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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
God implanted in our human nature a desire to love and to be loved. When we are accepted by others, we have the assurance that we are lovable. The desire for acceptance is so great that any sort of rejection causes us much pain.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us one of the most tender and powerful images: “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” This is not just poetry—it is identity. We are the sheep. Christ is the Good Shepherd. But this raises a serious question: What does it mean to truly be His sheep?
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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.
Let me begin with a picture of Australian sheep farming. They have roughly 70 million sheep in this country, more than almost anywhere else on earth. But shepherds? Barely a handful. They have motorbikes, sheepdogs, and helicopters. Somewhere right now, a man in an Akubra hat is mustering a hundred thousand sheep from the air, probably listening to a podcast. This is the world into which Jesus's words land with a somewhat comedic thud today. Because Jesus is not talking about drones or GPS ear tags. He is talking about something far more intimate, There is an old Middle Eastern story that brings it to life. A traveler once spent the night near a sheepfold where several shepherds had brought their flocks into one shared enclosure. By morning, hundreds of sheep were hopelessly tangled together. The traveler assumed it would take hours to sort them out. Instead, one shepherd simply stepped forward and called. Not loudly, just a familiar voice. Slowly, sheep began lifting their heads and moving toward him. Another shepherd called, and a different group peeled away. Within minutes, chaos became order, just by recognition of voice.
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
I would like to draw your attention to today’s First reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles. The reading is ordinarily approached as the story of Paul’s conversion — from Saul to Paul. However, I would like us to approach it differently as Ananias’ story, a story of extraordinary risk and courage. We heard that Saul, a radically prejudiced, dangerous enemy to believers in Christ, “breathing murderous threats” was on the road to Damascus on a mission to arrest and murder Christians. Jesus knocked Saul off his high horse! The Lord then asked Ananias to go and pray for Saul to regain his “sight.” Ananias knew how risky this would be to him and to other believers in the city. His reply to Jesus was, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem. And here, here has authority to imprison all who call upon your name.” In US American parlance, Ananias was basically telling Jesus “Seriously? Are you asking me to go to a man who wants to arrest, imprison or even murder me?” That’s how imagine an American would respond!
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Today’s readings reveal a quiet but powerful truth: faith does not begin with our search for God, but with God’s search for us. He always takes the first step. He draws us—often gently, patiently—even before we recognize it. In the first reading, we encounter the Ethiopian eunuch, a man of influence and learning, yet still searching. He is reading Isaiah but cannot grasp its meaning. When Philip asks, “Do you understand what you are reading?” his response is deeply humble: “How can I, unless someone guides me?”
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Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Why do we find conversion stories so inspirational? Maybe I should be asking, why do I find conversion stories so inspirational. Just yesterday I came across a story about five medical students who were executed in 1943 by the Nazis. The story of one is unique in that he was baptized and received the Eucharist the day before his execution. Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles always intrigued me because it mentions that Saul who we know to be Paul sought out Christians and dragged them from their homes turning them over to the authorities for persecution and imprisonment and yet became a prominent missionary making Jesus known, loved and served.
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