Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this day we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures in which all of us are told and reminded to listen to the Lord when He calls upon us, for all of us to follow His path and to walk virtuously and righteously in His ways. Today’s Scripture readings clearly presented to us what it means for us to be called by God, and to be His disciples and followers. We are reminded from the examples of the calling of the young Samuel, as well as the ministry of the Lord Jesus, Our Lord and Saviour and His disciples, that to be Christian disciples and part of the Church, we must always heed the Lord’s call, and do whatever we can so that we may always be exemplary in each and every one of our actions in life.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Samuel in which the Lord called the young Samuel while he was sleeping, and Samuel thought that his mentor, the Priest and Judge Eli was calling him. We heard how the Lord called Samuel three times until Eli recognised that it was actually God Who had called the young boy, and the priest told the young Samuel to respond to the Lord’s call and listen to Him. That was the beginning of Samuel’s calling, who had been set aside from the time of his conception and birth by his thankful mother Hannah, for the service of God.

At that time, the Judge and priest Eli had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, who had been wicked according to the Scriptural accounts, who disregarded the Law and commandments of God, were corrupt and abused their position and authority as priests of the Lord. Contrast to this wickedness was the faith and purity of Samuel, who responded well to the Lord’s call, and with the guidance of Eli, he grew up to become a great and faithful prophet of God, succeeding Eli to become the Judge over all of Israel, the last of the Judges before the days of the Kings. If we were to read further in the rest of the accounts of the prophet Samuel, we can see just how much Samuel gave his all to the Lord and to the people, fulfilling the missions entrusted to him.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord Jesus healing the very sick mother-in-law of one of His disciples, Simon Peter, and how the people having heard of the miraculous healing, came to the Lord bringing all of their sick ones and those who were afflicted with all sorts of conditions and the Lord ministered to them, taking care of them and healing them from all of their troubles and complaints. He spent a long time with them, assisted by His disciples. And then we heard how the Lord then quietly moved away from that place, as He went away in the very early morning, likely before anyone had awoken, to pray, and He told His disciples that there were still many other people who needed His help, and He was sent to minister to all of them, and hence, they all should go and continue to go where the Lord has sent them to.

Now, the significance of the events which we have heard is such that we are reminded that first of all, we must do what the Lord had entrusted to us to do, in carrying out His will and the mission given to us, just like how the prophet Samuel carried out his missions and works, and how the Lord Jesus did His ministry, in showing God’s love, compassion, mercy and healing to all of the people who needed them. But, as we have seen in the Gospel passage today, it is easy for us to be tempted and swayed by the force of pride, ego and popularity, that we may end up losing focus on what it is that we are doing in our actions in life, and end up serving our own selfish desires and greed, our ambitions and prideful wants and attachments to glory, fame and more.

The Lord and His disciples were truly and wildly popular there, where He performed the miraculous deeds and works. They did not have to go to other places, and they could easily gain a large following there, as how some of the others, the false Messiahs had done at that time. This is where the Lord Jesus therefore reminded His disciples and followers, that everything that He had done, and all that they had committed in ministering to the people of God were ultimately not about themselves and not about doing what was convenient and good for them. Instead, they were following God’s will, and the focus was, and must always be on God and His path, and not on oneself, and one’s personal glory and ambitions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as Christians, all of us today are called and reminded to follow the paths that God has given each and every one of us, as all of us have our own distinct paths and vocations in life. As members of the Church of God, the Body of Christ, all of us have distinct and unique missions, in spreading more and further the Good News and the salvation in Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, through our own exemplary lives and actions, through every things that we do and our every words and interactions in life with one another. We must always do what we can so that our lives may always shine brightly with the light of Christ, His truth and Good News.

Let us all hence do our part in each and every moments of our lives so that we will always be open to listen to God calling us in our hearts and minds, and keep ourselves attuned to His will, and not to be swayed by worldly temptations, or be corrupted by the various worldly evils and wickedness. Let us all turn our attention towards the Lord once again, and be confident in living our lives with faith, in every moments, by good examples and actions we have, so that through us, many more people may come ever closer towards the Lord and His salvation, and that we are truly the shiing beacons of God’s Light and truth to all the whole world. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.strive to be good and worthy even in the smallest things that we do in our lives.

Let us all therefore renew our commitment and faith in the Lord, and remind ourselves of the calling and the vocations that we have, be it as members of the clergy and all those who have given ourselves to the service of God and His Church, or as the members of the laity, as those who are married and in family life, and as parts of the families themselves, and as any one of us, living our own daily living in this world today. Let us all be ever more committed to follow the path of Christ, now and always, that we may illuminate the path for others towards God and His salvation. Amen.