Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us as Christians to embody our faith in everything that we say and do, to be truly faithful to God in all things and to be sincere in how we live our lives with faith and not to be merely paying lip service or be superficial in how we live our Christian living and commitments. Each and every one of us are parts of the Kingdom of God, the Church, which the Lord has established in this world and made manifest through each and every one of us living our lives in the manner that He Himself has revealed and taught to us. If we do not truly live in our lives in the manner that we have been expected to, then we cannot truly call or consider ourselves as true and genuine Christians.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle to the Hebrews in which the author of this Epistle continued to remind the faithful people of God, especially those who belonged to the Jewish community in the early Church of the guidance and providence that their Lord and God would grant them as He would always be by their side, journeying with them and remaining with them throughout their respective journeys in life. The author spoke of the sufferings, challenges and difficulties that the faithful people of God had to suffer amidst their lives as Christians, in opposing the falsehoods and the evils of the world, and also in facing the disapproval from all those who disagreed with them and did not believe in what they believed in. And he also spoke of the good deeds and actions which the faithful had continued to do despite those difficulties and challenges that they had to face.

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews also spoke about the need for the people of God to remain strong and faithful amidst the many challenges, struggles and problems that they might have to face in their journey as followers of the Lord, and encouraged and reassured them that they would be vindicated and would earn their rest in the Lord in the end, if they continued to remain faithful and firm in their conviction to follow the Lord and in continuing to adhere to His Law, commandments and teachings. It is an important reminder for all of us that we must always centre our lives and focus our attention on the Lord, and put our complete trust and faith in Him, and we should not allow fear, worry or doubt to overcome us, or to distract us from our faith in the Lord, from this path towards Him and His salvation and eternal life.

Then, in our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples and followers, and to all others who were listening to Him about the kingdom of God which He presented to them using parables to explain to them its importance, meaning and significance. The kingdom of God is likened to a man sowing seeds in the field, and how the seeds grew into plants and produce their fruits bountifully by the grace of God, reminding us of God’s guidance for His Church and for all of us Christians in each and every parts of our efforts and works. We must always have faith in the Lord and put our trust in Him, as without His guidance and providence, nothing that we do can bear any fruits, at all. Everything is possible because of God and His Presence in our lives.

The other parable that the Lord used was the parable of the mustard seed, which is a very small seed, and yet, when it grows, it becomes a very large tree relative to the size of its seed, and the Lord mentioned how this mustard tree can become shelter for many birds that came to seek roost and shelter upon the tree’s many branches. This is a reminder for us that each and every one of our works, efforts and contributions do matter a lot, and the Lord Himself used the same mustard seed example in another occasion to highlight how even small faith the size of a mustard seed, used as a figurative comparison, can move mountains, showing that a genuine and true faith, filled with devotion and true commitment to God can do amazing things, beyond our imagination and beliefs.

This is why we have been reminded through this reading today from the parables that the Lord had taught to His disciples, that we should always be active in living up to our Christian calling and mission, making good use of whatever gifts, blessings and opportunities that the Lord has provided us with, and we should not be afraid or fearful, or be doubtful of the Lord and His guidance and providence. The Lord Who is ever faithful and committed to the Covenant that He has made with us, will always be by our side, even through the most difficult and challenging moments. Yes, we may have to suffer and face hardships, but so has the Lord our Saviour Himself suffered for our sake, and He has triumphed over His enemies, over sin and death, and through His victory, all of us will also share in His triumph as well.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. John Bosco, a well-renowned priest and saint, a holy man and devoted servant of God who have lived his life worthily of the Lord, ever devoted to the cause of the Lord and His Church particularly to those people whom he had committed himself in serving, the children and other juveniles living in the streets and those youths who had been abandoned by their families and the community. St. John Bosco spent his time working with the orphans and abandoned boys, especially those who were neglected and ignored by the society, establishing eventually a safe place and home for all of them to stay in and to be taken good care of, educated and equipped with good skills to help them to survive in the society.

This place, called the Oratorio, also served to take care of the needs of the community around it, and the efforts and works of St. John Bosco gained a lot of good fruits. But with the successes also came a lot of challenges and hardships, just as our Scripture passages today had told us and which we had just discussed. Some of the townspeople and council members opposed the works of St. John Bosco, slandered him and spread false accusations of his works with the orphans and abandoned boys, that they had to move from place to place, and had to face eviction in some occasions. Yet, St. John Bosco did not easily give up his works and efforts, and he continued to do his best to labour for the sake of the people of God, for the marginalised and least of the society, to the end of his life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the good examples set by St. John Bosco and by our many other holy predecessors, and as members and parts of the Church of God, the Kingdom of God which the Lord Himself has established int his world, let us all realise our duties and responsibilities in fulfilling the missions which have been entrusted to us as those whom God had called and chosen to be His own. Let us all and our lives, each and every one of our words, actions and deeds continue to be inspired by our faith and obedience to God, our love for Him and our willingness to commit ourselves thoroughly to His cause. Let our efforts and good works be truly manifesting in the many successes of the works of the Church, in the salvation of ever more souls, leading more and more towards God and His salvation. May God be with us always, and bless our every good endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.