Homily for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 1st, 2026

But I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD. Zephaniah 3:12 

Are we humble and lowly? Do we take refuge in the name of the Lord or not? 

To answer these two questions, I like to share with you what Pope Benedict XVI teaches us in his book on Jesus of Nazareth about the Beatitudes. 

For Pope Benedict XVI, the Beatitudes are a high-definition photograph of Jesus’ heart and soul.  

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. Matthew 11:29 

Jesus is poor in spirit, which means that he is totally dependent on the Father for his life, for his love, for the way he must live his time among us, even if that might mean that he must die in the cruelest possible fashion. 

Jesus mourns over Jerusalem and over all those who do not realize the time of his stay among them. 

Jesus is meek for, even though he could have countless legions of angels ready to fight for him, he refuses to crush anyone; he doesn’t retaliate, he turns the other cheek, he goes the extra mile; he doesn’t shield himself from blows and strikes, from spittle and scourging.  

Jesus hungers and thirsts for righteousness as he is faithful to the Father’s will to the point of making it the sustenance of his life even unto death on a cross. 

Jesus is most merciful as he is always moved to compassion by the sight of our sorry and pitiful condition; he doesn’t condemn anyone of those who take refuge in him with a contrite heart. 

Jesus has the cleanest of all hearts, as he is unceasingly gazing upon the face of his Father. 

Through his Blood, Jesus makes peace between heaven and earth; and gives his peace to his disciples in a way radically different from the way the world can give it. 

And as far as persecution, rejection, insults, slander and calumny are concerned, we do not need to say anything because we know that no one has ever, will ever endure more than what Jesus did endure.  

Once we have seen how the Beatitudes offer us a perfect picture of Jesus, we should now imagine him teaching us the way he taught his first disciples on that mountain. (Matthew 5:1-12) 

It becomes soon evident that the Beatitudes reflect a still blurry picture of Jesus’ disciples of all ages. 

They have a hard time imitating his meekness and lowliness. 

For example, at first, St. Paul finds promising soil for the Beatitudes to flourish in the lowly state of most members of the Corinthian Community (1 Cor. 1:26-31).  However, as we read into the body of the same letter, we are shocked to learn of how the Corinthians had a long way to go before considering themselves a people of the Beatitudes. 

Given the steep challenge which the Beatitudes present, we should find time to examine which Beatitude, if any, we are living out in a way pleasing to the Lord, which ones we are ignoring, and in which we are struggling.  

The worst possible spiritual condition would be the one of lukewarmness: trying to live our life somewhere in between the teachings of our divine Master, who is meek and humble of heart, and the haughty, self-serving proposals of the world. 

We cannot afford to forget that only the lowly and the humble find refuge in the name of the Lord. 

As it is, the world swallows up the poor in spirit.  

The world writes off those who mourn because they are annoying. 

The world crushes the meek, routinely, with ease. 

The world takes advantage of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.  

The world might demand mercy whenever convenient, but, oftentimes, it exacts uneven justice. 

For the world, there is no such thing as a clean heart because it strives to clutter people’s hearts with costly prospects of what turns out to be fleeting happiness. 

And the peace that the world tries to achieve lasts only a little while, because it is founded on fear rather than on deep-seated convictions and true justice. 

The grace of God must work overtime in us if, as we should, we consider living the rest of our life guided by the spirit of the Beatitudes. 

God’s grace must work overtime because the lowliness and the humility required are constantly, repeatedly tested by promises that will be fulfilled only after we leave this world with its tempting lures. 

For this vital reason, we pledge to pray for each other in earnest, so that we may all choose to take refuge in the name of the Lord by imitating his humility and his meekness.