Daily Catholic Reflection: February 8, 2021, Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year B

Genesis 1:1-19;

Psalm 103: 1_2,5-6,10,12,24,35;

Mark 6:53-56 Full Readings

Saint Josephine Bakhita

 Having Great Faith in Jesus

Brethren, in the first reading we see the first creation story, an explanation of how the universe came into being. The two slightly different accounts of the creation are not meant to be historical: they can’t be! One difficulty is that it is now firmly established scientifically that the universe existed for countless billions of years before human beings existed to record what was happening. Another, more obvious, difficulty is that the sun and the moon are said to have been created only on the fourth day: what could be meant by a ‘day’ without sunrise and sunset? Nevertheless, they are true, in that they teach us significant truths, not so much about what happened, but about ourselves today, our relationship to the Creator, whom we call ‘God’, to our environment and to one another. The creation stories answer many of our fundamental questions of humanity like, what is the origin of the universe, origin of man, origin of evil and suffering and many others and are necessary for our faith in God.

In the Gospel we see the extraordinary faith of the crowd who were following Jesus everywhere he went. The mere fact that they were following Jesus everywhere is the manifestation of the faith that they had in Jesus. In the Gospel we see that they were just longing to touch his cloak so that they can be healed. This is the extraordinary faith that this crowd showed, and a challenge to us today, to examine how deep is our faith in Jesus. Jesus went out doing good, healing the sick, casting out demons, forgiving sins and other works of mercy, but to those who showed faith in him and accepted him; to those who rejected him like in Nazareth, he didn't do many miracles there.

Today let us reflect on the depth of our faith in Jesus. Do we believe that through touching the cross of Jesus, receiving him in the Eucharist, using all sacramentals or even listening to his servants and Gospel heralds, Jesus can heal us? Most times, we can take these things for granted, but it is where Jesus needs to heal us from. Do you long to touch the cloak of Jesus so that you can be healed? Let's have faith in him, and all the sacramentals will help us to reach Jesus, to receive his healing and forgiveness of our sins.

Let us Pray 

My healing Lord, I thank You for the spiritual healing You continually offer me, especially through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I thank You for the forgiveness of my sins on account of You suffering on the Cross. Fill my heart with a greater desire to come to You so as to receive the greatest gift I could ever receive: the forgiveness of my sins. Amen

Be blessed