Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the word of God in the Scriptures, warning us against believing in the false prophets of doom and all those who claimed to know of the coming of the kingdom of God, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again in glory at the end of time, in order to claim all those who have been faithful to Him and bring them into the glorious eternal life.
These are false prophets, brothers and sisters in Christ, and some even perhaps acted in the conjunction with the devil, for he wants to confuse us and sow divisions among us, by sowing the seeds of uncertainty and fear in us. They divided us and brought us to false paths, so that for the sake of their own desires and wishes, they have misled many souls even into eternal damnation.
This is a reminder for each and every one of us as Christians, that we should not let these false shepherds to misguide us and to lead us to the wrong paths. And God had provided help for us in that case, by establishing His solid foundation in this world, His own Body, consisting of all of us the faithful people of God, that is the Church, which had endured all sorts of tribulations in the past many centuries, weathering through falsehoods and lies, heresies and waywardness.
And that is why we should adhere strongly to the ways of our faith, to the truth espoused in the teachings of the Church, which is the teachings passed down to us from the Apostles themselves, who disseminated them through their successors to our bishops and priests, and they themselves received those truth and teachings from none other than their Master, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Today we celebrate the memory of one of the great saints, who was once the one at the helm of the great Church, leading all of the faithful people of God through the world and its temptations and troubles. Pope St. Leo I or Pope St. Leo the Great was a leader of the early Church during the middle years of the fifth century after the birth of Christ as the successor of St. Peter the Apostle, Vicar of Christ and Bishop of Rome.
Pope St. Leo the Great was perhaps more well-known for his role in mediating peace between the Roman Empire at that time with the marauding Hun invaders, where it was told that he came out by himself out from the city of Rome to speak to the King of the Huns, Attila, who was infamous for his great cruelty and aggressiveness. It was told that at that time, a great vision of the Lord created great fear among the Huns and their king, and they withdrew from Rome and from the territories they have conquered and pillaged.
That story was relatively well-known, and the role of Pope St. Leo the Great in saving Rome and its people were recognised, but what is often not known and remembered is his great achievement and contribution in combatting and opposing heretical and false teachings in the Church, through his many writings and works supporting the true teachings of the Church, upholding the divine and human nature of Christ again those heresies who claimed that Jesus was a mere Man or just mere God with separate natures.
He courageously spread the true teachings of our faith even when there were those who were opposed to him. By persuasion and his hard work, he helped to steer the Church through those difficult and turbulent times, riddled with challenges, false prophets and false teachings, and in the end, the Church and the faithful persevered through until this very day.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the challenges we face today are the same as what Pope St. Leo the Great faced during his time. Heresies, false teachings and other aberrations are still abound today, trying to tempt us away from reaching out towards God’s salvation and grace. Following in the footsteps of Pope St. Leo the Great, we all should be role models for each other, adhering closely to the Church and its teachings, and help one another to resist the temptations and the reject the falsehoods spread by the devil designed to mislead us into our downfall.
May the Lord help us and keep us always in His grace, blessing us with His love and tender mercy, so that each and every one of us will always be in His favour and grace, and in the end of the day, we may together raise to the glorious life He had intended for us, for those who have remained true and faithful to Him. God bless us all. Amen.