21 February 2026 (Saturday) / Saturday after Ash Wednesday (optional commemoration of Saint Peter Damian, Bishop, Doctor of the Church)

21 February 2026 (Saturday)

Saturday after Ash Wednesday (optional commemoration of Saint Peter Damian, Bishop, Doctor of the Church)

Readings from the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church:

First Reading: Isaiah 58: 9b-14
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 86: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Verse Before the Gospel: Ezekiel 33: 11
Gospel: Luke 5: 27-32

First Reading : Isaiah 58:9‐14

The Lord says this:
If you do away with the yoke,
the clenched fist, the wicked word,
if you give your bread to the hungry,
and relief to the oppressed,
your light will rise in the darkness,
and your shadows become like noon.
The Lord will always guide you,
giving you relief in desert places.
He will give strength to your bones
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water
whose waters never run dry.
You will rebuild the ancient ruins,
build up on the old foundations.
You will be called ‘Breach‐mender’,
‘Restorer of ruined houses.’
If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
and doing business on the holy day,
if you call the Sabbath ‘Delightful’,
and the day sacred to the Lord ‘Honourable’,
if you honour it by abstaining from travel,
from doing business and from gossip,
then shall you find your happiness in the Lord
and I will lead you triumphant over the heights of the land.
I will feed you on the heritage of Jacob your father.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Responsive Psalm : Psalm 85(86):1‐6

Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
Turn your ear, O Lord, and give answer
  for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my life, for I am faithful;
  save the servant who trusts in you.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
You are my God, have mercy on me, Lord,
  for I cry to you all the day long.
Give joy to your servant, O Lord,
  for to you I lift up my soul.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.
O Lord, you are good and forgiving,
  full of love to all who call.
Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer
  and attend to the sound of my voice.
Show me, Lord, your way so that I may walk in your truth.

Verse Before the Gospel: Ezekiel 33: 11
11 I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live.

Gospel : Luke 5:27‐32

Jesus noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting by the customs house, and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And leaving everything he got up and followed him.
  In his honour Levi held a great reception in his house, and with them at table was a large gathering of tax collectors and others. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples and said, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus said to them in reply, ‘It is not those who are well who need the doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.’

For our reflection today:

Without humility, without the ability to publicly acknowledge your sins and your own human frailty, you cannot attain salvation nor proclaim Christ, nor pretend to be his witness. Pope Francis invited everyone to reflect on the theme of Christian humility during his homily at Mass on Friday morning, 14 June, in the Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae. Concelebrating with him among others were Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, President of the Governorate, and Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy. Also present were officials and employees from the Congregation. Accompanying Cardinal Bertello were relatives of the late Archbishop Ubaldo Calabresi, who was Apostolic Nuncio to Argentina for many years. During the prayers of the faithful, the Holy Father asked for prayers for the Archbishop to whom he was bound by a deep friendship.

The day’s readings from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians (4:7-15) and the Gospel of Matthew (5:27-32) were at the centre of the reflection of the Pope, who linked the image of the “beauty of Jesus, of the power of Jesus, and of the salvation that Jesus brings us”, which the Apostle Paul speaks of, with that of the “earthen vessels” in which the treasure of faith is contained.
Christians are like clay vases because they are weak, since they are sinners.

Nevertheless, the Pope said, between “us poor, earthen vessels” and “the power of Jesus Christ” is a dialogue; it is the “dialogue of salvation”. He warned however that when this dialogue assumes the tone of self- justification, it means that something is not working and that there is no salvation. The humility of a Christian is that of one who follows the path pointed out by the Apostle. “We must really recognize our sins, and not present ourselves with a false image”.

“Brothers, we have a treasure: the Saviour Jesus Christ, the Cross of Jesus Christ is the treasure in which we rejoice”, but let us not forget “to also confess our sins” for it is only in this way “the dialogue is Christian, Catholic, and concrete”. “Jesus Christ did not save us with an idea, or an intellectual programme. He saved us with his flesh, with the concreteness of the flesh. He lowered himself, became man, and was made flesh until the end”. You can only understand a treasure like this if you are transformed into clay vases. (Pope Francis, Real Christian humility
Friday, 14 June 2013).

Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Pelayan Atasan Tertinggi / Most High Servant,
Yesus, Maria, Yusuf Pelayanan Kasih / Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love 
(Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)

My vocation is Blessed and Saints.

"I am the most humble of all the Saints in Heaven" Mary, Mother of God.

"I am the handmaid of the Lord, said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me."

Mother Mary is the most humble Saint in Heaven and she is also the Mother of God for us all
(Luke 1:38)