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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Blessed Mother | Celebrating Marian feasts | Christmas Season | family prayer
Each year, on January 1, in addition to welcoming another year, the Catholic Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. If unfamiliar with the phrase, ‘Mother of God,’ it would seem to imply some supernatural or divine being. It seems a little daunting to imagine ‘Mother of God.’ Perhaps the title brings to mind some supremely far away, celestial, or an unreachable person. However, in truth, the ‘Mother of God’ refers to Mary, the young girl from Nazareth, who, by her Fiat, brought to the world the Incarnation of God, Jesus... The title “Mother of God” is a Western derivation from the Greek “Theotokos,” which means “God-bearer.” This important title, which proclaims Mary’s divine motherhood, was proclaimed at the Council of Ephesus in 431. The foundation is based on the understanding that Mary is the mother of Jesus, whom we believe to be God. She would then be the Mother of God.
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Christmas Season | Family Fun | catholic devotions | celebrating Christmas
The world will be taking down decorations in a week, but we Catholics will just be getting started celebrating Christmas! Did you know the Church season of Christmas lasts from December 25th all the way through January 8th, the Sunday of the feast of Epiphany? We have over two weeks of celebrating the wild and wonderful gift of a God who wrapped Himself in flesh to come and save us. Here are five ways your family can keep the spirit of Christmas alive through the entire Christmas Season this year!
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Almsgiving | Christmas Season | Feast of St. Stephen | rosary
If you are someone who lends your favorite books to family members or friends only to find that the loan has become permanent, or sends thank you notes and birthday cards only to realize with a heart that sits somewhere between resignation and a slight ache that not everyone remembers your birthday or sends you messages of thanks, then the Church’s teaching on almsgiving and charity will be a source of much consolation—for in essence it is that only what is given away will be ours to keep. St Augustine places this teaching in the mouth of Christ as Augustine speaks of this to his congregation: “…on earth, my members were suffering, my members were in need. If you gave anything to my members, what you gave would reach their Head….I placed them on earth for you and appointed them your stewards to bring your good works into my treasury.” Then Christ laments to those who have not given to the poor and suffering, “But you have placed nothing in their hands; therefore you have found nothing in my presence” (Sermon 18, 4.).
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Celebrating family life | Christmas Season | family prayer | memories
Looking back at childhood Christmases, Elena LaVictoire focuses not on what she lacked, but on the love of her family.
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Christmas Season | catholic family life | holiday plans | imperfection
As a wife, mother, and hostess, there is so much to do to prepare for Christmas. I want everything to be just perfect at Christmas time—Christmas lights, Christmas cookies, Christmas cards, Christmas tree, Christmas clothes for the kids, Christmas presents—I feel this pressure sometimes to make everything the best that it can be, to create a “magical” kind of Christmas day. Much of this comes from my own struggle with pride, but our surrounding culture plays its own role, too. After all, aren’t we told that this is supposed to be the “most wonderful time of the year?” There are a lot of expectations to meet! There have been a number of Christmas days in the past, filled with all kinds of festivities, when, at the end of the day, I faced a strange realization: amidst all the celebrating, I didn’t really pray. The busyness of my Christmas day consumed my normal times of prayer.
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