Gospel: February 9, 2026

February 9, 2026 (Monday)

5th Week in Ordinary Time

Psalter: Week 1 (Green)

Ps 132:6-7, 8-10

Lord, go up to the place of your rest!

1st Reading: 1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13

Then Solomon assembled before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, as well as the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the city of David, which is Zion.

All the Israelites assembled near king Solomon in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests carried the Ark of the Lord and brought it up together with the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the tent. After the priests and Levites had brought them up, king Solomon with the entire congregation of Israel that had assembled before him and were with him before the Ark, sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could neither be counted nor numbered. Then the priests laid the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord in its place in the inner Sanctuary of the house—the Most Holy Place—underneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the ark, providing a covering above the Ark and its poles. There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses placed there at Horeb, where the Lord made a Covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt. And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, such a cloud filled the Lord’s house that the priests could not continue to minister. Indeed, the glory of the Lord filled his house.

Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. So the house I have built you will be your house, a place for you to dwell in forever.”

Gospel: Mark 6:53-56

Having crossed the lake, they came ashore at Gennesaret, where they tied up the boat. As soon as they landed, people recognized Jesus, and ran to spread the news throughout the countryside. Wherever he was, they brought to him the sick lying on their mats; and wherever he went, to villages, towns or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplace, and begged him to let them touch just the fringe of his cloak. And all who touched him were cured.

Reflection:

He touches us.

See Also

Probe of Villanueva, others in flood mess moving–DOJ

The cloak of the Lord: whoever touches it is healed, says Mark. The people crowd around Jesus to see and hear him and be healed.

We, too, have been touched by the Lord’s mantle several times—during a Mass when we open our hearts to His words, before an inspiration that has moved us while watching a sunset by the seaside, in the mountains where we see the beauty of God’s creation, or in response to an act of pure love that moves us to respond in love.

We, too, touch the lives of others when we take the time to listen to their sorrows, share a drink with those who are thirsty, give our best to the work we do, and pray for the suffering and the needy. The Lord’s cloak touches the sick and the discouraged through our words, patience, and goodness.

Yes, the Lord continues to touch the world and all of humanity. He touches us, and through us, He touches others. Let us be the sacrament of the Lord in our world today.