimpse of her is her sitting at the Master's feet as a learner. Into her heart, she received the words of the Master, which were life to her. Like a handful of spices, they fell into her heart and transformed her life into radiant beauty."
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Holy Week | family Lenten activities | family prayer
As we enter into the Most Holy Week on the worldwide Christian calendar, I cannot help but be drawn to one of the most dramatic scenes in the suffering of Jesus for our cause. The powerfully emotive scene that has been offered to us for centuries as the Second Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary is the Scourging at the Pillar. The Prophet Isaiah wrote many years before the arrival of Christ on earth about the “faithful servant” whose “wounds heal us.” In the Scourging at the Pillar, we see an innocent man get physically and emotionally abused for no crime he committed. Underlying his abuse was a desire to save the guilty, so that they may have life and have it to the fullest.
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Holy Week | The Way of the Cross | family prayer | mercy
"Ready, Set…Bang!" My arms pumped with high energy, my feet pounded confidently across the field and my legs steadily pulled me forward. I started the race and felt so great and alive! This time would be different. I would run with endurance, control, and speed. By the time I got to the halfway mark, however, my thoughts had turned sour. My chest tightened as my lungs cried out in anguish with each erratic breath and I began to wonder if my feet were still attached to my burning legs. The clear blue sky gave me no hope of a sudden tornado or lightning storm to whisk me away from my misery. I pathetically kept trudging along, feeling like my shins would rip apart any minute. I yearned to drop to the ground and crawl into a ditch somewhere until after the medals were passed out and everyone had packed up and gone home. In much the same way, the Lenten journey starts with a bang of grand resolutions and lively hopes.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
“Denounce! Let us denounce him!” – “Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail and take our vengeance on him.” These are words we hear in the reading of the prophet Jeremiah's report about his friends and close associates. They wanted the prophet destroyed. In the Gospel, we have also heard Jesus faced similar challenges from his own people. They wanted him dead.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
As I read and re-read today’s first reading from Genesis, I couldn’t help but notice that it was a great deal for Abram and his descendants in perpetuity. With just one condition: they had to keep God’s covenant. In Genesis, five sentences describe the incredible life-changing benefits God promised Abram.
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