Why Do You Pray?
August 5, 2025
By Father Christopher Kubat, M.D.
On August 4th, the Universal Church celebrated the memorial of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of all priests. He was the pastor of a small parish church in Ars, France and was famous for spending 16 hours a day in the confessional during the summer, and 12 hours a day in the winter. In addition, he was given the charism of reading souls.
In one of his talks, he said this about prayer, “There are some who seem to speak to the good God like this: I will only say a couple of things to you, and then I will be rid of you.’” When writing this, I wonder if he was thinking of those who go Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation only because they are obliged and not out of love, hoping that the homily is brief, there is no music so they can hurry to the parking lot, get into their cars to get on with their lives. If you are one of these, just ask for more faith to understand that the Mass is the re-presentation of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. And when you receive Holy Communion, you become a ‘living tabernacle’ for 12-15 minutes until the host breaks down in your stomach.
That said, the Catholic Medical Association is about to hold their Annual Educational Conference at the Kansas City, MO Marriott Hotel from September 4-6. The theme of the meeting is, “Tradition, Ever Ancient, Ever New.” In addition to incredible talks and the chance of receiving continuing educational credits, the most important physician attending is the Divine Physician, Jesus Christ. Each day, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be offered and those attending will be able to adore Jesus Christ in the adoration chapel. In addition, there will be multiple chances of encountering Jesus in the sacrament of penance.
While spending time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in the adoration chapel, we all will have a chance to ask ourselves the following questions, ‘Do I pray each day? if so, how much time to I spend talking to the Lord? What is my motivation for praying? Am I there in prayer because I want to, because I love God, or does the statement of St. John Vianney apply to me?
If you never have attended an annual conference of the CMA, I promise you, if you do, you will never regret it. The talks are great, you will earn CME credits, make new friends and best of all, you will spend these days with Jesus Christ, the Father’s Word Made Flesh in the Holy Spirit. As the Divine Physician, he will spiritually remove any pathogens of the soul.
I would like to thank the conference chair Dr. Anthony Oliva M.D., the national office staff and all those who have worked so hard on this upcoming event. St. John Vianney, pray for us and for our upcoming conference.
National Chaplain Fr. Christopher Kubat, M.D. is the pastor of St. Andrew Catholic Church in Tecumseh, Nebraska and St. Mary Catholic Church in St. Mary, Nebraska. He serves as a member of CMA’s Health Care Policy Committee, Ethics Committee, Awards Committee and Executive Committee.