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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Saint John, one of Jesus's twelve apostles, is known as the Apostle of Love because his writings mainly focus on love. According to a legend from the early church, Saint John was the only one among the twelve apostles who lived to an old age. In his later years, he experienced failing health, including diminishing eyesight and mental faculties. Saint John's mind had deteriorated to the point where he could only speak five words, a single sentence that he would repeat over and over. Legend has it that every Sunday, Saint John would address the congregation that had gathered for worship in the church at Ephesus, where he spent the last years of his life. Even though the congregation already knew what he would say, Saint John would stand and look over the assembly. Then, the elderly apostle would speak five simple words: "My children, love one another."
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The book of the Prophet Ezekiel was written during a time of extreme moral, spiritual, and political decay in the land of Israel. The most famous image in the book of the Prophet Ezekiel is the image of “the valley of dry bones.” The prophet saw a valley full of dead people, and the dead were not the kind whose skeletons were still intact; it was all human bones thrown everywhere! It is one of the most dramatic paintings of extreme hopelessness, yet the Lord in the book of Ezekiel promises to give life to all the dead who the Prophet Ezekiel saw in the vision.
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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.
I have a question for you: Who’s the most generous person you’ve ever met? For me, it’s my parents, and if you asked my Dad, he’d say my Mom. They didn’t have the money of Bill and Melinda Gates, but they gave what they had in a way that brought joy to people who needed to have their spirits raised by someone who remembered and cared about them.
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Learn more about our faith | Why pray?
Pompeii was an ancient Roman town city located near modern Naples, Italy. In 79 AD, the city was greatly devastated by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which destroyed it and buried it under nearly 13-20 feet of ash and lava. I think Netflix has a series of documentaries about this. The eruption killed the city's inhabitants and buried it under tons of ash. Plaster was used during the excavation to fill the voids in the ash layers, revealing the exact position of the victims. Several years later, while construction workers were laying the foundation for a building outside the city of Pompeii, they made a very strange discovery.
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Learn more about our faith | Why pray?
Depending on the day, hour, and amount of coffee we have—we’re all subject to forgetting things and even people. But as we know, there are different levels. For instance, getting out of your car without your umbrella, forgetting where you put your keys, or being unable to recall an elementary classmate's name when you run into them at the coffee shop! Then there are the bigger items, like remembering your husband or wife’s or other loved ones' birthdays or your wedding anniversary. These situations have something in common—distraction and a focus on something (or someone) else.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Right now, in the United States, the news of the presidential campaign is a constant: what one candidate says about the other, questions about the vice-presidential candidates, and what all of this will mean for the next four years of our lives. Today’s saint is a good reminder of what is possible when we unite faith in God with our works here on earth, including family life and our civic duties.
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