Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the Lord’s promises to us, His kindness and mercy, and all that He has assured us of, in how each and every one of us as members and parts of His Church, counted among His flock and holy people, are to receive the rich bounty and blessings of His love and kindness, His desire to liberate us all from the threat and dangers of sin, evil and death. All of us have been reassured and have received the promises of God’s grace and love, through everything that He has done for us, and through all that He has reminded us constantly through His messengers, prophets and ultimately through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, and all that He has revealed to us, and through the Holy Spirit Who has always been with us and guided the Church throughout all this time.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Thessalonica, we heard of St. Paul telling the good faithful people of God there to put their trust in the Lord, and to continue to do good and to act worthily of Him as they had always done, so that by their faith, commitment and actions, they will always serve God’s will and purpose, and that they will be great role models and inspirations to one another, in how they live their lives and in all of their words, actions and interactions, reassuring them that in the end, they shall be triumphant with God, and that in the last moments, the Lord will come again as He has promised and reassured us, all those who have lived their lives worthily of the Lord and died in His grace, will be glorified together with Him, and will be triumphant, as they will be raised together, body and soul, to enjoy forever the eternal joy and true glory with God.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the story of the moment when the Lord Jesus Christ came back to His hometown of Nazareth, where He spoke and taught in the local synagogue, explaining to them the words of the prophecies of Isaiah the prophet, which was actually concerning Himself, to reveal to them the fulfilment of those prophecies and the coming of the salvation in God. In Jesus Christ, the Saviour Whom God had sent unto us, His faithful and beloved people, we have seen the love of God manifested in the flesh, becoming tangible, real and approachable to us. Each and every one of us have received this assurance from the Lord Himself, and through His coming into our midst, we have been strengthened and encouraged, ever being reminded that the Lord has always watched kindly over us and He does not leave us all alone.

However, the people of Nazareth, who saw the Lord growing up in their midst and who knew that His father was the village carpenter, St. Joseph, hardened their hearts and closed their minds to Him, refusing to accept the truth and reality that this same Jesus was the One Who the prophets and the messengers of God had been proclaiming about. They did not have enough faith and trust in God, preferring instead to depend on their own flawed judgments and biases, their prejudices and thoughts rather than to trust in the Lord and in His Wisdom. They thought that it must have been impossible for the Saviour that God sent to His people to have come from their own small and insignificant village, which was the same thinking and thoughts that many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law heard that the Lord Jesus came from Nazareth, from the region of Galilee.

Essentially, they placed their own human biases, prejudices, judgments and ideals ahead of their faith and trust in God. They doubted that the Lord could do what He has decided to do, in making the small village of Nazareth, and also the small town of Bethlehem, where the Lord was born in, to be the place where the Saviour of the world and the King of Kings would be born in. We are reminded through these Scripture readings that everything is possible for God and there is nothing that He cannot do, because He is all-powerful, almighty and is in control of all things. Thus, we are reminded today not to give in to all those wicked thoughts, biases, prejudices and all the parameters by which we often judge others with, and we should also not have so little faith and trust in God. Instead, we should entrust ourselves all the more to the Lord and be reminded of all the love and compassionate kindness that He has always shown us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore heed these words that we have heard through the Scriptures, reminding ourselves that we are all called to be ever more committed disciples and followers of the Lord. Each and every one of us should always should learn to out our faith and trust in God, in doing our best at every time and moment to do God’s will, in following His Law and commandments, in living our lives virtuously and worthily of Him, so that we are truly worthy of being called Christians, that is God’s beloved and holy people, through our every words, actions and deeds. We should not merely have an empty and meaningless faith, that is only good on the outside, and yet, in our hearts and minds, God is not in them, and God is not at the centre of our lives and existence as He should have been.

Let us all realise that being Christians require from us the dedication and effort, and not passivity and lack of action and commitment. All of us have been called to follow the Lord and to do His will, carrying out His commandments in all things. And in the midst of doing that, we may face trials and hardships, opposition and challenges, rejection and difficulties, much as what the Lord Himself, His disciples, followers and messengers had faced in the past. We have to keep our faith and trust in the Lord so that just like that of the Apostles, the innumerable saints and martyrs, holy men and women of God, who held on to their faith in God even at the time of their greatest crises, they never wavered and they remained strong in their commitment to serve the Lord, and hence, those among them who suffered, did them willingly, knowing that the Lord shall reward them in the end, for eternity.

May the Lord, our loving God and Master, continue to help and guide us all in our respective journeys in life so that we may indeed live our lives well and faithfully, despite the challenges and trials that we may face, so that we do not easily succumb to temptation and we do not easily give up in life, or give up our faith and trust in God. We should remind each other that there is always hope and assurance in God, and it is in Him alone that we shall find true comfort and satisfaction, when nothing that the world has, can provide us with lasting help and satisfaction. May the Lord empower each and every one of us, so that we will always be strong and encouraged, to live faithful and worthy lives at all times, being good examples and role models to one another. Amen.