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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Lectio the Liturgy | Sunday Mass | family prayer
Let's Lectio the Liturgy with the Prayer After Communion for the 14th Week in Ordinary Time. The closing prayer of the Mass this week reminds us of the incredible blessings available in the Mass — if we want them. Grant, we pray, O Lord, that, having been replenished by such great gifts, we may gain the prize of salvation and never cease to praise you. Through Christ our Lord. Have you ever considered that when we receive Holy Communion, we are replenished by great gifts? In the Latin form of the prayer, we find the word repleti (Lat.) which means to fill again. When we receive the Eucharist, we are filled with great gifts. The next time we go to Communion, we are filled again. The great gifts are the consecrated Bread and Wine of our Lord. It sounds wonderful, however, there is a catch. To be filled and to be replenished is our choice.
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Family Vacation | Summer | family prayer
I share many check-in phone calls with my elderly father, and his typical send-off is, “Keep the faith, MaryB.” I smile as I recall this because it is Summer and as we plan family vacation time, the phrase "keep the faith" came to mind. Thanks, Dad. Thanks, Jesus. Vacations are typically taken as a time of rest. We are a green light, just keep swimming culture and rest can be challenging to come by, especially with children along. I recently shared a conversation with some friends who are in various stages of parenting about how to cultivate family rest time, find your own rest time, keep the faith alive and perhaps grow it while on a family vacation.
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Family Dinner | Family Time | Parenthood | family prayer
The New Evangelization is all the buzz. Savvy evangelizers pick the hippest of the ever-multiplying array of platforms, target their demographics, and employ slick production values. Well, I’m jumping in the game. Actually, the game jumped me, whether I willed it or not, about fifteen years ago when my first child was born. As a parent, I am responsible for teaching the faith to my kids. And as all parents are only too keenly aware these days, I can’t count on anyone else to do it, not in any school (private or public, religious or secular), church, sports program, youth group, or YouTube channel. So it falls to us.
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Grandpa's Garden | Grandparenting | family prayer
It is summer in this region, and the natural world calls us to recreation out of doors. Years ago, I tried running for exercise. When I began, I could barely jog around the block. Over time, I slowly added distance and found solitude and consolation amid my limitations and aspirations. I ran several 5k races to see if I could complete the course. I felt solidarity with other runners, most of whom ran faster than me. The only “running” I do now is hurrying at crosswalks. I enjoy walking.
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Mass with Children | family prayer | parenting advice
My dad passed away in 2018, but not a Sunday Mass goes by where I don’t think of him. My childhood is replete with memories of filing into the pew, Dad between us two girls to keep us from talking (or more likely, fighting), and attending Mass together. Even now, at the age of 41, I find myself replaying various hints and admonitions he used to give us as we learned to behave at Mass. Here are six of the lessons that have stayed with me all these years.
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Catholic Faith | family prayer | prayer life
One of the phrases I had to tell myself over and over in the months following the birth of my last baby was, “This is just a phase. I will not be nursing forever; I will sleep again.” I have a tendency to have tunnel vision about whatever difficult moment I am in and feel it will last forever. Stepping back and looking at the big picture has helped me to see that the moment I am in is just a small blip on the radar of my life.
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