14 February 2026 - Saturday of the 5th week in ordinary time - St Cyril and Methodius - Mark 8:1-10

In the Middle Ages, there was a great movement of people immigrating across Europe. Bringing Christianity to these ethnic groups was a major goal for the Church. In this context, we celebrate the feast day of St Cyril and St Methodius, two brothers who traveled from their home country of Greece to be missionaries to the Slavic people of Europe in the 9th century. These two brothers learned the language of the Slavic people and were able to bring the word of God to them in their own language, which made their missionary work very successful and which brought about many conversions. They invented a Slavic alphabet into which they translated Sacred Scripture. The Slavic liturgy that Cyril and Methodius wrote is still used in many Churches in the East today. We honor these two great missionaries today, remembering their contributions to our universal Church. 

In the last two daily masses, we heard about Jesus bringing miracles of healing into people’s lives. Today, we hear about the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, foreshadowing the Eucharist that Jesus would institute at the Last Supper and showing the compassion Jesus had for both the physical and spiritual nourishment of the crowds.  We have heard talks during this retreat on the importance of the Eucharist in our Catholic faith. We are not only called to recognize the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist that we receive at Mass, but we are called to recognize the presence of Christ in our neighbor, in the poor and those on the margins. We are called to recognize ourselves in the Church as the living body of Christ on earth, as being of service to Go and to our brothers and sisters just as Christ lived a life of service. We are called as individuals to live out the spirit of the Eucharist in our lives each day. 

This retreat has been an awesome experience that has touched our hearts and our minds. But the real challenge will be pondering and reflecting on all that went on in the retreat when we return back to our home towns, and looking for ways to incorporate what we bring back from the retreat in our daily lives. Some of us are also talking about how we can support each other and to keep the spirit of ACTS alive as a group of men after we return to our parishes. That will be important for us to do in the coming days and weeks and months.