Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the readings taken from the Holy Scriptures talking to us about the love of God, how the love of God had shown itself and manifested itself to us, in none other than Jesus Christ our Lord, the One Whom we celebrate in this Christmas season, for His coming into the world had brought God’s love itself upon us.

And we see one example of how God loved us all mankind in the Gospel reading today, where we heard the well-known story of how Jesus fed the multitudes of five thousand men, not including women and children, which would certainly add even much more to the number of those whom the Lord had fed with just five loaves and two fish.

The Lord Jesus saw the people who followed Him and listened to Him teaching for many days, and they were hungry, for although they heard the word of God and were satisfied in spirit, but they are still creatures of the flesh, and their flesh were weak, and they were hungry, just as we are all going to be hungry if we do not eat any food or little amount of food for quite a period of time.

And God was loving and merciful towards His children and His people, and that was why Jesus showed compassion and mercy on all those poor souls who hunger for food. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, blessed them and broke them into many pieces by His power and gave all the people to eat until they were all satisfied and full in their stomach, with even many pieces of bread and fish to spare.

This is how loving God is, but that is not just what God has loved us with, for the gift of the physical food that Jesus had done on that day with the five thousand men and countless other women and children were insignificant compared to what other things God had done for His people, that is for all of us. This is because, He has indeed spared nothing but He gave Himself completely, in His own Body and Blood for us all to eat and partake, that all of us may have life in us.

Yes, this is the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist, which our priests during each Holy Mass offered in union with that ultimate sacrifice on the cross, when our Lord Jesus Christ took upon Himself all of our sins and all the punishments due to our sins, and being lifted up high on the cross, He gave up His own life for our sake, that through His death, and by the shedding and thus the sharing of His Body and Blood, all may have a share in the life of His resurrection.

All of us who believed in God and who faithfully obeyed His laws and teachings through the Church, and who have shared in the Most Holy Eucharist with proper decorum and being worthy of it, have been blessed with this life which our Lord promised to all those who have faith in Him. He dwells in us just as we all dwell in Him, and united to Him Who is the Lord of all life, we have the promise of everlasting life through Him.

Today, as we heard the words of the Holy Scriptures, let us all reflect on what we have heard, and think of how we have all lived our lives, in our actions, words and deeds. Have we been faithful to God in all things? Or have we allowed our worldly concerns and desires to cloud our judgments and be unfaithful in what we do or say? As we continue on the season of Christmas and rejoice in the coming of the Lord Jesus, these are important questions that we really should ask ourselves.

This is because He Who have once come in a manger through the Blessed Virgin Mary, Who have suffered and died for us all, and Who rose from the dead in glory and ascended into Heaven in might, will come again for certain just as He had promised. If He comes again, at a time which we do not know or expect, and He finds us empty of faith and action based on that faith which we should have for Him, then what can we expect of what He will do with us?

If we want a part in God’s kingdom and be sharers of His love and blessings, then all of us should from now on reorientate our lives and refocus them in order to attune ourselves to the way of the Lord, and that in all the things we say and do, we may glorify God and proclaim His truth to the nations. May God awaken in all of us the love and the devotion which all of us ought to have for Him. God bless us all. Amen.