The First Sunday of Lent, February 22, 2026

Matthew 4, 1–11

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”  Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you and with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.”  Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.

The Evangelist describes the Lord’s temptations by the devil, which took place on the Eve of his ministry to mankind for us to learn about the Lord and his power over the devil but also to teach us about temptations.

We learn, for instance, that we can be tempted anywhere at any time: for Adam and Eve were tempted in the lush Garden of Eden and the Lord in the rocky wilderness of Judea.  We learn also that the devil is very persistent.  He tempts our Lord not once but three times, and probably over a period of time.  These temptations were not over in a few minutes.  We are also tempted in every condition in which we can be: strong, as in Adam and Eve in Eden; and weak and famished as the Lord in the wilderness.  We are tempted primarily regarding three basic things: pride, presumption, and the desire for indulgence.  You and I may be sons and daughters of God through adoption, but we cannot consider ourselves entitled to do whatever we wish because of it; God will protect us from evil, but not from the consequences we face when we seek it out; and the world and its peoples do not belong to us: they belong to Almighty God.  Something else we learn from this Gospel Reading about temptation is how to suffer it: we do not argue with the devil but simply refuse to do his bidding.  The Lord rebukes him with Scripture so as to preserve the righteousness of the Holy Scriptures against the devil’s misuse of them, but we are to then do as he did: walk away from his machinations.  We are to say: “Get away, Satan!”  And then we should move ourselves too.  Again, when the devil leaves us, the angels minister to us.  They bind up the wounds we may suffer in overcoming evil and obtain for us graces to protect us against further temptations.

We should also note that the devil does this at the very onset of the Lord’s ministry.  We are thereby warned that whenever we have committed to understate some holy work, whether to volunteer in charitable work, to receive a new sacrament, or to follow one’s vocation to the Priesthood or the religious life, the devil will fight against us.  He will use persuasion, threats, and even arrange for some kind of outside trouble to keep us from doing the will of God in this way.  We should not be dismayed by this when it happens, but rather encouraged.  Despite himself, the devil confirms that we are doing the right thing.

Personal note: Thanks again for your prayers! There is gradual but steady improvement. Connected with the injections is risk of infection (which would result in blindness) so please continue praying. Reading and writing is still somewhat difficult and exhausting but I’m doing the best I can. Fortunately we live in an era in which machines can read to us and rake dictation. I’m still learning how to make use of this technology.

Saturday after Ash Wednesday, February 21, 2026

Luke 5, 27-32

Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”

“Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi.”  The verb here translated as “he saw” means something more than “he looked at him”.  It carries the meaning of “beheld” and “contemplated”.  The Lord, in other words, was looking intently at Levi, who also went by the name “Matthew”.  Levi was sitting at his table in the marketplace collecting taxes while scribes recorded the transactions and others counted or weighed the coins.  Despite the line of people and their complaints and excuses, he felt the Lord’s eyes upon him.  He looked out past the people before him and met those eyes.  The man whose preaching had stirred him even from a distance and whose miracles were recounted to him, was looking at him, the tax collector, whom decent folks avoided to the extent that they could: for the Pharisees taught that tax collectors were little better than vermin.  “Follow me.”  That is all the Lord said to him.  It was both an invitation and a command.  And Matthew understood with certainty that he was to follow not for an hour or a day, but for the rest of his life.  He did not wait to see if Jesus would repeat himself, or if Jesus would clarify that he meant someone else.  Matthew got up and went to Jesus, “leaving everything behind”.  

“Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them.”  Matthew shows his joy at the call of the Lord Jesus by hosting his last great feast.  The Apostles, who often went hungry with the Lord, must have delighted at the rich variety of food, for meat from goats and fattened calves would have enriched the fare, and good wine would have flowed as well.  His friends, many of whom probably lived outside the town, would have poured in from the surrounding area.  The Lord would have kept with Matthew, who introduced his guests to him.  Meanwhile, Matthew’s steward would have hustled about, directing the lower servants and checking the food and the wine.  Music played on lyre and flute would have entertained the crowd as they ate, drank, and conversed.  The tax collectors and their friends, largely shunned by society, had developed a certain roughness that would have shone itself in bawdy language and raucous laughter.  A good amount of joking would have centered on the fact that Matthew — of all people — had as his guest of honor a holy man.

The Pharisees were disgusted.  It is hard to imagine them feeling welcome at such a feast.  Perhaps they merely strolled around, disapproving of it all, or else they hung around outside the compound.  But they complained.  “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” They addressed the Apostles, but the question was directed at the Lord.  The Lord heard the question, either himself or through an Apostle.  “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”  Jesus, who has acted as physician in healing physical ailments, now reveals to the Pharisees that his work is with souls as well.  We should notice, too, how the Lord declares, “I have . . . come” to heal sinners.  He does not say, “They are called to repent”, but rather, “I have come to call these to repentance.”  That is, the Lord is acting on his own authority.  The inference too is clear: “I have come into the world” to do this.  But who of those born into the world can say this?  We do not come into the world with a purpose.  Only one who existed outside of this world can do this.  The prophets never spoke like this, nor Moses.

“I have not come to call the righteous.”  These are those who esteem themselves to be righteous, despite Psalm 143, 2: “In your sight no man living is justified.”  Or, they do not recall the words of Ecclesiastes 7, 21: “There is no just man upon earth that does good, and does not sin.” The Pharisees are concerned with keeping themselves ritually pure, which they equate with righteousness.  But the Law does not forbid eating and drinking with tax collectors and “sinners” nor does it say that one who does so becomes unclean.  The Lord on many occasions calls the Pharisees “hypocrites” and one reason for this is that they claim to know, study, and observe the Law, but they hardly know it at all.  They study instead “the doctrines and precepts of men” (Mark 7, 7), and set aside the Law for these lesser things.  We do this when we refuse to eat or talk with others because we consider them “evil” because of their political or religious opinions, for instance.  Surely some shared interests can provide an opening for civil discussion and learning about the origins of the beliefs of others.  Lest we think this impossible, let us consider that the Apostles, all raised as faithful Jews, sat down with the tax collectors and sinners, and ate with them.  And, of course, the God of heaven and earth sat down at the table of his creatures Peter and Andrew and ate at their humble board.  Conversion is not accomplished from far off but from close up.  The Son of God became man in order to be close up with us.  If 

we humble ourselves a little, we can be close up with unbelievers and gradually help them to believe.

Personal note: my eye is still sore from yesterday’s injection but my xision is less wavy and I can see light and color as I have not in a very long time. Thank you all for your prayers! I still struggle le a little bit le to read but I think there has been much improvement, I will keep you posted.

Friday after Ash Wednesday, February 20, 2026

Matthew 9, 14-15

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

Eating is a central activity in many religious cultures.  In this context, this necessary human activity is raised by ritual to a form of religious worship.  For instance, St. Paul strenuously urged his Gentile converts not to eat meat sacrificed to idols because this was a sign of communing with them: “But the things which the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I would not that you should be made partakers with devils. You cannot drink the chalice of the Lord and the chalice of devils: you cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord and of the table of devils” (1 Corinthians 10:20–21).  So, too, the practice of fasting became a form of divine worship.  We find this practiced on various occasions in the Old Testament as a way of repenting of sins.  The Pharisees, beginning in the century or two before the Birth of the Lord, made fasting a regular practice so that fasting and certain customs pertaining to it became associated in the public mind with them.  It is not clear why the Pharisees fasted, however.  It may have had to do with their ideas of expanding the ritual purity required for service in the Temple to ordinary life.  Later, John the Baptist and his disciples fasted as a way of preparing for the feast of the coming messianic kingdom.

Jesus and his Apostles often went hungry, but the Lord did not compel them to fast in the way the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist did.  Partly, this had to do with the intense labor they did in traveling and ministering to the crowds, as well as the fact that their meals were sporadic in any event.  Mostly, though, the Lord did not have his followers fast because there was no reason for them to do so: “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?”  John’s disciples continued to fast after their master was arrested and the Lord’s public life began.  They carried on a practice that had lost its purpose.  And the Lord’s teaching regarding the need for internal purity and the spiritual meaninglessness of physical purity destroyed the purpose of fasting by the Pharisees.

“The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”  The Lord speaks here of the time after his Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven.  Since his Ascension, we believers in the Lord have lived in a world in which the Bridegroom has been “taken away”.  Although present sacramentally in the Holy Eucharist and effectually present through his grace, he intercedes for us before the Father in heaven.  In our present state, it is proper to fast as a sign of our longing for him, and also as a preparation for the Wedding Feast we hope to enjoy with him in heaven.  We certainly do not want to spoil our appetites for this food by filling up on the inferior food of this present life.  

We also mourn over our sinfulness, for fasting is an ancient custom for the grief-stricken.  We ought to grieve over our falls to temptation, which brought our Lord to suffer on the Cross for us.  Indeed, we should mourn for this “as one mourns for an only son” (Zechariah 12, 10) because of what our sins cost our Savior, and what they may cost us, if we do not reform entirely.

Personal Note: it had been determined that my sudden eyesight loss is due to an abnormal blood vessel in the retina. I have received an injection in the eye, with a few further injections necessary. It will take time for my eyesight to return to normal but it should return. Thank you for your prayers.

Thursday after Ash Wednesday, February 19, 2026

Luke 9, 22-25

Jesus said to his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”

“The Son of Man must suffer greatly.”  These are not the words a follower hopes to hear his leader say.  To the follower, the leader who says this is preparing for defeat, and is only trying to buy time and more desperate support.  To the more worldly, these words sound like the beginning of a pitch for money.  But Jesus is not an ordinary leader.  He chooses to live a life of poverty and of ceaseless labor.  He makes no great claims for himself but refers his words and deeds back to the Father.  His words and deeds carry so much power that they cause people in sound mind, both men and women, to give up everything to follow him, and also to heal the sick, expel the demons, and raise the dead.  He also seeks no favor from either kings or high priests.  And when people object to his teachings because they seem too hard, he lets them go rather than soften his message.  

In truth, people — especially his Apostles — know that the Son of Man already led a life of suffering.  The words he speaks now — “The Son of Man must suffer greatly” — speak of even greater suffering to come.  It is noteworthy that the Lord says that he “must suffer greatly”, as opposed to “will suffer greatly”.  He is announcing that he is submitting himself to some overriding need that will result in his greater suffering.  He “must” do this, not just that this will happen.  His words here bring to mind what he says in Luke 12:49–5: “I am come to cast fire on the earth. And what will I, but that it be kindled? And I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized. And how am I straitened until it be accomplished?”  He came to save us, and now he must undergo that which is necessary for him to do this.  He “must” suffer greatly.  But why would anyone submit himself to this?  Because the Lord Jesus is beside himself with love for us.  In Mark 3:21, we read of how he was unable to eat because of the crowd that pressed him on all sides: “And when his brethren had heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him. For they said: He is become mad.”  His brethren were right, but they did not understand that this is what love does.

“And be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed.”  Already it was clear that he was rejected by these authorities.  He speaks of them here so that later his followers will remember that he foretold this to them, and that they should not despair on this account.  He also seems to add this to what he has said of his greater suffering as though this rejection was particularly painful to him, that the very people who should have recognized him as the Son of God would punch, slap, and spit on him, and then have him out to a terrible death.

“And on the third day be raised.”  One wonders if anyone really heard these last words after hearing the previous ones.  And what did it mean that “on the third day be raised”?  He does not lay out a description for his disciples to bolster their spirits.  In this way too the Lord differs from other leaders.  These others might see trouble ahead (in this world, trouble is always ahead), but they would emphasize or even invent a silver lining that would result.  They would build this up so that the suffering would appear minimal.  The Lord does the opposite.  He nearly buries, as it were, the good news.  He emphasizes the suffering.  He wants people to know that he loves them and would do anything for them.

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”  If any leader wanted to drive away his following, a declaration of this kind would be the one to do it with.  To a modern reader an adaptation might be, Pick up the noose with which you will be hanged and follow me.  No one picks up their cross unless it is to bear it to the place of crucifixion.  And in order to do this, one must deny oneself — to know what it is, to accept it for what it means, and to willingly bear it for the sake of Christ.  For us, this means to live the life of a Christian, forsaking the world and its glittering promises of pleasure and self-indulgence, and to live humbly in service to the Lord, spreading his Gospel.

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”  Those who stumble over each other to avoid their crosses will perish utterly.  Those who consider others who enter the priesthood or religious life as throwing their lives away, will die shameful deaths.  Those who look at the Lord’s teachings and respond, “This saying is hard.  Who can accept it?” (John 6, 60), will walk away into the darkness where there is wailing and the gnashing of teeth in regret.

“What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”  In all of human history, no one has gained the “whole world”, though some have tried.  This begs the question, Why do people still strive to do it?  Even if their idea of gaining “the whole world” only means obtaining all the things they desire, who really accomplishes even this?  Some may boast of it, but anyone can boast of things that cannot be proven.  Some may seem to us to have done this, but it is only because our imaginations are weak.  The truth is that there is nothing in this world that can make us as happy as we wished and for as long as we wished.  It is all deficient, it all falls apart.  Only Jesus lasts.  So let us shoulder our crosses and follow him wherever he goes so that one day we may hear the angels proclaim at the sight of us in heaven: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. From henceforth now . . . they may rest from their labors. For their works follow them” (Revelation 14, 13). 

Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Matthew 6, 1-6; 16-18

Jesus said to his disciples: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.  When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.  When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”

The ancient name for the season of Lent is found in its Latin name, Quadregesima, that is, “the forty days” — the forty days before Easter.  In the earliest days of the Church, Lent was not necessarily forty days.  In some places the penitential season prior to Easter lasted one week; in other places, the time might run from two weeks to even sixty days (Sexuagesima), the time between the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on February 2 and Easter.  The forty day period to which we are accustomed became established in the west by the fifth century.  

During Lent (from an Old English word for “Spring”) Christians prepare for the celebration of the Lord’s rising from the dead by intensifying the fasting, alms-giving, and prayer necessary for ordinary Christian life.  We unite ourselves to the Lord with greater devotion and increase our efforts to separate ourselves from this world by reducing our dependence on it.  Many people seek to do these things by attending daily Mass, by going to confession more regularly, and by adopting other practices.  Reading the Gospels and praying the rosary come as highly recommended.

In the Gospel reading for today’s Mass, the Lord Jesus speaks of the proper way of giving alms, praying, and fasting.  We are not to perform these actions for show, but ought even to do them in a hidden way.  Thus, we protect our sincerity and our purpose of doing them only for God.  The Lord here emphasizes our intention, what is in our heart, and so we can compare these actions to sins he tells us to avoid.  That is, in Matthew 5, 21–22, the Lord teaches: “You have heard that it was said to them of old: You shall not kill. And whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment.  But I say to you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment.”  Now, a person can kill another by accident or by self-defense and the killing may not be sinful.  When the killing is motivated by the anger of hatred, then it is.  It is the anger that erupts from hatred that makes a killing a murder, and therefore a sin. Just so, the giving of alms is good, but it may be undertaken for the purpose of tax benefits or to impress another person.  It is the love that prompts the alms that perfects the act.  Therefore, we must especially cultivate our love of God and neighbor during Lent: to look long and with feeling upon the crucifix, to really examine our consciences and to grieve for our sins so that we might live in gratitude for the forgiveness won for us by the Lord Jesus, who would do anything to win our love.

I am experiencing great difficulty with my vision these last few days and my ophthalmologist is sending me to a retina specialist on Thursday. As many of you know, I lost vision in my right eye due to the pituitary tumor, so I am totally reliant for sight on my left eye. So please pray for me.

Tuesday in the 6th Week of Ordinary Time, February 17, 2026

James 1, 12-18

Blessed is he who perseveres in temptation, for when he has been proven he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him. No one experiencing temptation should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one. Rather, each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters: all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. He willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.

In the First Reading for today’s Mass the Church continues the Letter of St. James. James wrote his Letter in the Greek language since it was directed to Jewish Christians living in Gentiles lands where that language was spoken. We should keep the Greek text in mind as we read this section of his Letter in order to gain a full understanding of what the Apostle is teaching. Importantly for us, the Greek word πειρασμός, used here by St. James, means both “temptation” and “testing”, meanings very distinct in the English language. So, when James says to us, “Blessed is he who perseveres in temptation, for when he has been proven he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him”, he means both the trials of converts from Judaism living among unconverted Jews who regard them as heretics and apostates, and the temptations that arise from the envy of the devil. James speaks of “persevering” through these threats to life on earth and life in heaven, that is, not seeking these troubles but enduring them and overcoming them as they come. He speaks of “the frown of life”, of eternal life. In a kingdom only the one who rules wears a crown, and this by right of birth in the royal family or by force of arms.  But in the Kingdom of heaven, all wear this crown of life, all rule with Jesus the great King.  And it is given to anyone, regardless of family, wealth, or military backing, who holds out against the ever-present danger of conforming to the behavior of the people around them and the enticements of the devil.

“No one experiencing temptation should say, “I am being tempted by God.” We excuse ourselves in our sin in various ways, very often by claiming that the temptation n was too strong for us, that it seemed as though God himself was tempting us so that we were bound to fall. But to this, St. Paul counters, “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able: but will make also with temptation issue, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10, 13). That is, God does not permit the devil to tempt us beyond what we can bear — but he does not tempt us himself. Yet he does “test” us. He provides the means by which we might be strengthened in faith and virtue, purging out any weakness in our faith and any charity lacking in our virtue. He allows us to face misfortune and even disaster — not to punish us but to fortify us, for we must be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect, and our hearts must be pure, for only the pure of heart shall see God.

“Rather, each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his desire. Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.” In these few words, St. James teaches how temptation works and how it conquers us. We are all born affected by original sin which predisposes us to commit personal sin. Yet no one is forced to sin. But in our lives we make choices: we yield to sin or not; we inhabit the occasions of sin or we stay far away from them; we pray or we don’t. In this way we build, as it were, houses within ourselves of whatever material we want. If we live badly, we build houses of sticks and mud and straw. If we live well, we build houses of marble and gold and silver. In the time of temptation, the devil comes bearing a torch, and the one who has lived badly is burned down in his house while the one who lives well, worshipping God with all his heart and loving and treating his neighbor as himself will escape the flames. “Enticed by his desire.” We should note that the devil does not cause our weakness in faith and good works but exploits it. And anyone can profit by the regular impulses and inspirations Almighty God sends each person to tear down their miserable dwelling places and to build palaces in which to live. These inspirations are the “every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” who does not fight against us but offers us the grace and opportunities we need in order to be saved: “He willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures.”

Monday in the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time, February 16, 2025

James 1, 1-11

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings. Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it. But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways. The brother in lowly circumstances should take pride in high standing, and the rich one in his lowliness, for he will pass away “like the flower of the field.” For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass, its flower droops, and the beauty of its appearance vanishes. So will the rich person fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

James the son of Alphaeus played an important role in the early Church. He governed the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem for decades after the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. We learn from St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians as well as from the Acts of the Apostles of his firmness in the morality taught by the Jewish Law. Nis influence reached far beyond Jerusalem and the Holy Land into Syria and Asia Minor, causing even Peter to yield to it.  At the same time, James, with Peter and John, wrote a letter to the Gentile Christians making it plain that they were not bound by the Jewish Law, including that of circumcision. 

In his Letter, written from Jerusalem to Christian communities in Syria and Asia Minor, presumably to those with strong Numbers of converted Jews among them, James shows the seamless transition of the moral code handed on by Moses and the Prophets and fulfilled by the Lord Jesus. Much more than Paul, who wrote primarily to churches dominated by Gentile Christians who were still learning the basics of the Faith, James emphasizes Christian social teaching and outreach to the poor in his Letter.

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” From this simple heading it is evident that the recipients of this Letter already knew and respected the Apostle. He does not feel the need to identify himself as “the brother of the Lord” as St. Paul calls him, nor does he say that he is the son of Alphaeus. For those to whom he he writes, he is simply “James”.

“Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials.” James opens his Letter with encouragement for those suffering “trials” for their faith. The Greek word translated here as “trials” can mean juridical trials in courts as well as temptations and testings. These Christians, a distinct minority in their cities, were also a minority among their fellow (and unconverted) Jews. Their trials would have come not from the citizens of the cities they inhabited but from these unconverted Jews. Examples of this abound in the Acts of the Apostles. James counsels perseverance, teaching them that they are the true descendants of Abraham who should prove this by adhering to the example of faith and morality which he passed on.

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.” The “wisdom” here is the gift of prudence which will enable the Jewish Christian, living amongst his fellow emigres, to deal with them in such a way that they may live in peace with them and not arouse their opposition to their faith in Jesus, and at the same time to act as Christians, confident in their faith.

“But he should ask in faith, not doubting.” James speaks of prayer, and the necessity of believing that God will provide for them. To ask in faith is not exercising a magic power, however, or to take for granted God’s willingness to help. Rather, it is an attitude which allows a person to be receptive and grateful for all that God wants to do for the asker.  God does not give to one who doubts his power, or to one who will misuse his gift, or to one who will not return thanks. It is not because God is stingy, but because the asker has made himself incapable of the reception of God’s gracious gifts. 

“The brother in lowly circumstances should take pride in high standing, and the rich one in his lowliness.” Much of the remainder of this Letter has to do with the poor, with the Christian recognizing that he is poor before God, despite what he possesses, and that we should share what we have with those who are starving in the streets. It is the plea of Jesus who tells the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man: Feed the poor, lest you yourself wind up begging even for water, and for all eternity.

In today’s Gospel Reading, the Lord Jesus bewails those whom in the very time of his coming and surrounded by men and women who have been healed of the most serious illnesses and infirmities, still want “a sign”: but as the early Christians to whom St. James wrote knew, the time for signs is over. Now is the time of the One to whom  the signs of the Prophets pointed. 

The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 15, 2026

Matthew 5, 17–37

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny. You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.  It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce. But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife—unless the marriage is unlawful— causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all; not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.”

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” 

Jesus speaks these words at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew in the midst of the Sermon on the Mount. He has just proclaimed the Beatitudes — blessings that sound at once ancient and startlingly new. And so he anticipates the objection: Is this a replacement? Is this a revolution against Moses? He answers before anyone can accuse him.

“Do not think.” There is tenderness in that opening phrase. He knows how quickly human beings jump to conclusions. He knows that whenever something higher appears, we assume the lower must be rejected. But Christ does not destroy foundations. He builds upward from them. He is not an iconoclast standing before Sinai with a hammer. He is the Architect revealing what Sinai was always pointing toward.

“The Law and the Prophets.” For a first-century Jew, this phrase meant the whole of divine revelation — from Moses to Malachi. The commandments, the sacrifices, the psalms, the promises, the warnings. Nothing in Israel’s history was accidental. The Law formed a people. The Prophets purified and corrected them. The rituals trained their imagination. The moral precepts disciplined desire. The entire Old Covenant was a preparation. And preparation is not abolished when fulfillment arrives. It is completed.

 “Not to abolish but to fulfill” The Greek word plērōsai (“to fulfill”) is richer than the English equivalent. It does not merely mean “to obey” or “to finish.” It means to fill to the brim, to bring to fullness, to make complete. Christ fulfills the Law in several profound ways: he fulfills it personally. He keeps it perfectly: where Israel failed, he succeeds. Where Adam fell, he stands. The Law’s demand for righteousness finds its perfect embodiment in Him. He fulfills it in terms of it being a sign: every sacrifice, every Passover lamb, every priestly offering pointed toward Him. When He offers Himself on the Cross, the sacrificial system is not contradicted — it is consummated. In addition, he fulfills it morally: he deepens the commandments. Not only, “You shall not kill,” but “Do not harbor anger.” Not only, “You shall not commit adultery,” but “Do not look with lust.” He moves from the exterior act to the interior heart. The Law engraved on stone becomes the Law written within.

The Lord’s fulfillment of the Law  does not relax it; it intensifies it. Sometimes people imagine that “fulfillment” means softening. But in the Sermon on the Mount, Christ does not lower the standard — he raises it to divine proportions. Moses said: Be holy. Christ says: Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. The Old Law restrained evil. The new Law transforms the person.

Many Catholics today feel a tension between “law” and “love.” They imagine that rules belong to an inferior stage and that Christ frees us from structure. But Christ frees us from sin, not from meaning. He frees us from condemnation, not from truth. He frees us from doing only what is exterior, not from actual holiness. The commandments are not chains; they are scaffolding. Christ does not tear down the scaffolding — he finishes the building.

Sometimes we want to abolish parts of our past — our mistakes, our awkward beginnings, even our earlier devotions. Christ does not abolish our story. He fulfills it. None of it is wasted. It is all preparatory. Grace does not erase nature; it perfects it.

We can think of a bud in spring. If someone said, “The flower has abolished the bud,” we would smile. The bud has not been destroyed. It has become what it was meant to be. So too the Law in Christ. And so too the human heart in grace.