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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
family life | family prayer | parenting teenagers
Just over four years ago, I wrote Praying Them into High School for Catholic Mom. It was June 2019, the month my son graduated from his wonderful K-8 Catholic school (where my daughter still thankfully attends), and just a few months from when he would start attending a local Catholic high school for boys. He was 13 when I wrote that piece, and I was worrying about him adjusting to high school and the enormity of this change. He is our oldest child, and thus we lack experience with all of these “firsts.”
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Holy lives of inspiration | Seasonal Reflections
Oscar Wilde was a brilliant, witty author. He was jailed on a moral charge at the height of his career. The humiliation devastated him. It also purified him. In de Profundis, one of his later writings, he says: "Where there is sorrow, there is holy ground." The devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady has its origins in Sacred Scripture and Christian piety. This devotion always links the Blessed Mother with her Son's suffering.
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Our Lady of Sorrows | Seven Sorrows of Mary | family prayer
The month of September has been dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows since the celebration of her feast day was developed by the Servites (Order of the Servants of Mary) in the 17th century. However, devotion to the Blessed Mother under this title began long before then.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Today, we commemorate several events central to our salvation on this Feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. The first is the finding of the true cross by Emperor Constantine’s mother, Helen; next, there is the dedication of the original Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 355 and, most significantly, Jesus’ victory over death by His crucifixion and resurrection. Locally, it is the patronal feast of the Archdiocese of Boston, and closer to home, my parent's wedding anniversary.
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It is fun to think over the past weeks’ events in these waning days of summer. We remember all the conversations, gatherings, and family celebrations. We look back at the blessings and forward to fall and the promise of harvest. One memorable summer event was when our youngest grandson experienced a first bee sting on his finger. It was a difficult lesson that taught that small creatures can bring significant hurt. His mom was there to treat the pain and comfort with her words.
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Let's imagine a scenario where two men correctly guess the winning lottery and end up with a prize of ten million dollars, splitting it equally—five million dollars each. While this is a significant sum of money, it has a vastly different impact on each man's life. One of the men is a multi-billionaire, and winning the five million dollars only adds about one percent to his current worth, which is insignificant for him. In contrast, the other man is a hardworking ditch digger for the city sewers, struggling to provide for his family. When news of their good fortune spreads, people will celebrate the ditch digger's success and forget about the multi-billionaire. This is because the lottery win will profoundly impact the ditch digger's life, transforming it for the better.
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