Father Kubicki???s Prayer Reflection

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Robert Bellarmine. He was an Italian Cardinal and theologian, and a great part of the Catholic Church’s counter-reformation in the 17th century.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of two martyrs; St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian. St. Cornelius was elected pope in 251 and was sent into exile a year later and died from his mistreatment. St. Cyprian became bishop of Carthage in Africa in 249. He was beheaded in 258.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. After celebrating a feast in honor of the Cross of Jesus yesterday, today we honor the memory of the one who shared most inanimately in the sufferings of that cross.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of The Exultation of the Holy Cross. It is a feast that goes back to the dedication of the first Church that was built over the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

Today, the Church honors the memory of a great preacher and bishop of Constantinople, the center of the Byzantine Empire in the year 400. It is the feast of St. John Chrysostom. His name in Greek means “golden mouthed.”

Who do people today say that Jesus is? A good man and teacher?  A prophet in the line of Jewish prophets? A myth? Who do you say that Jesus is? Why not take some time to think and pray about this today.

As we honor all of the victims of what we have come to call 9/11, let us pray for our nation and our world. Let’s pray for the conversion that can lead to the recognition of the sanctity of all human life.

Tomorrow is the twentieth anniversary of one of the most terrible events in our nation’s history. It is the anniversary of the destruction of The World Trade Center. It is still so vivid in the hearts and minds of the people who lost loved ones in the tragedy.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St.Peter Claver. He came to Columbia as a missionary and he found his mission field in a terrible place. The inner compartments of ships which brought kidnapped people from Africa to be sold as slaves.

Today, the Church celebrates the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A holy Carmelite priest named Fr. Gabriel once wrote; “After the birth of Jesus, no other birth was ever as important in God’s eyes or as precious for the good of the human race, as was Mary’s.”

Tomorrow in the Church, we celebrate the birthday of a woman for whom God had a very special love and plan. It is the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Today, as we celebrate Labor Day in the United States, we reflect on the fact that their is dignity in the work we perform. On a daily basis we can offer that all the works, joys and sufferings to Jesus in praying the morning offering.

The gospels are filled with the words of Jesus, but not many of them are in the original Aramaic which Jesus spoke. Today’s gospel has one of those Aramaic words; “Ephphatha,” which means “be open.”

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She was always so concrete and challenging both in word and in deed. She emphasized the importance of the respect for all human life, and the beauty of the family.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great. Pope Gregory lived in very turbulent times around the year 600. He gave his name to music that is still popular today; Gregorian chant.

The gospel for today’s Mass is from the beginning of the gospel of St. Luke chapter 5, where Jesus the Carpenter, tells Peter the professional fisherman, how to fish.

As we honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus, one idea to meditate on His love for us, is to feel our own pulse, and to imagine with each heartbeat, Jesus knocking. He wants to have a heart to heart conversation with us.

It’s that time of year when parents are getting ready to send their children back to school, and teachers are getting ready for a new school year. Today’s gospel from Luke 4:31, says that one of the things that Jesus did, was to teach.

At this time of the year, when so many are harvesting their crops, we do well to meditate on God’s work as a gardener of our soul. As God gives us the sun and the rain which help our fruit and vegetables to grow, he also gives us the grace to make the garden of our soul grow eternal fruit.

In the second reading at Mass today, St. James makes clear that we need to practice what we believe. He writes; “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.” St. James then explains what it means to be doers of the word.