Blog

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 1, 2026

“Nice guys finish last,” is a saying that is perpetuated from culture to culture and is impressed upon the minds of young people from as early as when they can understand, and certainly as early as when they learn to compete. The sad thing is that it is a lie. I know plenty of people who have become very successful at what they do and they are plenty nice. Their success can be measured in dollars and cents, in corporate position, in military rank, in material acquisitions, in number of trophies or blue ribbons, in fame and fortune, and, at the same time, are still “nice.” I use the word “nice” here to imply that a person is trying to imitate the example of Jesus when it comes to interaction with other people, how to treat other people and get along, respecting other people. St. Paul is echoing what Jesus preached during His lifetime on earth, and that is, that in the site of God the Father and Jesus our Savior, nice guys finish first for the simple fact that they are “nice;” or another way to put it … they are kind, respectful, compassionate, generous, thoughtful, helpful, understanding, sympathetic, merciful. Can you win a race and still be all those things? Of course. Can you obtain high rank or position and still be all those things? Of course. Can you have many material possessions and trophies and blue ribbons, and still have all those things? Of course. Jesus is in no way saying that living the Beatitudes is only for those who have little, or for those who are weak, or for those who are lowly, and even poor. I think Jesus is reminding us that living the Beatitudes is a “way of life” anybody and everybody can choose; a “way of life,” anybody and everybody can achieve; a “way of life” we are all called to embrace as His followers. -Msgr. Greg