Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all reminded, of the purpose of our actions which we do as part of our faith in God. All of us ought to pray and to devote ourselves to God, through actions such as charity to others and fasting at the allotted time, such as during the season of Lent and on Good Friday, and abstain from meat on Fridays.

But all these observances and practices would mean nothing to us if we do not understand or know the significance of such practices. As an example, Jesus often criticised the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law for their very rigid and unbending observance of the Law, and while the intention may be good, but their blind obedience and devotion was their undoing.

When we pray, do we do it for the sake of fulfilling our faith obligations? And when we go to the Mass, do we do so out of fear that if we do not go to the Mass on Sundays then we will be deemed as sinful? Do we truly believe in what we do? Or do we do it without knowing its purpose? When we pray, we ought to know that we are communicating and talking with God in our hearts, so we open our hearts and allow God to enter into us and speak in the depth of the silence of our hearts.

When we do something charitable, we also open ourselves to the rich graces and love of God, and we become the extension of God’s love, through which He showed His mercy and love to men. And when we fast, we do so because we want to die to our desires and to our human needs, and therefore be more capable of focusing our attention to the Lord. It is truly about God, and not about ourselves.

Therefore, if we look at the examples, we should know that when we pray, when we go to the Mass, when we fast and when we do something charitable to others, it is truly about the Lord, and also about those whom we do our charity for, and not about ourselves. It is however a tendency for us to look into ourselves and become too focused on ourselves as we do all these good things.

It is imperative therefore, for us to reexamine ourselves and our focus in life, especially in how we live our faith lives. Have we been genuine in our devotion to God, or have we instead been so selfish and self-serving in our actions? If we are truly faithful, then we would try our best to do everything with proper understanding. It is also a lesson for all of us to take our faith seriously.

Remember, we need to have a correct understanding of our actions so that our actions may benefit us. When we do something, let us all do it for the sake of God and for the sake of others around us, and less for ourselves. Many of the vices and evils happen in our lives exactly because we put ourselves first above God and above others.

Indeed, let us all not seek praise for ourselves and the approval of the world. Let us all be more humble in everything and let go of the pride that often had its grip on our hearts. Let us seek to understand more of what we need to do to be truly faithful to the Lord our God. Give thanks to Him who have given us so much, and for all of His generous graces and blessings for us.

Our prayers and actions should not be dead or filled with self-gratification. Rather, they should be filled with the expression of love and devotion to the Lord, filled with joyful thanksgiving for God’s grace, and also for the mercy and forgiveness for all the sins and wickedness which we have committed in this life. May Almighty God be with us all, fill up our hearts with His love, that we may love Him ever more, through our prayers and through our actions in this life. God bless us all. Amen.