Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, through the Scripture readings we have heard today, we are all reminded that each and every one of us have been called to follow the Lord in our everyday living and at every moments. All of us as Christians must always be filled with the desire and passion to serve the Lord our God in all circumstances and we must always have the strong commitment to follow the Lord in all things, and live our lives ever more faithfully and courageously in accordance with what God Himself has shown and taught us all. We must not be complacent or be ignorant of our calling to be truly righteous, good, just and worthy of the Lord in all of our actions, words, deeds and way of life at all times. That is because we will likely often face situations and moments when we will have to stand up for our faith, make a firm commitment and choice for the Lord or against the Lord.

In our first reading today, we heard the continuation from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans in which the Apostle highlighted of the contrast and differences between the path of sin, evil and wickedness, with the path of righteousness, justice and virtue, in which the first one is the path that is against God, in rebellion against Him, and therefore leads to death and destruction, eternal damnation and suffering. On the other hand, the other path is the path of obedience to God, of following whatever He has led us into, and in doing all that He has commanded us to do. This latter path leads us into the assurance of eternal life, true joy and glory, which God promised to all of His faithful and beloved people. We have once been subjected to the power of sin and evil, and we have been dominated by them in the past, but through Christ, all of us have been shown and delivered to freedom from the dominion of sin.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, as St. Paul himself had elaborated to the faithful people of God in Rome, all of us who have been called and brought out of the darkness of sin, through the power of Christ, our Lord and Saviour, each and every one of us should no longer do things that are contrary to God’s will, Law and commandments. As Christians, God’s chosen and beloved people, all of us should always strive to do what is right and worthy of God, keeping ourselves pure and blameless, resisting the temptations and the pressures for us to conform to the corrupted ways of sin and disobedience against God, the worldliness and all the attachments to worldly pleasures, glory, achievements and ambitions that can lead us astray from the path that we have been shown towards the Lord, our God. The path of the Lord is different and distinct from the path of sin.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord pointing out to His disciples and followers, how His coming into this world would not usher an era of peace, harmony and glory for the people, but instead, it would lead to division and disagreements, disunity and resistance, as there would be those who refused to believe in God and His truth, and those would likely oppose the ones who have embraced the Lord and His truth as revealed through Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. At that time, the Jewish people, the people of God had been awaiting for the coming of the Messiah, the One Whom God had promised to His people, that He would come to them, bringing about God’s salvation and liberation from their troubles. However, many of the people thought that the Messiah would come and liberate them all from their Roman and other foreign oppressors, restored an era of peace and glory for Israel, and reestablished David and Solomon’s glorious kingdom.

This was where the Lord Jesus revealed to all of His disciples that the truth about His mission and coming into this world was not that which the people had expected or assumed to be. Instead of bringing about immediately an era of glory and peace to the people of God, the reality is that, such fulfilment of what God promised to His people, to all of us, will come in the future, at the time of His own determination. And His first coming into this world was meant to proclaim God’s truth, Good News and salvation to everyone. Essentially, He was gathering all of His beloved people, His flock back towards Himself. Yet, not all of them would listen to Him, as some of those to whom the Lord had revealed Himself rejected Him and chose to trust in their own path and beliefs, refusing to believe in Him, even though He has shown them all His wisdom and power, His assurance and truths. Why is that so? That is because they allowed themselves to be swayed by worldly temptations and sins, and hence, fell into the wrong paths.

The conflict and disagreements, divisions and hardships that came about because of the disagreements and incompatibilities between those who sided with the Lord and those who refused to believe in Him inevitably happened. That was also exactly why throughout the history of the Church and our Christian faith, many of our predecessors have faced multiple challenges, trials and difficulties because they remained firmly faithful to the Lord, and chose to follow the Lord and trust in Him rather than to obey and conform to the worldly norms and paths. Some chose to abandon God’s path and conform to the path of worldliness and sin to save themselves, but many remained true to their faith in God, and faced persecution, oppression and opposition from even within their own families and friends. Not few among the saints experienced these trials and challenges.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, for all of us, what truly matters is that we need to be prepared to stand up for our faith, and to be true to our calling and mission as Christians. Each and every one of us should always remind ourselves and one another that we are all as members of God’s Church, as parts of His one united Body, we must always stand together, and be filled with the fullness of God’s grace, love and truth. We should always strive to be exemplary and inspirational in how we live our lives, in our every words, actions and deeds, so that even in the smallest of things, in the seemingly least significant of our works, actions and all that we do, and our every interactions with each other, we may always strive to glorify God, and be genuine and faithful Christians.

May the Lord our God continue to strengthen and empower us all, so that in our every day moments, and in our every efforts, good works and commitments, we may always be strong and courageous in living our lives according to the path that God has shown us. Let us all help and support one another so that despite the many trials and challenges that we may have to face amidst our commitment and obedience to God, we will always remain firm and strong in our faith and trust in the Lord. May the Lord bless our efforts and works, and may He continue to journey with each one of us, in our journey of faith, that we may be truly worthy shining beacons of His Good News and truth, leading countless more towards Him. Amen.