Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us through the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that each and every one of us ought to obey the Lord our God, listen to Him and His words, walking in the path that He has shown to us. All of us as God’s beloved and holy people had been called to a life that is truly full of His grace and love by living our lives each day with the desire to be righteous, full of virtue and truly being worthy of the Lord. All of us have been called to be like God Himself, full of love, compassion and mercy towards each other, just as the Lord has always been loving and compassionate towards us in each and every moments of our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard from the First Book of Kings of Israel and Judah of the continuation of the story of the life and ministry of the prophet Elijah that happened during the reign of king Ahab of Israel, the wicked and unfaithful king who had led the people of Israel down a path of rebellion and disobedience against God. At that time, the people of the northern kingdom of Israel had long been disobedient against God, refusing to follow His Law and commandments because of the kings that had been wicked and stubborn in their ways, promoting pagan worship and the establishment of pagan idols and abominations, altars and sacrifices that were not directed to the Lord, their one and only true God.

And king Ahab brought this to a new low by his wicked actions and further disobedience against God. He persecuted the prophets and messengers of God, slaughtering and destroying them, refusing to listen to the words of premonition and warning which these prophets had spoken in reminding the people of the consequences of their wickedness and their sins against God. Elijah was the only prophet of God who remained active and alive back then, and he had to endure many hardships amidst his ministry. Elijah spoke of a great drought and famine that would strike against the whole land of Israel, and everything indeed happened as he had said, as rain did not come towards the land of Israel for several years.

In what we have heard in our first reading today was the moment when God through the prophet Elijah was showing His power to king Ahab of Israel. He showed to Ahab just how He had withheld the rain from coming over the land for years, He also brought the rain back over the land. By doing this, He essentially showed that He is truly in charge of all things, and just as He has also shown His might at Mount Carmel earlier on, bringing down fire upon the sacrificial offerings of Elijah while Baal, the god that king Ahab and the Israelites worshipped failed to do so, all these served to further highlight to the king and to the people of Israel of their folly of not obeying the words and the Law of God, their Lord and Master. The people have sinned because they preferred to follow their own ways and did not truly believe in God as they should have done.

In our Gospel passage today, we are all also reminded of this by the Lord Himself, Who told the people to be truly and genuinely faithful to the Lord, and to believe in Him in a way more genuine and appropriate than those of the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. The Lord has mentioned this because those teachers of the Law and the Pharisees had been opposing Him on various occasions, doubting and questioning Him and His disciples because they disagreed on how the Lord and His disciples had been observing and practicing the Law of God. However, the reality was such that those teachers of the Law and the Pharisees were so focused and even obsessed with trivial details and rituals, the way how the Law and the commandments ought to be observed that they ended up failing to understand the true purpose, importance and significance of the Law of God.

What does this mean? It means that they observed the Law more with their external appearances and actions, but it was often not accompanied by genuine obedience and understanding of the Law and the commandments of God. This means that they often merely paid lip service and were doing everything that they had done in fulfilling the commandments and rules of the Law more so that they could feel proud of their accomplishments and their sense of superiority against others around them whom they deemed to be inferior and less worthy than them in their way of observing God’s Law and commandments. Essentially they have also made idols out of their preoccupation and obsession with the way how the Law should be observed in their minds, and like those of king Ahab and the Israelites in the past, all these distracted them from their faith to the Lord.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, a great and renowned saint whose faith and life was truly inspirational and are good examples for us all to follow in our own lives, in how we should dedicate ourselves to serve the Lord at all times. St. Anthony of Padua was born into a wealthy family in what is now Portugal, and he was called by God to be His servant and follower, dedicating himself to be a priest and missionary of God. He became a member of the Franciscans and was ordained a priest. However, his dream and desire to go forth in missionary works was prevented by sickness, and instead, St. Anthony of Padua chose to continue his missions and works among the people of the places he ministered in.

St. Anthony of Padua was well-known for his great eloquence and wisdom, his care, love and concern for the poor and the needy. That was why through the works of St. Anthony of Padua, many people were touched in their lives and came to believe in the Lord, and they were also touched by the loving words of St. Anthony of Padua who had revealed to them the truth and love of God. St. Anthony of Padua dedicated his time and effort to care for those who have been neglected by the world, and he has also put the effort to reach out to everyone, finding those who have been lost from God and helping them all to come back towards Him. His inspirations and help for us have inspired countless people throughout history and even right up to this very day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all therefore be reminded of the need for each and every one of us to renew our faith and commitment to the Lord. Through the words of the Lord and the life and actions of St. Anthony of Padua, all of us are reminded that as Christians, each and every one of us must indeed centre and focus our whole lives, our attention and all of our efforts on the Lord. May the Lord our loving God continue to strengthen us in faith and in our conviction so that by our every words, actions and deeds we may continue to glorify Him and proclaim Him and His Good News to all the people around us. Amen.