Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, February 15th, 2026 (EPISODE- 571)

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, February 15th, 2026 (EPISODE- 571)

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, February 15th, 2026 (EPISODE- 571)

Readings for Sunday, February 15th, 2026 - Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A
FIRST READING: Sirach 15:16-21 (diff)
Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34. "Happy are they who follow the law of the Lord."
SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 2:6-10
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (cf. Matthew 11:25). Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed are you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth. You have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
GOSPEL: Matthew 5:17-37 or 5:20-22a, 27-28, 33-34a, 37

Image Credit- Shutterstock Licensed.Stock Photo ID: 2105703446.  Judaic - prophet - faith -church - Talmud law space.  Photo Contributor: ArtMari
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Please listen to the audio recordings of the Mass – (Readings, prayers, and homily), for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, February 15th, 2026, by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-ep-571-the/s-f8wK5j2gZXd  (EPISODE-571 )
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PROLOGUE:

Our Lord really turns the heat up this weekend in the readings. He lays things on the line. We have been given real freedom, so no excuses.

 

We are called to be children of God, not petty rule-makers or breakers. The Lord wants to share His heart with us, His love. He wants to implant that love deep in our souls, and from that, true discipleship flows.

 

The law flows from the loving heart of God. A love that reaches out, gives, sacrifices, includes and helps.

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HOMILY

Mahatma Gandhi, famous for his wisdom, his promotion of human rights, and his nonviolent resistance, was a practising Hindu. Nevertheless, Christianity intrigued him greatly, and he read extensively about it.

 

And in reading the Gospels, Gandhi was deeply impressed by our Lord Jesus. He wanted to know more about this Jesus whom Christians call the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. One Sunday morning, Gandhi decided he would visit one of the Christian churches in Kolkata.

 

When he sought entrance to the church, he was stopped at the door by the ushers. He was told he was not welcome. Nor would he be permitted to attend this church as it was for either high-caste Indians or whites only.

 

He fitted neither of those narrow descriptions. Because of this rejection, the Mahatma turned his back on Christianity, saying, if it weren't for Christians, I'd be a Christian. (%%)  

Sadly, this is another in the list of history's all-too-many examples of Christians becoming a stumbling block for those trying to approach Christ.

 

It's an unspeakable tragedy that repeats itself far too often. Even to this day, we have to be so vigilant against being "un-Christian Christians." This can happen in really big ways and in small ways that are still quite devastating.

 

And the results are the same. The contradiction observed by observers between God's love on the one hand and the legalism, lack of charity, and harshness of some of God's disciples on the other can be a real and permanent turn-off. I'm sure many of us can blush when we recall times when we ourselves modelled the complete opposite of Christ's loving message in our own actions or reactions.

 

These contradictions are a trap into which any of us could fall. The Lord doesn't want us to lose heart or give up, but warns us to be very wary, constantly on our guard against our contradictions, and to repent and work with God's grace to reshape our attitudes without delay and save us, Lord, from acting the opposite to your ways and not even seeing the contradiction. Christ didn't preach "heal, forgive, suffer, die, and rise again" for that kind of self-indulgence or lack of self-awareness.

 

Today's gospel is summed up beautifully in this quote from the British writer Michael Green. God's law is not the limit of obedience. Rather, it's the springboard from which we dive into the wonderful, refreshing, life-giving and deep waters of love and devotion to our Lord.

 

The law of God is the curb along the road of love. We don't spend all our time as we drive along a road looking at the sidewalk, but by travelling wonderfully down the centre lane of this highway of God's love. The law was never meant to be an end in itself, but rather it's a distillation, an expression of God's values.

 

When people only focus on the letter of the law or outward observances without looking to the inner heart, they're really missing the forest for the trees. Jesus warned the Pharisees that this is exactly what they had ended up doing. They had not gone deeper into the meaning and spirit behind the law, and so they had become hollow.

 

The Pharisees are not just those people who opposed Christ 2,000 years ago. They're not merely the actual Pharisees who were living like hypocrites, but this group also represents anyone, even today, even within our own Christian faith tradition, who keep outward observances while their hearts and attitudes remain very far from the Lord. Our Lord preaches to the Pharisees of this day, and even the Pharisee that might be lurking away somewhere in our own hearts.

 

God's wise saying to us in the first reading is really quite powerful. God says, of course, I've given you true freedom. You are free to touch the cool water; it will feel cool. You're just as free to touch the flame if you want, but beware: if you choose to touch fire, you will burn yourself.

 

So choose wisely, choose the good, avoid the harmful. Use your freedom to choose life and not death, to choose God's ways, not our own ways. At the heart of God's desire for us is to walk the paths that are for our good and avoid any avenues that will prove nothing but harmful to us.

 

Jesus is calling us as his disciples to learn the meaning of God's law and its purpose, not merely its outward expression or its legalistic limits. We hope that God will grant us ever-deeper wisdom to discern the loving kindness and compassion behind the rules and regulations, and to apply ourselves to that love. Our Lord is inviting us not to settle for the outward shell of observance, but to dive deeply into being a loving disciple who truly lives as a son or daughter of God among many siblings.

 

The first and most important law of God is love of God and love of neighbour. It's the one law that admits of no exception. Furthermore, all other laws from God, and any other laws anywhere, must be held to the litmus test of how they apply this overarching law of love.

 

So it's not good enough to merely keep the commandments by not killing anyone, because we must strive also not to have anger or uncharitable thoughts about our brother or sister. It's not sufficient to say I've never actually been unfaithful when it's possible to break the spirit of this command by being disrespectful in the way we look at others or how it's sadly possible to treat others as objects devoid of their personhood. What an absolute joke we could make of God's law by limiting it only to extremes or diluting it with endless lists of curious but rather vague observances.

 

It's not good enough to do everything in the name of Jesus if our ordinary, everyday yes is unreliable, or our no doesn't mean what it says. This particular passage really interests me more than ever now. A simple yes or no is very powerful and effective, but "yeses" and "noes" with added explanations, reasons, commentaries aren't, when one thinks about it, are little more than excuses, fibs, self-justifications or gripes.

 

So truly our yes needs to be yes and our no, no, without anything more or less. And even more challenging, today's readings remind us never to blame God for our failings. Do not say it's the Lord's doing that I fell away.

 

These are merely excuses that try to remove our own adult free responsibility. Whilst we have freedom, we're reminded quite sharply by this weekend's scriptures, the Lord never gave people permission to use their freedom to sin or to ignore his laws. He gave them the freedom to keep his law and his love.

 

Yes, God has given us true freedom, but it's also a freedom to live by God's law and to act responsibly, maturely, and always with love.
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References:

Fr Paul W. Kelly;

(%%) [ By LAMA CHUCK STANFORD and ARVIND KHETIA.  Article - APRIL 17, 2015 07:00 AM:  from];

https://amp.kansascity.com/living/religion/article18756585.html 

Also referenced in Link, M. (1992). Vision.  Year A. Allen, Tex.: Tabor Publications.

My Daily Visitor (Our Sunday Visitor);

Break Open the Word

Image Credit- Shutterstock Licensed.Stock Photo ID: 2105703446.  Judaic - prophet - faith -church - Talmud law space.  Photo Contributor: ArtMari


To listen to the Sunday Mass each week (including homily) from Surfers Paradise Catholic Parish, please visit this link: Liturgy for you at Home (by SPCP) -  https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks

Also found at -   https://tinyurl.com/FHLpwk


Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A  (Sunday, February 15th, 2026) (EPISODE- 571)

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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{{my heartfelt thanks for your participation in this time of reflection, prayer and praise.}}

As one family in Christ, let us prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries by calling to mind our sins.
Lord Jesus, you are the image of the unseen God: Lord, have mercy.//You are the firstborn of all creation: Christ, have mercy//You are the head of the body, the Church: Lord, have mercy.//
May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
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Ps 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34. "Happy are they who follow the law of the Lord."

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (cf. Matt 11:25). Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed are you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth. You have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
Memorial Acclamation
3. Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.
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PREFACE: Sundays Ordinary V
Euch Prayer II

(theme variation:  4)

(welcome cycle-   (welcome 6) Good evening/morning. Welcome to this Eucharist as we celebrate the NNN Sunday in SSSSSS. For all who are celebrating special events at this time, may God's blessing and care be deeply experienced for you and your families. Please check that your mobile devices are switched off or set to silent.  Our Presider tonight/today is Fr………………………… Please stand as we sing our entrance hymn: "__________" *)

(pre+post variation: v2-long)
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{My heartfelt thanks for your participation in this time of reflection, prayer and praise.}

Go forth, the Mass is ended.

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Archive of homilies and reflections:  http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email:  paulwkelly68@gmail.com

To listen to the weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here:  https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks

Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection"  - Led by Rev Paul Kelly

Prayers and chants  — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the Liturgy. (ICEL)

Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989,  and 2009 by the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)

"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009,  The Grail - Collins Publishers.

Prayers of the Faithful -   " Together we pray" by Robert Borg.   E.J. Dwyer, Publishers, (1993) . (Sydney, Australia).

Sung "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" -  By Jeffrey M. Ostrowski. The Gloria,  Copyright © 2011 ccwatershed.org.

- "Faith, Hope and Love" theme hymn - in memory of  William John Kelly -     Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.

"Quiet Time."  Instrumental Reflection music. Written by Paul W Kelly, 1988, 2007. & This arrangement: Stefan Kelk, 2020.

- "Today I Arise" - For Trisha J Kelly.  Original words and music by Paul W. Kelly. Inspired by St Patrick's Prayer.  Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.

Sound Engineering and editing -  P.W. Kelly.

Microphones: -  Shure MV5 Digital Condenser (USB)

Editing equipment: NCH software - MixPad Multitrack Studio Recording Software
NCH – WavePad Audio Editing Software. Masters Edition v 12.44

Sound Processing:  iZotope RX 6 Audio Editor

[Production -  KER -  2026]
May God bless and keep you.
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