Fr. Kubicki 2 Minute Prayer Reflections

Today’s gospel is the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus. “Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them."

There’s a saying in sports that half of the game is just showing up. The same can be said about prayer. We should start small and schedule time each day and be faithful to it. Like exercise, a little prayer every day is better then a lot every so often.

In the 13th century, 7 very prominent businessmen in Florence, Italy were appalled at the excessive materialism and immorality of the city. They decided to take a counter-cultural stand against the excesses of the times. After receiving a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary who told them to leave the city, they left everything behind and dedicated their lives to poverty, prayer, and penance calling...

God answers every prayer but sometimes the answer he gives us is not the one we want. Sometimes the answer is no. God always hears our prayers just like God the Father heard his son Jesus when he prayed, and Jesus also received an answer which was hard to accept.

Today, the Church honors the memory of St. Claude La Colombière. He was the spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. He was extremely devoted to and an apostle of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Today is the feast of two Byzantine Greek saints who became missionaries to the Slavic people of Eastern Europe during the first millennium. These two saints we honor today are Saints Cyril and Methodius.

The Bible is one of the greatest tools that will help us reach our final destination of heaven. Much of what can help us in this journey are summed up by Jesus in the sermon on the mount. They are known as the beatitudes and in today’s gospel, we have St. Luke’s version of them.

Among the poor, there is great generosity. In fact, that is one of the main virtues in the tradition of the Lakota (Sioux) people. In the past, it was a sign of honor to give what you had away to those less fortunate. Thus, the most honored were those who gave the most away.

Today, the Church honors Our Lady of Lourdes. In 1942, a novel spent more then a year on the New York Times best seller list, including 13 weeks at number 1. That novel was made into a movie the following year in 1943 and it was nominated for 12 academy awards including best picture. It is the song of Bernadette and it won 4 academy awards including best actress by Jennifer Jones.

Today, the Church honors St. Scholastica. She is the twin sister of St. Benedict and was born around the year 500 in Italy. Like her brother, she started a monastery and what has come to be known as the Benedictine Sisters who have monasteries throughout the world.

In a couple of days, we will be celebrating the annual World Day of the Sick. When we saw Pope St. John Paul II at the end of his life, we knew he was teaching us all a very important message about sickness and suffering.

Today, the Church celebrates St. Josephine Bakhita. She is the patron saint of victims of human trafficking. She was born around the year 1868 in what is now Sudan. Josephine’s family was wealthy, but when she was 9, she was kidnapped by slave traders.

On this day in the year 1920, Frank Parater died. He was a Roman Catholic seminarian from the Diocese of Richmond who died of rheumatic fever at the age of 22 during his theological studies in Rome. He was very devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

In the gospel at Mass today, we see the story of the great catch. Jesus says: “put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Peter obeyed the Lord’s command and lowered the nets catching so many fish that the nets began to break. Peter responded; “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Agatha, who dedicated herself to a life of virginity. She remained steadfast to her vow and to her Faith even during terrible tortures and in the face of death.

Today, the Church honors the memory of St. John de Brito. He was Portuguese and was born to an aristocratic family. When he was 15, he joined the Jesuits and after he was ordained, his dream of becoming a missionary was fulfilled when he was sent to India.

Yesterday we celebrated the feast of the Presentation of Jesus which is also called Candlemas Day, because the candles used in our worship are traditionally blessed on that day. Today we honor an early Church martyr - St. Blaise, and we take some of those candles and we use them to bless throats.

It has been 40 days since Christmas and today we celebrate the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.

We have a long gospel at Mass today and it tells the story of how Jesus raised the daughter of a Synagogue official named Jairus back to life after she had died. But sandwiched between that story is another one, the story of a woman who had suffered from hemorrhages for 12 years and finally received healing after secretly touching the hem of Jesus’ robe.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. John Bosco. He was such a kind and good humored man that in some of the photos we have of him, you can catch the hint of a smile, as well as a twinkle in his eye.

When we pray, we shouldn’t be listening for a sound or a voice. God rather speaks to us in the silence of our hearts. We just have to give God the time, and then listen to the thoughts that arise as we ponder his word as it comes to us in the Bible.

The first reading at Mass today which continues the Old Testament’s story of King David’s grave sins of adultery and murder has a story from the prophet Nathan which speaks about a rich man who wanted his poor neighbor's lamb so he could make a meal of it for a visitor.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas. He is the author of Tantum Ergo, which is often sung at Benediction and other Eucharistic devotions. St. Thomas Aquinas was commissioned by the pope himself to compose hymns that would renew people’s faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Angela Merici. She was flesh and blood but angelic, just like her name because of her goodness and her desire to do God’s will. She was orphaned when she was 15 and joined the third order of Franciscans. Along with others, she founded the first religious order devoted to the education of young girls – the Ursuline Sisters.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Paul’s closest collaborators – Saints Timothy and Titus.  In the New Testament, St. Paul wrote three letters to these great saints.