February 9, 2026 // Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 6:53-56
Reflect on the Word //
It was a moment of grace. I sat on the balcony, watching shadows fall over the valley, trying to muster the courage to go to Confession. And suddenly, as if from a similar bird’s-eye view of my heart, I understood how I was viewing myself: dirty and ragged, untouchable and unworthy.
Later that night, I headed into the confessional, where Jesus met me through a Byzantine priest. In the Byzantine rite, I discovered, the priest drapes his stole over the penitent’s head during absolution. There, beneath this literal covering of mercy, I realized: Jesus actually wanted to touch me.
The people who first meet Jesus in today’s Gospel do so with such feverish excitement. I imagine their joyful shouts and embraces on the seashore as they “immediately [recognize] him” (Mark 6:54). Their “scurrying about the countryside” (Mark 6:55) stands in stark contrast to the other group of people, the sick who cannot move their own mats to Jesus, who must wait for Him to pass by. I wonder if some were even too weak to touch their fingers to His cloak. Would He reach out to touch them instead?
I picture myself on those mats as I remember how shame paralyzed me that spring night in high school. I wanted to be able to run to Jesus like the people who greet Him in today’s Gospel, but He couldn’t really want me the way I was—could He?
Several years later, it is still hard to believe that my littleness could actually attract Jesus! That He might be drawn by the places of my heart that I most want to hide!
But this is our God. This is mercy! The word mercy comes from the Latin misericordia, a compound of the words for “misery” and “heart.” When we feel too weak to run after the Lord, He is still merciful. His Heart is moved by our very misery, and He rushes to meet us there.
Relate to the Lord // When was the last time you received absolution in the Sacrament of Confession? Make a plan to go and receive His mercy this week.
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