Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 118 : 29, 72, 89, 101, 104, 163
Keep me away from deceitful paths; be gracious and teach me Your Law.
Your Law is more precious to me than heaps of silver and gold.
O YHVH, Your word stands forever, firmly fixed in the heavens.
I turn my feet from evil paths, that I may keep step with Your word.
Your precepts have given me knowledge, and I hate all that is false.
I hate and abhor falsehood, but I love Your Law.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Proverbs 30 : 5-9
Every word of God is true, He is a shield in Whom man can find refuge. Add nothing to His words lest He rebuke you and take you for a liar. O God, two things I beg of You, do not deny me them before I die. Keep lying and falsehood far away from me, give me neither poverty nor riches.
Give me just as much food as I need lest, satisfied, I deny You and say, “Who is YHVH?” Or else, out of necessity, I steal and profane the Name of my God.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are called to remember our duty as Christians, to do God’s will in our lives and to follow what the Lord has commanded us to do, to be righteous and just in all of our deeds, that all of us be examples in faith for one another, and not to act as how those wicked and evil people had acted, in their selfishness and greed, in their arrogance and prejudice against their own fellow men.
Many of us have been lukewarm in our faith, and in how we lived our respective lives. As a result, we have not been able to and we should not regard ourselves as genuine followers and disciples of the Lord, until the moment when we are able to overcome our natural selfishness, greed and pride, all the ambitions and arrogance in our hearts and minds, which are often significant obstacles in our journey towards the Lord and His salvation.
This was not of course, how we were created. God created us man, in His own image, and intended to live in perfect harmony and love with Him, and with one another. He wanted us to be like Himself, existing in perfect love and harmony between the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, the love which was so perfect that there is nothing like it exist in this world. But He wanted to share with us this love, and that was why, He created us.
Unfortunately, greed and pride entered into our hearts and minds, when we were tempted by the sweet lies and falsehoods of the evil one, who appeared to our first ancestors and tricked them to disobey God, by pulling the strings on their desire for knowledge, for greatness and for equality with God. They were swayed by those lies and as a result, they fell into temptation and sin, by disobeying God’s words.
Ever since, we have lived under the bondage and tyranny of sin and evil. We have been conditioned in this world, to follow the urge of our own desires, the pressures of our pride and the allures of worldly pleasures and goodness, which distract us from our true destination and focus in life, that is God. But, as Christians, now we are challenged to go beyond all these temptations and obstacles, and strive to be who we are supposed to be, that is, God’s beloved and righteous children.
And in order to do this, we have to realise that there are probably a lot of things that we have to do in our lives, in order to live up to the expectations of our faith. We have to overcome those natural tendencies of greed, of pride, of desires for worldly temptations and goods, and for prestige, fame, glory, as well as many other things that often distract us from God. How should we then move forward from now on?
This is where we should rediscover the depth of our faith, and commit ourselves to a renewed vigour in our relationship with God. For too many of us, faith is empty and meaningless, and we do not have a genuine relationship with God. Nay, in fact, we are so busy and were so preoccupied with our myriads of worldly businesses and works, in the various temptations we face daily, that we forget what we, as Christians, have to do.
That is why we became selfish, proud, arrogant and unloving. We became jealous at the achievements that were made by others around us, and wanted nothing but our own self-glorification and satisfaction. This is what we must avoid, that as Christians, we must instead get rid of the pride in our hearts, and resist the temptation of our desires and the allures of the pleasures of the flesh.
Let us deepen our relationship with God, through deep and genuine prayer, by spending quality time with Him, that we may know what is His will for us, and what He wants each and every one of us to do in our respective lives. We are called to be true servants of God, and we should do this, by living our lives filled with God’s love, and showing that same love to one another.
Let us follow the path which God has shown us, the path of humility and obedience, and turn ourselves, our heart, mind, body and soul, indeed, our entire being, to the Lord and serve Him from now on, wholeheartedly, and be worthy of Him and His eternal glory, which He will give all those who are truly faithful to Him. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 8 : 19-21
At that time, the mother of Jesus and His relatives came to Him; but they could not get to Him because of the crowd. Someone told Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside and wish to meet You.”
Then Jesus answered, “My mother and My brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 118 : 1, 27, 30, 34, 35, 44
Blessed are they whose ways are upright, who follow the Law of YHVH.
Explain to me all Your ordinances, and I will meditate on Your wondrous deeds.
I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart upon Your laws.
Give me understanding, that I may observe Your Law with all my heart.
Guide me in obeying Your instructions, for my pleasure lies in them.
May I always keep Your word, forever and ever.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Proverbs 21 : 1-6, 10-13
In the hands of YHVH, the heart of the king is like running water; He directs it wherever He wishes. To the eyes of man all His ways are honest but it is YHVH Who weighs the heart. To do what is upright and just pleases YHVH more than sacrifice.
Haughty looks, proud heart, the light of the wicked is sin. The plans of a hardworking man result in earnings; poverty is for those who act too hastily. To make a fortune by means of deceit is like running after the wind; the end is death.
The soul of the wicked desires nothing but evil; not even his friend is treated with compassion. When the mocker is punished the ignorant man grows wise; when the wise man is instructed he grows in knowledge. The Just One watches the house of the evildoer and hurls the wicked into misfortune.
He who is deaf to the poor man’s cry will not be heard when he himself calls out.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the Lord speaking to us through the Scriptures, all of us are presented with the calling, that is challenging all of us to do what the Lord has commanded us to do, that is to practice our faith in our lives, by the active giving of what the Lord has given us, His blessings and graces, and most importantly, the love which He has given to each and every one of us.
In the Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord teaching His disciples with a parable, showing how a lamp that is lighted ought not to be hidden from view, but should instead be placed on a lampstand, that all of the people coming into the room can see the light given out by the lamp. Otherwise, the lamp becomes useless and has no meaning or purpose. This is a stark reminder to each one of us to be like that lamp, giving out its light for good purpose.
Why is that so? That is because the lamp represents all of us, which have been given the ability to share the light in us, that ultimately came from God, the source of Light, the source of all hope and love. As those whom the Lord has called to be His children, therefore, because God is Light, and God is Love, then all of us must also be filled with God’s light and be abundant with His love. We must be generous with the same love which He has given us abundantly first.
Yet, many of us have not been loving and been compassionate to our fellow brothers and sisters. We have treated our brothers and sisters with contempt and with injustice, and at times, we cause even pain and suffering to one another, whenever we gossip about one another, when we betray a friend for our own personal benefits, and many other instances, when our own greed and pride caused us to put our own needs before others, even without thinking of the negative consequences it might have on them.
We are called to abandon this way of life, as the Lord made it clear through what He said in the Book of Proverbs, that only the just and the righteous will enjoy God’s favour and grace, while all those who have treated others badly and acted wickedly will not receive His favour. God loves all of us, but He detests quite a number of our actions, which have been as what we just discussed, all those actions that are brought about by our greed.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as Christians, we ought to follow the Lord’s teachings and examples. He wants us all to die to ourselves and our pride, and this means that we must cast out from ourselves all these selfish, prideful and greedy attitudes, all of which have caused us to sin, by our actions towards our neighbours and brethren, as well as by our intentional refusal to act, when someone in our midst are in real need of help.
This is why, we need to live up to our faith, by being actively using the gift of love that God has given to each one of us. All of us are capable of loving, and it is only that we have not realised this fact, that caused us to be unable to love thus far. We only have to look at the examples which the Lord showed us all, in how He cared for us and forgave us our sins, despite the sins we have committed against Him. All these were because of His desire to be reconciled with us, His beloved children.
We also have many examples of saints and all holy men and women who had led virtuous and good lives before us. And all of them shared the same trait of being loving, compassionate, selfless, and having great devotion to God, and having God at the centre and as the real focus of their respective lives, instead of human pride, worldly desires and greed, ambition and other things we have discussed earlier, which are obstacles on our journey towards God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we renew our commitment to live our lives from now on, to be more faithful to God in all things? Shall we turn towards Him wholeheartedly and with conviction, to be His true disciples and followers? That is what we should be doing from now on, so that we may be truly worthy of what He has promised to give us, the gift of eternal life and glory with Him.
May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to guide us all, each and every days of our lives, that we will continue to walk faithfully and humbly in His path, at all times. May God bless us all and all of our good works and endeavours. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 8 : 16-18
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “No one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a bowl or puts it under the bed; rather, he puts it on a lamp stand, so that people coming in may see the light.”
“In the same way, there is nothing hidden that shall not be uncovered; nothing kept secret, that shall not be known clearly. Now, pay attention and listen well, for whoever produces, will be given more; but from those who do not produce, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 14 : 2-3ab, 3cd-4ab, 5
Those who walk blamelessly and do what is right, who speak truth from their heart and control their words.
Those who do no harm to their neighbours and cast no discredit on their companions, who look down on evildoers but highly esteem God’s servants.
Those who do not lend money at interest and refuse a bribe against the innocent. Do this, and you will soon be shaken.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Proverbs 3 : 27-35
Do not hold back from those who ask your help, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbour, “Go away! Come another time; tomorrow I will give it to you!” when you can help him now.
Do not plot evil against your neighbour who lives trustingly beside you, nor fight a man without cause when he has done you no wrong. Do not envy the man of violence or follow his example. For YHVH hates the wicked but guides the honest. He curses the house of the evildoer but blesses the home of the upright.
If there are mockers, He mocks them in turn but He shows His favour to the humble. The wise will possess His glory while the foolish will inherit disgrace.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 