February 19, 2026 // Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Reflect on the Word //
It felt like my soul was being pelted by desert sand. But amid the nicking and scratching of the enemy in my thoughts, I looked up at a beautiful image of our Lord and my heart rested for a gentle moment. Immediately I felt the courage from the Holy Spirit—definitely not my own—asking me to make an act of confidence and surrender. You have never failed me, my heart cried as I prayed. Although the enemy’s accusations swirled, tempting me to second guess my intentions and to go down the neverending spiral of wondering how things might turn out, I cried out to God for salvation.
My heart leaped at the absolute truth of the choice set before the Israelites (and us) in the First Reading today. The Lord caught me. Like a great friend whose love is so familiar that one relaxes at the sound of his or her voice, He caught me. I understood in vivid contrast that I had a choice to make. I could spend the next few weeks before the news came about a serious situation worrying, blaming, and becoming embittered. I knew this would lead to the death spiral which the First Reading speaks about, or I could choose life. Did I want the death spiral of self-focus and the small-mindedness of pride, or life in the One Who is Life?
His call in that moment was to obey His command, to trust Him. Trusting prayer would be my lifeline. Obedience to God is not for my destruction but for my life, my freedom from death: “If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you” (Deuteronomy 30:16).
We are so blessed to be on the cusp of yet another conversion, another Lent. What a privilege to be called to the desert again, now, today—a desert which will bring us closer to the promised land of Heaven. What an immense joy to know our God calls us to obedience for our fullness of life.
Relate to the Lord // Where is the Lord inviting you to obedience for your good?
Maria Kim-Ngân Bùi, after twenty years in religious life, is discerning a call to found a community of consecrated religious women dedicated to Our Lady and who will pray reparation for sins against the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, pray for conversions, and work for the evangelization of those who have left the Church or feel furthest from the Church.
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