Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures we are all reminded of God’s great love and mercy towards us, as He constantly sought us out, reaching out to us with His great and ever enduring love although we have often disappointed Him, turning away from His Law and commandments, disobeying Him and not listening to Him and His words. God has sent His many messengers, the prophets and many other servants to remind and help them in their journey, calling upon them to embrace His love and grace once again, and while His people constantly rebelled against Him and even persecuted His prophets and messengers, He still loved them all nonetheless, and while chastising and punishing them for their sins, He still opened the path to forgiveness and reconciliation for His beloved but wayward children and people.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel we are reminded of the time when the Lord showed His people through Ezekiel how He still loved them all despite all the wicked things that they had done, despite all the evils and the betrayals which they all had done to Him, all of which had caused them to be sundered and separated from His grace and love, and brought them to their downfall. God listed down all the wickedness they had done, how they had tainted themselves with wickedness and corruptions of the world, and how they had spurned and rejected His love, His kindness and patient care. Yet, He still wished to heal them from their troubles, to bless and endow them with all the good things and blessings which He had given to them earlier on, to show just how precious and beloved they all are to Him.

Then in our Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples and some of the Pharisees who were there, who asked Him about the matter of divorce, and how the Law of God as revealed through Moses, or the Mosaic laws did allow for divorce to happen under certain conditions and arrangements. However, the Lord pointed out that this was not actually what God intended for His people to do, but merely what He allowed them to do through Moses because of their stubbornness and constant disobedience. It is at least a lesser evil compared to letting them to persist in their sinfulness and in refusing to follow other tenets and precepts of the Law of God. God wanted them all to know that His Law and commandments, the rules and regulations that He had put in place was meant to keep them away from immoral living and from all sorts of sins which could further jeopardise them and their souls.

Essentially, through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Lord our God has shown His ever present and consistent love, in His desire to lead us all from the path of darkness into the light. It has always been His desire to see us all freed and liberated from the bondage of evil and darkness, from the corruption of sin and of all other human and worldly temptations that have often led many of us astray in our path in life. He wants us all to realise that we have been created in His image and meant to be all good and perfect, holy and worthy of Him, just as He has always intended it. He never intended us to suffer the consequences of our sins and evils, but it is by our own conscious choice that we have chosen the path of darkness, sin and rebellion against our most loving God and Father, Who has always constantly been so loving and generous towards us.

That is why, today, as we all listened to these readings from the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded constantly and greatly by what we have received and heard so that in all the things we do in our respective lives, in our choice of actions and the path that we consider to take and stride forward in, we should always strive to do what God had shown and taught us to do, to be righteous, good and worthy in everything that we say and do, in our every interactions and connections with one another. As Christians, God’s holy and chosen people, and as His disciples and followers, all of us should be good role models and inspirations for our fellow brothers and sisters around us, in doing whatever we can so that by our lives, our every examples, many more people may come to know the Lord through us.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Stephen of Hungary, a renowned King of Hungary and a great man of God whose life and actions are truly great inspiration for each and every one of us to follow, a noble and virtuous king whose commitment to God and dedication to his people should be great examples for us to follow in our own lives. St. Stephen of Hungary was originally the Grand Prince of the Hungarians from the House of Arpad, who ruled over all the Hungarian people, and was the first in his family to be a devout Christian, a courageous and most faithful follower of the Lord, affirming the trend of conversions of the Hungarians to Christianity which had begun before his time, and which accelerated under his rule, which was truly notable and enlightened, and also marked by his strong support for the Church.

He was crowned shortly after as the first King of Hungary, and ruled for almost four decades, in a rule that was filled with great noble deeds, in caring for the needs of those within his kingdom, in increasing the stature of the Hungarian nation amongst the kingdoms and rulers of Christendom at that time, and for his support in establishing many Church infrastructure and dioceses, spreading the Christian message and truth to many more people, leading to many people embracing God as their Lord and Saviour, abandoning their previous pagan faith and beliefs. St. Stephen also embarked on many important works and projects to improve the livelihood for his people, creating a stable and strong kingdom, united and growing ever more prosperous under his care and reign, and also those of his successors. He committed his life to the very end for the good of his people, entrusted to him by God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the great examples which St. Stephen of Hungary has shown us ought to remind each and every one of us to be good and worthy in our own lives and actions as Christians as well. We must always strive to do our best, to be ever more faithful, committed and loving towards God in all things, to embrace God’s ever loving kindness, mercy and forgiveness so that we may walk ever more steadfastly in the path that God has shown to us, and that we may no longer be lost to Him into the darkness and corruptions of sin. Let us ask St. Stephen of Hungary to intercede for all of us, and may the Lord continue to help and strengthen us in all the days of our lives. Amen.