News & Events
Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Posted in News
29th January 2026
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12
Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up the hill. There he sat down and was joined by his disciples. Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed the gentle; they shall have the earth for their heritage.
Blessed those who mourn; they shall be comforted.
Blessed those who hunger and thirst for what is right; they shall be satisfied.
Blessed the merciful; they shall have mercy shown to them.
Blessed the pure in heart: they shall see God.
Blessed the peacemakers: they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed those who are persecuted in the cause of right: theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.”
Homily
As I meditated on this Gospel reading, I remembered that popular saying of ours “Opposites attract”. When opposites truly come together and mesh something wonderful results. When the masculine and the feminine come together in a person we have a truly complete human being. In modern psychological language, we must hold the Ying and the Yang together.
I remember the funeral of Archbishop Pantin, and the outpouring of grief that we all experienced on those days. Here was a man who gave up the right to have children, yet at the end, the whole nation considered him Father. He personally lived very simply, yet all of Trinidad was his home, and his home was the home of all. Everyone was welcome there. He hungered and thirsted for justice, and so was recognized as the conscience of the Nation. All of us would say that he was blessed. This is in fact what truly great people do. They bring together opposites and hold them together creatively. So that Ghandi in his homespun dhoti could be the most influential person in India, and with non-violence could defeat the might of the British Empire. So that Martin Luther King could dream of the sons of slaves and the sons of slave owners dining together and so we recently had Barack Obama, descendant of Africans and Joe Biden, descendant of slave owners leading the administration in the USA
So that Nelson Mandela could say “Once you have rid yourself of the fear of the oppressor, his prisons, his police, his army, there is nothing they can do to you. You are free” and then led his country, oppressors and oppressed on a path of reconciliation.
The examples which I have given shows us that true Blessedness is only attained in bringing the opposites together. Just as the life of Jesus was in fact a summing up in flesh and blood of the Beatitudes, So to the lives of Archbishop Pantin, and Ghandi, and Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela, sum up for us the meaning of Blessedness. In doing this, just like the Sermon on the Mount they teach us. If we follow their teaching, we take away the sin of the world because the world becomes a better place.
To live our beatitudes always brings criticism. I remember the criticism of Archbishop Pantin because the vagrants were welcomed at Archbishop’s house. Ghandi was killed for treating Muslims as equals. Martin Luther King was assassinated; Mother Teresa was criticized. Although like all humans these exemplars were imperfect, many people live more humane lives because of the stances which they took.
My dear brothers and associates of the Missionaries of the Poor, our vocation is to make the world a better place for our residents. Making the world a better place for our residents is not simply giving them a bed, a roof and a plate of food. A better place means that we create homes in which the human dignity of everyone is recognized and developed, homes in which each person recognizes himself/herself as a beloved son or daughter of God
Today then we thank God for the people who can hold together what the world considers opposites. For people who being very rich can nevertheless welcome the poor into their living rooms. We thank God for people who lead through servanthood. For busy people whose doors are always open. For people who make sure others are satisfied by not keeping the goods of this world for themselves, for men who are not afraid of being tender. They exist in every community, and communities are better because they are there.
The Gospel passage ends by reminding us: “Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.” Christians my dear brothers and sisters, are called to be fearless.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, the life of your son Jesus and the lives of the saints show us that true happiness only comes when we dedicate ourselves to being blessings for others. This demands of us that we live the commandment of love of neighbour as your son Jesus loves us. Give us the grace that we need and the courage and strength to follow his example so that we can be truly blessings for others. We ask this through the intercession of Mary our mother and Jesus your son. Amen
