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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Love thy Neighbor | Return to the Church
Eighteen times in his gospel, Luke mentions wealth and its dangers. Mary sings about the difference between the poor and the rich before Jesus' birth. Only Luke says the poor shepherds are the first to hear about Jesus' birth. He notes that Jesus belongs to the poorer class and that Mary and Joseph brought the sacrifice of the poor to Jesus' circumcision in the temple. He reminds those who had two tunics to give one to those who had none.
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God's love | family prayer | trust in God
Their backs were up against a wall, cornered with nowhere to go. The Israelites had triumphantly been released from being slaves to the Egyptians after more than 400 years; they took their families and all of their belongings and left town. They had gone as far as the Red Sea, only to hear in the distance the Pharaoh’s chariots barreling down on them in revenge. They had a dead-end in front of them with the deep Red Sea. They couldn’t turn around or they would be heading right into the army. And going left or right would just mean eventual capture as well. They were trapped, afraid, and hopeless. Their triumphant exit from Egypt just led to doom and despair from what they saw.
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family prayer | how to pray the rosary | pray the rosary
If you were to visit my parish church, you’d find a little basket on a table in the narthex filled with plastic rosary beads. I imagine the ladies who make these free rosaries have been delighted by the alacrity by which the rosaries have disappeared of late. Perhaps they speculate that the fervency of the parishioners for this Marian devotion has sky-rocketed. What they don’t realize is my children are responsible for the majority of the disappearing rosaries. My kids see a striking new color bead (“Oh, Mom! I don’t have an orange rosary! This is perfect for fall!”) and thus our collection of plastic rosaries grows yet again.
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Love thy Neighbor | Return to the Church
Today's Gospel opens with a furious Jesus accusing the Pharisees of paying their tithes to "look good" rather than acting out of love of God and love for their neighbor. Jesus is also challenging us to examine why we do what we do! Do we do something just because it is expected of us? Do we want others to think well of us? Or do we choose to do something because it is the "loving" thing to do?
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Holy lives of inspiration | Love thy Neighbor
Almost every major city in the United States has a Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard or Street. It is usually a prominent street in the city, with a big signpost, and sometimes has a statue or a picture to go with it. The US believes Martin Luther King Jr contributed significantly to an important conversation about racial relations in the United States. He stirred the nation's conscience, led to the passing of the Civil Rights Acts, and therefore deserves recognition and honor.
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Strengthening family unity | Why pray?
Though they may have names and places that sound foreign to us, listening to and reading St. Paul’s letters is so real. Right off the bat, Paul speaks of Demas, who deserted him because he was “enamored with the present world.” He then lists the others who have left him and mentions that Luke is the only one still with him.
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