We are Brothers and Sisters
February 15, 2026
One of my parishes is in Tecumseh, Nebraska has a grade school, St. Andrew. Recently, I visited the kindergarten and first graders. During my class, I informed them that God is our Father and we are His sons and daughters. Since God the Father is our Father, we are brothers and sisters. Later that morning, one of our first-grade boys casually informed another boy in our school that since God was the Father of both of them, they were brothers. But this little boy wasn’t done.
Our Catholic school children walk two blocks to the public school for lunch. After lunch, as one of the lunch ladies started wiping tables, this same boy informed this middle-aged woman that she is a daughter of God the Father and since he was His son, they were siblings. A witness to this event said she then smiled. No one told this little boy to do this, he just did it. Jesus said, “Go out into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). This is not just the job of little boys and girls, or religious and priests but for all of us. If you think you do not know the faith well enough to talk about it, or you are afraid of doing so, knowing that God is our Father and we are brothers and sisters in the Lord is a good starting point. And when afraid, think of this small boy who wasn’t.
Here are a few ideas to incorporate into your Lenten journey to Easter. There are Fourteen Stations of the Cross. Each day, mediate on one station. Then at the end of Lent, you will know them and love God all the more. Your desire to spread the faith to others will increase.
Hopefully, you are praying the Rosary daily, that great ‘Bible on a Rope.’ When you recite the daily Rosary, pick one of the mysteries and read the Scripture passages that pertain. At the end of Lent, your love for God will increase as well as your desire to spread the Gospel.
During WWII, the priest St. Maximilian Kolbe gave his life for another man. While starving to death, Fr. Kolbe was with nine other men in the starvation cell in block 11 at Auschwitz. He was eventually given a lethal injection. Why not form a ‘bunker’ in your mind and place nine people in it? It could be someone you love, someone who is ill, someone who has left the practice of the faith, or even someone you are having a difficult time forgiving. Over the course of Lent, pray for each of them daily. At the end of Lent, you will love God and neighbor more, including those you do not like and your desire to spread the faith will increase, like the little boy mentioned above.
Please be assured of my prayers during this awesome season of Lent! Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us, Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us, St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us, All our patron angels and saint, pray for us!
Fr. Christopher Kubat is the national chaplain for the Catholic Medical Association.