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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
On the Universal Church Calendar, the 3rd of June is designated as the Memorial of St Charles Lwanga and Companions, also known as the Uganda Martyrs Day. On the 3rd of June is also the day Father Patrick Peyton died at the Convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor in San Pedro California. Both the Uganda Martyrs and Father Peyton carry significant value to me personally but also to the ministry of Holy Cross Family Ministries.
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A friend of mine once received a phone call that began with three words nobody wants to hear: "This is the IRS." His heart stopped. His life flashed before his eyes, not his good memories, but receipts, tax returns, and charitable donations he may have slightly rounded up. Within thirty seconds, he was mentally confessing crimes he hadn't even committed. Then, to his relief, he discovered it was a scam. What fascinated me was that the caller never asked for money immediately. He simply created panic. He wanted a reaction before reason had a chance to show up for work.
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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.
Some of us here are grandparents, parents, or even guardians. We have been or still are involved in the noble work of raising children into good, responsible, faith-filled adults. We give them all the parental love there is for a person to grow into a well-integrated individual. It is also possible that many of you have had situations where those being raised manifest behaviors that reflect stubbornness, rejecting the path you are trying to provide for them. Worse still, as teenagers, they retort, tell all kinds of lies, mock or ridicule you assuming that they are grown up, and they are free to chart their own course, making your life miserable. When in trouble then they call for help. As good parents, we always come back with love, care and forgiveness sometimes trying even to enable their dysfunctional behavior. Looking into our past, maybe we were not so different.
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One of difficult topics to comprehend in our Christian life is eschatology and judgement. We keep waiting in hope but also waiting needs a lot of patience while performing the Christian practices. We find the first Christian community struggling with this is the situation. Jesus had just resurrected and ascended to heaven and now they are in the last phase, waiting again for Jesus. We, too, are in the same waiting. The writer of the first reading knowis the anxiety that may creep in among the Christian community and warns them but also gives life directives. He reminds them to be self-controlled and clear-minded for prayer.
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Have you ever been driving somewhere with a tight schedule, feeling good about your trip, and then suddenly run into roadwork, see the orange-and-black sign, and a mystery detour? Yesterday morning, while driving to the audiologist’s office to drop off my Dad’s hearing aids, that’s what happened. At first, like all good Boston drivers, I was completely calm, well, not really! The detour increased my trip by about 5 minutes, but as I was speaking to the receptionist, the audiologist came out and asked if she could help. She told me she had just had a cancellation and could work on the hearing aids right away. Then she added something striking: “I heard your voice and remembered it.”
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There are two things in our lives as believers that are essential and yet complicated. That is; ambition verses divine calling. Ambition stems from individual desires to build a platform and achieve specific results. Calling stems from a form of surrender to God’s will to glorify God. Ambition often seeks control and personal legacy. Calling requires obedience and willingness to discern what the Lord is calling you for. Ambition often breeds anxiety and pressure “to climb the ladder”. Calling produces inner peace and contentment, even when the path is difficult.
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