Daily Gospel Reflection
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January 31, 2026
On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:
“Let us cross to the other side.”
Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.
And other boats were with him.
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him,
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
He woke up,
rebuked the wind,
and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!”
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?”
They were filled with great awe and said to one another,
“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”
In my early years of teaching in the classroom, I remember being struck by the anxiety of my students as the end of a semester approached. We had been methodically learning the basics of motion and Newton’s laws together. I was their guide, and many quizzes, labs, and daily homework assignments demonstrated the students’ understanding. But when it was test time, there was a lack of faith. It was as if they thought I was going to intentionally trick them, and they would fail, and I would just be there silently grading as their GPAs perished.
Since becoming a parent, a similar confusion frequently hits me—the worry that all is not well and my caretaking is not helping. Recently, I hear myself asking the same questions of my five and three-year-old “Why are you crying? Use your words. How can I help you?” What I am really feeling is, “I love you. How do you not see that?”
This pattern emerges in today’s Scripture. There is a problem, a crisis even. Great danger. “You are in charge, God, fix it for us!” In Mark’s Gospel, in particular, the followers of Jesus even go so far as to voice their concern that Jesus doesn’t care that they are perishing. Christ’s response is first to de-escalate the situation by literally speaking to the sea, “BE SILENT. BE STILL.”
After it is calm enough to talk, the tired and frustrated teacher turns to his followers in awe at their lack of faith and perpetual worldly fear. “Why are you afraid?” he asks. I can see the look on Jesus’ face as he turns to his shocked and anxious friends. It is as if he is saying, “Are you kidding me?! The healings, my explanations of the parables, the masses of people who swarmed us with their faith to the edge of the sea so we had to escape in this boat to rest for a while… and you think I am not keeping you safe? Have faith. I love you.”
We pray today that we may have faith the size of a mustard seed and trust that God has people around us in our lives who will calm our daily storms.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, as your Church—the barque of Peter—sails the sea of time, it is often beset by the storms of division and persecution. In our lives, too, we encounter headwinds and squalls: physical illnesses, wounded relationships, the grief of loss, and the shame of our sins. When we can feel as if the waves breaking over us are too much and are filled with fear, rouse our faith in you whom even wind and sea obey, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
Saint of the Day
When he was just nine years old, St. John Bosco had a vivid dream that revealed to him the vocation that would shape his life: serving children.
John Bosco was born in 1815 in Northern Italy, and his father died when he was only 2. As a boy, John dreamed that he stood in a crowd of children who were fighting and cussing and he was failing to quiet them. A mysterious lady appeared and told him, “You will have to win these friends of yours not with blows, but with gentleness and kindness. Take your shepherd’s staff and lead them to pasture.” As she spoke, the children turned into wild beasts and then into lambs.
John was disturbed by the dream, as he felt that what it commanded was an impossible task. Still, he could not let the vision go, and as he matured, it led him to minister to the poor and neglected boys who lived in Turin, Italy. He would perform magic tricks and juggling and acrobatics in order to gain their attention, and then he would teach them about the faith and invite them to attend Mass with him.
He soon had a constant crowd of several hundred boys following him around. When other priests or nuns tried to help, they tired or became frustrated. He had little money and many thought him to be out of his mind.
He opened several centers where young people could come to play and pray but was set back by finances and many people’s unwillingness to let a crowd of unruly children run through any property they owned. Don Bosco was undeterred and even began to let some of the children live in his home with his mother.
Money started to come in for his cause, and he opened a church for these children as well as a home and school. He encouraged boys to learn trades to become shoemakers and tailors, and persuaded many who had a vocation to the priesthood. Soon Don Bosco was serving, training, housing, and educating hundreds of boys, all with a gentleness and patience that these lost boys found nowhere else.
He became known as a popular preacher because of his eloquence and there were reports of miracles attributed to his intercession. At the height of an anti-clerical movement—when even the Jesuits had been expelled and several convents suppressed—he founded an order of priests to assist in this work with children. He named it the Salesians, after his favorite saint, St. Francis de Sales, and founded another order of women to work with girls, called the Daughters of Our Lady, Help of Christians. The Salesian family also includes a community of brothers. The work of these orders continues today.
St. John Bosco died on January 31, 1888, and is honored as a patron saint of children and magicians. His story and image are used by high school students who come to campus for a summer conference with the Notre Dame Vision program.
St. John Bosco, who loved neglected and unruly children with patience and gentleness—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. John Bosco is an illustration by Julie Lonneman, who holds exclusive rights to the further distribution and publication of her art. Used with permission.