Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded that if we do not put our trust and faith in God, in the end, we shall face the consequences of our disloyalty and lack of faith. We are also reminded that in the Lord alone is our hope and salvation, and through Him we shall receive the sure hope of liberation from our troubles and hardships. We must always seek the Lord and focus our attention on Him, and we shall find the path to freedom and grace. Each and every one of us have been blessed by the Lord, with His kindness, love and bounty, and all that He has promised to us, His kindness and compassion towards all of us, whom He had loved from the very beginning. However, we have often been distracted by the many temptations and wickedness present all around us, which can lead us astray into our downfall, away from the path towards God and His salvation.

In our first reading today, we heard of how Jeroboam was entrusted by God to be the ruler over the northern half of the kingdom of Israel against the descendants of David, during the time towards the end of the rule of King Solomon because Solomon had fallen from grace, disobeying the commandments and Law of God, refusing to do as God had commanded him to do despite being faithful and obedient for the earlier parts of his reign. Solomon was swayed and tempted by his vast collection of wealth and all the fame he had accumulated and gained because of his great might, wisdom and glory. Solomon’s many wives and concubines, his ties to the foreign powers and politics also muddled his mind and judgment, which resulted in him committing blasphemy and wicked deeds in raising altars for the pagan gods of his wives and concubines, leading to the people falling into sin as well.

Solomon depended so much on his power and glory, and on all the political and diplomatic connections that he had established that he had become proud, arrogant and haughty, and God wanted to remind him that in the end, no matter what plans and things he had prepared, Solomon’s glory and greatness came from the Lord and depended on Him. His disobedience and lack of commitment to God would eventually cause the division of the kingdom of Israel, which the same Jeroboam would become the first king of the independent northern kingdom of Israel, while Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, would only rule in the southern kingdom of Judah over the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. This is a lesson for all of us that we should not allow worldly temptations, glory and all those wickedness from misleading us down the path of ruin.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord Jesus healing a person who had been deaf and mute, and miraculously allowed the man to speak and hear well again, by His power and grace. In this miraculous healing, when the Lord placed His hands on the man’s ears and tongue, proclaiming ‘Ephphata’, or ‘Be opened’, the Lord showed everyone who were there Who He truly was, the One promised by God to all of us mankind to be the source of His salvation and grace, and to show unto us the wonderful and ever present love of God, which He has always shown and presented to us. The Lord Jesus showed each and every one of us that God is always ready to welcome us back to His Presence, and through what He has done for us, He has brought us all back to His embrace, offering unto us the assurance of His love and compassionate mercy.

Those actions which the Lord Jesus did for the deaf and mute man used to be done in the past, during the Sacrament of Baptism in which the one to be baptised also symbolically had their ears and tongue opened and loosened, in what was known as the ‘Ephphata Rite’. This is a reminder for all of us that, while it is no longer commonly done today, but each and every one of us, through Christ Himself and His outreach to us, God has opened for us the path to Heaven, to the assurance of eternal life and true joy through His Son. All of us have been made ‘deaf and mute’ to the Lord’s truth and ignorant of His ways and His Law, because like Solomon, we have often been swayed and tempted by many worldly desires and attachments, through which we have been brought into the wrong path, into the path towards downfall and sin.

This is why we should always put our faith and trust in the Lord, that through Him, His help and grace, all of us may be freed and liberated from all the wicked snares of the evil one, and be strengthened and encouraged in our constant and daily struggles against the temptations and all the wickedness being present all around us. We must not allow the evils and temptations of this world from enslaving us once again to sin. We must always focus our attention towards God and put Him once again at the centre of our lives, and not our many desires, ambitions and attachments to worldly things and matters, as what many of our predecessors had done. We have to be the good examples and inspiring role models for our fellow brothers and sisters around us, by living our lives worthily as Christians in our world today.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect upon these readings we have received and heard from the Sacred Scriptures and see in what way we can live our lives better as Christians, so that by our every actions and efforts, and in each and every one of our daily moments, we will always be the faithful and worthy bearers of God’s truth and love, which He has always constantly shown and presented to us. It is through our lives, actions and works that the Lord will make His love and truth shown to all the whole world, and if we are truly faithful and committed to the Lord in all of our whole lives, then we should really show it through each and every moments of our lives, by our every words, every interactions and commitments to one another.

May the Lord continue to strengthen us in faith and may He empower and encourage all of us so that we may always do our best in each and every moments of our lives, in striving to live with righteousness and virtue, and resisting the many temptations to disobey and therefore sin against God. Let us all remind and help one another so that we may grow ever more faithful in all things, and be good role models and examples for our fellow brothers and sisters all around us. May through our good and worthy actions continue to lead more souls towards the Lord. Amen.