Fourth Sunday after Epiphany – Year A
February 1, 2026
Gospel Lectionary Text
Matthew 5:1-12
5:1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.
5:2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5:5 "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
5:7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
5:9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
5:10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
5:11 "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
5:12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Context
The Beatitudes are often read as a list of virtues. But they function more like a map of exposure. Jesus is charting the reality of those who live unprotected by power, certainty, or control — those who are being ground down by injustice, yet discover themselves on the inside of God’s delight. And this discovery changes everything.
The key word in this week’s passage is makarios. It is often translated as “blessed” or “happy.” Both can be misleading. There is nothing inherently good or mood-lifting about occupying the place of poverty and persecution. We dare not romanticize what Franz Fanon called “the wretched of the earth.” Jesus is not denying the reality of suffering. He is pulling back the veil, giving us a privileged glimpse inside the heart of God.
If there is any blessedness or happiness to be found here, it is in recognizing God’s delight in what the world despises. Suddenly, outsiders are given insider status and the security of belonging. Those who feel cursed discover their own belovedness. This is what James Alison calls the “intelligence of the victim” — the deep knowing of God’s delight.
Of course, the great irony of the Sermon on the Mount is that it is spoken for those who occupy the death valleys of the world. It is the revelation of God’s upside-down kingdom, showing how the Spirit sets up camp in the low places and calls forth life amidst death and destruction.
God’s entire kingdom is designed to honor and care for the despised and disposable. Their flourishing is the litmus test of love. Catholic social teaching calls this God’s preferential option for the poor. The blessedness on offer in this text has nothing to do with being good and everything to do with being loved. This should make us very, very happy.
Question
In Jesus’ most famous sermon, he flips the script by blessing those the world considers cursed. That raises a deeper question: who is doing the cursing to begin with? Are there ways we curse ourselves and others, often without realizing it, when God is trying to pour out blessing?
Reflections
Strange Blessings
By Rev. Sarah Wiles |
Recently, a friend of mine sent me a ten-year-old story from the Arkansas Times. It’s the story of a small-town woman named Ruth Coker Burks. In 1984, Ruth was 25, and had a friend with cancer at University Hospital in Little Rock. She went to visit her friend regularly enough that she got to know...
Blessed? I don’t know about that.
By Josh Erickson |
A few years ago we ended up adopting an 18-year-old woman (we’ll call her Carla) into our family. She had been abused and rejected by her family — the stories were heartbreaking. We gave her a safe space to catch her breath and find stability.
The Inauguration
By Kris Rocke |
We are told that the three most important words in real estate are: Location! Location! Location! I don’t think God got that memo when, as Eugene Peterson puts it, “The Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood,” (John 1:14). When God goes looking for a home, God does not pick the high rent district…
Praying Eucharistically - Weekly Homily by James Alison:
Understanding the Bible anew through the Mimetic Theory of René Girard.
Poetry
The Fist
by Mary Oliver
There are days
when the sun goes down
like a fist,
though of course
if you see anything
in the heavens this way
you had better get
your eyes checked
or, better still,
your diminished spirit.
The heavens
have no fist,
or wouldn't they have been
shaking it
for a thousand years now,
and even
longer than that,
at the dull, brutish
ways of mankind -
heaven's own
creation?
Instead: such patience!
Such willingness
to let us continue!
To hear,
little by little,
the voices -
only, so far, in
pockets of the world -
suggesting the possibilities
of peace?
Keep looking.
Behold, how the fist opens
with invitation.
Prayer
This week, the call to prayer comes from the Street Psalms Prayer of Vocation: Renewal of Baptism
Lord of Life, baptize us again in the sea of your love, where we release our useless fears and relax into your mercy. Inside this new love, we die to all that is false. By your power made perfect in weakness, awaken us to the mystery of life. Speak to us again the truth of our deepest identity hidden in you: "You are my child, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
