Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 1, 2026

I was at a wake for a priest whose mother had passed away. She was over 100. As I was standing and praying in front of her casket, there was an older gentleman beside me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him make the sign of the cross over her body, and I suspected he was a priest.

When he turned, I recognized him. He was a priest; recently back in ministry after some time away.


I said hello and told him I was glad he was back and that I was sorry to hear what he went through, and added, “Suffering is transformative, isn’t it.” He nodded.


To be sure, suffering does not automatically make us better. Depending on how we respond to it, it can harden us or humble us. It can deepen faith, or it can reveal what our faith was really resting on.


That is exactly what today’s readings are about.


In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of people who suffer in different ways: those who mourn, those who are poor, those who are persecuted. And He calls them blessed. Not because suffering is good, and not because they have handled it perfectly, but because God is close to those who suffer; and because the Kingdom belongs to those who persevere in faith with Him.


In the first reading, God says He will leave behind a remnant: a people “humble and lowly,” who “take refuge in the name of the Lord.” And the key is that God Himself preserves that remnant before we do anything at all.


And I believe that many of us who are still here, are truly a remnant of Catholics in Buffalo. God knows the Church here has gone through real suffering: abuse that shattered trust; Covid, after which many did not return; the bankruptcy and settlements that left many disillusioned. 


Many remember when churches were full. But numbers are not the point. When suffering came, many drifted or stopped coming, and their absence is still a loss we feel. Yet here you are: not better than anyone, just still here by God’s grace: a remnant.


A remnant is not only defined by size, but by what remains after something has been tested. God knows our faith is not in priests or bishops, but in Jesus, where it belongs. And He is strengthening our endurance.


If you have suffered for, with, or even because of the Church, don’t let that suffering harden you. Let Jesus meet you in it, let Him heal what needs healing, and strengthen what still believes. Because the Kingdom is not given to the perfect; it’s given to those who take refuge in Him.


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