Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 5, 2022
The Apostles gathered together with Jesus
and reported all they had done and taught.
He said to them,
“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”
People were coming and going in great numbers,
and they had no opportunity even to eat.
So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.
People saw them leaving and many came to know about it.
They hastened there on foot from all the towns
and arrived at the place before them.
When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.
Self-care is a term I am intimately familiar with. It has not only become a popular recommendation in dealing with two years of living in the COVID-19 pandemic, but is also an essential practice for me to be a healthy therapist for others.
My difficulty balancing productivity with self-care dates back to my freshman year of high school when I confronted the limited number of hours in each day. I often sacrificed sleep to complete homework.
These habits continued as an undergraduate at the University of Notre Dame, where academic, vocational, and social opportunities abounded. Sleep deprivation felt unavoidable. Even though I was rarely fully rested, I continued to be successful.
It was not until I began to pursue my Ph.D. in clinical psychology that I realized that my poor habits were unsustainable, especially as I began to work with clients. I could not show up to a therapy session drowsy, forgetful, or irritable; I had to be fully present. Self-care is essential for the care of others.
In this passage, Jesus explicitly tells the Apostles, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” Jesus does not say, “There is no time to rest. Stay a little longer. Teach a little more.”
Jesus recognizes the limitations of the Apostles and directly intervenes so that they can recharge. Even if we fool ourselves in certain seasons to push beyond our natural limits, constraints are an inescapable reality of the human condition. We are not God. As a recovering perfectionist and chronic over-achiever, I have to remind myself regularly that I did enough for today.
We are all called to do God’s work through our embodied existence. However, this work can only continue if we care for the bodies, minds, and spirits that we use to carry out this mission.
Prayer
Dear Lord, as we go about our homes and work, let us bring your presence with us. Let us speak your peace, your grace, your mercy, and your perfect order to all we meet. Give us a fresh supply of strength to do our work. Let even our smallest accomplishments bring you glory. When we are confused, guide us. When we are burned out, infuse us with the light of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for being our source of life! Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Agatha is one of the most famous virgin martyrs in the Catholic tradition. Like many early saints, it can be difficult to know what aspects of her legend are historically accurate, but her witness to the faith is undoubtedly a source of ongoing inspiration for us today.
It is said that she was a young, beautiful girl from a rich and well-known family in the early Church. As young girl, she resolutely declared herself a Christian in the midst of a persecution and promised her life to God.
A Roman official who admired her beauty tried to blackmail her. He threatened to charge her as a Christian unless she consented to sex with him. She refused, so he placed her in a brothel. There, she denied customers, and was thrown into prison, where she was beaten and tortured.
None of this succeeded in turning her from her faith, and she was sent back to her cell without food or drink for four days. There, she was comforted by a vision of St. Peter, who filled her dungeon with heavenly light.
She was further tortured until death. One of the tortures she suffered was to have her breasts cut off, which is why she is patron against breast cancer.
St. Agatha is named in one of the Eucharistic prayers at Mass and her relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. Her image was created by Matthew Alderman '06 and is used here with his permission. In it, she holds a smoldering bowl and a metal snipper. She is honored in Sicily because devotion to her has stopped eruptions of the nearby volcano, Mt. Etna. By extension, she is patron saint of guilds of bell makers, either because fire alarms use bells, or because the casting of a bell involves lava-like molten metal.
Her feast day is a major celebration for the people of Sicily, where she was martyred, both because of her protection and because she is an emblem of the people's struggle against Roman rule. The motto below her image reads, Mentem sanctam spontaneam, honorem Deo et patriae liberationem, which translates to, "A Saintly and spontaneous mind, love of God and liberation of the homeland."
St. Agatha, patron saint for protection from breast cancer and fire—pray for us!
Image Credit: Illustration by Notre Dame alumnus Matthew Alderman, who holds exclusive rights to the further distribution and publication of his art. Used here with permission.