Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all called to do what is right and just in all of our actions, works and deeds. All of us as God’s beloved and holy people are expected and called to do God’s will in each and every moments of our lives, to be exemplary and inspirational to others all around us so that we may indeed bear the truth, love and the Good News of God to many others, who have seen and witnessed our works and lives, and embraced God because of what they have experienced through their interactions and encounter with each and every one of us. And all of these are indeed crucial because these actions and right direction in life will help us in how we may truly be good role models and be truly faithful as Christians in all things, and not merely in name only.

In our first reading today, we heard from the continuation of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, in which the Apostle spoke about the examples of faith which he himself showed, in his persistence to spread the Good News and the truth of God through the efforts and works which he had done, in persisting to do the will of God despite the opposition and all the hardships that he had constantly faced and encountered even from his own people, the Jewish people. Back then, the Jewish authorities, the members of the Sanhedrin, composed of many Sadducees and Pharisees, the elites among the people of God, had mostly opposed the Lord Jesus and His teachings, and persecuted His disciples and followers. Many of the early Christians had to face great persecution and sufferings because of their faith in God.

St. Paul himself was a member of the Pharisees and was in his youth, a very overzealous person, who hunted and persecuted the earliest members of the Church, the early Christians, and made them to suffer very greatly just as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. He was misled by the wrong understanding and interpretation of the Law, and also the misunderstanding and prejudice against Christ and His teachings, which the Pharisees in particular refused to accept because they held on firmly to their version of the Law, while the Sadducees on the other hand was also opposed to because of their firm refusal to believe in supernatural and spiritual aspects of the faith like that of the belief in the Resurrection, the afterlife and the concept of Angels and spirits. In either case, both of these prominent groups of the Jewish leaders and people were opposed to the Lord and to the Christian faith.

But St. Paul saw the errors of his ways, and after having personally encountered the Lord Himself on the way to Damascus, in his zealous persecution of Christians, St. Paul had a thorough and complete change of heart and mind, that he was no longer a persecutor of Christians, and then, at the same time, he was also renewed and reborn into the true path that the Lord has shown him. St. Paul became a new champion and defender of the Christian faith, and henceforth became a great Apostle, spreading the words of God’s truth and also the Good News through his evangelising missions and actions, in his dedication to serve the Lord through various ministries among the many communities of the early Church, and in his numerous letters and Epistles to help clarify the many aspects of the faith to those who have just embraced the Lord.

St. Paul as we heard in our first reading today did not shun his Jewish heritage and origins, and in fact, he praised the Jewish people that he belonged to, as the people whom God had first chosen and called to be His own, and how He had made His Covenant with all of them, with Abraham and his descendants. By mentioning this fact, St. Paul wanted to highlight that ultimately, everyone are called to be God’s disciples and followers, to be part of His flock, embracing His path and truth, and there should not be distinction based on whether one is a Jew or not, as ultimately, what matters is one’s faith and dedication to God, in the manner that He Himself has shown us all, as we heard in our Gospel passage today, in the account of the confrontation and the encounter that the Lord had against the Pharisees in one of His many works and ministries.

In that occasion, the Lord Jesus went to eat in the house of a leading and important Pharisee, and the other Pharisees as mentioned were watching His every moves and actions. There was a man who was suffering from an illness, and based on what we have experienced in the other parts of the Scriptures, it might not be a stretch to suggest and conclude that the person had been brought there in order to test the Lord, that day being the Sabbath day as well, out of all days. The Sabbath day was a day sacred to the Lord and according to the Law of God given to His people through Moses, the people ought not to be working on that day, and instead focus their attention on the Lord and to worship Him. The Pharisees interpreted this most strictly, and were opposed to the Lord Who often carried out His healing and works on the day of the Sabbath.

Thus, in that same occasion again, the Lord asked the Pharisees who were present blatantly, whether it was lawful or not to heal an afflicted person, that is to do a good and virtuous deed on the day of the Sabbath, and He spoke of it with such an authority that the Pharisees assembled there could not refute or respond to Him at all, using examples of how even the Pharisees would do something to help their flock that got into trouble on the Sabbath day, and the Lord healed the suffering man regardless, showing all those bigoted leaders and influential members of the people, the folly of their stubborn upholding of their mistaken and overzealous beliefs, in merely obeying the letter of the Law but not understanding and appreciating its true nature and purpose. Thus, the Lord wanted us all to know that to be His disciples and followers, we have to follow His examples, in loving God and our fellow brothers and sisters, and not merely blind followers obeying rites and empty letters of the Law.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Martin de Porres, a great and virtuous man of God, a holy servant and follower of Christ, who had dedicated himself and his life to the Lord, though his works, his commitments and actions. He is a humble and simple man, and yet, in his simplicity and great faith, he has shown us all how to truly be good and faithful disciples of the Lord, in doing our best to follow the Lord’s commandments, in obeying His will and doing His Law. St. Martin de Porres has shown his love both to the Lord and towards his fellow brothers and sisters, and hence, he has been doing what the Lord had commanded and told us all to do, and his virtues become for us a shining beacon of his faith, righteousness and justice amidst the darkness of this world and all the temptations and corruptions of sin.

St. Martin de Porres was born in Lima, in what is now Peru, and then part of the Spanish dominions in the New World, the Americas. He was born of a mixed ancestry, of Spanish and natives, being an illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed slave of mixed African and native descent. He grew up in poverty, like many others like him at that time, and eventually, he wanted to join the Dominicans, only to be stopped by the law of the time which forbid those who has similar background as him from joining as full members of the Dominican Order. Instead, he became a third order member of the Dominicans, and he performed various works and actions in supporting the Dominicans and also in other charitable actions, particularly towards the poor, whose sufferings he understood very well, having been born, lived and dwelled in poverty and amongst the poor.

St. Martin de Porres was renowned for his great piety and faith, and for his loving outreach to the poor all around the community he was living and ministering in, faithfully doing whatever the Lord had commanded and told him to do through his part in the Dominican Order as a religious brother. He devoted much of his time before the Blessed Sacrament, in which he had a great devotion and also among the poor as mentioned. He did not even hesitate to help those who were sick and suffering, and showed everyone around him the true compassionate and loving face of God, shown clearly through his exemplary virtues and compassion. He obeyed the Lord perfectly and continued to do what he could to serve God till his death. He continued to inspire countless others even long after his death.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore devote ourselves, our time and attention to serve the Lord, our loving God and Father, our Creator and Master, in following the footsteps of the saints, especially that of St. Martin de Porres. Let us all be exemplary in our every way of life, in our love towards God and also our charity and care towards the poor and the less fortunate all around us. Let us all be truly faithful to God, not just merely in words alone, but also through real action and commitment towards God, in all of the love we show one another. May God be with us all and may He bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.