Sunday the 1st of February 2026 - The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13/ Ps 146(145)/ 1 Corinthians 1:26-31/ Matthew 5:1-12a

We live in a time when the loudest voices get the most attention, when self-promotion is considered a virtue, when influence is measured by followers and 'likes'. We are surrounded by a culture that tells us to market ourselves, to climb the ladder, to make our mark on the world. The truth we learn today is that God's way is different. The readings today call us to change, they present us with a radical counter-cultural vision that turns everything upside down.

The prophet Zephaniah calls his people to seek the Lord, seek justice and humility, to become a people God, humble and lowly, who take refuge in the name of the Lord. In a world obsessed with being seen, being heard, being influential, God is calling us to humility. This is not just an ancient message, this is God speaking directly to us today, here and now in our world, our lives, today.

Paul tells the Christians in Corinthians the same truth. God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, chose the weak of the world to shame the strong. God delights in showing His power through those the world overlooks. God's wisdom completely contradicts human wisdom. God’s wisdom is a wisdom beyond the understanding of the wisdom of this world. As Christians this means that we are called to live differently, to be counter-cultural in the most profound way. While the world rushes after power, prestige, and self-promotion, we are called to seek something infinitely greater, we are called to seek the heart of God. The Beatitudes that Jesus proclaims today are a revolutionary manifesto that show us how to achieve this. They are the charter for Christian living. Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Each beatitude, each blessing, strikes a blow against the values of a world that says, promote yourself, assert yourself, make yourself great. This is how we find true happiness, blessings, and fulfilment. The world's way promises everything but delivers nothing. God's way seems foolish to the world, but it delivers real joy and peace.

In our society today who are the powerless? Who are the vulnerable? The psalm gives us the answer, the oppressed, the hungry, prisoners, the blind, the bowed down, the stranger, the orphan and widow. Today we must add others to this list, the unborn child in the womb, the elderly who are told their lives have lost value, the sick who are seen as burdens rather than beloved children of God. This is where we Christians are called to be. Not chasing after worldly influence but standing with the vulnerable. Not promoting ourselves but serving the least among us. Not seeking power but bringing justice and peace in cooperation with Jesus. We live in a society that is in danger of destroying itself because it has lost sight of the value of every human person. A society that puts monetary value on people, that discards the weak, that celebrates strength and despises vulnerability, such a society is doomed to fail. It is built on sand, and storms will wash it away. We must, and we can be different. We are called to build a society that does not glorify the individual at the expense of the community, but cares for the good of all. A society that does not measure worth by productivity or influence, but values each person as God values them, infinitely precious, made in His image, worthy of dignity and respect.

Our calling, our mission, is to be those humble and lowly people who take refuge in the name of the Lord. To be those who seek justice and righteousness. To be those who live the Beatitudes in a world that thinks we are foolish. When we embrace this humble way, when we stop trying to promote ourselves and instead seek to serve others, when we align ourselves with God's wisdom rather than the world's wisdom, we discover that God can work powerfully through us. That our weakness becomes the very place where His strength is perfected. That our humility becomes the doorway through which His grace can flow into the world. Paul understood this when he said that whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord. Our confidence is not in our own abilities, our own influence, our own strength. Our confidence is in God, and that confidence can never be shaken because it is built on the foundation that is Christ.

Today we must challenge ourselves. Are we caught up in the world's game of self-promotion? Are we seeking to build our own kingdoms? Or are we truly seeking first the Kingdom of God? Are we pursuing humility? Are we standing with the vulnerable? Are we living the counter-cultural message of the Beatitudes? This is not easy. Living counter-culturally never is. Jesus promises that we will be persecuted and reviled, that all kinds of evil will be spoken against us falsely. But He also promises that we will be blessed. That ours is the Kingdom of Heaven. That we will be comforted, inherit the earth, be satisfied, receive mercy, see God, and be called children of God. We can follow the way of the world, a way that leads to emptiness, or we can follow God's way that leads to life. Seek to promote ourselves, or seek to serve others, pursue power, or embrace humility.

Our faith tells us that God is calling us to something greater than anything this world can offer. He is calling us to be His humble, lowly people who bring justice to the oppressed, who care for the vulnerable, who value every human life from conception to natural death. He is calling us to be living witnesses to a different way, His way. Today let us answer that call, commit ourselves to seek humility, pursue justice, live the Beatitudes. Let us be the people who shame the wisdom of this world by living according to God's wisdom. Let us be the people through whom God's power is made perfect in weakness.

The world desperately needs to see this alternative, to see Christians who truly live differently, who truly care for the vulnerable and value every person as God values them. We must be those witnesses living counter-culturally for Jesus. May God give us the grace to embrace His humble way, to seek His justice, and to live the revolutionary message of the Beatitudes in our daily lives in this world today.

God Bless Brendan