When Need Becomes Blessing: Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time Homily

Readings and Virtual Homily for February 1, 2026, Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time; Two Lenten Retreats at St. Clare's in Soquel; Tis the Season (of Father Jim's Birthday); February Schedule

Readings for Mass this Sunday:

• Zephaniah 2:3, 3:12-13

• Psalm 146:6-7, 8-10

• 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

• Matthew 5:1-12

Dear Friends and Family,

The Beatitudes appear in two of the Gospels, Matthew and Luke.  This Sunday's Gospel passage is Matthew's version of this list of blessings.  It is a set of blessings which might at first glance strike us as counter-intuitive.  It can be difficult to see the blessing, for instance, in being poor in spirit or being in mourning.  

When I have taught the Beatitudes to my sophomores at Bishop O'Dowd, I have emphasized the fact that it is precisely in the reality that something is missing that the blessing lies.  The poor in spirit are not full of themselves.  They are thereby available to be blessed, even to be filled, by grace.  

Those who mourn are in touch with deep and essential realities of human existence -- they are not distracted by ephemeral ambitions, pleasures and preoccupations.  In their grief they are available to receive heavenly consolation.  It is precisely this dynamic, in fact, that explains the counter-intuitive fact that many, if not most, priests would rather do a funeral than a wedding.  At a funeral, people are open to grace, they are in need and they know they are in need.  God can reach them.

In a dynamic that has strong repercussions for our national reality this winter of 2026, those who hunger and thirst for justice are also in need; their longing for things to be put right counters complacency.  We can become complacent if enough of our own needs are met, if we are comfortable and satisfied.  It does not necessarily follow that comfort breeds complacency, but it is a real possibility.  When Mary says that God "fills the hungry with good things" while he "sends the rich away empty" (Luke 1:53) she is enunciating precisely this dynamic.  It is not that God does not love the rich.  It is that in their comfort they may fail to recognize their need for his love, their need for grace to be actively operating in their lives.

Making ourselves available to grace requires the practice of certain virtues, chief among them perhaps, humility.  The other readings for this Sunday assure us of the importance of this foundational virtue.  (Humility is understood to be the ground from which all the other virtues spring.)

The first reading extolls the humble, those who observe God's law, and who "seek justice, seek humility" (vs. 3).  They will be favored by God precisely because in their humility they have put themselves in a place where they are able to receive the good things God wants to give them; they are not full of themselves.

The psalm, similarly, assures us that God showers graces upon those in need.  It specifically singles out "the oppressed...the hungry...the prisoners...the blind...those who are bowed down...the resident alien...the orphan and the widow" as being particularly beloved and cared for by God (vss. 7-9).

In the second reading, Paul reminds the Christians in Corinth of their favor with God despite the fact that they are not viewed as favored by society.  Here we have an explicit example of the dynamic at work in the beatitudes.  Corinth was the port city for Athens.  It was the city of dock workers and sailors and the merchants who served what we would today refer to as a blue-collar or working class population.  And it was in Corinth, not Athens, that Paul met with huge success in his efforts at evangelization.  

The description of the reaction of the Athenians to Paul's preaching is almost comical (Acts of the Apostles 17:16-34).  Wealthy, educated, with high-status positions and rewarding careers, the Athenians were...comfortable; satisfied; complacent.  They were so filled with the riches of the world that they did not recognize their need for the riches of God.

Different story with the dockworkers of Corinth.  "I have many people in this city," the Lord assures Paul (Acts 18:10).  We may intuit that that happy reality was directly connected to the fact that the Corinthians, who had so much less than the Athenians to insulate them from life's dangers, sorrows and difficulties, were naturally open to receiving the Good News; their lives predisposed them to the reception of grace.

That we are available to God when we are in need is the central dynamic in the message of the beatitudes.  It is, as I say, a counter-intuitive set of blessings which Jesus lists in today's Gospel.  But to the extent that any need of ours opens us to the operation of grace in our lives, that need has, in fact, blessed us.

I will be giving two women's weekend retreats at St. Clare Retreat Center in Soquel this Lent, and the sisters have asked me to get the word out via these e-mails.  The retreats are Friday evening through Sunday morning, on back-to-back weekends -- February 27 - March 1 and March 6-8.  The theme -- which the sisters chose when I offered them several possibilities -- is Women Saints of the Passion, offering some real biographical background on the women who stood at the foot of the Cross and who were the first witnesses to the Resurrection.  

St. Clare is a beautiful site, about three miles in from Highway 17 along a redwood-canopied road.  The retreats start with dinner Friday evening and end with Mass late Sunday morning.  In addition to four talks, there will be three Masses, reconciliation, adoration and substantial free time for reflection and private prayer.  For more information call the retreat center at 831/423-8093 or e-mail: info@stclaresretreat.org

I had yet another anniversary of my 59th birthday last Sunday.  It seems that I spent the whole weekend partying -- with friends from the parish at Massimo's in Fremont, Friday night; a dinner party in Brentwood Saturday and a five-hour lunch with friends from Pleasanton on Sunday.  That set of celebrations was, however, only the kick-off.  I have dinners and brunches scheduled into the middle of February -- the Season of Fr. Jim's Birthday is underway.  

I want to say thank you here to everyone who texted or e-mailed or WhatsApp'd a birthday message to me.  I am still answering them.  It is great to have heard from so many friends from around the bay and around the state, last weekend.  Talk about feeling blessed!

Think that will do it for this one.  Take good care and God bless.

Love,

Fr. Brawn

February Schedule (all English):

Sunday, February 1

8, 1115 AM; 630 PM

Sunday, February 8

8, 1115 AM

Saturday, February 14

5 PM

Sunday, February 15

CATHOLIC COMMUNITY OF PLEASANTON/Seton Campus:  11 AM

630 PM

Sunday, February 22

8, 1115 AM

Sunday, March 1

630 PM

Weekday Masses (all English)

Mon., Feb. 2

Sat., Feb. 7

Mon., Feb. 9

Sat., Feb. 14

Mon., Feb. 16

Sat., Feb. 21

Mon., Feb. 23