4th Ordinary Sunday, Year A, 01.02.2026

Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13 / 1 Cor 1:26-31 / Matthew 5:1-12  

It is good to have an ambition in life. 

When we were young, we were often asked what is our ambition, or what do we want to be in life. 

Well, there are many professions to consider, like being a doctor, lawyer, pilot, engineer, police officer, firefighter. 

Those are the usual and regular professions that we are quite familiar with. 

Of course, there are other unique professions that can also be considered. 

So, it could be being a singer, actor, fashion designer, social influencer, content creator, youtuber.

But of course, in the end what we dream of doing and what we eventually end up doing can be quite different. 

Whichever and whatever it is, the question is whether we are happy with what we are doing. 

A story goes that a young man asked a wise man, “Tell me Sir, in which field could I make a good career?” 

The wise men said with a smile, “Be a good human being. Because, there are a lot of opportunities in this area and very little competition.” 

We might want to think about that statement. 

Is it that difficult to be a good human being, such that there are many opportunities and very little competition? 

We know that if we want to be happy, we have to be a good person. 

And yet, we also know how difficult it can be to be a good person, in the midst of sinfulness, wickedness and evil. 

Sinfulness, wickedness and evil are like sharp fires that poke at our goodness and puncture us. 

And when we get irritated and frustrated, we react in retaliation with an eye for an eye, and a tooth for tooth, and we lose our happiness as well as our goodness. 

So, if being a good person is so difficult, then how can we become a good Christian? 

In the gospel, Jesus teaches us the way to happiness and to holiness. 

Happiness is the fruit of holiness. When we are holy, we will be happy. 

In the gospel, Jesus gave a teaching on what is called the Beatitudes. 

Beatitudes means blessings, and Jesus is teaching us the way of holiness so that we can receive the blessings of happiness. 

To be poor in spirit is to trust in the Lord God and to understand the heart of God. 

It can be as simple as choosing to like a flower or to love a flower. 

If we like a flower, we will just pluck it for our own pleasure. 

But, if we love the flower, we will help it to grow beautifully by watering it. 

Similarly, to be gentle is to have control over our anger. 

Just as we cannot see our reflection in boiling water, neither can we see truth in a state of anger. 

The person who can control his anger will also grow in gentleness and happiness. 

But the way to happiness is also not about looking for something external. 

It begins within, just as holiness begins within. 

It is said that if we spend our time chasing butterflies, they will fly away. 

But if we spend our time growing a beautiful garden, the butterflies will come, and we will also have a beautiful garden. 

So, there is no need to look around for happiness or to chase after it. 

Let the Beatitudes be our way of life. 

When we have a beautiful heart of gentleness, kindness, compassion, purity and charity, God will pour His blessings on us, and we will truly be happy.

3rd Week, Ordinary Time, Saturday, 31-01-2026

2 Samuel 12:1-7, 10-17 / Mark 4:35-41  

To make mistakes is human, and there is no doubt that we have made mistakes before, and maybe even bad mistakes.

And when a mistake is made, then it is also the human tendency to blame someone for it.

And even if we were the one to make the mistake, we would be inclined to push the blame to someone else.

That is our human tendency, and honesty would require a lot of courage.

In the 1st reading, David had committed a grave sin, in fact, two grave sins.

Obviously, no one would dare to confront David on the terrible wrong he had done.

So God sent the prophet Nathan, and even then, Nathan used a parable to bring out the judgement that David would pronounce on himself.

Those four words “You are the man” was enough to wake up David into admitting his sin.

In the gospel, the disciples in the boat met with a storm and they were in a dangerous situation.

They turned to Jesus, who was asleep, and said “Master, do not care? We are going down.

They sounded like as if they were blaming Jesus for the storm.

Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and He also rebuked the disciples about their lack of faith.

In life, there will be many storms that we will have to face. 

May we not blame anyone or anything for those storm but turn to Jesus as ask for His help to save us.

Let us also obey the Lord, for even the wind and the sea obey Him.

3rd Week, Ordinary Time, Friday, 30-01-2026

2 Samuel 11:1-10, 13-17 / Mark 4:26-34  

To keep a promise is difficult and challenging.

To keep a promise is to be true to the word that we give to others.

Our integrity is upon that promise to others and we keep faithfully to the best of our ability.

But we also admit that there are times when promises were broken and we did not keep our word.

We were not faithful to our promises because we were influenced by other motives and intentions.

In the 1st reading, David remained in Jerusalem while he sent Joab with the army to go fight the enemy.

But while he was in Jerusalem, he happened to see Bethsheba and he desire for her, even though he was told that she was Uriah’s wife.

One wrong led to another and in the end David wrote out Uriah’s death sentence, in other words, David committed murder.

But all that happened because David forgot about how the Lord God raised him up from being a humble shepherd to being a mighty king.

In short, David lost his faithfulness to the Lord God and the consequence was tragedy upon himself and upon others.

Faithfulness is not just a virtue. It is vital for life and in our relationships.

Unfaithfulness will only have tragic consequences.

But faithfulness to God and to others will bring blessings of peace.

3rd Week, Ordinary Time, Thursday, 20-01-2026

2 Samuel 7:18-19, 24-29 / Mark 4:21-25  

In some of those thriller and action movies, there are times when the drama is over something that is considered a secret.

It may be a national top secret, or some secret project, or some secret operation.

Whatever it may be, the secret is to be protected and to be prevented from being discovered or exposed.

But no secret can ever be hidden for too long, and there is also the curiosity over the contents of the secret.

And as long as two or more persons know about the secret, then it cannot be considered a secret anymore.

In the gospel, Jesus says that there is nothing hidden but it must be disclosed, and nothing kept secret except to be brought to light.

Whatever we think and do is known to God, and He knows our motives and intentions.

And we think we may be able to hide and keep secret our motives and intentions from others.

But just as secrets cannot be kept for too long, neither can our motives and intentions.

May what we do and say be like a lamp put on a lamp stand.

And may God’s love shine in us and through us so that God’s ways will also be revealed through us.

3rd Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 28-01-2026

2 Samuel 7:4-17 / Mark 4:1-20  

Human beings are naturally task-oriented beings.

We do things because there is a need to, as well as to express who we are.

And there is no doubt that some of the things that we do are noble and good.

In the 1st reading, David wanted to build a glorious house for the Lord God.

In his mind, it would be a magnificent temple and a wonderful dwelling place for the Lord.

But the Lord God revealed through the prophet Nathan that instead of David building a house for the Lord, it is the Lord who will build the house of David.

It was a prophecy as well as a revelation for David, that it is the Lord God who will preserve his descendants.

In the gospel, Jesus told a parable of the sower and the seeds.

In that parable is a prophecy as well as a revelation.

The revelation is that regardless of the state of our hearts, God will still sow the seeds of His love into us.

So, our hearts may be stony and rocky and thorny, but God will still sow the seeds of His love.

But one day, our hearts will be softened and become fertile soil and then we will bear fruits of love for God and for others.

3rd Week, Ordinary Time, Tuesday, 27-01-2026

2 Samuel 6:12-15, 17-19 / Mark 3:31-35    

There is this possible presumption to think what is human goodness is the ordinary expectation.

So it is expected that ordinarily, people are kind, gentle, compassionate, understanding, patient and all those virtues.

With that it can also be said that it is out of the ordinary to be wicked, to be cruel, to be brutal, to be aggressive and all those inhumane acts.

But the reality is that those inhumane acts seem to be just as ordinary as those virtuous acts.

So, to be a good human being is not as ordinary as it seems.

And wickedness and evil seem to be so rampant that it has become like the ordinary expectation, and are even getting attention as well as a following.

So it is quite difficult to being just a good human being.

And it is also more difficult to be a good Christian.

We need not do what David did in the 1st reading, dancing with all his might before the Lord.

We just need to do what Jesus taught in the gospel, and that is to do the will of God.

May doing the will of God be our ordinary way of life, and in doing so we are united with Jesus as His brothers and sisters.

Sts. Timothy and Titus (Memorial), Monday, 26-01-2026

2 Timothy 1 : 1-8 or Titus 1:1-5 / Luke 10 : 1-9  

One of the ways to motivate people to take on higher responsibilities is to recognize the contributions they are already making and the potential they have.

They need to be affirmed of whatever gifts that God has bestowed upon them so that what they have and what they are doing with it can be reinforced.

When St. Paul chose Timothy and Titus to be bishops of their respective churches, he was not looking merely at their gifts or abilities.

In fact, Timothy and Titus were rather young to be the bishops of the churches.

But, St. Paul recognized the potential of the faith that they had.

And especially for Timothy, St. Paul reminded him of the sincere faith which was handed down from his grandmother and his mother.

St. Paul affirmed Timothy that he saw this faith in him, and that was sufficient for him to lead the church that was entrusted to him.

Here, it is good to remember that faith, is not so much taught as it is caught.

The faith that we have is "caught" from others - our parents, our teachers, our friends, etc.

Hence we have a faith to share, a faith that others are waiting to catch, so that they too will come to know God and believe in Him.

It may be simple faith, but when we nourish that faith with prayer and good works, then it will grow and bear fruit for the glory of God and for the good of others.