Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3c-4
Sing to YHVH a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.
YHVH has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love, nor His faithfulness to Israel.
The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you, lands, make a joyful noise to YHVH, break into song and sing praise.
Liturgical Colour : Green
1 Peter 1 : 10-16
This was the salvation for which the prophets so eagerly looked when, in days past, they foretold the favour of God, with regard to you. But they could only investigate when the Spirit of Christ present within them, pointed out the time and the circumstances, of this – the sufferings of Christ, and the glories which would follow.
It was revealed to them, that they were working, not for themselves, but for you. Thus, in these days, after the Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven, the Gospel’s preachers have taught you these mysteries, which even the Angels long to see.
So, then, let your spirit be ready. Be alert, with confident trust, in the grace you will receive, when Jesus Christ appears. Like obedient children, do not return to your former life, given over to ignorance and passions. Imitate the One Who called you. As He is holy, so you, too, be holy, in all your conduct, since Scripture says : Be holy for I am holy.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are being reminded of the importance for us to be truly faithful to God, to obey His Law and commandments, to be attuned to Him and strive to be genuine in our dedication and efforts to be ever committed to His cause. It means that as Christians we must not be lukewarm in our faith, and we should not be ignorant over what we are all called to do as Christians, in being true and good witnesses of the Lord’s truth in our world today.
In our first reading today, we listened to the words of St. Peter the Apostle speaking to us all through his Epistle regarding the matter of how faith in God is much more important than all the riches and pleasures of the world. In the end, no matter how much gold and wealth we mankind may gather, but unless we have faith in the Lord, we will have nothing left with us. All the riches and worldly things we have and gathered with us will never satisfy us, and it will not last forever. And we can neither bring all of those things with us.
That is exactly why it is folly for us to spend so much time and effort to build for ourselves a great and rich bounty and treasure in this world, and then end up losing our connection and links to the Lord. Unfortunately, that was exactly what many of us had done in the past. We often focused so much on worldly matters, our desires, ambitions and wants among many others, that we end up distancing ourselves more and more from the Lord. Many of us Christians ended up falling away from the path towards God and His salvation.
Today, in our Gospel passage we heard of how the Lord spoke to His disciples and a man who came up to Him and asking Him what he should do to seek the kingdom of God. In that occasion, the man already stated that he had already followed all the precepts and commandments of the Law, obeying everything as the Law of God as revealed through Moses had asked him to do. Yet, when the Lord then asked the man to do one last thing to follow Him, that is by leaving everything behind, selling all of his possessions and goods, and giving them to the poor, the man was immediately saddened, turning away and walked away from the Lord.
It was highlighted how the man was a man of great wealth. Therefore, it was implied that the man agonised a lot over the thought of being separated from all of his great possessions and wealth, and therefore, left in sorrow because he could not do it at all. Yet, lest we misunderstood thinking that God wants us to sell off all of our wealth and possessions, which is not what He intended for us, we must realise that the Lord wanted to prove us a point that our attachments to worldly things often become our greatest obstacle in our path towards the Lord and His salvation.
The man with great wealth loved his wealth and possessions much more than he loved the Lord, and despite his obedience to the precepts and details of the Law and the commandments of God, he had not yet made the Lord the number one priority in his life. And this was exactly what the Lord intended in saying through this encounter and experience. The man did not even try to do what the Lord had asked him to do, and instead, retreating in sorrow, without even trying to do what he can to fulfil the request from the Lord.
That is why, as Christians, all of us are called to detach ourselves from the worldly temptations and all the attachments that we often have towards the many corrupt desires of this world. We do not need to go to the extremes of selling all of our possessions and giving up everything we have, and rather, more importantly, we need to return the Lord to the most important part of our lives, to be the centre and focus of our lives. We have to put Him at the heart of our everyday living and strive to do whatever we can to glorify God by our lives, our every actions, words and deeds.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are also about to enter into the season of Lent, the forty days of preparation, of fasting and abstinence and of reorientation of our lives, let us all make great use of this opportunity which God has given to us, so that we may draw ever closer to Him, and grow ever more in our faith and dedication to Him. Let us all devote our time, effort and attention to serve the Lord wholeheartedly from now on, and let us do whatever we can to be great role models and inspirations for one another in our faith and in how we live up to this faith in our respective lives.
May God be with us all always, and may He strengthen us in our desire and resolve to lead an ever more faithful life, and a life that is filled with ever greater sincere desire to follow the path which God has shown us, distancing ourselves from the allures of worldly excesses and evils. May God bless us always, in our every good works, deeds and endeavours, now and always, forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Mark 10 : 17-27
At that time, just as Jesus was setting out on His journey again, a man ran up, knelt before Him and asked, “Good Master, what must I do to have eternal life?”
Jesus answered, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments : Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat, honour your father and mother.” The man replied, “I have obeyed all these commandments since my childhood.”
Then Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him and He said, “For you, one thing is lacking. Go, sell what you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow Me.” On hearing these words, his face fell and he went away sorrowful, for he was a man of great wealth.
Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God” The disciples were shocked at these words, but Jesus insisted, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
They were more astonished than ever and wondered, “Who, then, can be saved?” Jesus looked steadily at them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God; all things are possible with God.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 110 : 1-2, 5-6, 9 and 10c
Alleluia! I thank YHVH with all my heart in the council of the just, in the assembly. The works of YHVH are great and pondered by all who delight in them.
Always mindful of His Covenant, He provides food for those who fear Him. He shows His people the power of His arm by giving them the lands of other nations.
He has sent His people deliverance and made with them a Covenant forever. His holy Name is to be revered! To Him belongs everlasting praise.
Liturgical Colour : Green
1 Peter 1 : 3-9
Let us praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for His great mercy. In raising Jesus Christ from the dead He has given us new life and a living hope. The inheritance that does not corrupt nor goes bad nor passes away was reserved to you in heavens, since God’s power shall keep you faithful until salvation is revealed in the last days.
There is cause for joy, then, even though you may, for a time, have to suffer many trials. Thus will your faith be tested, like gold in a furnace. Gold, however, passes away but faith, worth so much more, will bring you in the end praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ appears.
You have not yet seen Him and yet you love Him; even without seeing Him, you believe in Him and experience a heavenly joy beyond all words, for you are reaching the goal of your faith : the salvation of your souls.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 