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You will find some conflicting views from some of these authors. You will also find that all the authors are deeply concerned about the future of America. What they write is their own opinion, just as what I write is my own.


Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Granna Bytes: A Word to INAC Assemblies Around the World

 By Anna Von Reitz

The best way to start is with your own history.  

We just discovered that an insurance company foreclosed on the Australian Territorial Government in 1907 and took over the administration of the Australian Government at the Territorial level without telling anyone.  

The Great White Fleet (Inc.) was a mercenary service when it sailed into Australian waters and harbors, not a peace mission.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent the battleships painted white on a debt collection mission.  

The Great White Fleet liberally "mistook" all the living people of Australia for British Subjects and Territorial Persons, and used the resulting confusion to impose upon and presume upon the lawful Australian Government and People -- gratuitously redefining them as "Debtors" owing debts they never owed. 

The details are different, but the method is the same.  Foist off the debts of British Territorial Corporations onto Third Parties, then used Roman Municipal Corporation franchises to act as the "Muscle" and enforce debt collections.  

Nobody ever seems to notice that the people being misidentified and imposed upon and merely "presumed" to be debtors, are instead the preferential creditors of the scum.  

They have been working this two-handed aggravated identity theft scheme for over a hundred years throughout most of the known world, and you'd better believe that the Principals involved are responsible for this.  

Take a look at your own country's history.  All western nations have been impacted by this gradually spreading cancer of corruption, and many eastern countries, too, have fallen victim to these secretive and insidious corporations.  

If you look back far enough you will discover the traditional ways and means your ancestors used to organize their culture, how they viewed nature, how they secured justice and security for themselves. 

And you.  

The land jurisdiction of your forefathers still exists; you never knowingly or willingly left it. Being fraudulently misidentified as a foreign person in your own country doesn't change that. 

Refute the foreign citizenship status that these self-interested corporations have foisted off on you.  Object to the British Crown copyright these snakes took to your Given Name.  Bring claim and bring outrage and most of all, bring certainty about who you are and what you are owed.  

Granna

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Coordinator Training Program Launching

 By Anna Von Reitz

We are very pleased that we have a new Coordinator Training Program in the works and scanning its launch checklist.  

Lisa Schaffer, with many years of teaching experience and a stellar performance as the former Ohio Coordinator, will be leading the effort to train a whole new generation of volunteers who are either inheriting the torch or who will be adding to a Coordinator Team.  

Many of you have been attending our Coordinator Training calls and getting questions answered each week.  This is your chance to step up and take it to the next level.  Those who take this training and pass their basic background checks will be fully prepared to help your State of the Union organize and thrive! 

Our tradition up to this point has been a rough road with few signposts through a wilderness of functions and questions and processes. Our early volunteers didn't have the benefit of anyone who had done it before, because their predecessors, the Circuit Riders, were all dead and gone.  Even many of the records and instructions were lost.  

We are now at the point where at least a few Assemblies are at or nearing the completion of their State Assembly pillars and are functioning as our ancestors envisioned. A few, Ohio among them, are at the point where they can look back and say -- we did it! 
They are ready to start sharing the insights of their experience with other States and their Coordinators are now ready to help other Coordinators and Coordinator Teams succeed. 

Training starts this Friday, February 20th 2025, 10 AM, and can accommodate 100 students. Playbacks will be available for those who can't make Friday morning sessions.  

This training is highly recommended for everyone, both experienced and inexperienced volunteers contemplating the rigors of being a Coordinator for their State. 

I, for one, am very grateful that we now have a core cadre of experienced State Coordinators, people who have faced the nuts and bolts of building a State Assembly in the modern era, and having hacked their way into the future and having overcome a 160 year silence, stand ready to help others do the same. 

If you can see the need and feel the call, please contact: 

Granna Bytes: For All Assemblies About Committees and Decorum Guidelines

 By Anna Von Reitz

Recently, people have been complaining about having to sign "contracts" compelling good behavior in our public meetings.  This should not even be a question.  

Public meetings are customarily conducted under rules of decorum, so that the attendees are not imposed upon or forced to waste their time listening to random diatribes and non-agenda discussion items. 

Public meeting decorum rules are not anything controversial. Don't let any paranoid spoilers pretend that they are.  The rules are there to safeguard your time as a group.  Make use of them to reach the goal of short (preferably an hour or less) productive meetings. 

Experience has proven that shorter meetings are more productive. They force people to move things along and stay on topic and everyone enjoys the sense of getting important things decided and in motion. If absolutely needed, individual meetings can be extended by a vote, or if it is more convenient, a second meeting can be scheduled for later in the same week.  

The idea here is that meetings are work sessions -- time set aside from our busy lives to consider questions and make decisions for the betterment of our lives and our communities.

The Decorum Agreements are not contracts --- an agreement is not a contract, but aside from that important distinction, we understand the once-burned twice-shy reluctance to sign anything after what we have all been through, and signatures are not needed.   

I recommend that the decorum rules adopted by the Assemblies be posted as an entry page and in the chat room of all discussion forums and given to all new members as part of their orientation package.  That way they have been given notice of the rules and have no cause to object or be offended if they ignore the rules and are muted or removed from a meeting. 

Some people think that their right to come to a public meeting and rant on some off-topic subject that wasn't on the agenda supersedes the equal right of all the other people to get work done in the Public Interest.  It does not.  

We all have the right to speak our minds freely and to be heard; but our individual right is no more special than the rights of others to speak and organize their time and direct their efforts toward specific agenda topics important to the group as a whole.  

Instructions on how to get issues on the Agenda should be given to everyone as part of their Orientation package.  If a topic is especially urgent, such as a looming emergency, the agenda can always be temporarily set aside if the group is amenable.  

Remember the LaVera Adage: "My rights end where another person's rights begin."  We all have rights. Learning to respect the equal rights of others is an essential part of self-governance. Good decorum standards reflect this truth and help people learn it in a practical way. 

Moving on to the issue of Committees.  There has been an unfortunate misunderstanding to the effect that Coordinators have to call Committee Meetings or have to be present at Committee Meetings.  This is absurd.  No Coordinator could possibly meet this additional demand on their time. 

Committees are the traditional way that Americans get the work of the government accomplished.  They may be "Standing Committees" which are needed to organize work and processes on a continuing basis, or they may be "Special Committees" devoted to researching individual topics or addressing temporary needs, but all Committees are designed to function in a quasi-independent manner.  

Let's go through the process of forming committees --- again.  

At a General Assembly Meeting the Coordinator or Chairperson announces the formation of a Committee, say, the Elections Committee.  Volunteers are asked for and noted down.  The Elections Committee is now formed.  

A time and date (and if physical, a place) is established for the first meeting.  At the first meeting a chairperson is selected by the volunteers from among the volunteers.  The members select a day and time for their meetings and how often they will meet.  Details of their meeting forum are established --- will they meet at Nellie's Downtown Diner, every other Tuesday, at 4 PM, or will they meet on Zoom as a teleconference every first Monday of the month at 6 PM.  

You will shortly see that some Committees are far more active than others.  Research Committees tend to be very active for a relatively short period of time, while most Standing Committees only come into play when their services are needed or when a process requires their attention.  

As Committees fade in and out of action, they post their weekly or bi-monthly or monthly meeting times ahead of the General Assembly meetings so that members who are interested can attend their Committee Meeting.  Committee Meetings are not closed, not private, and not secret.  

As they publish their meeting schedules and particulars ahead of the General Assembly Meeting, they also give a very brief summation of what they are currently working on.  

For example: 

Elections Committee: 7 PM on Tuesday, November 14th, via Zoom teleconference link: (link info).  We will be discussing updating and maintaining eligible voter records and polling place security.  

Rio Grande Rehabilitation Committee: 1 PM on Saturday, November 6th, First Episcopalian Church basement, 112 Sunset View Drive, Sedona, Arizona, public event, education, diorama, bbq.  Bring the kids! 

Ombudsman Committee: Thursday, November 9th, 7PM, via video FreeConference: (Meeting access codes, etc.). Our meeting will host Darren Pilsner, Professional Arbitration Specialist from A &E Arbitration Services, presenting "The Basics of Civil Arbitration". 

Outreach Committee: Friday, November 10th, 7 PM Community Meet and Greet at the Historic Emmler Fire Department, 1915 Butte Street, Emmler, Arizona. Featuring "On the Road in America", famous American monologues on stage, plus multimedia documentary, suitable for all ages.  

Above are examples of the kinds of Committee news that should develop over time.  As you can see, both Standing and Special Committees are represented.  The Committee Meetings and Events are shared with all the members via postings.  Coordinators participate as they can and check in with Committee Chairs to answer questions and assist if needed. 

At least once a year, Committees report to the General Assembly.  Some Committees may report monthly or even weekly.  It just depends on the work and functions of each committee how often they present before the General Assembly. 

The Treasury Committee might give a very brief report at each meeting, and a much more complete End of the Year report, while the Banking Committee might report once per quarter.  

Each Assembly is in the process of growing and refining so there is no set order being imposed in terms of what committees are needed first, but there is no doubt that Committees are needed and volunteers for Committees are needed. 

And no, Coordinators do not preside over Committee Meetings or need to be present for Committees to conduct business and get work done. That would be an unreasonable control over Committees and an unreasonable amount of work for our Coordinators. 

Granna

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See this article and over 5700 others on Anna's website here: www.annavonreitz.com
To support this work look for the Donate button on this website.
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Monday, February 16, 2026

Mitch Vexler: Property Taxing is unconstitutional and involves multiple violations of law

Mitch's criminal law suit is at Texas Supreme Court

In Arkansas a class action against Property Taxes is rolling forward.

In Florida Gov. DeSantis is making sure the question is on the ballot so the people can abolish property taxes.

 Contact Mitch Vexler: https://www.mockingbirdproperties.com/ Citations: Zero Hedge Article: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/f... Constitution 14th Amendment: https://constitution.congress.gov/con... Constitution 16th Amendment: https://constitution.congress.gov/con... Maryland Real Property Website: https://dat.maryland.gov/realproperty.... Maryland's Property Tax Revenue Outlook: https://dls.maryland.gov/pubs/prod/In...


Is the silver market about to snap?

 https://youtu.be/4QWTO1-zQt4


Is the COMEX about to default? 

If you’ve been following silver headlines lately, you’ve probably seen the numbers: 

  • 400 million ounces of open interest 
  • Only 100 million ounces of registered silver 
  • “This isn’t speculation — it’s a math problem.” 

On the surface, it sounds like a breaking point. Demand appears to exceed supply by a factor of four. If everyone stands for delivery, wouldn’t the exchange run out of silver? 

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By Paul Stramer

In 2024 we started using the new mint in Indiana to stamp and ship our silver rounds, after over 18 years with the previous mint in Utah.

The mint is now experiencing a larger volume of orders and has extended their production schedule up to six to eight weeks for new orders.

 We expect our volume to rise also, and that run has already started.

 Here are some of the things that are changing for the better for you, our customers.

1. The old 500 ounce minimum order is gone. The new minimum order is now 50 ounces

2. They will be very competitive in their price structure, and right now we are offering a price plan based on the volume of metal in each order. See below.

These will be shipped by UPS Ground, fully insured.

 We will still be accepting wire transfers, or cashiers checks like always. 

We can only lock an order after we have received the funds. Here is the formula we use to figure your price.

Go to this link on Kitco.com and look up the ask price of silver. 

https://www.kitco.com/price/precious-metals

It's in the first table on that page. 

The mint is closed Friday, through Sunday, so we can't lock an order on those days.


For a 60 oz. to 99 oz. order, take the ask price and add $5.00

For a 100 oz. to 199 oz. order, take the ask price and add $4.50. 

For a 200 oz. to 299 oz. order, take the ask price and add $4.25. 

For a 300 oz. to 999 oz. order, take the ask price and add $3.75. 

All orders over 1000 ounces will be $3.50 over spot ask price.

Take that number times the number of ounces (50 or over) and then add $30.00 for each 60 to 99 ounce box for shipping, or for large orders add $50 per 500 ounce box for shipping.

Once we have your funds we will run this same formula to finalize the price with shipping.

Be sure to call us when you are ready to order so we can answer your questions.

When you call I will get your email address and send you the bank info for wire transfers or the mailing info for your payment. You can then reply with your shipping address for UPS.

If you have any questions here is my contact info.

Office phone  406 889 3183  8 AM to 2 PM and 4PM to 6 PM weekdays.

Cell  406 253 4257  when I am not in the office. Try the Office line first.

pstramer@gmail.com   or  pstramer@eurekadsl.net

Thanks for your support over the years.  We are now open and taking orders.

Paul Stramer   S.A.G.

Granna Bytes: When People Lose Their Minds and Get Hysterical

 By Anna Von Reitz

The whole up and down fiasco in the silver markets of the world the last couple weeks left many people feeling like there was no safe place to be, as if they were in free fall, or else, as if no matter what they did to try to protect themselves and their families, the evil gubmint had an answering way to defraud and cheat them. 

Well, it does.  

If the price of silver goes down -- either paper silver or actual silver, then your investment in silver is only "marking time".  No great amounts of profit are to be realized, especially from "unallocated silver" --- and you wind up preserving your earning power with maybe a three or four-fold profit realized over a period of years, or if you are holding paper silver, possibly no profit at all or even a loss. 

Think about all the people stuck holding "unallocated silver" by these fraud artists?  They paid for physical silver at some time in the past. The people they bought it from didn't have any actual silver on hand and they didn't run out and buy any physical silver, either.  They just bet on a large number of folks never actually asking for their silver to be delivered.  

This is called "leveraging" and it is only made possible, because the commodities exchanges were allowed to indulge in the same patently criminal practice as the banks.  They were allowed to apply "fractional reserve banking" practices to other commodities in addition to Federal Reserve Notes. 

As a result, there were 32 ounces of "paper silver" sold to customers, for every 1 ounce of actual silver in the vault.  

All those people caught holding the other 31 ounces of paper silver had their delivery contracts voided under "force majeure" provisions, and what did they receive back?  

An amount equal to their purchase price in devalued paper currency. 

They actually lost money, because the paper currency has devalued more since the time they originally thought they bought silver as a hedge against this sort of thing. 

If the price of silver skyrockets, then the rats are there with their hands out, either shutting the dealers down, or taxing you at the exchanges so they take half your profit, or, last but not least, laying plans to confiscate what is yours. 

But remember, they can only do this because you are being mistaken as a British Subject, and it's up to you to complain about this to the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and their President, Donald J. Trump, and the International Court of Justice and Interpol and everyone else in the world who has ears to hear.  

Including your fellow Americans, who will certainly be appalled to learn that they, too, are purportedly British Subjects --- a status that they refused a long, long time ago, and need to refuse --- lawfully and with certainty, now.  

Also remember that unless a "law" is read into the Congressional Record three times, it can't apply to you. And if there is no parent corporation law that applies to you, there can't be a franchise statute that applies to you concerning any such federal law, either. 

Don't let them "presume" anything about you.  

And keep on bringing them to account for it, no matter what it takes or how long. 

The vote today in Parliament not to honor requests to investigate royal rape rampages is indication enough that the Brits lack the moral fortitude to face facts, and if the U.S. Congress doesn't back water and if Mr. Trump and his entourage don't stop equivocating --- if they don't actually arrest and punish people for the horrid things they did under Epstein's influence --- the British Territorial Congress and Administration will prove itself no better than Parliament. 

However, it's never over until we say it's over.  And we won't say it's over until the estimated 50,000 British girls raped and/or trafficked by mostly Pakistani rape gangs and groomers, and all those children harmed by Jeffrey Epstein, have justice. 

All these distractions and upsets have got people a bit unbalanced. 

They start panicking and feeling around like they lost their glasses, and they start squawking and making negative assumptions about everything and everyone, and pretty soon, instead of realizing that the Trump Administration hasn't really acted upon the Epstein files by exposing them ---- I get complaints.  

I am not being "transparent" enough.  I am not doing my job.  I am not doing it fast enough.  I am not protecting people well enough. And this even morphs into, I must be a fraud, etc., etc., etc.

This is what being panicked and frustrated does.  Common sense flies right out the window.  

If I were out to cheat you out of your inheritance, why would I take all the actions I've taken on the public record, and tell you about what I did?  Why would I bother to create a way for you to claim back your birthright estate?  Why even bring it up? 

Clearly, if I were a cheat or a liar, I would do what all the other cheats and liars have done --- go behind your backs and steal you blind and never tell you a word about it.  

So, I had a long talk with "California Lost It" via text and showed her why all the "transparency" she was raving about wasn't actually appropriate at this point of the game and not prudent for someone obligated to act according to the Prudent Man Standard. 

Perhaps while some of the rest of you are bubbling on that same crisis point of blind unreasoning panic and frustration, I should point out a few things about the actual process of recoupment. 

First, you have to contact retired and reserve Army Generals -- those who are honest -- and explain the whole situation, who you are, and you bring forward records and other information in support.  

Second, they chew on it and decide you are not a nutcase. 

Third, they have to garner support for taking action through military and financial services networks here and in other countries. 

Fourth, the militaries and financial regulators and yes, financial crimes experts have to take various actions to get records and accountability from the banks --- literally shake them down. 

Fifth, all the recording, collecting, moving, inventorying, assaying and secure vault storage has to be arranged. 

Sixth, the recovered assets have to be ledgered in a bank system that is honest, but --- there isn't one.  So you have to build your own bank system, too.  

Seventh, throughout all this, you have to keep the military honest and try to prevent what is happening right now under the Trump Administration.  

The temptation for the military is to keep control of the assets  themselves, and offer the victims half a penny on a dollar (or less) as settlement of the victim's claims, which is what they are attempting to run past us right now. 

All the rest, trillions of dollars, is kept in the military's hands, doled out according to military regulation, and used for military purposes --- mostly paying politicians off and "investing" in technology. 

It's our job as non-citizen nationals, and as Foreign Sovereigns with respect to them, and as their employers, to convince them that we know what is going on and no, we aren't British Subjects. 

Please bear in mind that this is taking place against a backdrop of history where megatons of our gold has been shipped offshore for "safekeeping" by the U.S. Navy, and been ratholed in central banks and bunkers in the Philippines, and more bunkers all over the world.  

Also bear in mind that the Japanese sacked the Philippines and its gold bunkers during WWII and transported large quantities of our gold to their coffers worldwide.  It's taken decades to begin recouping all of that.  

Also during WWII, the Nazis stripped everyone in Western Europe bare and took the spoils to numbered Swiss bank accounts at the same time.  (The Brits weren't stripped bare, but they might as well have been --- they had to spend everything they had including their lives to win.) 

Also, realize that our gold and all our other assets, including our labor, was "securitized" to pay for the Marshall Plan and other similar support to rebuild the world after WWII.  That has not been paid back. 

Know that we continued to occupy Western Europe and pay the price for Europe's defense from 1945 to the present; Trump is just now getting around to ending this sweetheart deal, protecting our trade markets, and letting NATO pay for its own continued war-mongering. 

Also, realize that large quantities of gold were discovered in this country in the Grand Canyon; this massive gold hoard was left behind by a race of people, at least some known to be giants, who used proto-Egyptian hieroglyphics and hid everything in caves --- a discovery that was promptly covered back up by the Smithsonian Museum and the Powell Family. 

It went down like the final scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark.... it all got packed up and sent to the Smithsonian Museum, presumably to be warehoused there.  And it disappeared.

While we are at it, where have we heard that name, Powell, before?

Major John Wesley Powell, who led the first military exploration of the Grand Canyon in 1869 and saw portions of it that have been closed to the public ever since.  And Jerome Powell, Ex-Federal Reserve Chairman, of course. 

Massive amounts of gold and giant skeletons never accounted for, military involvement, the name Powell.  
  
We will never know how much of all that artifact gold was stolen and melted down in Mexico, but there's still a mountain of artifacts to be sorted out and secured and analyzed and put in a museum that has yet to be built. We don't know yet if the DNA, which is over 10,000 years old, will connect to Native American tribes that still live along and in the chasm of the Grand Canyon today.  

This is not some neat and tidy business of walking into a bank and identifying yourself as the account holder and talking politely about large gold deposits that you --- or in this case -- you and people you represent, are heir to.  

It's more like being Indiana Jones. Or his scruffy girlfriend. 

It's dirty.  It's dangerous.  It's imprecise.  A lot we just have to guess at and make the best guess we can. The bankers smirk at you and lie, or alternatively admit that you probably are the account holder, since you have the records and know the secret hand-shakes, but then they balk and pretend that you owe them millions of dollars (payola) in past due storage fees that have to be taken care of before they can discuss these "delinquent accounts".  

And, curiously, they never, ever, want to talk about how much money they made by "managing" and securitizing these assets and trading them or using the resulting credit for investments and loans for decades at a time. 

Did you know that just one (1) gold mine on Native American Treaty land yielded 198 million ounces of gold --?  And the Native people who owned that land fair and square, never got a cent?  They are still being lied to and cheated, being told that if they take restitution for the gold, they lose their claim to the land of the Black Hills, which is sacred to them.  

Pardon me?  If someone extracts your tooth from your head, is it still your tooth?  And still your head?  If the gold came from Indian land, doesn't the gold belong to the Indians?  And don't they still own the land?  
'
This is the kind of crappola that I have to slog through every day that I live --- every kind of illogical, greedy, small-minded, nasty, criminal scheme you can imagine --- just designed to profit one group of people over another, get a middleman position over someone else's assets, or get them to "settle" their claims for a song.  

You want to see someone who is frustrated and angry and has been ---both--- for most of the past forty years?  Come visit your Granna.  

Let me sit you down and share the moment when Hunter and I realized that we'd have to provide a retail level bank system for individual people all over the world, not just a bank-to-bank system, and not just a maritime commercial system, oh, no.  

We'd also have to organize and launch a land-based commercial bank system, too, plus an international trade bank system, and to make use of the credit that's been endlessly stockpiled (oh, yeah, build it up in "Heaven") --- prosperity unions, too.  

Doing it all was the only way to save lives. 

When the curtain comes down and lights go out, when the military realizes that it doesn't have the ownership and skills required....

Then there will be a handful of people, a much smaller group, with far less support than the RAF in World War II, holding the door open for you.   

The assets will all be accounted for in the records of the new Treasury.  

As each new clump of assets is recovered by military and later, court processes, it will be added to the Treasury, but it's still unlikely that you as a member of the general public will have free access to all the Treasury records and account information.  

Why is that?  There isn't a sovereign treasury on Earth that is that transparent.  Instead, they all regularly lie through their teeth and fake each other out about how much of this or that asset they actually have. 

It's like publishing how many tanks and fighter aircraft and all the other machinery you have in your arsenal.  

Being too loose-lipped about your asset base can lead to attacks, and that is probably what happened with the recent ComEx meltdown of the paper silver market --- at least in part. 

Someone found out that the ComEx vaults weren't holding nearly enough silver, which inspired setting up a silver squeeze.  The culprits are probably members of the ComEx and JP Morgan and Federal Reserve gangs --- culprits that have huge physical silver stashes that are unaccounted for, that they held ready to sell into the sudden high demand market they created. 

Call me cynical, but don't call me stupid.  And don't expect me to be "transparent".  You can use your own ears and eyes and brains.  None of this stuff is that hard to figure out.  Buy low, sell high.  Create the problem, profit from the problem.  

Your Granna isn't a whiner, doesn't show her cards, and isn't afraid. 

That should tell you something.  It should tell you that against all odds, the Americans have been recognized and we don't have to pretend to be British Subjects to get a few pennies back of what is ours.   

We know we are owed the whole enchilada. And control of it, too. 

In spite of everything, with no gubmint support, we built the necessary bank system----the whole, huge architecture necessary to deliver retail level accounts for eight billion people, as well as all the bank-to-bank and service-to-service systems to support this.  

So before anyone else loses their mind and wants to scream and panic and make accusations against me or our Global Family Bank system --- stop and think.  Use your own brains.  We got this far. 

We are indeed in the presence of thugs and crooks and cronies. We have to deal with them and their greasy corruption -- bit by bit and day by day, we have to overcome them, bring them home, show them that there is a better way.  

And we have to do that while honoring the Prudent Man Standard every step.  For all our sakes. 

Granna

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See this article and over 5700 others on Anna's website here: www.annavonreitz.com
To support this work look for the Donate button on this website.
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Sunday, February 15, 2026

Quinquagesima Sunday

 Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine's

The Church's Year

The Introit of this day's Mass is the sigh of an afflicted soul confiding in God:

INTROIT Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a place of refuge, to save me: for thou art my strength and my refuge: and for thy name's sake thou wilt be my leader, and wilt nourish me. (Fs. XXX. 3. 4.) In thee , O Lord, I have hoped, let me never be confounded: deliver me in thy justice, and set me free. (Ps. XXX. 2.)

COLLECT O Lord, we beseech Thee, graciously hear our prayers, and unloosing the bonds of our sins, guard us from all adversity. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end, Amen.

EPISTLE (I. Cor. XIII. 1-13.) Brethren, if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not; dealeth not perversely; is not puffed up; is not ambitious; seeketh not her own; is not provoked to anger; thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part: but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away the things of a child. We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known. And now there remain faith, hope, charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.

EXPLANATION In this epistle St. Paul speaks of the necessity, the excellence and the nature of true charity. He says that all natural and supernatural gifts, all good works, even martyrdom, cannot save us if we have not charity; because love alone can render our works pleasing to God. Without charity, therefore, though ever so many prayers be recited, fasts observed , and good deeds performed, nothing will be acceptable to God, or merit eternal life. Strive then, O Christian soul, to lead a pious life in love, and to remain always in the state of grace.

Can faith alone, as the so-called Reformers assert, render man just and save him?

Faith alone, however strong, though it could move mountains, without love, that is, without good works performed for love of God and our neighbor, can never justify or save us. For, when St. Paul says, that man is justified by faith without works, (Rom. III. 28.; XI: 6.; Eph. II. 8. 9.) he means to refer to those works which were performed by command of the law of Moses, and which, as they were external and without true charity, were of no avail; he did not refer to those works which are performed in a state of grace with a lively, love-inspired faith. Therefore the same Apostle writes to the Galatians: (Gal. V. 6.) Faith only availeth which worketh by charity; to Titus: (Tit. III. 8.) It is a faithful saying: and these things I will have thee affirm constantly: that they who believe in God, may be careful to excel in good works. These things are good and profitable unto men; and he exhorts the Colossians (Colos. I. 10.) to be fruitful in every good work. St. James confirms the same by saying: (James II. 17-24.) So faith if it have not works, is dead in itself; by works man is justified and not by faith only. That this is the true doctrine of Christ is evident from His own words, when He says: "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down and shall be cast into the fire." (Matt. VII. 19.) At the day of judgment Christ will demand good works from all men, (Matt. XXV. 35.) and will not judge them only according to their faith, but by their good works, which true faith must always produce. (Apoc. XX. 12.) Would Christ and His apostles demand good works, if faith alone be sufficient? "The devil's also believe and tremble," (James II. 19.) they believe, but they are not saved, and their faith but increases their torments. Therefore, the assertion that faith without good works is sufficient for justification and salvation, is plainly against the doctrine of Christ and His Church, and must of necessity lead man to vice and misery, as shown by the history of the unhappy separation of the sixteenth century

Are good works available which are performed in the state of mortal sin ?

Good works performed while in a state of mortal sin avail nothing in regard to eternal life, writes St. Lawrence Justinian, but aid in moderating the punishment imposed for disobedience and the transgression of God's commandments. They bring temporal goods, such as honor, long life, health, earthly happiness, etc.; they prevent us from falling deeper into sin, and prepare the heart for the reception of grace; so the pious Person writes: "Do as much good as you can, even though in the state of mortal sin, that God may give light to your heart."

ASPIRATION O God of love, pour the spirit of true charity into my heart that, according to the spirit of St. Paul, I may endeavor to be always in a state of grace; that all my works may be pleasing to Thee, and meritorious for me.

GOSPEL (Luke XVIII. 31-43.) At that time, Jesus took unto him the twelve, and said to them Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished which were written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man. For he shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon; and after they have scourged him, they will put him to death; and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things, and this word was hid from them, and they understood not the things that were said. Now it came to pass, when he drew nigh to Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the way-side, begging. And when he heard the multitude passing by, he asked what this meant. And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying: Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. And they that went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace. But he cried out much more: Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus standing, commanded him to be brought unto him. And when he was come near, he asked him, saying: What wilt thou that I do to thee? But he said: Lord, that I may see. And Jesus said to him: Receive thy sight; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he saw, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Why did Christ so often foretell His passion to His disciples?

Because He wanted to show how great was His desire to suffer for us, for we speak often of that which we crave; and because He wished His disciples when they should see Him treated as a criminal and martyred, not to think evil of Him, or imagine themselves deceived, but remember that He had foretold all minutely that all happened of His own will.

Did not the disciples  understand anything of what He predicted in regard to His future sufferings?

They may, certainly, have well understood He was to suffer, for which reason Peter tried to dissuade Him from it; (Matt. XVI. 22.) but they did not comprehend why or for what He would suffer, or how He would rise again. All this the Holy Ghost gave them to understand, after it had come to pass. (John XIV. 26.) The light of the Holy Ghost is of so much value, that without it even the clearest doctrines of faith are not understood.

Why does Christ so often call Himself the Son of Man?

He wished to show, in the Jewish way of speaking, He was also man, a descendant of Adam, and that we should be humble, and not seek or desire high titles.

Why did the blind man call Christ the Son of David?

Because, like all the Jews, he believed that the Messiah, according to humanity, would be of the house of David, as was promised. (Ps. CXXXI. 11.)

Why did Christ ask the blind man: What wilt thou that I do to thee?

This He asked, not because He was unaware of the blind man's wish, but to enable him the better to prove his faith and hope that through Christ he would receive his sight; and to teach us how willing He is to help us, and how it pleases Him if we confidingly place our wants before Him. We should learn from this blind man, who would not be restrained by the passing crowd in his ardent and reiterated request, not to pay attention, in the work we have commenced, to human respect, or human judgment, but to persevere, and not allow ourselves to be led astray by the world's mockery or contempt. We should also learn to be grateful to God, and faithfully cling to Him, if He has once opened the eyes of our mind, and healed our spiritual blindness, which is far more deplorable than physical blindness, for nothing can be more miserable than not to see and understand God, not to know what is necessary for our salvation, and what is pernicious.

Why is this gospel read on this Sunday?

The Church wishes to remind us of the painful passion and death of Jesus, and to move us by the contemplation of those mysteries to avoid and despise the wicked, heathenish amusements of carnival, sinful pleasures which she has always condemned, because they come from dark paganism, and, to avert the people from them, commands that during the three days of carnival the Blessed Sacrament shall be exposed for public adoration, sermons given, and the faithful exhorted to have recourse at this time to the Sacraments of Penance and the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, with the reception of which Pope Clement XIII. (Breve, 23. June 1765) connected a plenary indulgence. A true Catholic will conform to the desire of his holy Church, considering the words which St. Augustine spoke, at this time, to the faithful, "The heathens (as also the wordly people of our days) shout songs of love and merriment, but you should delight in the preaching of the word of God; they rush to the dramatic plays, but you should hasten to Church; they are intoxicated, but you should fast and be sober."

PRAYER O most benign Jesus! who didst so desire to suffer for us, grant, that we may willingly suffer for love of Thee; that we may hate and flee from the detestable pleasures of the world and the flesh, and practice penance and mortification, that by so doing we may merit to be released from our spiritual blindness to love Thee more and more ardently, and finally possess Thee forever.

INSTRUCTION ON LENT

Who instituted Lent?

According to the fathers of the Church, Justin and Irenaeus, the fast before Easter was instituted and sanctified by Christ Himself; according to the saints Leo and Jerome, the holy apostles ordained it given by Jesus.

Why has the Church instituted this fast forty days before Easter?

To imitate Christ who fasted forty days; to participate in His merits and sufferings; to subject our flesh by voluntary mortification to the spirit, and to mortify our evil desires as did St. Paul; (Col. I. 24.) to enable us to lead a pure life, and thus prepare for the holy festival of Easter, and the reception of the divine Lamb, Jesus: and, finally, to render God satisfaction for our sins, and do penance, as Pope Gregory says, for the sins of one whole year by one short fast, lasting only the tenth part of a year.

Was the fast of Lent observed in early times as in the present?

Yes, but more strictly; for the people of the early ages not only abstained from meat, but also from all that which is connected with it, such as eggs, butter, cheese, etc., even from wine and fish, although this was not the general command of the Church; they fasted all day, and only ate in the evening after vespers, in remembrance of which, vespers are now said before dinner-time, because the Church, as a kind mother, now permits the supper to be changed into a dinner, and also allows something to be taken in the evening, that the body may not be too much weakened, and become unfit for labor.

How much does this ancient custom put to shame the Christians of to-day who think the fast in our times too severe! "But," asks St. Ambrose, "what sort of Christians are they? Christ, who never sinned fasted for our sins, and we will not fast for our own great and numerous offences?"

How should the holy season of Lent be spent?

As according to the teaching of St. Leo, the main thing in fasting is not that the body be deprived of food, but that the mind at the same time be withdrawn from wickedness, we should endeavor during Lent, not only to be temperate in eating and drinking, but especially to lead a modest life, sanctifying the days by persevering prayer and devoutly attending church.

PRAYER AT THE BEGINNING OF LENT

Almighty God! I unite myself at the beginning of this holy season of penance with the Church militant, endeavoring to make these days of real sorrow for my sins and crucifixion of the sensual man. O Lord Jesus! in union with Thy fasting and passion, I offer Thee my fasting in obedience to the Church, for Thy honor, and in thanksgiving for the many favors I have received, in satisfaction for my sins and the sins of others, and that I may receive the grace to avoid such and such a sin, N. N. and to practice such and such a virtue, N. N.