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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Holy Week | The Way of the Cross | family prayer | mercy
"Ready, Set…Bang!" My arms pumped with high energy, my feet pounded confidently across the field and my legs steadily pulled me forward. I started the race and felt so great and alive! This time would be different. I would run with endurance, control, and speed. By the time I got to the halfway mark, however, my thoughts had turned sour. My chest tightened as my lungs cried out in anguish with each erratic breath and I began to wonder if my feet were still attached to my burning legs. The clear blue sky gave me no hope of a sudden tornado or lightning storm to whisk me away from my misery. I pathetically kept trudging along, feeling like my shins would rip apart any minute. I yearned to drop to the ground and crawl into a ditch somewhere until after the medals were passed out and everyone had packed up and gone home. In much the same way, the Lenten journey starts with a bang of grand resolutions and lively hopes.
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Family Activities | Saint Patrick | Venerable Patrick Peyton | family prayer
I have to tell you; there was quite a competition about who would have the honor of celebrating the Mass at the Father Peyton Center last year on St. Patrick’s Day. It was only settled by a DNA test showing I had the closest connection to Saint Patrick, but not how you might think.
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Lent activities | Special Needs Parenting | family prayer
I remember struggling as a college student to start a life of prayer, but by the time I graduated, I had disciplined myself to pray daily and constantly. Years later, when I became a new mom, I knew I should teach my children to pray from the early days of their lives. I am a mom to three kids with various sensory, learning, and physical needs, and with gifts given by the Holy Spirit since their Baptism. That is something I encourage you to keep in mind about your child(ren) as they might have additional needs. They, too, have been given the Holy Spirit, the Giver of gifts.
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Celebrating family life | Lenten Reflections | family prayer
When our children were toddlers, we would socialize with other young families and try to shape how the kids played together, sharing, cooperating, taking turns, and being polite. It was a developmental challenge. When the little ones aren’t ready to share, forcing the issue can be counter-productive. It takes creative coaching and then waiting for development to take its course.
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Lent activities | Sunday Gospel Activities | family prayer
Saints have been painted in bright colors because they were great leaders: kings, queens, emperors, knights in shining armor, even generals of armies like Joan of Arc, or brightly robed bishops, popes, and abbots. When you look at the choirs of saints in heaven, you are dazzled by all the color, all the talent, and all the most incredible human and holy accomplishments. When it comes to Saint Joseph — what dazzling colors do we find for him? No red of martyrs, no gold of world leaders, no pulpit of great preachers, no scroll of great authors. No, just a small workshop, a little hut with a battered shingle over the door that says: "Joseph and Son, Carpenters."
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Family Activities | Gospel Reflection | family life | family prayer
Dad: "Kids, it’s time for bed." Kids: "Throw us in bed! Dad, throw us in bed!" (Dad picks a kid up in his arms.) Dad: "Did I ever tell you about the three men in the book of Daniel who were thrown into the fiery furnace?" Kids: "No!" Dad: "Their names were... Shadrach... Meshach... and ToBedYouGo!" We can sometimes feel as if we too have been cast into the furnace; just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The fiery furnace is something we all come across in our lives. Not just once, but many times.
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