World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Parenting | family prayer | pray the rosary
Over the years our family has done many special things to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in our family, especially with our younger children — Mary crowning, Mary altar, reading about Mary, making a Mary peg doll ... and this year we are going to try a Marian terrarium, only because we do not have a place for a garden. Most importantly, we've celebrated Mother Mary by attempting to pray the Rosary daily together as a family.
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family life | parenting teenagers | prayer time
Recently, I struggled with spiritual dryness. We all know this is part of faith formation, growth, and maturity—to weather when it is not easy to pray. Trusting in God when He feels distant, or more accurately, when we feel estranged for whatever reason (fatigue, frustration, anger, hurt), is part of the journey we see over and over again in Scripture. We are not called to be successful, but to be faithful, and anything else is a Gospel of good feelings and prosperity.
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family life | power of prayer | pray the rosary
I sat down on the sofa with my mug of coffee to start the day with prayer. The house was quiet apart from the pitter-patter of rain and the song of birds that reached my ears through cracked open windows. I’d slept fine but I was tired. Tired from long hours, packed into days, stacked into weeks, and collected into months. Do you feel that way too, at times?
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Have you ever noticed how God can teach us when we least expect it? The story of Abram is a great example. There he was at the age of 99, pretty certain of the last chapter of his life, and then God appeared and revealed what He intended in what He offered Abram and Sarai. God can do the same for us, and I’d bet already has for each of you in varied ways.
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Celebrating family life | Healing the family
The Church celebrates the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul on June 29th every year. On this day, we are reminded of the profound significance of these two great apostles in the life of the Church. Their unwavering faith, dedication, and willingness to embrace the cross serve as powerful examples for all of us, especially for families who seek to live out their Christian vocation.
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Yesterday, Father Fred, Father Pinto, Father Boby, and I had a day of recollection. We went to an exotic place called East Freetown, Massachusetts. Actually, it’s not a resort community but a parish named St. John Neumann. It is also the location of a former Catholic summer camp that I attended as a child. It’s a beautiful location on a lake surrounded by tall oak trees. As we began our day, I shared that the first time I was at this location, I was nine years old — just twenty years ago! In reality, it was in 1974 when President Nixon resigned!
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