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Speaking to a group in Indiana in 1950, Father Peyton said:

In the world, in the nation, and in family life, there are strong forces working against the peace and happiness which all men seek. These forces are particularly apparent in our homes, where the increase in broken homes, parental irresponsibility and juvenile delinquency threaten to undermine the fundamental unit of our society - the family.

Absolutely necessary is a return to the spiritual and moral principles which were the strength of family life in the past. As a means of doing this, nothing could be more effective or more fitting than the universal restoration to home life of the practice of daily family prayer. No family which prays to God each day, fervently and confidently and as a group, can fail to receive the blessing of heaven, nor fail to realize better the bond of love and understanding which should unite them in the brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God.

He also wrote in a letter published by the Milwaukee Sentinel on May 25, 1968:

The family is the basic cell of society. But if we are to transform society, then we have to transform the family first into a true family of God where love, justice, charity and compassion reign. A family that prays as a unit will gradually be transformed through God’s grace and this love of necessity will burst beyond the confines of the family circle.

A family so moved interiorly by prayer will see that there is injustice and poverty in the world and they will take the initiative to right the wrongs that they encounter in their day to day business in the marketplace. They will not keep this new found peace selfishly for themselves but will attempt to bring Christ’s message to all men.

All of us have the obligation to transform the world and bring it to Christ. My hope is that through deep personal prayer and union with God through the members of the family, people will realize that they must be “about my Father’s business” and right the wrongs in society.

It’s not surprising that these powerful statements are shared by the same man who said The Family That Prays Together Stays Together, and A World At Prayer Is A World At Peace!