Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are reminded on this second last Sunday before the end of the current liturgical year, of the need for all of us as Christians to be truly faithful to God and to do what the Lord has taught, shown and commanded us all to do in our lives. All of us as Christians are encouraged and reminded of everything that we should carry out in our current livelihood, in reaching out to our fellow men, brothers and sisters, in caring and loving them, so that by our lives, actions and everything we say and do, we may truly proclaim the Lord in all of His love, truth and wonders to all the whole world. This is what we are all expected to do, brothers and sisters, in living our lives at the moment, in whatever opportunities that we have been given, to be ever more faithful and worthy of God in all things.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Proverbs, we heard from the author of this Book, the description of a righteous, virtuous and good woman, who is truly good and just in all of her works, actions and deeds. This description of a virtuous and righteous woman, who is respected and honoured by everyone is actually not just limited to that of a woman, but is a way for the Lord to tell all of us that the same attitude and behaviours are also expected of every one of us, regardless of gender, age or by whatever other parameters we tended to categorise ourselves into. Each and every one of us as Christians are expected to do what is right, virtuous, good and just in the eyes of the Lord, in doing His will and obeying every one of His Law and commandments, which He has revealed, taught and passed down to us.

This is especially important in our world today, where these virtues for either men and women had become diluted and even lost, amidst the many competing ideologies and distractions, from the secular and godless world, where many of us are accustomed to so many kinds of wickedness, evils, temptations and other attitudes that put emphasis on our own selfish wants and desires, and in all the exposure to the various paths and behaviours that directly contradict the Lord and His teachings and truth. We all live in a world where we are accustomed to these kind of thinking, behaviours and attitudes from early on in our lives. That is why we must always remind ourselves that we should not allow these corruptions and wrong ideas to distract and mislead us from the right path that God has shown and taught us.

In our second reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians in which the Apostle spoke about how the Lord’s second coming or parousia will happen at the time when we least expect it, and hence, we have to be always prepared and ready to welcome the Lord when He comes again, with a worthy attitude and life. We must not be complacent or ignorant of what is expected of us as Christians, in how we all should live our lives. That is because every one of us will be held accountable for whatever we have said, done and acted in our lives, and also for whatever it is that we have not done and acted, when we have been given the opportunities and the abilities to do so, in caring for our fellow brothers and sisters all around us, and in living our lives worthily as Christians.

In our Gospel passage today, the same theme appears again as we heard of the parable which the Lord told to His disciples and followers, on the parable of the silver talents. In that parable, we heard of the actions of the three servants to whom their master bestowed each of them with five, two and one silver talents respectively. In that parable, we heard how the ones who were entrusted with five and two silver talents made good use of their silver talents when the master was away, invested them properly and did good with them such that when the master returned, their silver talents had doubled in amount. Meanwhile, the one who had been entrusted with one silver talent hid his silver talent until his master returned, and returned the silver talent to his master as it was.

We heard how the two servants who have done well in investing their silver talents were greatly rewarded by the master, while the servant who was lazy and did nothing to the silver talent was punished. This parable is a classic reminder for all of us that we cannot be idle in living our Christian lives, in doing what we can to follow God and His will, in obeying His Law and commandments to the best of our abilities. Those silver talents, regardless of the amounts, represent the talents, blessings, abilities, opportunities and other things that we have received from God, and which we are therefore expected to make good use of, in each and every one of our actions and deeds, in all of our interactions and dealings with one another. We should always do our part to glorify God by our lives, and to show His love and kindness to everyone, through our own lives and actions.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from our Scripture passages today, we are all reminded that as Christians, we have to be always prepared for all things, and we must always strive to be exemplary and virtuous in all of our words, actions and deeds, so that we truly become responsible, good and faithful stewards of God’s Creation, and over whatever it is that God has entrusted to us, be it opportunities and talents, abilities and other things in life. We must always strive to do God’s will in all things and at all times because in the end, we shall be asked to account for our lives and how we have lived them. If we have neglected our responsibilities and all that we have been entrusted to do, then we may end up like the lazy servant, who failed to utilise his entrusted silver talent for good use, and we may have to answer for that with condemnation for eternity.

Today, the Church also commemorates the occasion of the World Day of the Poor, instituted by our current reigning Pope, Pope Francis, in reminding us that all of us have responsibilities and obligations to care for one another, especially for the less fortunate among us. We have been given different blessings, opportunities and talents, and for those who have been given more, as the Lord highlighted in that same parable, more would have been expected. Those of us who have been blessed with more good things in life, let us all spare some of these with love, with those who have little or none, those who struggle to make ends meet, and those who have been ostracised, rejected and shunned by the community. The poor are parts of the Church as well, and they are our brothers and sisters, all the same.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore strive to live our lives ever more faithfully as Christians, in doing what God has commanded us all to do. Let us all turn towards God with our whole heart and mind, in devoting ourselves as God’s beloved people, His faithful followers and disciples, now and always. Let our lives be truly filled with God’s grace and love, and let us all follow Him from now on with ever greater commitment, dedication and love, in being generous with our love and attention especially for the less fortunate ones around us. May God bless us all and may He empower each and every one of us to live our lives in His path, now and always. Amen.