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SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

February 14 and 15, 2026

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Saturday           - Haliburton          4:30 pm       Mary Pearsell – Father John Lacey    

 

Sunday              - Haliburton          8:00 am       Missa Pro Populo – Mass for the People

 

                           - Bancroft             10:15 am       Barbara Stec – Danuta Wijas

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ROSARY WILL BE PRAYED BEFORE THE 9:00 AM MASS

 

Monday           - Bancroft            9:00 am       Special Intentions of Iris Boles – Charlie Callaghan

 

Tuesday           - Bancroft            9:00 am       Special Intentions of Mary Schutt

 

ASH WEDNESDAY                                                SCHOOL MASS

                         - Bancroft            9:00 am       Jeanette Wagenaar

 

                         - Haliburton         5:00 pm       Special Intentions of Judy and Family

           

Thursday         - Bancroft            8:30 am       Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

                                                       9:00 am       Rosary

                                                       9:30 am       David HoLung – Michael and Madeleine Marentette

 

Friday               - Bancroft            9:00 am       Rev. Christian Nwangwu

 

                          - Haliburton        3:00 pm      STATIONS OF THE CROSS

 

                          - Bancroft            5:00 pm      STATIONS OF THE CROSS

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~ FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT ~

February 21 and 22, 2026

  

Saturday           - Haliburton         4:30 pm        Mary Paterson – Peggy and David Flowers

 

Sunday             - Bancroft             10:00 am       Missa Pro Populo – Mass for the People

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SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: In this Sermon on the Mount, we have various sayings of Christ, actually spoken on different occasions. Matthew, in his systematic manner, has gathered these sayings into one continuous discourse here. This makes it easier for his readers, who were Jewish converts, to grasp the new order of salvation as inaugurated by Christ. They knew the Ten Commandments, but they knew them as their rabbis had taught them. These rabbis, for the most part Pharisees, put all the stress on the letter of the law and on its external observance. Christ's opening statement, that the attitude of his followers towards the commandments (and other precepts of the law) must be different, and superior to that of the scribes and Pharisees, clearly indicates how Christianity must differ from, and supersede, Judaism.

Christ is not abolishing the Ten Commandments, but he is demanding of his followers a more perfect, a more sincere, fulfillment of them. The whole moral value of any legal observance (the Mosaic law included), comes from the interior disposition of him who observes or keeps the law. No man serves or honors God by any exterior acts, be they ever so arduous or continuous, unless these acts proceed from an intention and a will to honor and please God. This is the charter, the constitution, of the new law, Christianity. The old law is not abolished, but deepened and given a new life.

Avoiding murder therefore is not enough; the true Christian must remove any inclination to murder by building up true, brotherly love for all men in his heart.  We must not only not injure our neighbor or fellowman in his person, or in his character, but we must be ever ready to help him and prevent injury to him, whenever and wherever we can. We must not only not commit adultery, but must also develop a Christian respect and esteem for purity, the virtue which will preserve us not only from adultery but even from thoughts of adultery, or any other abuse of our sexual gifts given us by God for his sublime purpose.

We must be truthful always, and men of our word. This virtue is not only necessary for man's salvation, but is the basis of rational intercourse between men in civilized society. While our civil courts still deem it necessary to impose oaths on contestants and witnesses (since they have, unfortunately, to take account of the liars and deceivers who still are a menace to society), the truthful man need not be afraid of insulting or dishonoring God by calling him as his guarantor, if asked to do so.

True and loyal service of God therefore begins in the heart and has its value from this interior disposition. Keeping the Ten Commandments is our way of proving to God that we are grateful, obedient and loyal to him who gave us all we have and who has promised us future gifts infinitely greater still. And just as our love for God is proved by our true love for our neighbor, so the last seven of the commandments impose on us obligations regarding our neighbor. It is only by fulfilling these seven that we can fulfill the first three which govern our relations with God.

This truth is expressed by our Lord in the words: It you are offering your gift at the altar, and remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there . . . first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.

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—Excerpted from The Sunday Readings Cycle A, Fr. Kevin O' Sullivan, O.F.M.

 

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LENT 2026

 

Lent is the yearly celebration by the Church of its corporate conversion in Jesus Christ.

It prepares the faithful for Easter as they recall their Baptism and do penance in preparation for the greatest Feast of the year.

Lent has two major purposes:  It recalls or prepares for Baptism, and emphasizes a spirit of penance.  Through forty days of closer attention to God’s Word and of more fervent prayer, believers are prepared to celebrate the Paschal Mystery. Lenten instructions stress these baptismal and penitential themes.

During Lent, it is important to teach the social consequences of sin as well as the fact that the heart of the virtue of penance is hatred of sin as an offence against God.

The Church encourages penitential practices that are external and social, reflecting the circumstances of individuals and communities, as we pray and do penance for sinners.

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