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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
There are only three verses in the reading from Luke’s Gospel, and they describe rumors or gossip about Jesus that made King Herod curious. I think the last sentence has an important message: “And he (Herod) kept trying to see Him (Jesus).”
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The Gospel of Luke calls us to simplify our lives and embrace the mission of serving others. Jesus sent out the twelve Apostles, with nothing but the power of God, urging them to travel light and focus on spreading the Good News.
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Luke's Gospel reminded me of an expression from my childhood: “You’re brothers! Act like it!” My brother Pat and I heard that more than a few times from our Mom when we’d be in a battle of words or fists…and it always did the trick. Growing up in Quincy, your family was a big part of your identity and a source of strength. Many conversations began with, “My Mom or Dad were just telling me… or My brother Pat’s coming with us too.” There was a definite understanding of who was part of our immediate…and extended family. At Mass each Sunday, I don’t remember the priest using the phrase “My brothers and sisters (in Christ)” in his homily very often.
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Certain scientific experiments are both simple and fascinating. One such experiment, which many of us have seen or tried, involves creating fire using a magnifying glass. In this experiment, the magnifying glass is placed in front of a piece of paper or cotton, allowing sunlight to pass through and forming a small bright dot. After some time, if the sunlight is strong enough, the paper will catch fire. The magnifying glass serves as a medium, focusing the sun's heat onto the paper to generate fire.
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Today we hear Jesus in the Gospel journeying from town to town and from village to village preaching and proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God. With Him, He had companions – the twelve apostles who helped Him in the work of preaching and proclaiming the good news; and He also had an army of women like, Mary Magdala, Joanna, Susanna who attended to all the needs of Jesus and His disciples out of their resources. The preaching and the proclamation of the Gospel requires resources. Today we are being introduced to a group of women who provided for Jesus and His disciples so that they could continue to preach and proclaim the Gospel. They provided food, water, lodging, and if someone on the team didn’t have any money to pay for Caesar’s taxes, they put together some resources to take care of that.
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Jesus’ words, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” caused two very different reactions in Luke’s gospel. The first was the shock of Simon the Pharisee and the second was what each one of us feels when we go to Confession and are absolved of our sins: the joy of being unburdened by God through the grace of the Holy Spirit and the work of His priest, serving in the person of Christ.
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