Spirituality: Bill Plotkin, from the Soulcraft Musings newsletter

Humanity—in fact, the entire Earth community—currently exists in such dire circumstances that the most significant, viable, and potent solutions will seem like impossible dreams to most everyone (at first). But this is apparently the way it has always been in our universe. At the greatest moments of transformations—what Thomas Berry calls "moments of grace"—the "impossible" happens....

If you consider the data on such things as current wars, environmental destruction, political-economic corruption, social/racial divisions, and widespread psychological breakdowns, there seems to be little hope for humanity and, by extension, most other members of the biosphere. But if, alternatively, you look at the fact of miracles—moments of grace—throughout the known history of the universe, it will dawn on you that there is and always has been an intelligence or imagination at work much greater than our conscious minds. Given that we cannot rule out moments of grace acting through us in this century and the next, we have no alternative but to proceed as if we ourselves, collectively, can in fact make the difference...

Photo: Red

 

Spirituality: from The Light Shall Set you Free by Norma Milanovich & Shirley McCune

Once a reporter asked Albert Einstein, "What is the most important question in the world?" He replied, "The most important question in the world is, do you want a peaceful, happy, abundant world in which to live, or do you want a foreboding, fearful, and scarce world?"

The reporter slightly puzzled, asked, "Why is this the most important question in the world?"

Einstein replied, "Because whatever you choose, you will create."

Photo: A Pond in Naples

 

Poem: D.H. Lawrence from The Hands of God

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 

But it is a much more fearful thing to fall out of them … 

Save me, O God, from falling into the ungodly knowledge of myself as I am without God. 

Let me never know, 

O God let me never know what I am or should be 

when I have fallen out of your hands, the hands of the living God … 

Save me from that, O God! 

Let me never know myself apart from the living God!

Photo: Boston Harbor

 

Prayer: Thomas Merton

Prayer is freedom and affirmation growing out of nothingness into love. Prayer is the flowering of our inmost freedom, in response to the Word of God.

Photo: Your Spirit Whispering

 

Spirituality: Byron Katie in A Thousand Names for Joy

 Life is simple. Everything happens for you, not to you. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late. You don't have to like it – it's just easier if you do. If you have a problem, it can only be because of your unquestioned thinking. How do you react when you believe that the past should have been different? You scare yourself stuck because what you resist persists. You get to keep your stressful world, a world that doesn't exist except in your imagination; you get to stay in the nightmare. It hurts to oppose reality because in opposing reality, you are opposing your very self.

When inquiry is alive inside you, every thought you think ends with a question mark instead of a period ... I discovered that when I believed my thoughts, I suffered, but that when I didn't believe them, I didn't suffer, and that this is true for every human being. Freedom is as simple as that. I found that suffering is optional. I found a joy within me that has never disappeared, not for a single moment. That joy is in everyone, always.

Spirituality: Martin Shaw from "Navigating the Mysteries," in Emergence Magazine

What if we reframed "living with uncertainty" to "navigating mystery"? There's more energy in that phrase... But to navigate mystery is not the same thing as living with uncertainty ...Navigating mystery humbles us, reminds us with every step that we don't know everything, are not, in fact, the masters of all.

As humans we've long been forged on the anvil of mysteries: Why are we here? Why do we die? What is love? We are tuned like a cello to vibrate with such questions.

... one day we have to walk our questions, our yearnings, our longings. We have to set out into those mysteries, even with the uncertainty. Especially with the uncertainty. Make it magnificent. We take the adventure. Not naively but knowing this is what a grown-up does. We embark. Let your children see you do it. Set sail, take the wing, commit to the stomp. Evoke a playful boldness that makes even angels swoon. There's likely something tremendous waiting.

Photo: Climbing Flowers

 

Photo: Reality

 

Spirituality: Henri Nouwen, "A Meditation on Community"

 Community is first and foremost a gift of the Holy Spirit, not built upon mutual compatibility, shared affection, or common interests but upon having received the same divine breath, having been given a heart set aflame by the same divine fire, and having been embraced by the same divine love.

It is Time to Accept Yes: The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026

                                               It is Time to Accept Yes:

The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026 

January 25, 2026

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Isaiah 8:23-9:3; Psalm 27; 1 Corinthians 1:10-17; Matthew 4:12-23

 

The arrest of John the Baptist was the signal that Jesus could begin his ministry in earnest. John held a place of public prominence and Jesus was still unknown to most of Israel. John was preaching repentance for the coming day of salvation, and Jesus begins to announce that the time has come. The two could not be preached at the same time. The message of Jesus had a radical immediacy about it. Now, that the message was announced, he could begin to assemble his ministerial team. 

 

Jesus showed that his presence made holy what was regarded as profane. The land of Zebulun and Napthali was considered forsaken and barren, and Jesus chose this as his base of preaching, by the Sea of Galilee in Capernaum. His act of preaching redeemed a land once forsaken, thereby foreshadowing his work of redeeming humanity. The people who lived in darkness could now see they are welcomed by God and enjoy a place of privilege. Jesus shows that it is from this disregarded place that he will select his band of preachers and helpers.

 

Sometimes when we think of the first Disciples, we think of them as saints from the first instant. So much has been written about them that we see them in an exalted state. It is important for us to see them as disregarded people who were called to greater matters. It can be a source of great consolation because many of us think that we could not be called to greater things because we are ordinary. What makes the ordinary extraordinary is trusting and then accepting the invitations that are before us. Peter, Andrew, James, and John were from an ordinary fishing families, and they answered “Yes” to a curious invitation. The search for the Kingdom of God rests in each person, and we seek it out all our lives.

 

What is your experience of saying “No.” It seems like we spend many of our early years learning to say “No,” and by the time we become adults, “No” is so ingrained in us that we forget the freedom of learning to say “Yes.” Maybe saying “No” makes us grow old. People who do not travel far from their way of life tend to live in fear. When we say no, we can no longer imagine the new and the unknown, and we settle into a quiet status quo. 

 

The two sets of brothers learned to say “yes” without a roadmap. Together with Jesus they learned how to make their new adventure happen. Sometimes saying “Yes” does not make any sense, and that is where it becomes a little frightening, a little exhilarating. Suddenly, the possibilities become fun. Accepting something new in our lives scares most people to death as they would rather have what is familiar and comfortable. It takes us out of our comfort zones, but we can do through trusting that all will be okay. In fact, it will be better than okay. We can enter a mystery where we cannot see the way forward, and yet, we know it is the only way forward. It is a land of the unknown where the journey will unfold with each new step.

 

Accepting a new invitation opens our world to freshness and redemption. The people of the forsaken lands of Zebulun and Naphtali said “Yes” and God redeemed them. Imagine what your “yes” can do for you. You glimpse the possibilities of the Kingdom, and you know, deep down, you have been called to greater matters. The Kingdom of God has been opened for you.

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

Monday: (2 Timothy 1) For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.

 

Tuesday: (2 Samuel 6) Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. When he finished making these offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.

 

Wednesday: (2 Samuel 7) Should you build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day on which I led the children of Israel out of Egypt to the present, 
but I have been going about in a tent under cloth.

 

Thursday: (2 Samuel 7) “You have established for yourself your people Israel as yours forever, and you, LORD, have become their God. And now, LORD God, confirm for all time the prophecy you have made concerning your servant and his house, and do as you have promised.

 

Friday (2 Samuel 11) David, however, remained in Jerusalem. One evening David rose from his siesta and strolled about on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing, who was very beautiful.

 

Saturday (2 Samuel 12) Nathan said: “Judge this case for me! In a certain town there were two men, one rich, the other poor. The rich man had flocks and herds in great numbers. But the poor man had nothing at all except one little ewe lamb that he had bought. He nourished her, and she grew up with him and his children.

 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Mark 3) Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

 

Tuesday: (Mark 3) A crowd seated around him told him, "Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you." But he said to them in reply, "Who are my mother and my brothers?"

 

Wednesday (Mark 4) Hear this! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep.

 

Thursday (Mark 4) Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light.

 

Friday (Mark 4) This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Of its own accord the land yields fruit, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

 

Saturday (Mark 4) On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: “Let us cross to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,so that it was already filling up.

 

Saints of the Week

 

January 25: The Conversion of Paul, the Apostle, was a pivotal point in the life of the early church. Scripture contains three accounts of his call and the change of behavior and attitudes that followed. Paul's story is worth knowing as it took him 14 years of prayer and study to find meaning in what happened to him on the road to Damascus.

 

January 26: Timothy and Titus, bishops (1st century), were disciples of Paul who later became what we know of as bishops. Timothy watched over the people of Ephesus and Titus looked after Crete. Both men worked with Paul and became a community leader. Timothy was martyred while Titus died of old age. 

 

January 27: Angela Merici (1474-1540), was the founder of the Ursuline nuns. Relatives raised her when her parents died when she was 10. As an adult, she tended to the needs of the poor and with some friends, she taught young girls at their home. These friends joined an association that later became a religious order. Ursula was the patron of medieval universities.

 

January 28: Thomas Aquinas, priest and Doctor (1225-1274), studied in a Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino as a boy. He joined the newly formed Dominicans where he studied in France and Italy. He is a giant scholar. He wrote much on Scripture and theology, including his summation of theology (Summa Theologiae). He wrote several songs for liturgy, such as the Tantum Ergo, Pange Lingua, and Adoro Te Devote.

 

January 31: John Bosco, priest (1815-1888), formed his Society to aid children who were imprisoned. He used Francis de Sales as his inspiration. He taught poor and working class boys in the evenings wherever it was possible to meet them - in fields, factories, or homes. A sister community was set up to assist young girls who were sent to work. 

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• January 25, 1707. Cardinal Tournon, Apostolic Visitor of the missions in China, forbade the use of the words 'Tien' or 'Xant' for God and ordered the discontinuance by the Christians of the Chinese Rites. 
• January 26, 1611. The first Jesuit missionaries sailed from Europe for New France (Canada). 
• January 27, 1870. The Austrian government endeavored to suppress the annual grant of 8,000 florins to the theological faculty of Innsbruck and to drive the Jesuit professors from the university, because of their support of the Papal Syllabus. 
• January 28, 1853. Fr. General John Roothaan, wishing to resign his office, summoned a General Congregation, but died on May 8, before it assembled. 
• January 29, 1923. Woodstock scholastics kept a fire vigil for several months to prevent the Ku Klux Klan from setting the college on fire. 
• January 30, 1633. At Avignon, Fr. John Pujol, a famous master of novices, died. He ordered one of them to water a dry stick, which miraculously sprouted. 
• January 31, 1774. Fr. General Laurence Ricci, a prisoner in Castel S Angelo, claimed his liberty, since his innocence had been fully vindicated. He received from the Papal Congregation the reply that they would think about it. Pope Clement XIV was said at this time to be mentally afflicted.

Es hora de aceptar el sí: El Tercer Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario 2026

                                               Es hora de aceptar el sí:

El Tercer Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario 2026

25 de enero de 2026

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Isaías 8:23-9:3; Salmo 27; 1 Corintios 1:10-17; Mateo 4:12-23

 

El arresto de Juan el Bautista fue la señal de que Jesús podía comenzar su ministerio con seriedad. Juan ocupaba un lugar de prominencia pública y Jesús aún era desconocido para la mayor parte de Israel. Juan predicaba el arrepentimiento para el venidero día de salvación, y Jesús comienza a anunciar que el tiempo ha llegado. Ambos no podían predicarse simultáneamente. El mensaje de Jesús tenía una inmediatez radical. Ahora que el mensaje había sido anunciado, podía comenzar a reunir a su equipo ministerial.

 

Jesús demostró que su presencia santificaba lo que se consideraba profano. La tierra de Zabulón y Neftalí se consideraba abandonada y estéril, y Jesús la eligió como base de su predicación, junto al mar de Galilea, en Capernaúm. Su predicación redimió una tierra que antes estaba abandonada, anticipando así su obra de redención de la humanidad. Quienes vivían en la oscuridad ahora podían ver que Dios los acoge y disfrutaban de un lugar privilegiado. Jesús muestra que es desde este lugar desatendido que seleccionará a su grupo de predicadores y ayudantes.

 

A veces, cuando pensamos en los primeros discípulos, los imaginamos santos desde el primer instante. Se ha escrito tanto sobre ellos que los vemos en un estado de exaltación. Es importante que los veamos como personas olvidadas, llamadas a cosas mayores. Esto puede ser una fuente de gran consuelo, ya que muchos pensamos que no podríamos ser llamados a cosas mayores por ser personas comunes. Lo que hace extraordinario lo común es confiar y aceptar las invitaciones que se nos presentan. Pedro, Andrés, Santiago y Juan provenían de una familia común de pescadores y respondieron "sí" a una invitación curiosa. La búsqueda del Reino de Dios permanece en cada persona y la buscamos toda la vida.

 

¿Cuál es tu experiencia al decir "no"? Parece que pasamos gran parte de nuestra infancia aprendiendo a decir "no", y para cuando nos convertimos en adultos, el "no" está tan arraigado en nosotros que olvidamos la libertad de aprender a decir "sí". Quizás decir "no" nos hace envejecer. Las personas que no se alejan mucho de su estilo de vida tienden a vivir con miedo. Cuando decimos que no, ya no podemos imaginar lo nuevo ni lo desconocido, y nos instalamos en un statu quo tranquilo.

 

Los dos grupos de hermanos aprendieron a decir "sí" sin un plan. Junto con Jesús, aprendieron a hacer realidad su nueva aventura. A veces, decir "sí" no tiene sentido, y ahí es donde se vuelve un poco aterrador, un poco emocionante. De repente, las posibilidades se vuelven divertidas. Aceptar algo nuevo en nuestras vidas asusta muchísimo a la mayoría de las personas, ya que prefieren lo familiar y cómodo. Nos saca de nuestra zona de confort, pero podemos hacerlo confiando en que todo estará bien. De hecho, será mejor que bien. Podemos adentrarnos en un misterio donde no podemos ver el camino a seguir, y sin embargo, sabemos que es el único camino. Es una tierra de lo desconocido donde el viaje se revelará con cada nuevo paso.

 

Aceptar una nueva invitación abre nuestro mundo a la frescura y la redención. El pueblo de las tierras abandonadas de Zabulón y Neftalí dijo "Sí" y Dios los redimió. Imagina lo que tu "sí" puede hacer por ti. Vislumbras las posibilidades del Reino y sabes, en el fondo, que has sido llamado a cosas mayores. El Reino de Dios se ha abierto para ti.

 

Escritura para la misa diaria

Lunes: (2 Timoteo 1) Por eso te recuerdo que avives el fuego del don de Dios que tienes por la imposición de mis manos. Porque Dios no nos dio un espíritu de cobardía, sino de poder, amor y dominio propio.

 

Martes: (2 Samuel 6) Entonces David ofreció holocaustos y ofrendas de paz ante el SEÑOR. Al terminar de ofrecer estas ofrendas, bendijo al pueblo en el nombre del SEÑOR de los ejércitos.

 

Miércoles: (2 Samuel 7) ¿Deberías construirme una casa para vivir? No he habitado en casa alguna desde el día en que saqué a los hijos de Israel de Egipto hasta hoy, 
sino que he estado deambulando en una tienda bajo una tela.

 

Jueves: (2 Samuel 7) «Has establecido a tu pueblo Israel como tuyo para siempre, y tú, Señor, te has convertido en su Dios. Y ahora, Señor Dios, confirma para siempre la profecía que has hecho acerca de tu siervo y su casa, y cumple lo que has prometido.

 

Viernes (2 Samuel 11) David, sin embargo, permaneció en Jerusalén. Una tarde, David se levantó de su siesta y paseó por la azotea del palacio. Desde la azotea, vio a una mujer bañándose, que era muy hermosa.

 

Sábado (2 Samuel 12) Natán dijo: "¡Juzga este caso por mí! En cierto pueblo había dos hombres, uno rico y el otro pobre. El rico tenía rebaños y manadas en gran número. Pero el pobre no tenía nada en absoluto, excepto una corderita que había comprado. La alimentó, y ella creció con él y sus hijos.

 

Evangelio:

Lunes: (Marcos 3) Los convocó y comenzó a hablarles en parábolas: "¿Cómo puede Satanás expulsar a Satanás? Si un reino está dividido contra sí mismo, ese reino no puede subsistir.

 

Martes: (Marcos 3) Una multitud sentada a su alrededor le dijo: «Tu madre, tus hermanos y tus hermanas están afuera y te buscan». Pero él les respondió: «¿Quiénes son mi madre y mis hermanos?».

 

Miércoles (Marcos 4) ¡Escuchen esto! Un sembrador salió a sembrar. Y mientras sembraba, una parte de la semilla cayó en el camino, y los pájaros vinieron y se la comieron. Otra parte cayó en terreno pedregoso, donde había poca tierra. Brotó enseguida porque la tierra no era profunda.

 

Jueves (Marcos 4) ¿Acaso se trae una lámpara para colocarla debajo de un celemín o debajo de la cama, y no para colocarla sobre un candelero? Porque nada hay oculto excepto para hacerse visible; nada es secreto excepto para salir a la luz.

 

Viernes (Marcos 4) Así es el Reino de Dios; es como si un hombre esparciera semilla en la tierra, y durmiera y se levantara noche y día, y la semilla brotara y creciera, sin que él supiera cómo. Por sí sola, la tierra da fruto: primero hierba, luego espiga, y luego grano lleno en la espiga.

 

Sábado (Marcos 4) Ese día, al anochecer, Jesús dijo a sus discípulos: «Pasemos a la otra orilla». Dejando a la multitud, llevaron a Jesús en la barca, tal como estaba. Había otras barcas con él. Se desató una fuerte borrasca y las olas rompían sobre la barca, de modo que ya se estaba llenando.

 

Santos de la semana

 

25 de enero: La conversión del apóstol Pablo fue un punto crucial en la vida de la iglesia primitiva. Las Escrituras contienen tres relatos de su llamado y del cambio de comportamiento y actitud que le siguió. Vale la pena conocer la historia de Pablo, pues le tomó 14 años de oración y estudio encontrarle sentido a lo que le sucedió en el camino a Damasco.

 

26 de enero: Timoteo y Tito, obispos (siglo I), fueron discípulos de Pablo y posteriormente se convirtieron en lo que conocemos como obispos. Timoteo velaba por el pueblo de Éfeso y Tito por Creta. Ambos trabajaron con Pablo y se convirtieron en líderes comunitarios. Timoteo fue martirizado, mientras que Tito murió de vejez.

 

27 de enero: Angela Merici (1474-1540) fue la fundadora de las monjas Ursulinas. Sus familiares la criaron tras la muerte de sus padres, a los 10 años. De adulta, atendió a los pobres y, con algunas amigas, dio clases a niñas en su casa. Estas amigas se unieron a una asociación que posteriormente se convirtió en una orden religiosa. Úrsula fue la patrona de las universidades medievales.

 

28 de enero: Tomás de Aquino, sacerdote y doctor (1225-1274), estudió en un monasterio benedictino en Montecassino de niño. Se unió a los recién formados dominicos, donde estudió en Francia e Italia. Es un erudito destacado. Escribió mucho sobre las Sagradas Escrituras y la teología, incluyendo su Summa Theologiae . Compuso varios cantos para la liturgia, como el Tantum Ergo, el Pange Lingua y la Adoración. Te devoto.

 

31 de enero: Juan Bosco, sacerdote (1815-1888), fundó su Sociedad para ayudar a los niños encarcelados. Se inspiró en Francisco de Sales. Enseñaba a niños pobres y de clase trabajadora por las tardes donde fuera posible encontrarlos: en campos, fábricas o casas. Se fundó una comunidad hermana para ayudar a las niñas enviadas a trabajar.

 

Esta semana en la historia jesuita

 

• 25 de enero de 1707. El cardenal Tournon, Visitador Apostólico de las misiones en China, prohibió el uso de las palabras 'Tien' o ' Xant ' para Dios y ordenó la interrupción por parte de los cristianos de los ritos chinos.
• 26 de enero de 1611. Los primeros misioneros jesuitas zarparon desde Europa hacia Nueva Francia (Canadá).
• 27 de enero de 1870. El gobierno austríaco intentó suprimir la subvención anual de 8.000 florines a la facultad de teología de Innsbruck y expulsar a los profesores jesuitas de la universidad, debido a su apoyo al Syllabus Papal.
• 28 de enero de 1853. El hermano general John Roothaan , deseando renunciar a su cargo, convocó una Congregación General, pero murió el 8 de mayo, antes de que se reuniera.
• 29 de enero de 1923. Los estudiantes de Woodstock mantuvieron una vigilia contra incendios durante varios meses para evitar que el Ku Klux Klan incendiara la universidad.
• 30 de enero de 1633. En Aviñón, falleció el hermano Juan Pujol, famoso maestro de novicios. Ordenó a uno de ellos que regara un palo seco, que brotó milagrosamente.
• 31 de enero de 1774. El hermano general Laurence Ricci, prisionero en Castel S. Angelo, reclamó su libertad, pues su inocencia había sido plenamente reivindicada. Recibió de la Congregación Papal la respuesta de que lo considerarían. Se decía que en ese momento el papa Clemente XIV padecía problemas mentales.

Photo: Flower Towers

 

Spirituality: Quotes by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

"There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right."

"Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge, which is power; religion gives man wisdom, which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals."

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

Photo: Say a Prayer

 

Spirituality: I'm done with great things, by William James

I'm done with great things and big things, great intentions and big success, and I am for those tiny invisible molecular moral forces that work from individual to individual, creeping through the crannies of the world like so many rootlets, or like the capillary oozing of water. Yet which, if you give them time, will rend the hardest monuments of our pride

Photo: The Seal of the Society of Jesus

 

Poem: Denise Levertov, "Primary Wonder"

 Days pass when I forget the mystery.

Problems insoluble and problems offering
their own ignored solutions
jostle for my attention, they crowd its antechamber
along with a host of diversions, my courtiers, wearing
their colored clothes; caps and bells.
And then
once more the quiet mystery
is present to me, the throng's clamor
recedes: the mystery
that there is anything, anything at all,
let alone cosmos, joy, memory, everything,
rather than void: and that, O Lord,
Creator, Hallowed one, You still,
hour by hour sustain it.

Spirituality: Francis Weller in In the Absence of the Ordinary

A contemplative life is not withdrawal. It is an active engagement born of stillness. Contemplation allows the soul to breathe and to meet the world with presence rather than reaction. Silence is not empty, it is full of answers if we care to listen.

Photo: A Tabernacle Tower

 

Spirituality: by Wendell Berry in Standing By Words

 It may be that when we no longer know what to do,

we have come to our real work
and when we no longer know which way to go,
we have begun our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.

Poem: "Christmas is Waiting to be Born" by Howard Thurman

Where refugees seek deliverance that never comes,

And the heart consumes itself, if it would live,

Where little children age before their time,

And life wears down the edges of the mind,

Where the old man sits with mind grown cold,

While bones and sinew, blood and cell, go slowly down to death,

Where fear companions each day’s life, And Perfect Love seems long delayed.

Christmas is waiting to be born:

In you, in me, in all of humankind

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."