Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection February 04, 2026
Wednesday – Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
04th February 2026 (Wednesday)
Psalter: Week 4
Readings of the Day
First Reading: 2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17
In those days: The king said to Joab, the commander of the army, who was with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and number the people, that I may know the number of the people.” And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king: in Israel there were eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand. But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’ ” So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.” So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men. And when the angel stretched out his hand towards Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father’s house.
Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 6, 7 (R. see 5d)
R/. O Lord, forgive the guilt of my sin.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; and I know them, and they follow me.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Mark 6:1-6
At that time: Jesus came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offence at him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour, except in his home town and among his relatives and in his own household.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.
Daily Gospel Reflection
Wednesday – Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Main Point: We often measure our security by what we can count and control. True security, however, is found in surrendering to the One beyond measure.
1. Today’s liturgy presents two dangers to our spiritual life: the danger of “calculation” in the first reading and the danger of “familiarity” in the gospel. Both are traps that stop us from experiencing the power of God.
2. In the first reading, King David falls into the trap of numbers. He orders a census. He counts how many fighting men he has. He wants to know how strong he is, and though this is a useful administrative approach, from God’s perspective, this is a sin of pride.
3. Why is this a sin? Because David stopped counting on God and started counting on his army. He shifted his trust from the Divine Protector to mere humans. David wanted the security of “stats” more than the security of the “Spirit.” He wanted to feel important by looking at the figures.
4. Just Like David In these tough times, we regard the security of our bank account, social media following, and perhaps the number of our trophies, as the backbone of our strength. Like David, we think of our strength as protection, but we soon realize our foolishness. David’s heart smote him when he realized the foolishness of number-counting. Numbers = bank balance, followers, trophies, etc. And when these things are gone, who remains? God!
5. The people of Nazareth fall into the trap of knowing the familiar. Like many of us, they try to measure who Jesus is. Where is he from? What is his job? Oh, his address is 123 Joseph, Mary’s son the carpenter. And that’s all the information Mary brought into the world. We’ve got his complete bio data.
6. Because we are so sure of ourselves, we try to tell the story as though we know it all. That’s why they don’t simply accept Jesus and say of him, “Isn’t this just a carpenter?” They see the wood but miss the Word. They see the man but miss the God. They get so obsessed with a set of facts that they block out the genuine reality. Because they have this knowledge, it actually turns into a block of understanding.
7. Modern man’s tragedy in believing he can explain the origin of something as great as the Bible, and dismiss its value, is shocking all while judging the book by its cover, and the message by its messenger. We are information rich and transformation impoverished.
8. It is amazing how Jesus marveled at all the unamazing things he could do, because of their unbelief. Jesus could do no miracle, and unbelief still ties the hands of God and limits Him. But in truth, faith does the opposite. It frees God to do all the things.
9. But with faith, God is always merciful. David, even in his sin, shows us the way. He truly shows us the way to recovery since he is always Firstly, he tries to sin and show us the way by saying, I have sinned greatly. He is always explaining the way, and saying, let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great.
10. We always need to stop thinking of God as someone who can be boxed in. We need to stop judging people by their family, or their job. God performed a miracle because he looked so ordinary. We always miss the simple things and are always waiting for the spectacular.
11. True strength isn’t in the agreement of the crowd, but in the agreement of the heart with God. Let’s put down our calculations and take up our crosses.
My Practice: Lord, rid us of the presumption of thinking we understand everything, and provide us the simple faith to be amazed by your grace in the simple.
