Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened from the words of the Scriptures, each and every one of us are reminded of God’s mercy, love and kindness which He has given to us most generously all these while, but which we often took for granted. We often ignored God’s ever present and persistent love and compassion, which He has generously presented to us, all these while. This is why we are reminded that we should no longer take God’s love for granted and that we should renew our trust, hope and love for Him. We have been given the free will by God, and it is up to us then how we should decide the way we live our lives from now on.

In our first reading today, we heard of the continuation of the passage from the prophet Isaiah in which the prophet brought forth the people’s lamentations and prayers before God, as the people sought God’s forgiveness and mercy for their transgressions and evils of the past, seeking Him to bless and guide them once again. Although they had indeed disobeyed against God and committed what was evil in His sight, persecuting His messengers and prophets, but they did show genuine remorse, seeking to be forgiven from their sins.

Therefore, the prophet Isaiah interceded on behalf of the people, and at the same time, he was also reminding them all of God’s great love and compassion, reminding them all not to live in the manner that is repulsive and wicked in the sight of God any longer. The prophet Isaiah told the people of Judah how God would rescue them and strengthen them all once again as long as they remained faithful to Him and committed once again to the path which He has shown them. God truly loved His people and He wanted them all to come to Him and to be truly and fully reconciled to Him.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard the short passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew in which the Lord called upon everyone, that is including all of us, to come to Him and He will give us all rest, and He mentioned how His yoke is light and bearable as compared to the other yokes that we may encounter in this life and in all the things that we do in this world. This is referring to how we really should put our trust and faith in God rather than in the many other means and ways present around us in this world, in whatever worldly means and capabilities that we have.

It is a truly important reminder for all of us that being Christians, as disciples and followers of the Lord, we must not think that our lives will be all wonderful, smooth and perfect for us, as what some among us would have thought and mistaken about. In fact, to be a follower of the Lord and to be faithful to Him will often mean that we may encounter all sorts of challenges and hardships in our journey in life, and if we are not aware of these challenges and obstacles we may encounter, we may end up losing our faith in the Lord, and we may end up falling deeper and deeper into the path of sin and evil.

In this life we have in this world, we may often encounter lots of these temptations and pressures to turn our backs against the Lord, but this is where we should remind ourselves not to give in to the temptations and to remain strong in our faith in the Lord. Otherwise, we will be easily drawn by the many efforts of Satan and all of his wicked forces in trying to lead us into our downfall and destruction. We must realise that while the path that the Lord had shown us may seem to be difficult and challenging, but this path is the only one that will lead us to a certainty of true happiness and joy, true fulfilment and satisfaction.

As Christians, each and every one of us must always be strong in our conviction and commitment to serve the Lord and to follow Him in all things. We must not allow ourselves to be distracted and swayed by all the false leads of pleasures and earthly joys, all the things which may seem to be good, happy and pleasurable at first, but in the end, they lead us all to nowhere else but ultimate disappointment and condemnation. The paths that the evil ones are leading us into may seem to be easier and more convenient for us, but we must look beyond those falsehoods and realise that they all lead to harm for us.

Let us all hence commit ourselves anew to the Lord and do our best so that in our every moments in life, we will always continue to be ever more committed to God, to be ever more faithful in all things, and be more trusting to Him, allowing Him to lead us all in our paths in life. May God be with us all, and may He bless us all in our every endeavours and good efforts, all the good works we carry out in this life, now and always. Amen.