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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Learn more about our faith | Why pray?
A few years ago, my friend’s kitchen sink started leaking. Drip. Drip. His wife asked to call the plumber. For weeks, he ignored it. Finally, he thought, “I can fix this myself. He bought some tools, watched tutorials on YouTube, and dismantled the sink. Water sprayed everywhere; His children had a good laugh. His spouse sighed. His dog hid himself in the closet. Finally, he had to call in the plumper; a plumber arrived with his own toolkit, twisted a single valve, and said, “You just needed to tighten this.” The Plumper charged him 50 Dollars, but my friend had purchased tools costing more than $200 already. Lesson: Pride is expensive. That’s Naaman’s story. A decorated general but inflicted with leprosy, he’s told by the prophet Elisha to wash seven times in the muddy Jordan River. Naaman storms off, furious. “I expected a grand ritual.” But His servants—bless them— they nudge him: “If the prophet asked you to do something hard, you’d do it. So why not this?” Reluctantly, Naaman obeys. His skin heals. His pride cracks.
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Learn more about our faith | Love thy Neighbor
In the book of Genesis, we read the story of Joseph and his brothers. Jacob, the father of Joseph, loved Joseph so much that he even made for him a beautiful cloak with many colors and patterns. The affection Joseph enjoyed from his father stoked much jealousy among his brothers.
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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.
What if I told you that hope is not just a word on a signboard but a lifeline—a promise that can transform your life, your family, and even the world? Recently, I saw a huge sign in downtown Chicago with the word "HOPE" shining brightly. It made me reflect on how hope isn’t just a fleeting feeling; it’s a call to action, a journey, and most importantly, a promise from God.
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Learn more about our faith | Seasonal Reflections
We’ve probably all had times when we’ve been trying to tell a story or explain something that it goes off the rails…we might even classify it as babbling. In Jesus teaching the disciples about prayer, He makes several points. The first is don’t pray to God the way that the pagans pray by babbling on…. more words don’t equal better results. Jesus isn’t telling them or us not to pray persistently throughout the day but rather to avoid what the pagans did in praying to their gods, invoking names and formulas…trying to get the attention of the pagan gods; in a sense trying to rouse the attention of those whose attention is elsewhere.
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Learn more about our faith | Seasonal Reflections
A few years ago, a bus driver in Seattle named Marcus made headlines—not for any heroics, but for noticing people. Every day, he would watch passengers board his bus, many were his regular passengers, and most of them eyes glued to phones, avoided an older woman who was also his regular passenger in a frayed coat muttering to herself. One icy morning, Marcus saw this elderly woman shivering and he handed her his own thermos of coffee. She stared at him, then whispered, “You’re the first person who has looked at me in weeks.” Turns out, she wasn’t “crazy”—just a widow grieving her son, quietly unraveling. Marcus didn’t fix her life. He just saw her. And in that moment, he glimpsed eternity. That’s the scandal of today’s Gospel. Jesus says the final exam of faith isn’t theology or piety—it’s whether we recognize Him hiding in plain sight, disguised as the people we have trained ourselves not to see.
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Learn more about our faith | Seasonal Reflections
In Mathew 25 the Lord paints for us a scene of the Last Judgement. The criteria he uses in passing judgement is a simple – “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me.” The Lord does not judge people by how many Bible verses they knew, or whether they knew the Catechism of the Catholic Church by heart or not. While knowing all that is of great benefit to an individual, he reduced it to the basics of love being put into action.
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