Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection February 19, 2026
Thursday – Thursday after Ash Wednesday
19th February 2026 (Thursday)
Psalter: Week 4
Readings of the Day
First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Moses spoke to the people, saying, “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6 (R. 40:5ab)
R/. Blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Glory and praise to you, O Christ
R/. Glory and praise to you, O Christ
V/. Repent, says the Lord, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
R/. Glory and praise to you, O Christ
Gospel: Luke 9:22-25
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
Daily Gospel Reflection
Thursday – Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Main Point: We are making choices throughout our life. Every single day we are at a crossroads of two choices; selfishness or sacrifice. To discover true life we have to be willing to lose our obsession with comfort.
1. In the first reading, Moses communicates with the people clearly in an enigmatic way. He puts it plainly: “I have put before you this day life and good, death and evil.” It is not a multiple choice question with five confusing answers. It is binary. Option A or Option B.
2. Moses begs them, “Choose life.” It sounds obvious. Who would choose death? But we do it all the time. When we give way to anger rather than patience we give way to spiritual death. When we choose greed instead of sharing we are choosing a dead heart.
3. Moses informs us that God’s choice of life involves loving the Lord, obeying his voice, and adhering to him. It is an active choice. You don’t float into holiness, you have to climb up to it.
4. In the tradition of the Gospel, Jesus describes how this choice is expressed practically. He says, “But whoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily.”
5. Notice the word “daily.” It is not a one-time decision that we made at baptism. It is one we make each morning when the alarm goes off. Do I live for myself today or do I live for me and God and others?
6. Jesus presents to us a paradox, “Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
7. The world tells us to grab up everything we can – power, money, attention. That is “saving” your life. But Jesus says if you grip your life too firmly, you strangle it. You end up lonely and empty.
8. “Losing your life” involves losing your ego. It means serving another person even at the time when you are tired. It means being able to swallow your pride and say sorry. This hurts like losing, but it is how we win.
My Practice: I will pause and ask myself, when I am having a hard time today, “Which way is ‘Life’ and’ Which way is ‘Death’?”. But, I will try to strive to choose the hard and right above the easy and wrong.
