18 Feb 2026 – Ash Wednesday (1) Joel 2:12-18 Return to me with all your heart. Spare your people, Lord “Now, now,” says the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord, your God, for he…
17 Feb 2026 – Tuesday of Week 6 Optional memorials: The Seven Founders of the Servite Order, in the early 13th century seven young Florence merchants decided to live better Christian lives. They became known as the Servants of Mary and followed the rule of St Augustine. St Fintan, born in Leinster wit his religious formation in Terryglass,…
Presider’s Page for 22 February 2026 (First Sunday of Lent) The Rite of Election of Catechumens is celebrated today. We celebrate the first Sunday of Lent. All over the world today, men and women are beginning a period of preparation for their baptism at the Easter Vigil. Like them, we spend Lent preparing to renew…
16 Feb 2026 – Monday of Week 6 1st Reading: James 1:1-11 The testing of your faith produces endurance My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that…
15 Feb 2026 – 6th Sunday, (A) Using freedom well. It is not our misdeeds which accuse us before God, but our hearts, fractured and divided as they are. Jesus insists that we go deeper than our external deeds. The vital question is what is going on in our hearts, our thoughts and motivations? The…
14 Feb 2026 – Saints Cyril and Methodius Cyril and Methodius were brothers born in Byzantine Thessalonika, northern Greece, in the 9th century, who brought Christianity to the Slavic peoples of modern Czech Republic and Hungary. For their work they were declared co-patrons of Europe in 1999, by Pope John Paul II, to stand alongside Saint…
13 Feb 2026 – Friday of Week 5 1st Reading: 1 Kings 11:29-32; 12:19 The prophet Ahijah announces the breakup of David’s kingdom When Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Ahijah had clothed himself with a new garment. The two of them were alone in the open…
12 Feb 2026 – Thursday of Week 5 1st Reading: 1 Kings 11:4-13 Solomon’s sins are traced to the influence of his pagan wives; as punishment his kingdom will be divided. When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not true to the Lord his God,…
11 Feb 2026 – Wednesday of Week 5 World Day of the Sick Optional Memorials: Our Lady of Lourdes, honouring the appearance of Our Lady to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858, who said, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” St Gobnait, lived in Ballyvourney, Co Cork, great devotion to her there. Honoured for her gifts of caring for and curing the…
10 Feb 2026 – Tuesday of Week 5 Memorial: St Scholastica, died c 543, sister of St Benedict, spent her life as a consecrated virgin. Patron of convulsive children. 1st Reading: 1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30 The temple dedication ends with a beautiful prayer Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence…
Presider’s Page Sunday 15 Feb 2026 – Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) Day of Prayer for Temperance Opening Comment Today’s readings ask for decisions, challenging Christians to choose the right path. We gather to worship God, who can help us in all our choices. Penitential Rite To prepare ourselves for the challenges of God’s…
09 Feb 2026 – Monday of Week 5 (Cycle 2) 1st Reading: 1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13 A cloud of divine splendour fills the sanctuary of the new Temple Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, before King Solomon in…
08 Feb 2026 – 5th Sunday, (A) Theme: Salt and Light Tyranny and oppression still flourish in many places abroad; and in less spectacular fashion closer to home. Unfairness and structural abuse often stare us in the face, such as long-term poverty, unemployment and homelessness. Christ invites us to solidarity with people in dire need….
Presider’s Page for 8 February (5th Sun. Ordinary Time) International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking Opening Comment Over these Sundays, we listen to what Jesus taught in his Sermon on the Mount. In today’s liturgy, we hear that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Rejoicing…
07 Feb 2026 – Saturday of Week 4 Optional Memorial: St Mel (Feast in Ardagh & Clonmacnois), died in 488, a Brit who came to Ireland with Patrick, ordained in Ardagh. Gave the religious veil to St Brigid. 1st Reading: 1 Kings 3:4-13 Solomon prays for understanding, to distinguish right from wrong The king went…
06 Feb 2026 – Friday of Week 4 Memorial: St Paul Miki and Companions, – six Franciscans, seventeen Franciscan tertiaries and three Jesuits, – martyred suspended on crosses at Nagasaki, Japan in 1597. 1st Reading: Sirach 47:2-11 David was defender of Israel, psalmist, penitent sinner, blessed by God As the fat is set apart from…
05 Feb 2026 – Thursday of Week 4 Memorial: St Agatha died a martyr at Catania, Sicily in the 3rd century. Patron of bell-founders. 1st Reading: 1 Kings 2:1-4, 10-12 The dying David urges Solomon to have courage and stay faithful to God in every way When David’s time to die drew near, he charged…
04 Feb 2026 – Wednesday of Week 4 1st Reading: 2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17 Having sinned by counting the people, David wants to pay the price himself The king said to Joab and the army commanders who were with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beer-sheba, and take a census…
03 Feb 2026 – Tuesday of Week 4 Optional Memorials: St Ansgar, born in France, AB of Hamburg in the 9th century, preached in Denmark and Sweden. Apostle of Scandinavia, patron of Denmark. St Blaise, died 315, a physician before he became Bishop of Sebaste, martyred in Armenia. Venerated as patron of people who suffer…
02 Feb 2026 – The Presentation of Our Lord 1st Reading: Malachi 3:1-4 When God’s Messenger arrives, he will refine the people See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight…
