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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Celebrating family life | Holy lives of inspiration
Last week on Monday, the staff at the Father Peyton Center organized and celebrated a small and beautiful surprise birthday party for me. We were all together in the same space. It was a wonderful time—there was cake, donuts, and drinks; everyone was relaxing and laughing. In addition, I got all sorts of messages from around the world. The online East African Catholic community overdid itself with beautiful graphics and messages! In celebrating birthdays, we offer a prayer of thanksgiving to God for the gift of the life of the person whose birthday we celebrate. We are telling God that we don't take the gift of the life of that person lightly. We are telling God that we are grateful for the gift of that life, and we deeply value it.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Mary’s birth is not recorded in the Bible. What we celebrate on September 8 each year is not Mary’s birthday in the traditional sense, but we honor the blessing of her being born. The word nativity refers to the circumstance or occasion of one being born.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Luke’s version of the beatitudes sounds like an echo of Mary’s Magnificat when she meets Elizabeth. They both express a hope to be realized in the future. Luke follows the beatitudes with the pronouncement of woes addressed to the disciples. They would be blessed or condemned depending on how they live their discipleship.
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This Monday, September 5, we mark the 25th anniversary of the entrance into eternity at the conclusion of a life very well lived in service to her bridegroom. I am referring to none other than Mother Teresa of Kolkata and her bridegroom, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Why pray?
Put out in the deep waters and lower your nets for a catch. When Jesus told Peter to do this, Peter more or less answered Jesus, saying, “been there, done that.” Peter basically told Jesus that he had tried that before, but it didn’t work. It seems to me that Peter quickly regretted his response and said something like, “well ok, I’ll give it another try.” He gave it another try, and we saw what happened. Peter was taken aback by the number of fish he caught.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Why pray?
This past week I realized one of my lifetime dreams to visit the famous shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. During the visit, I was surprised to hear the former Rector of the Shrine tell me that he personally knew Father Peyton and was deeply impressed by Father Peyton’s commitment to help families pray around the world.
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