The Beatitudes are the central theme in this week’s readings. This Sunday, February 1, 2026, is the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The gospel reading is from the book of Matthew. Let’s take a look at the readings and their meanings.
Gospel Text – Matthew 5:1-12a
“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying:
First Reading – Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13
Zephaniah calls the people to seek the Lord, seek humility, and seek righteousness. Judgment is coming, but God promises that He will leave behind a humble and lowly remnant. These are people who trust in His name rather than their own strength. Security comes from God, not from human power. This reading is the Old Testament’s version of the Beatitudes before the Beatitudes existed.
Second Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Paul reminds the Corinthians that most of them were not powerful, wealthy, or influential when God called them. Yet God deliberately chose: the despised, the foolish, the weak, and the lowly. This is so that no one can boast before God. Christ becomes our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. This is the New Testament message of Zephaniah: God forms His people from those who know they need Him.
Gospel Reading – The Beatitudes – Matthew 5:1-12a
Jesus proclaims that the blessed ones are:
- The poor in spirit
- The meek
- The merciful
- the peacemakers
- The persecuted
- Those who hunger for righteousness
These are not the people the world calls “successful.” But they are the ones God calls blessed because they rely on Him and reflect His heart. The Beatitudes are the fulfillment of Zephaniah’s “humble and lowly remnant” and the embodiment of God who lifts the oppressed.
The Catholic View
Through all the readings, God favors the humble and the lowly. Every reading highlights that God’s blessing rests not on the powerful but on those who are small in the world’s eyes. Zephaniah speaks of the “humble and lowly remnant.” Paul tells the Corinthians that God deliberately chose “the despised, the foolish, the weak, and the lowly.” Jesus speaks to the “poor in spirit, the meek, and the persecuted.” God lifts those who know they need Him.
True strength comes from God, not from human power: human boasting, status, and self-reliance collapse in the presence of God’s wisdom. In the gospel, Jesus blesses those who depend upon God rather than themselves!
All readings describe the same kind of community – a people who reflect His heart. This is the “remnant” Zephaniah speaks about, the community Jesus begins, and the Church Paul describes. All the readings reach a high point in the Beatitudes. The Beatitudes are not a new idea; they are the full revelation of God’s heart for His people through Scripture.
The Beatitudes are the culmination of God’s long-standing desire to form a humble, merciful, righteous people who reflect His own heart. They are not a new idea, but the unveiling of what God has always intended for His people.
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Peace
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