Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Mk 6:53-56
Jesus Who Heals

Today’s Gospel, taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark, tells us that after Jesus arrived in Gennesaret, people from there and the surrounding areas brought all the sick to the place where they had heard Jesus was. Some of the crowds even laid the sick in the streets, all sharing a common hope that Jesus would heal them.

This reminds me of scenes I’ve witnessed in life: At airports and hotels where celebrities are staying, some fervent fans, commonly known as “sasaeng fans” online, will go to the airport to greet their idols once they know when their idols will arrive. Some even book rooms at the hotels where the celebrities are staying, just to have close contact with their idols. They do this so they can post the latest updates about their idols on social media, enabling those who share the same interest to learn about their idols’ latest moves through their efforts and giving themselves a chance to have zero-distance contact with their idols.

The same is true for some Christians: They regard a certain priest as an idol. When that priest is transferred from the parish due to work reasons, they will choose to follow the priest they are fond of. Some Christians will insist on staying rooted in the parish where they once worked with the priest they view as an idol, not to demonstrate their enthusiasm but to preserve this memory. These are the people in today’s Gospel passage who pursued Jesus.

Today, let us pray to Jesus, asking the Savior Jesus to grant us a calm mind, so that we may not be obsessed with worldly idols. Instead, let us wholeheartedly pursue Jesus Christ, yearn for the Kingdom of God that Jesus Christ proclaims, and eagerly desire to encounter Jesus in the sacraments. Let us maintain a good relationship with Jesus Christ. And let us ask Jesus Christ to bestow His Holy Spirit upon us, so that under the illumination of the Holy Spirit of God, we may continuously carry out God’s will and practice all that Christ has taught. In this way, through what God has accomplished in us, others may see God’s infinite mercy and together become merciful disciples of the Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica