World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
“If you make my word your home, you will indeed be my disciples, you will learn the truth and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31) It’s been great to be back home, here at Holy Cross Family Ministries headquarters, before returning to service at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France. We started our mission at Lourdes about 10 years ago, having realized that Father Peyton had a great devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes.
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Right around now, the last two weeks before Easter, it’s not hard to lose our focus on Lent. It’s been about four weeks since Ash Wednesday and human nature being what is it is we can start to trail off in our prayer, fasting and charitable works. So, today’s gospel from John is perfectly placed on our Lenten journey, our preparation for the great celebration of Easter; in it, Jesus speaks to the Pharisees and now us about His divine origin and mission.
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Today’s reading from the book of the prophet Daniel is gripping — like something out of a courtroom drama. Two respected elders, full of deceit, attempt to destroy the reputation and life of a virtuous woman. Susanna is cornered not just by their lust but by the terrifying weight of injustice. Imagine this: a young girl, falsely accused, standing in the center of a circle, condemned by powerful men. Her voice is trembling, her hands shaking, but her heart is rooted in something unshakable — truth when truth hangs in the balance. And yet, she stands firm, even when no one believes her. She cries out not to the world but to God. And God hears. That’s Susanna’s story — truthfully, it could be ours, too. Susanna’s story is not ancient history. It’s happening every day — when character is questioned, when assumptions are made, and when the voices of the innocent are too soft to be heard over the noise of pride, gossip, and power.
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I recently made a visit to India. I visited the cities, and I visited the countryside. I spent time with high profile people like the Archbishop of Bangalore who live in places that look like palaces, and I also visited very poor people who live far out on tiny strips of land in rice fields, in a tiny room that floods when it rains, and even snakes may find their way into your room. India is so diverse—wealthy and poor, urban and rural, westernized and native—that it can be challenging to figure out people and figure out things.
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Many of us own a bathroom scale or use one at a gym, it gives us an indication on how we’re doing with our diet and exercise programs…even our general health. But sometimes, we need to take a deeper look, maybe a blood test, MRI or cardiac ultrasound. Lent is a special time when we take a deeper look into our hearts and souls…to see what drives us…and what we place first in our lives and why….?
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“My Father goes on working and so do I”. (John 5:17) In two weeks, we will be in Holy Week! Each year I make it a practice, sometime during this last part of Lent, to watch Mel Gibson’s great film, “The Passion of the Christ”. I understand that it’s a very graphic film and some people find it too difficult to watch, and that’s really OK, but if it’s not too hard for you, I highly recommend seeing it as a way of helping you enter into Holy Week. You can find it on Netflix and Amazon and other platforms…
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