Father Kubicki???s Prayer Reflection

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Gertrude the Great. She lived in the 13th century and was a Benedictine sister who had a deep and passionate love for Jesus, present in the Blessed Sacrament.

Sometimes people think that science and religion are opposed to each other, but the reality is quite different. In fact, some of the greatest scientists in the world were priests.

This time of the year, the Church gives us readings about the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus Christ. We should not worry but have faith and know that staying close to the heart of Jesus will keep us on the sure path to heaven.

As a little girl growing up in Italy, today’s saint, Francis Cabrini dreamed of being a missionary. She dressed her dolls up as nuns and made paper boats using flowers as sailors that she would send across a local pond to China.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Josephat. He was martyred in his attempt to unite the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Besides the Roman Catholic Church, there are 23 other Churches that are Catholic. In some cases, they are older than the Church in Rome, which we call the Western Church.

Lord, we thank you for the service of our veterans, especially those who gave their lives and we pray that they may have not died in vain. Lord, have mercy on us and grant us your peace. Amen.

In Mass yesterday we heard that we were God’ building – God’s temple, and today we celebrate a pope, one of the few who was given the title great: Pope St. Leo the Great.

Today, the Church is celebrates the feast of the dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Every diocese has a special feast day when it’s main church or cathedral was consecrated or dedicated.

Today, the Church honors the memory of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. The saints were not born saints. They, like you and like I, had to learn to overcome their faults and to discipline themselves.

In today’s gospel regarding the widow’s mite, Jesus says: “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”

One of the problems with our contemporary world is that we tend to be very individualistic. We tend to look out for ourselves first and foremost. But, as Christians we are parts of a body – the Body of Christ, and we aren’t isolated individuals.

This is the month we remember in prayer the holy souls in Purgatory. Any imperfect souls are made perfect after death and Purgatory should not be looked at as a punishment, but a burning fire to purify us and make us ready to see God face t0 face.

Today, the Church honors a great bishop and cardinal of the 16th century – St. Charles Borromeo. He established seminaries, colleges, hospitals, orphanages and homeless shelters and when the plague struck Milan, Italy, he cared for the sick and buried the dead with his own hands.

Today, the Church honors the memory of a saint from Latin America: Martin de Porres. He’s the patron saint of interracial justice because in his own body, he reconciled the black race and the white race.

Today is All Souls Day,  day when the Church prayerfully remembers all of the faithful departed. Having honored all saints yesterday, today we pray for those who have died and may not have been perfect at the time of death.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of All Saints. It is also the first day of a month dedicated to prayer for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Let us pray for the souls of the faithful departed so they may soon be with the saints in heaven.

The Christian faith arose out of the faith of Israel, the people God chose to reveal Himself to, the people God chose as the race from which he would take flesh. Thus, Jesus good Jew that he was grew up in the atmosphere and the faith of Israel.

On September 27, 1992, Pope St. John Paul II beatified 17 Irish martyrs including a Jesuit brother named Dominic Collins. Dominic was born in the year 1566, and when he was 20, he went to France to become a soldier.

Halloween means All Hallows Eve,  the day before All Saints Day when we honor all the hallowed or holy people of every time and place. But few people think about that now. Now, Halloween is about ghosts and vampires and other things that are not spiritually uplifting.

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Apostles Simon and Jude. St. Simon is also called the Zealot, to distinguish him from Simon Peter. We know St. Jude as the patron saint of hopeless cases.