Friday, February 13, 2026

 

Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(I Kings 11:29-32.12:19; Mark 7:31-37)

Most people credit Abraham Lincoln for ending slavery in the United States.  He is rightly seen as the great emancipator of African slaves.  However, more important than that feat, which was not accomplished until after his assassination, was Lincoln’s saving the country from division.  Lincoln himself saw the preservation of the Union as essential.  He wrote in a famous letter published in the New York Times during the Civil War: “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.”  Lincoln knew that the end of slavery was inevitable.  He also knew that it would come about more easily and completely with the Union intact.  Unions of people and states allow dialogue, which fosters understanding, which brings about the give and take of compromise.  For this reason, the breakup of the Kingdom of Israel signified in today’s first reading is tragic. 

The union of the northern tribes and southern tribes was never easy.  It was accomplished by David, a strongman with an impressive faith in God as well as political shrewdness.  Its coming apart with David’s grandsons led to strategic weakness vis-à-vis the other nations of the region.  The gradual corruption of the leaders of both northern and southern kingdoms contributed to the downfalls of the kingdoms and the exiles of their peoples.

Our Catholic Church today is threatened by calls and acts of separation on both the right and the left.  The proverbial “man in the middle” is Pope Leo.  His mandate is not only to keep the Church together while seeking reunification with Orthodox churches and Protestant ecclesial communities.  He must accomplish these feats without betraying the apostolic tradition.  We can assist his efforts by prayer and also by developing restraint in judgment of others and by reaching out in honest dialogue with those who disagree with us.

Thursday, February 12, 2026

Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(I Kings 11:4-13; Mark 7:24-30)

Today’s gospel may be compared to the experience of a priest asked to hear a confession on Easter Monday.  He is exhausted after Holy Week when he celebrated long liturgies and heard hundreds of confessions.  He just wants to rest when someone bursts into his office begging him to hear her confession.  It is not only that it would take time and effort, but also that there are posted times for confessions.

Jesus has arranged a retreat from his exhaustive schedule of preaching and healing.  He only wants a short respite from work when the pagan woman interrupts his tranquility. She requests that he expel the demon molesting her daughter.  Jesus tries to tell her that there will be a time for ministry to Gentiles, but she insists.  Jesus -- moved by the woman’s faith in him, love for her daughter, and humility -- grants her petition.

We may wonder why Jesus hesitates to utter a word that would drive out her daughter’s demon.  It probably takes more effort than we imagine.  It may create a ministry to the much more numerous non-Jews before he completes the mission prescribed by his Father to the Jews.  We also would like to ask about Jesus’ remark that refers to non-Jews as “dogs.”  This question may be answered by the Jewish use of “dogs” for Gentiles as a popular way of speaking in Jesus’ time.  It is no more insulting than for us to call our children “kids,” which is the proper name for small goats.  Rather than criticize Jesus’ behavior in this gospel, we might consider the following: he takes time to converse with the woman; he changes his position after hearing the woman’s argument; and he mercifully grants her request.  Jesus remains a model for us in everything.

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

 

Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(I Kings 10:1-10; Mark 7:14-23)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is astounding people today much like the personal computer did forty years.  Ask it any question – “How do I bake apples?” “Why do Chinese have trouble pronouncing the letter ‘r’?”  How does Kant’s philosophy compare with Aquinas’? – and it responds with a plausible answer in a second.  AI can write a letter for you, balance your checkbook, tutor you in a foreign language, and incredibly more. There is no more exaggeration here than in the first reading’s statement: “… there remained nothing hidden from (King Solomon) that he could not explain to (the queen of Sheba.).

Solomon is famous for his wisdom.  He not only knew many things but, more importantly, understood how things can work for the improvement of his subjects. Despite these blessings, Solomon died in a troubled state.  His many wives had twisted his heart away from the God of Israel.  His sons, Jeroboam and Rehoboam, were ready to divide his kingdom. 

In working with AI, we might take advantage of Solomon’s legacy.  The help AI provides is enormous.  But some will submit its products as their own creations.  Another problem is AI’s tendency to “hallucinate”; that is, to extrapolate from its base new information that is not accurate. If we use AI to deceive others, then it is not helpful but harmful.  In these cases, it is twisting us away from God, who is truth.

Tuesday, February 10, 2026

 

Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin

(I Kings 8:22-23.27-30; Mark 7:1-13)

Solomon built the “First Temple” in Jerusalem to unify the people of Israel.  The people came there from every part of the vast kingdom to worship.  They also celebrated Israel’s principal feasts and offered sacrifices for sins. 

The Temple was to the people of Israel what a monastery chapel is to a community of nuns.  The holy women come together several times a day for common prayer in the chapel.  Most monasteries practice “Eucharistic Adoration” where the Blessed Sacred is exposed in the chapel for a most, if not all, of the day.  The chapel is space where the nuns not only praise God but encounter Him much like healing is found in a hospital.

Because of her association with her brother, St. Benedict, today’s patron -- St. Scholastica -- is said to have founded the Benedictine nuns.  Not much is known of her life.  However, like Benedict, she was dedicated to God.  She worked, prayed, and lived simply with other consecrated women to express her love for the Lord.

Monday, February 9, 2026

Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(I Kings 8:1-7.9-13; Mark 6:53-56)

Once upon a time a chicken and a pig were planning the farmer’s birthday party.  The chicken suggested to the pig, “Why don’t we give him a breakfast of bacon and eggs?”  The pig flinched at the idea. “Wait a minute”; he said, “for you, that may represent a token of appreciation.  But for me it is total sacrifice.” 

Humans have sacrificed animals for reasons greater than providing the farmer’s breakfast.  Today’s first reading tells of the people of Israel offering to the Lord “sheep and oxen too many to number or count.” Because animals are so vital for human welfare, their offerings may represent the people themselves.  The reading expresses this purpose.  The enormous sacrifice bespeaks the people’s intention to give themselves fully to God with Solomon’s temple.

Often, however, sacrifices from humans are compromised.  We make them to appease God, not to express the intention of dedicating ourselves to Him.  Because of this pretension as well as our other sins, Jesus handed himself over to be sacrificed.  As the divine Creator and the foremost exemplar of humanity, Jesus makes the perfect offering to God the Father.  Of course, he does not immolate himself.  Rather the world’s egotism condemns him to death on a cross.  His suffering that injustice out of obedience to the Father redeems us of our sins.