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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Catholic Faith | Parenting | family life
My green thumb was recently activated when a friend offered me a punnet of tomato seedlings. I got to work preparing the garden bed, setting up a fence to deter my vegetarian dog, and buying some mulch to help with the weeds. I spaced out the little green shoots, then gave them a good watering and let them be. A few weeks later my friend asked how they were going and how often I had been watering them. “Once a week,” I replied, as a quick Google search had instructed. “No, mate, they need a drink every second day if you want big juicy tomatoes.”
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Catholic Faith | family prayer | obstacles to prayer
Our family has a newborn baby in the home. It’s a time of joy, a time of adjustment, and a time of sheer exhaustion. A month into this one being home, the baby still insists playtime is between 1-4 AM, and bedtime is all other hours when the sun is shining; however, the other children in the home and most businesses don’t agree with the newest arrival’s schedule. Like most parents with newborns, during this time I am running on fumes. And, let me be clear, I am not complaining; I am simply stating a fact.
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Catholic Faith | Scripture | reading the Bible
Jezebel, the infamous bad girl of the Bible, was selfish, unscrupulous, and manipulative. However, it is anger that ultimately destroys her. As the pagan wife of King Ahab, Jezebel uses her seductive power to spread the worship of Baal throughout the kingdom of Israel and to kill the prophets of Yahweh.
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Catholic Faith | Scripture | reading the Bible
Although we know that Jesus learned carpentry at the knee of Joseph, it seems he also had a soft spot in his heart for shepherds. Maybe Mary had repeated the story to him of the humble group of men who followed the star to the stable in Bethlehem. Or maybe he took after God, his Father, who saw in the role of the shepherd one who protects, provides, and guides. In any case, when Jesus calls himself the “Good Shepherd” in John 10, it is clear that he is calling those who follow him into a special kind of relationship.
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My second-ever road race was a St. Patrick’s Day 5K a couple of towns over, held on a sunny—and thank goodness not too cold! —spring morning. The course led through residential streets that had been closed off for the run, similar to those I’d trained on in and around my neighborhood. But now, for the first time, I didn’t have to stay on sidewalks and shoulders. I could run wherever I chose within the width of the lane. Not being at the front of the pack by a long shot, I had ample lateral wiggle room.
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Catholic Faith | family prayer
I have never attempted the St. Andrew Novena until this Advent season. The novena, traditionally started on St. Andrew’s feast day which is Nov. 30, actually runs for 25 days - Nov. 30-Dec. 24. Not only is this a longer than usual novena (novenas are usually nine days long), it is also a rather demanding novena. You pray the same prayer 15 times each day. I really wanted to spread the 15 times throughout the day, filling my whole day with prayer, rather than sitting down and saying the same prayer 15 times in one sitting. To accomplish this, I found a simple version of the prayer to put on my phone as a lock screen and had a counter widget that I could click to keep track of where I was during the day.
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