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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Our own Biblical worldview is so familiar to us that I don’t think we always realize how truly extraordinary it is. Throughout most of human history and human societies, powerful men have pretty much been able to take advantage of anonymous people with little challenge or consequence. Yet in today’s reading from the Book of Kings, King Ahab – who, though not a good man, still at least initially seems guided by God’s principles for Israel – feels powerless to force Naboth to do his will. It’s only when Ahab’s foreign, pagan queen Jezebel -- who represents the ungodly views of the world -- gets involved that Ahab embraces the notion of his absolute entitlement as king. But, as we will hear tomorrow, Ahab and Jezebel suffer dire consequences for his act of violence. And Naboth himself is not relegated to being some anonymous victim, lost to history. Three thousand years later, we as God’s people still remember his name and mourn the injustice he suffered.
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A couple who had lived together for 50 years were once interviewed. They were asked whether they had ever thought about divorcing one another. “Every day,” they replied. “Then what has kept you together?” The interviewer asked. With a smile, they answered, “We have learned to forgive one another.”
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Elijah’s question from today’s first reading, “How long will you straddle the issue?” is a classic and ageless one! It reminds me of one evening at Symphony Hall in Boston, when I was out of earshot, my Mom asked our family friend, Fr. Bill Walsh, what he thought about my applying to the seminary. Without blinking an eye and with a smile, Fr. Walsh said, “I think God gave him a good kick in the pants and got him off the fence!” Whether it is in politics, family life, relationships—whether deciding about a friendship or a deeper commitment to marriage, priesthood or religious life—or in our moral and ethical lives, we’re all called to examine whether we are straddling issues or, as we'd say, where I come from: fence sitters.
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Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, “Abba, as far as I can say my little, office, I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?” then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire, and he said to him, “If you will, you can become all flames”. There is also a quotation from John Piper which goes like this, "People don’t enjoy salt. They enjoy what is salted.” These two situations imply that it is not enough to live a pious life for ourselves, but we must strive to become a transformative power into people’s lives.
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As Christians, we are called to a life of virtue, a life that runs against what soicety expects of us. We find those virtues in the Beatitudes. It is not easy, but it is fruitful. Even though it is often difficult, Christ invites us to live this life of virtue. Today's homily by Father Gasper Selvaraj, C.S.C. was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center today. You can watch the entire Mass on the Family Rosary Video streams channel on YouTube.
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Can you remember when your parents started going to their family and friends' 25th wedding anniversaries? Well, time has a way of flying by, and this past Sunday, my friends and I concelebrated our friend, Fr. Sean Connor’s 25th anniversary of ordination at Sacred Heart in Weymouth, MA. Before becoming a priest, Fr. Sean was a policeman, an imposing figure, who sometimes worked undercover. But in a letter to his family, friends, and parishioners, Fr. Sean shared a revealing and moving message.
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