Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday all of us are yet again reminded of our responsibilities as God’s people, as His disciples and followers and as all those who have been called to obey the Lord wholeheartedly and to trust in Him with all of our heart and might. Each and every one of us as Christians should always remained strong in our faith and trust in the Lord despite the many challenges, trials, difficulties and even oppressions which we may have to endure in our path and journey forward as faithful followers and disciples of the Lord. We must not allow ourselves to be easily dissuaded and discouraged by those obstacles that we may encounter or have to endure in our lives as faithful Christians, knowing that the Lord Himself is by our side, present with us all throughout the journey.
In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of Joshua in which the occasion when the Israelites gathered before Joshua, their leader and the successor of Moses, when Joshua was already very old and was about to pass away. Joshua reminded the people of Israel of their obligation and responsibility to serve the Lord, their Master and King. He told them all to remain faithful to the Lord and not to be swayed by the false gods of their ancestors and the people who lived around them, the Canaanites and their idols. Joshua reminded them all that God had made a Covenant with them and their descendants, bringing them all to live in the land which had been granted to them to settle in. The Israelites then responded with faith, proclaiming their faith, fealty and loyalty to the Lord.
Unfortunately, if we were to read up further about the lives of the Israelites after the passing of Joshua, we would realise just how fast they went back on their words, not following and obeying the Law and commandments of God. They did not remain firmly faithful and committed to what they had pledged before Joshua and God on what they would do. They quickly turned away from the Lord and embraced the wicked ways of the world, worshipping pagan idols and false gods, building up shrines and altars to honour those idols instead of worshipping and obeying their Lord and God, the One and only True God. They did not remain truly faithful to the Lord because they likely found obeying and following the laws and precepts of the Lord to be demanding and difficult, as opposed to following the wicked ways of the pagan idols that often suit their worldly desires.
Then, from our second reading taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus, we heard of the words of St. Paul reminding the people of God there to be good and faithful to the Lord, as well as to be committed in their respective parts and roles in the community, exhorting husbands and wives to be devoted and faithful to one another because they are all parts of the same one Body of Christ, that is the Church of God. St. Paul kept on highlighting this fact and the unity that all the faithful had in the Lord, which all would be explained through the discourse of the Bread of Life in our Gospel passage this Sunday and previous Sundays. Through His giving of Himself, His most Precious Body and Blood, He has united us all to Himself and brought us all together into this unity in the Church, to become part of His Body.
And that is why, each and every one of us as Christians are expected and called to live our lives worthily of the Lord so that in everything that we say and do, as we ourselves are the bearers of God’s light and truth, and His Presence is within us through the Most Precious Body and Blood that He has given us, and which we partake, as well as through the Holy Spirit that He has bestowed and blessed us with, dwelling in each and every one of us. Therefore, we are all part of the same sacred and holy Body of Christ, the Church, the Temple and House of God’s Holy Presence, and as such, we are all expected to do our best to live our lives in the manner that is truly pleasing to God at all times. Each and every moments of our lives should indeed be filled with God’s grace and love, and we should always ever be faithful to Him at all times.
In our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John, we heard the continuation of the discourse on the Bread of Life which we have covered in the past few Sundays. In this occasion we heard how the Jews who listened to the Lord speaking to them about Him giving them His own Body and Blood for them to share and partake, found it really difficult to accept as a truth and reality. He however did not shy away from telling them this truth, reminding them all that whatever He had told them was none other than the full truth, that He is indeed the Bread of Life, the Lamb of God, Who would soon lay down His own life on the Cross, breaking His own Precious Body and shedding His own Precious Blood so that all of us who share and partake in His Body and Blood may be saved and have new life in us.
We heard how many of the disciples of the Lord left Him after this occasion because they could not reconcile themselves with what they have heard from Him, with many of them probably disgusted upon hearing that the Lord would give them His own Body and Blood to consume and partake, not understanding and willing to open their hearts and minds to listen to Him, or to welcome the truth into their hearts. They prefer to follow their own judgments and thoughts rather than to believe and trust in the Lord, and despite everything that they themselves had witnessed and seen with their own eyes. But the Twelve remained faithful to their Lord and Master, trusting in Him and following Him regardless, and renewed their commitment to Him with the words spoken by St. Peter, who faithfully reaffirmed their faith and loyalty to Him before everyone.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore as Christians do our part in reaffirming our own faith and trust in the Lord, not just with mere words only but also through concrete and real actions. We must not be like those Israelites in the past who professed to have faith in the Lord and yet, they quickly gave up their faith in God and followed the false path of the pagans and their false idols. We must not merely be paying lip service of our commitment and faith in the Lord, but we must always strive to do our best, to truly embody our faith and trust in the Lord through our firm belief in what the Lord Himself has shown and taught us. And this means that we should live our lives worthily of Him, knowing that He has given us all His own Precious Body and Blood to partake, gathering us all to be part of His one Body, the Church of God.
May the Lord, our most loving God and Father, continue to strengthen and guide us all in our journey through life, so that in everything that we say and do, in our every good efforts and commitments to Him, we will continue to do our best to glorify Him by our lives. May all of us be the shining beacons of Our Lord’s truth and Good News, and continue to inspire many others to come ever closer towards God and His salvation, all through our own worthy and exemplary actions, in each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us always in all things, now and forevermore. Amen.
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