4th Sunday A 1 February 2026 Humility
A privilege of being human as distinct from say, being an animal, is that we have the power to reflect on abstract matters, such as the meaning of life.
A dog cannot do that. He cannot say, Why did God make me a dog? I would rather be something else!
For all that, sometimes we might wish God had not given us so much capacity to think, in our wishing for a simple life, without too many pressures.
It is doubtful, however, that many people would trade their human identity for an animal’s life.
It is not only about complaining. Humans can glorify God, and that is a great thing. We can praise God for works of nature, such as a sunset, a mountain range, a raging sea. We can praise God also for spiritual works such as listed in the Beatitudes (today’s Gospel) – humility, gentleness, being peacemakers…(Mt 5,3-12)
It is a great privilege to have this ability to admire the works of God, to have an increasingly clear grasp of who God is, and what He is wanting from us.
It is easy to take wrong turnings here, as we see from our own lives and the general history of humanity.
Any way in which a person defies God in rejecting His laws, or refusing to bow down before Him, or even to deny His existence. These are an abuse of the privilege that He has entrusted to us – to know, love and serve Him.
Some will dare to criticise God, to put His judgments to scrutiny and say, Lord why is it so? To which we can reply, Does the pot say to the potter why have you made me thus. (Rom 9,20-21)
We can question God's ways as long as we do it respectfully and always ready to see that Hs is going to be right.
Accepting God's will does not mean that we have to be pleased about everything that happens. It means that we put our trust in God to make whatever is wrong come right. And we can hasten that process of coming right if we are humble, Especially, humble because that means we will not oppose God's will making everything a lot harder.
We humans can get it right or wrong, and that is our privilege and burden.
Our prayer, sacraments and good works will help us be grateful for the privilege, and not to succumb under the burden.
It is a good thing to be alive. I did not ask to be born, but I am glad I was.
We should all be able to say that.
The humans have not used their privilege of understanding as faithfully as they should have.
The loss of so much potential goodness can be recovered if we repent and start again.
We are already basically happy but would like to be a lot more happy, in our own lives and in the world in general.
The privilege of being human enables us to become more aware of the closeness of God, and His good intentions towards us.
We seek God. Other creatures cannot do that.
God did not make a mistake when He made me, or us.
Do I seek to be more than I am now, or less? On getting to Heaven we will have an expanding awareness of these things.
Then we shall know as we already are known. (1 Cor 13,12)
