August 8, 2026
Saint Dominic
Gospel: Mt 17:14-20

Today is Saturday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time. The Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest today. The most recently published Roman Missal introduces this saint as follows: Dominic (c.1170-1221) was born at Caleruega (Spain) and initially joined the Canons Regular of Osma. In 1206 he was sent to Languedoc (France) to help combat the Catharist or Albigensian heresy. While based in Toulouse, he founded the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) to assist in this work; the Order was approved by the Holy See in 1216 and has had a huge impact on the life of the Church.

Today’s passage from the Gospel of Matthew presents to us a narrative of a father who repeatedly asked Jesus’ disciples to drive the demon out of his son. When they failed, he turned to Jesus for help. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some reflections.

In our daily lives, we often encounter those who endure various kinds of suffering, as well as their loved ones who stay by their side. Often, like the father in the Gospel, they travel everywhere to seek medical help for their loved ones, exhausting every possible means to free them from their afflictions. In our Church, there is also such a group of people who constantly pray to God for those who long to be healed. Frequently, like the father in the Gospel, they kneel before Jesus, imploring His mercy. They think that as long as they ask, God will grant their request. But the reality is quite the opposite. Their prayers and their efforts do not bring comfort to those who suffer, nor do they rescue them from their plight; instead, they sink them deeper into it. The reason for this is that we often pray to God according to our own ideas. For in our eyes, God ought to bestow upon us all kinds of graces we desire from Him. If He does not grant them, then He is a false god. We might even think: for those who endure various sufferings, I have already done my utmost; the reason they undergo such pain may be that their sins are truly grave, and God is thereby tormenting and punishing them.

Today, let us follow in the footsteps of Saint Dominic, bringing those who urgently need healing and are in desperate need of God’s salvation to Jesus. Let us help them, just like us, to be filled with trust in Jesus Christ, so that Jesus may manifest His mighty power in them, enabling them to live no longer in misery, but in the grace of God.

May Saint Dominic come to the help of your Church
by his merits and teaching, O Lord,
and may he, who was an outstanding preacher of your truth,
be a devoted intercessor on our behalf.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica