In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  The gospel points out several aspects of our Lord's salvific mission. First, His divine power of healing, which He continues to do so through the sacraments, freeing us from slavery to sin, from Satan's power through baptism, by which we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, freeing us from spiritual sickness, sin, through the sacrament of confession, and physical sickness through the anointing of the sick, and of course nourishing us with His body, blood, soul, and divinity. So our Lord's mission of healing, of restoring health, has continued through His Church, through the sacraments, and it's the same divine power of Christ working through the sacraments, bringing healing and restoring health, restoring health of body and soul.
Also in the gospel, we see our Lord's mission in His mission. Our Lord recognized that He was not to stay in one place, but that He was to go to other towns and villages, that His mission was not just to one region, but it shows the missionary aspect of our Lord's work in traveling and going to other places to preach and bring the good news of the gospel.
And it also points out the importance of solitude, of prayer, in which our Lord went to a deserted place to pray, knowing that our soul also, through our labors, through our physical labors and our endeavors and our works, that we also need that time to be alone with the Lord, to be united to Him through prayer.
Today we honor, in our liturgical calendar, St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church. He's a very interesting saint to study and to read about. He was a Benedictine, and he is considered to be the first religious to be elected as Pope. As I mentioned, he was a Benedictine, and one of his famous quotes is, he penned the quote, "Servant of the Servants of God, Servant of the Servants of God." His labors included many writings. He also cemented the doctrine of purgatory. He's known for his contribution to music, which received his name, Gregorian Chant. And also he was very missionary minded.
Once when he was walking through the markets of Rome and he saw fair-haired, blonde, blue-eyed slaves in the market, he asked who they were, and he was told that they were Angles, the Angles, and he said, "Not Angles, but angels." And he would then send St. Augustine of Canterbury to England. At that time, England had not been converted to the Christian faith, and because of this encounter with the Angles in the market, he sent St. Augustine of Canterbury to England to begin the conversion of England by bringing the gospel there.
He's also famous for a Eucharistic miracle. There was a woman who would bake the Eucharistic bread, the host used for mass, and when he was giving her communion, she began to laugh, thinking, and her laughter was mocking that what she had baked and prepared was now the body and blood, soul, the divinity of Jesus Christ. And so St. Gregory then took that host and put it on the altar, and he prayed, and the host turned to visible flesh. And when the woman saw this miracle, she was repentant and sorry for her doubt. And then he prayed, and the host turned back to the appearance of bread, and he gave her the consecrated host and holy communion.
He's also known for a very famous vision. At a certain time during his pontificate, there was a severe plague, and he organized a penitential procession, asking God's mercy to bring an end to the plague. And as the procession approached Hadrian's Mausoleum, which is now called Castel d'Angelo, he saw a vision of St. Michael above this castle unsheathing a flaming sword, giving the sign that God had been appeased by this procession and that the plague would end. And then he also installed in that castle, which we call Castel d'Angelo now, a chapel to St. Michael the Archangel.
And so we can reflect upon Pope St. Gregory today in his dedication, in his heroic witness to the Church, in his love for Jesus Christ, and ask him to help us in our own mission that we may continue to bring Christ to others and reflect Christ to all whom we encounter.  In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.