Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 7, 2026
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.
Today, Christ invites his disciples to come away to rest. It may be tempting to interpret this as an alluring appeal to withdrawal and to complacency. But rest doesn’t always look the way we envision it or last for as long as we’d like.
Today’s reading, situated between John the Baptist’s execution and the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 in Mark’s Gospel, suggests, perhaps, that true rest draws us deeper into fellowship and renews our vocational callings.
Each December, the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) Teaching Fellows travel from thirty-five dioceses throughout the United States to Austin, Texas, for a retreat. Amidst the liturgies, paired walks, spikeball games, and Christmas carols, this sacred weekend serves less as catch-up on sleep or as a brief respite from grading, and more as an active wrestling with our commitments to our respective Catholic school communities.
On retreat in December of 2023, I was moved by the questions that Fr. Lou DelFra, C.S.C., proposed to all of us second-year teachers: During your time in ACE, what have you lost? And what have you found?
Sometimes in our lives, we are a “sheep without a shepherd,” but sometimes, just when we feel we have only begun to rest, we are called to model the persistent zeal and love of Christ the Teacher.
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
In the spring of 720, a father and his two sons set out from Wessex, England on a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land. On their way, the father died in Lucca, Italy, and was buried there. Soon, miracles were recorded at his tomb.
The man’s two sons, Willibald and Winebald, grew up to become important figures in the Church of the time, and both are remembered as saints, as is their sister, Walburga. The holiness displayed by his children encouraged more reverence for this pilgrim, even though his name was not recorded for history.
The faithful of Lucca and those who followed his children gave this man a name—Richard—and even a title that suggested he was king of the English. (In reality, there was no King Richard from England before the King Richard Lionhearted ascended to the throne some 400 years later.)
Despite what little we know of him, St. Richard’s memory is kept because he was a father who loved God and his children. To undertake such an arduous pilgrimage took great faith, and that faithfulness became a family trait carried on by his sons and daughter.
St. Richard is an example to parents who strive to encourage their children by their actions in their own life of faith. We know next to nothing about this man, but because his values and spirit inspired his children, his holiness still echoes through time to us today.
Relics from the four people in this holy family rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Richard, you were the faithful father who encouraged your children to become saints, pray for us!