You are Holy: The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026

                                                                You are Holy:

The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026 

January 18, 2026

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Isaiah 43:3-6; Psalm 40; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; John 1:29-34

 

One theme that passes through these readings point is holiness. In Isaiah, Israel is called to be a nation apart from others, set as a light to the nations, because of their right relations with the one God. In Corinthians, Paul and Sosthenes address the people of the city who are called to be holy. In the Gospel, John the Baptist notices Jesus walking towards him and declares his holiness with these words, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Jesus is set apart for a divine mission and John recognizes him as the Son of God.

 

Through baptism, we are called to be holy, a people set apart because our faith in God demands our right response in gratitude. In our liturgy, we constantly ask God to make us holy, and we cry out in the heavenly liturgy, “Holy, holy, holy.” What is holiness? Perhaps some of you think of it as moral perfection and purity. Why? Because that is what we learned in our youth, but we are maturing individuals. We also have read books about the saints that wrote about their devotion or their all-encompassing commitment to God. We think the saints are holy and we must strive to be like them.

 

Let me ask you: Are you holy? Of course you are. Why would you think otherwise? You may say, “I am not worthy, but the question is: Who is?” We receive mercy that we do not deserve and we are thankful for that, but that does not diminish our holiness. It might be time for you to begin to see yourself as saints because that is who you are. Holiness does not mean perfection.

 

For a Catholic, holiness means living in close union with God and becoming the person God created you to be. You are to love your God and your neighbor as yourself. Holiness is sharing God’s life. It is friendship with God, and we deepen that relationship by personal and communal prayer, participating in the sacraments, being the sacrament, and in responding to God’s invitations to deeper life. 

 

We become holier when we see and love the world the way that Christ does. It often involves our bothering to care for the poor, the vulnerable, and those in need. It is evidenced through a self-giving love, sharing our charity, giving mercy when it is not deserved, and learning how to reconcile difficult and broken relationships. Holiness is expressed in different way. Therese of Lisieux modeled quiet faithfulness, while Teresa of Calcutta engaged in radical service, Maximilian Kolbe and Oscar Romero displayed courage under persecution. You have unique ways in which you reveal your holiness.

 

I want to ask the question again: Do you now see yourself as holy? I hope you do. I hope you see yourself rightly as the saints you are. Holiness is lived in the everyday world. If you could see yourself the way Jesus sees you, he would say, “Wow! I’m pleased. I’m impressed. You are remarkable. Here is a friend who is truly impressive. You cause me to catch my breath.” We need to see ourselves and each other the way Jesus sees us. When we do, the whole world is charged with the grandeur of God. 

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

Monday: (1 Samuel 15) Samuel said to Saul: “Stop! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” Saul replied, “Speak!” Samuel then said: “Though little in your own esteem, are you not leader of the tribes of Israel?

 

Tuesday: (1 Samuel 16) The LORD said to Samuel: “How long will you grieve for Saul,
whom I have rejected as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen my king from among his sons.”

 

Wednesday: (1 Samuel 17) David spoke to Saul: "Let your majesty not lose courage. I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine." But Saul answered David, "You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him, for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth."

 

Thursday: (1 Samuel 18) When David and Saul approached (on David’s return after slaying the Philistine), women came out from each of the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing, with tambourines, joyful songs, and sistrums.

 

Friday (1 Samuel 24) Saul took three thousand picked men from all Israel and went in search of David and his men in the direction of the wild goat crags. When he came to the sheepfolds along the way, he found a cave, which he entered to relieve himself.

 

Saturday (2 Samuel 1) David returned from his defeat of the Amalekites and spent two days in Ziklag. On the third day a man came from Saul’s camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. Going to David, he fell to the ground in homage.

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Mark 2) The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to Jesus and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,  but your disciples do not fast?”

 

Tuesday: (Mark 2) As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”

 

Wednesday (Mark 3) Jesus entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand. They watched Jesus closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.

 

Thursday (Mark 3) Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.

 

Friday (Mark 3) Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted 
and they came to him. He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.

 

Saturday (Mark 3) Jesus came with his disciples into the house. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

 

Saints of the Week

 

January 20: Fabian, pope and martyr (d. 250), was a layman and stranger in Rome during the time of his election as pope. A dove settled on his head, which reminded people of the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove during the baptism. He served for 14 years until his martyrdom.

 

January 20: Sebastian, martyr (d. 300), was buried in the catacombs in Rome. He hailed from Milan and is often pictured with many arrows piercing his body. Much of what we know about him is legend.

 

January 21: Agnes, martyr (d. 305), is one of the early Roman martyrs. Little is known about her but she died around age 12 during a persecution. Because of her names connection with a lamb, her iconography depicts her holding a lamb to remind us of her sacrifice and innocence.

 

January 23: Marianne Cope (1838-1918), was a German-born woman who settled with her family in New York. She entered the Franciscans and worked in the school systems as a teacher and principal and she helped to establish the first two Catholic hospitals. She went to Honolulu, then Molokai, to aid those with leprosy.

 

January 24: Francis de Sales, bishop and doctor (1567-1622), practiced both civil and canon law before entering religious life. He became bishop of Geneva in 1602 and was prominent in the Catholic Reformation. He reorganized his diocese, set up a seminary, overhauled religious education, and found several schools. With Jane Frances de Chantal, he founded the Order of the Visitation of Mary.

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• January 18, 1615. The French Jesuits began a mission in Danang, Vietnam. 
• January 19, 1561. In South Africa, the baptism of the powerful King of Monomotapa, the king's mother, and 300 chiefs by Fr. Goncalvo de Silveira. 
• January 20, 1703. At Paris, the death of Fr. Francis de la Chaise, confessor to Louis XIV and a protector of the French Church against the Jansenists. 
• January 21, 1764. Christophe de Beaumont, Archbishop of Paris, wrote a pastoral defending the Jesuits against the attacks of Parliament. It was ordered to be burned by the public executioner. 
• January 22, 1561. Pius IV abrogated the decree of Paul II and kept the life term of Father General. 
• January 23, 1789. John Carroll gained the deed of land for the site that was to become Georgetown University. 
• January 24, 1645. Fr. Henry Morse was led as a prisoner from Durham to Newgate, London. On hearing his execution was fixed for February 1, he exclaimed: "Welcome ropes, hurdles, gibbets, knives, butchery of an infamous death! Welcome for the love of Jesus, my Savior."