February 16, 2026 // Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Mark 8:11-13
Reflect on the Word //
I’d been having some new symptoms, tingling and pain in my neck. Then there was the new neuropathy in my feet and legs. Was it just multiple sclerosis (MS) taking its course, progressing along, or was it some new thing? Was it just leftovers from chemo? I made appointments, had tests, and awaited the outcome.
I have long been trained in the fear of my own body. I’ve had cancer three times and had MS at least since my twenties, though they were only able to definitively diagnose it in my forties. For two decades I lived with a terrifying question mark over every twinge and ache and pain, wondering, Has another disease arrived to try to diminish me, or even kill me?
But that’s not the way the Lord has asked me to live. And it’s not the way He lived.
I love today’s Gospel from Mark for this very fact: Jesus left. Yes, he “sighed from the depth of his spirit” (Mark 8:12) at the pettiness of the Pharisees, but then “he left them, got into the boat again, and went off to the other shore” (Mark 8:13).
If, at times, even Jesus left the company of his detractors, literally sailed away from the naysayers and doubters and deceivers, doesn’t that give me permission to do the same?
When nagging fears and doubts tempt me to question the goodness of God, the reality of His faithfulness and power, when worry tries to pry me from the hand of the Lord I know to be all good, I can step into the boat with Jesus and sail away to another shore—with Him.
Let’s not be women of two minds, unstable in all our ways (see James 1:8). Let’s step into the boat of faithfulness and go where the Lord goes.
Relate to the Lord // Where have you been divided in your heart and mind. Ask the Lord to give you the grace to leave the doubt and fear behind, starting today.
Liz Kelly Stanchina is a jazz singer who met Jesus in late-night adoration. She is the community leader for women’s formation at the Word on Fire Institute and the author of more than a dozen award-winning books, including Jesus Approaches, Love Like a Saint, and the Blessed is She Advent devotional A Thrill of Hope. She holds advanced degrees in creative writing and Catholic studies. She is trained as a spiritual director, leading retreats and speaking around the world with a particular focus on helping women to flourish in their faith. Visit her website at LizK.org or follow her on Instagram at LizKToday.
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