Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all called to remember that each and every one of us must always be proactive in living our lives faithfully and worthily as Christians, in obeying God’s will, in walking down His path, and doing His Law and commandments at every possible opportunities and instances. Each and every one of us must always be filled with the desire to carry out whatever it is that the Lord has commanded us to do, and to be exemplary in our everyday living and efforts so that we may always be truly active in

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Rome, we heard of the words of the Apostle St. Paul which reminded the people of God of how everyone who have been obedient to God and are righteous in their way of life and their deeds will be honoured by God and their deeds will be remembered, no matter how small or insignificant they might be. The mention of Abraham, the father of the Israelites and many other nations, as well as King David of Israel, considered by many to be among the greatest of the kings and rulers of Israel, were meant to show good examples of what St. Paul had mentioned.

Both Abraham and David had done many great things in their respective lives, and they had dedicated most of their lives, their actions and efforts to the glory of God. While they were not perfect and they were also sinners just like any one of us, but their dedication, hard work and commitment in glorifying God far surpassed the mistakes, faults and sins that they had done throughout their lives. Abraham followed the Lord all the way, in whatever path and wherever that God had led him into, despite the many trials and challenges that he had to encounter and endure through. It was through his obedience and faith that many among his descendants were justified and brought to God’s saving grace.

In the meantime, David, one of the greatest kings of Ancient Israel, had also obeyed the Lord well, and did what the Lord had asked him to do, in leading the people of God back on the way towards Himself, and in showing a great, committed and benevolent rule truly worthy of one whom the Lord had chosen to be the king and ruler over all of His people, the Israelites. David had led the people of Israel to greatness, as he defeated all the enemies of the people of God, and established firmly the kingdom of Israel, rebuilding many cities and prepared for the building of the great Temple and House of God in Jerusalem, that would be completed by his son, King Solomon.

All of those righteous and good deeds were truly worthy of God, and they showed us all the examples of Christian virtues and all that we should also do in our own lives, in how we act, work and interact with one another. Abraham and David centred their lives on God, and showed everyone how they could live their lives in accordance to the will of God, in obeying His Law and commandments. Abraham and David had always strived to do the will of God, and lived their lives with a firm focus in God, and while they did still sin and falter in some occasions, but they always picked themselves up and kept on following the Lord afterwards, faithful to the very end.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord Who continued to teach the people and spoke to them to be very careful regarding the ‘yeast of the Pharisees’. This is in reality a reference to the attitudes and the way of many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who had not lived their lives and obeyed the Lord as they should have done, because they were very much preoccupied in maintaining their version and observances of the Law, the commandments and the many precepts and details of the Law of God, such that, in their overemphasis on such trivial details, led them to forget the true meaning and intention of the Law.

Not only that, but in their pride and arrogance, ambition and greed, they had filled themselves up with those wickedness, and persecuted, ostracised and treated others badly simply because they deemed themselves superior to others, and all those whom they disagreed with, they cursed and detested as sinners and unworthy, which no doubt was how they also viewed the Lord Himself and His disciples, because they did not conform to the way that those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had believed in, in their obedience and way of living the Law of God, in their flawed understanding and implementation of those commandments.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, these readings from the Scriptures are important reminders for us that we must always be on guard and be vigilant lest our ambitions, greed, pride, ego and worldly attachments and all the temptations present all around us, we may not be easily swayed by evil intent and by the forces of those who sought to lead us astray down the wrong path, into our downfall and destruction. We are all reminded that we should always be focused on the Lord as our forefathers and good examples of faith had done in their lives. Each and every one of us should always put the Lord at the centre and as the focus of our everyday living.

May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen us, and may He empower each and every one of us so that we may always endeavour to do God’s will, to obey His Law and commandments in each and every moments of our lives. May He bless our every good efforts and works, so that in our struggles and striving to glorify the Lord by our virtuous examples and lives, we may inspire many more people to do the same, just as our forefathers have inspired us to do what is right and just as the Lord Himself had taught us. May all of us be truly fruitful in our Christian living and virtues. Amen.