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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
catholic family life | family prayer | sacrament of marriage
Hillary Ibarra shares how prayer helped to keep her marriage and family together.
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Catholic Motherhood | family prayer | pray the rosary
Carmen Lappe considers how certain Mysteries of the Rosary are more applicable to certain seasons of life, and creates her own meditations on these Mysteries. The Rosary has been part of my daily prayer routine for quite some time now. I still struggle to quiet my mind and fully enter into the Mysteries, and yet I would be lost without these rhythmic prayers to start my day. Recently, I’ve noticed certain Mysteries pulling me in, inviting me into a deeper focus and reflection. For example, whenever I get to the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Presentation in the Temple, my heart aches. I wonder how Mary must have felt as she received Simeon’s prophecy that her Son would be the rise and fall of many. Then I wonder how I would have felt if, during our son’s Baptism, someone told me Damien would be diagnosed with a brain tumor and vision challenges in just a few short years.
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Brief and contemporary inspiration focused on hope and family prayer will be delivered to your inbox! Articles include live video, written word, and links to resources that will lead you and your family deeper into faith.
Praying with images | Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary | family prayer | pray the rosary
Artful depictions of Christ's life, especially His Passion and Death, offer families a unique opportunity to engage in discussions of faith that can often be difficult to begin. From the youngest member of one's family to the oldest, everyone can look upon the beauty of art and share what they see and how it makes them feel. Visio Divina, or "sacred seeing," is an ancient form of Christian prayer that utilizes the imagination to enter into prayer. Visio Divina is an effective method of praying for families looking to begin or deepen a practice of family prayer in their homes. We recommend starting your time with these images, calling upon the Holy Spirit to guide your discussion. Your prayer can be as simple as, "Come, Holy Spirit," or you may wish to recite or write a longer one, such as: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. And kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you will renew the face of the earth. This collection of images of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary includes short reflections with each picture to illustrate the variety of ways sacred art can be viewed and discussed. We pray your family is truly blessed by your time together immersed in the beauty of the art, these words, and your precious time with each other.
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Labor | Parenting | catholic family life | family prayer
In St. Benedict’s rule for living monastic life, Debra Black finds many pearls of wisdom for living in our domestic church. Whatever good work thou dost begin, beg of Him with most earnest prayer to perfect. (Rule of St. Benedict, preface, p. 3, 5) How the Catholic Home Should Run I was in a Catholic bookstore several decades back when a man pointed to the book of St. Benedict’s Rule and said to me, “This is how every home should be run.” Intrigued, I bought the book. Back then we didn’t hear about our home being the domestic church, but the saints do teach us to turn our heart and mind to God as we go through the day. A life which melds prayer and work sounds inviting, even dreamy! Then the reality of the daily grind sets in, and it seems like everyone needs a piece of you, leaving little to nothing of your heart to give to God.
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catholic family life | family devotions | family prayer
Monica McConkey details ten ways to help children of all ages learn to pray from the heart, encouraging parents to start early in building habits of prayer. Something that has become more and more apparent as my kids one-by-one enter adulthood, is that while my vocation as Mom never ends, it does change! I remember those days of mothering with littles running around the house. They needed me for the physical things; food, drink, shelter, safety, comfort, and clothing, and they were learning so much from basic skills and interests, and subjects at school, and picking up prayers, Bible stories and beliefs of our Catholic Faith.
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catholic family life | family prayer | work/life balance
It's been a couple of months since I last wrote an article. In those few months, it feels like my life took a backflip into our backyard pool. In some ways, the backflip feels graceful, and the cool water is refreshing; in other ways, it feels like I've hit my head on the edge of the pool and am struggling to stay afloat. In February, I wrote about my decision to continue working as a professional in special education and taking classes to become a certified teacher. It was a decision I made because, at that time, I needed to return to work to help support my family financially, and my husband had taken a significant pay cut. However, shortly after that article was published, my husband was offered a new job. A job that was wonderful for our family in many ways. He no longer had to travel for work; he'd be home every night. The pay was better than it had been before his pay cut. Changing My Mind About My New Direction
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