Blessed in Suffering

30/1/2026

A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, February 1, 2026:
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Matthew
5.1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the Prophets who were before you.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

As usual, the world is in the middle of what the news keeps saying is unprecedented times. War. Cruelty. Sickness. Disasters. All of the talking heads and panicked TikTok influencers want us to catch the panic bug. They want us to turn our eyes and focus on the terror around us. The cynical part of me knows that the rising tone of panic in every report on the state of the world is designed to fill my eyes and ears and get me to stop and listen. To give them my attention, my views, my clicks.

Please don’t think that I’m downplaying the state of the world these days. If even a quarter of the panic-inducing information we’re being constantly bombarded with is true, we’re living through dark times. But these times aren’t unprecedented. The biggest thing that’s happened is that we’ve become better at sharing what we know. For millennia, war, occupations, sickness, and death have plagued humanity. Our suffering in this time isn’t new. As Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “There’s nothing new under the sun.”

Things weren’t terribly different during Christ’s earthly ministry. Israel at the time of Christ was under Roman occupation. And for the Jewish people, this wasn’t exactly their first rodeo with being a people under oppression. The Romans were just the latest in a long time of occupiers. People are suffering from illnesses without any cure but a miracle. Suffering and sickness aren’t exactly new things. In the Middle Ages, the Black Plague took the lives of upwards of two-thirds of the population of Europe.

While our suffering isn’t new, God’s “mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23). The words of the Beatitudes in this Sunday’s Gospel remind us of that mercy. That our suffering can be an opportunity for blessing. That our littleness in the face of the magnitude of hurt and harm of the world isn’t an obstacle, but a strength when we put it in God’s hands.

We can see in the example of the saints how other people who were told “blessed are you” responded to the same types of suffering and evil in the world. We can see how they loved. How they spoke up. How they sought peace. How they accepted persecution. How they focused not on the panic, but on the opportunity to serve. How they kept their eyes on Jesus when they were reviled. They lived the Beatitudes in times good and bad, precedented and unprecedented.

Heavenly Father, please send me the courage to live out the call of the Beatitudes. Plant in my heart the grace to see the blessings and opportunities in my hunger and thirst for righteousness and the trust to know that You will make all things for good. Amen.

Stéphanie Potter

5 Comments

Alana

30/1/2026 06:58:06 am

Steph, thanks so much for this. That final paragraph of the reflection and then that beautiful prayer - especially how our suffering can be a blessing and “How they (the saints) focused not on the panic, but on the opportunity to serve. …so good. 💕💕💕 I unite my prayer with yours and Lord help me to always focus on and see the opportunity to love and serve as the saints did and see God’s abundant blessings even in the midst of our sufferings. Amen. Love and hugs nd prayers. 😊🙏🏻💕

Stéphanie Potter

30/1/2026 10:52:20 am

I'm so glad it spoke to you. For those blessed to be in caring professions, this is the natural response. It is something tangible we can do. I think it's good to recognize that all of us can find ways to help and extend God's grace in the world!

Steve

30/1/2026 08:21:36 am

Hi Stephanie,
Thank you for your reflection.
I hope that it's alright that I ask a question; when you rightly stated; " For millennia, war, occupations, sickness, and death have plagued humanity. Our suffering in this time isn’t new." how do you cope with sadness in the world?
We are bombarded with tragedy or maybe it's my perception lately, but it takes considerable effort at times for me not to get depressed about the amount of suffering in the world.
How can God help me with this?
Thank you,
Steve

30/1/2026 10:58:04 am

Hi Steve,

It is very challenging to avoid the sensory overload for suffering. Be it social media, the news, or just walking the streets of our cities, the suffering of others is overwhelming.

For me, I have two ways that I manage. One is that I have a beautiful community of prayer that I take my heart to. Prayer is a powerful response to the broken world. Praying "Thy Kingdom come!" is a prayer than can transform not only the world, but also myself.

The other way I manage is by caring for those in my community. I can't address all the suffering in the world, but I can address some of the suffering in front of me. I can be Christ's hands and feet and love the stranger in our midst, care for the widow and orphan, feed the hungry, etc. Pray for God to reveal the need He's calling you to address and then give your heart to it. Like St. Thérèse de Lisieux, we can embrace our own "little way" of giving love. That's a transformative act.

Through both prayer and (manageable) action, we can align our compassion with God's compassion. That's a place to encounter grace in new and profound ways.

I hope that helps!

30/1/2026 11:01:38 pm

Stephanie,
Thanks so much for your reply!
Super helpful :)

"Through both prayer and (manageable) action, we can align our compassion with God's compassion. That's a place to encounter grace in new and profound ways."