1st Reading – Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13

Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth,
who have observed his law;
seek justice, seek humility;
perhaps you may be sheltered
on the day of the LORD’s anger.

But I will leave as a remnant in your midst
a people humble and lowly,
who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD:
the remnant of Israel.
They shall do no wrong
and speak no lies;
nor shall there be found in their mouths
a deceitful tongue;
they shall pasture and couch their flocks
with none to disturb them.

The Book of Zephaniah was written during a turbulent moment in Israel’s history, most likely during the reign of King Josiah in the late 7th century BC. Although Josiah would later initiate sweeping religious reforms, Zephaniah addressed a society still deeply marked by idolatry, moral complacency, and social injustice. The book, though brief, speaks with striking urgency about the “day of the LORD,” a time of devastating reckoning.

Today’s first reading draws from two distinct parts of Zephaniah’s prophecy, placing them side by side so that they interpret one another. The opening exhortation calls the people to seek the LORD through humility, righteousness, and trust — a final appeal before judgment breaks forth. What follows the reckoning is not destruction, but hope: a vision of what remains after the storm has passed.

Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth, who have observed his law; seek justice, seek humility; 

Zephaniah addresses “the humble of the earth”: not the self-satisfied or powerful, but those already disposed toward fidelity.

The threefold command (seek the LORD, seek justice, seek humility) is urgent and searching in tone. These are not casual invitations but intensive imperatives, calling for deliberate, sustained action.

“Seek the LORD” is usually a call to worship; however, this three-fold exhortation suggests that what is being required is a complete change of heart.

perhaps you may be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.

The note of uncertainty here is striking. Even those who have remained attentive to God’s law are not offered an automatic guarantee of protection. The prophet cannot guarantee forgiveness and salvation, all he can say is “perhaps” (‘ûlay).

Refuge is ultimately God’s gracious gift, not something that can be claimed as a right.

But I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD: the remnant of Israel.

God himself speaks, promising the survival of a remnant — not simply a group that escapes destruction, but a people reshaped by humility and trust.

This remnant is not marked by strength, numbers, or achievement. They are “humble and lowly,” those who have learned dependence on God through trial.

To “take refuge in the name of the LORD” is to entrust oneself wholly to God’s presence and power, for in Scripture a name signifies the very essence of a person. To seek refuge in God’s name, then, is to seek shelter in God himself.

They shall do no wrong and speak no lies; nor shall there be found in their mouths a deceitful tongue; they shall pasture and couch their flocks with none to disturb them.

The righteousness described here is the fruit of salvation, not its cause. Moral integrity and peace flow from God’s saving action; they are signs of a restored relationship, not conditions that earned it.

The final image of undisturbed rest evokes security, peace, and fulfillment: gifts granted by God to a people he has preserved.

It is God who promises there will be a remnant; it is God who will shelter them; it is God who will ensure they will find peace.

2nd Reading – 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters.
Not many of you were wise by human standards,
not many were powerful,
not many were of noble birth.
Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise,
and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,
and God chose the lowly and despised of the world,
those who count for nothing,
to reduce to nothing those who are something,
so that no human being might boast before God.
It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus,
who became for us wisdom from God,
as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,
so that, as it is written,
“Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.”

In today’s second reading, Saint Paul explains how God deliberately chooses what is weak and insignificant to reveal divine wisdom and power.

Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

Paul invites the Corinthians to look honestly at themselves. Measured by the social standards of the ancient world — education, political influence, family status — most of them held little distinction. They had little that would normally inspire admiration or grounds for boasting.

Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, 

While the early Church did include some people of means or influence, Paul’s assessment is broadly accurate. From the beginning, the Christian community was largely composed of those whom society overlooked. This was not accidental. Jesus proclaimed the coming of God’s kingdom as a decisive reversal of worldly values, fulfilling Israel’s long-standing hope that God would vindicate the lowly and set things right.

Such a message naturally attracted those who were poor, marginalized, or burdened by life’s inequities. Those already secure within existing power structures were less inclined to welcome a vision that challenged the foundations of their advantage. The Church’s composition thus reflects both a social reality and a divine intention.

so that no human being might boast before God.

Paul is careful to ground this reality theologically. God chooses what the world considers insignificant precisely to strip away human pretensions. Those who lack honor in society are honored by God’s call, while worldly status is revealed as ultimately empty. In this way, all boasting is excluded except boasting in what God has done.

When God works through the weak and the lowly, it becomes unmistakably clear that the power at work is God’s alone, not the result of human achievement.

It is due to him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,

Paul now turns from ecclesiology to christology. Everything the Corinthians possess comes from their union with Christ. Jesus himself is God’s true wisdom, and in him believers receive righteousness, are made holy, and are redeemed. Salvation is not self-generated; it is entirely gift.

Every good thing we have, we have received because of Christ.

so that, as it is written, “Whoever boasts, should boast in the Lord.”

What appears to be weakness becomes a witness. The very fact that God builds his Church from “nobodies” magnifies the glory of Christ, through whom God reveals his power, mercy, and saving love.

Gospel – Matthew 5:1-12a

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
He began to teach them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.”

Today’s gospel reading opens the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes, in which Jesus declares who is truly blessed in the Kingdom of Heaven. More than moral advice, the Beatitudes reshape common ideas of greatness, happiness, and success according to God’s own vision.

Each beatitude is a macarism, a traditional form of wisdom teaching that links a way of life with its ultimate outcome. While many of these sayings echo themes found elsewhere in Jewish tradition, Jesus gathers and elevates them into a unified proclamation of the values of the Kingdom.

In depth and significance, the Beatitudes stand alongside the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer. Yet they surpass both in their poetic power, offering not laws to obey or words to recite, but a portrait of the life God blesses.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them,

The preaching and miracles of Jesus attracted crowds of people, making it necessary for him to leave the area and ascend a mountain to continue his teaching. This setting is why this speech is called the Sermon on the Mount.

Though addressed directly to the disciples, the teaching is ultimately meant for the wider crowd as well, as Matthew makes clear at the conclusion of the Sermon (7:28).

saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The word translated as “blessed” is makários, a complex term that conveys more than passing happiness. It suggests a deep, God-given joy rooted in right relationship with him.

The first beatitude outlines the connection between poverty and the soul. This religious concept of poverty has more to do with a spiritual attitude of neediness and humility towards God than with material poverty, as indicated by the qualifier “in spirit.”

To be poor in spirit is to stand before God without self-sufficiency, trusting not in one’s merits but in his mercy. This attitude is closely related to what the spiritual tradition calls spiritual childhood: recognizing that everything we have is received, and that our security rests in God alone. While distinct from material poverty, this interior poverty naturally fosters detachment from possessions and openness to God’s will.

Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Those who mourn are not only those who suffer personal loss or affliction, but also those who grieve over sin — both their own and the brokenness of the world. Such sorrow, when borne in faith, deepens compassion and prepares the heart for consolation.

Jesus promises that God himself will comfort those who entrust their suffering to him, both now and fully in the life to come.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.

Meekness is best understood as strength guided by self‑mastery. The meek can endure injustice without bitterness, remaining humble and steady in the face of adversity. Their calm resilience flows from humility and an interior peace — virtues at the heart of Christian discipleship.

In Scripture, the promise of “the land” ultimately points beyond any earthly territory to the lasting inheritance of God’s kingdom.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

A righteous person is someone who sincerely seeks to do the will of God. In Scripture, righteousness is closely tied to the idea of holiness.

Jesus teaches that blessedness belongs not to those who merely wish for righteousness in a vague or casual way, but to those who long for it with the deep urgency of hunger and thirst. He invites us to desire what is pleasing to God with the same intensity we feel for life’s most basic needs.

Holiness, then, should be something we crave as naturally and as strongly as food and water.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Mercy reflects God’s own disposition toward sinners (Exodus 34:6-7). To be merciful is to show patience, compassion, and forgiveness toward others, even when they fail.

Jesus makes it clear that those who seek God’s mercy must extend it in turn, a theme woven throughout both the Old Testament and Jesus’ teachings (cf. Matthew 18:21-35).

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.

Jesus locates the source of human action in the heart, the inner core of the person. Purity of heart is not mere external correctness, but an interior integrity that orders one’s desires toward what is true, noble, and loving.

This purity is ultimately a gift of grace, but one Christians are called to seek and guard. Its reward is nothing less than the vision of God.

“When we speak of a person’s heart, we refer not just to his sentiments, but to the whole person in his loving dealings with others. In order to help us understand divine things, Scripture uses the expression ‘heart’ in its full meaning, as the summary and source, expression and ultimate basis, of one’s thoughts, words, and actions. A man is worth what his heart is worth” (Saint Jose Escrivá, Christ Is Passing By, 164).

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Peace is God’s original desire for creation, disrupted by sin. Peacemakers are those who foster peace, in themselves and in others, and who, as a basis for that, try to be reconciled and to reconcile others with God. Because they reflect God’s own work of reconciliation, they are rightly called his children.

It should be noted that the Beatitudes do not describe separate groups of people; together they form a single portrait of the disciple. Each one expresses a different dimension of the same life shaped by God’s kingdom.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Faithful commitment to Christ inevitably brings opposition. Circumstances arise in a Christian’s life that call for heroism, where no compromise is acceptable: either one stays true to Jesus Christ no matter the cost, or one denies him.

Those who remain true to Christ will inherit the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom that is not of this world.

Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.

There are only eight beatitudes; this is an expansion of the previous verse. It is an exhortation to persevere through the challenges Jesus has described.

The Beatitudes are deeply paradoxical: they overturn conventional assumptions about success, blessing, and happiness. Jesus invites his followers to embrace a radically new way of life, one that reflects God’s values rather than the world’s.

The Beatitudes are deeply paradoxical. In the time of Jesus, the people who were considered blessed were those who were rich, had healthy children, and were respected by others in society. To lack these things would cause suffering, and suffering was viewed as punishment for sin. To claim that the poor, the sorrowful, and the hungry were blessed was to challenge the accepted beliefs of the time. Christ is inviting us to embrace a radically new way of life, one that reflects God’s values rather than the world’s.

Connections and Themes

God’s kingdom reverses the world’s values. Across today’s readings, a consistent pattern emerges: God’s saving work unfolds not through strength, status, or human achievement, but through humility, weakness, and trust. Zephaniah speaks of a remnant that will survive judgment; not the powerful or self-assured, but “a people humble and lowly” who take refuge in the name of the Lord. What endures after the storm is not what the world celebrates, but what God has formed.

Saint Paul echoes this same reversal as he looks at the Corinthian community. By human standards, few among them are impressive. Yet this is no accident. God deliberately chooses what the world dismisses in order to expose the emptiness of worldly wisdom and power. In God’s kingdom, boasting collapses, because salvation is not achieved; it is received.

Jesus brings this divine logic to its clearest expression in the Beatitudes. Those whom the world pities or ignores — the poor in spirit, the meek, the mourners — are named as blessed. The kingdom Jesus proclaims overturns conventional measures of success and happiness, revealing a God who lifts up the lowly and reshapes the meaning of blessing itself.

Discipleship begins with humility. This week’s readings also reveal that discipleship does not begin with competence or confidence, but with humility. Zephaniah’s call to “seek the Lord” is directed toward the humble, those who know they must rely on God rather than themselves. Their posture is one of openness, repentance, and trust — qualities that make room for God’s saving work.

Saint Paul presses this insight further by reminding the Corinthians that their life in Christ is entirely God’s doing. Christ himself has become their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. There is nothing left to claim as personal achievement. To belong to Christ is to stand before God empty-handed, receiving everything as grace.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes discipleship in these same terms. The Beatitudes do not present entrance requirements for the kingdom, but the inner disposition of those who live within it. Poverty of spirit, mercy, purity of heart, and hunger for righteousness all describe lives shaped by dependence on God. To follow Jesus is to accept this reorientation, allowing humility to become the foundation of faithful living.

A people shaped by God. These readings do not speak only to individual conversion; they also reveal what kind of community God is creating. Zephaniah envisions a remnant marked not by power or prestige, but by humility and trust in the Lord. Paul reminds the Corinthians that the Church itself is composed largely of those the world overlooks, precisely so that no one may boast and the community’s life may point unmistakably to God’s grace. In the Gospel, Jesus proclaims the Beatitudes not to isolated individuals, but to a gathered people, describing the shared values that define life in the kingdom.

Together, these readings challenge the Church to resist adopting the world’s standards of success, status, or influence. The Beatitudes are not simply private virtues; they are the contours of a communal way of life. When the Church is shaped by humility, mercy, and hunger for righteousness, it becomes a living sign of God’s reign — a people whose very relationships, priorities, and practices bear witness to the kingdom of heaven already at work in the world.