Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, through the Scripture readings that we have received and listened to today, all of us are reminded and reassured by the Lord of the hope and salvation which all of us will enjoy, the true joy and happiness, and the consolation, all the help that we can find through Him, and Him alone. We must always have strong hope in the Lord and we should not give up hope in Him because He can do all things for us and there is nothing that is impossible for Him to do. Whatever it is that is He has willed for us and desired for us, all will happen without fail in due time, and this is why we ought to trust in God at all times, even when we may be facing a lot of hardships and challenges in life.

In our first reading today, we heard of the story from the Book of Genesis, where God appeared and spoke to Jacob who at that time had just fled from his home after he had obtained the blessings of his father Isaac, to the fury and anger of his elder brother Esau, who must have been very angry after he had his blessings and birthright taken from him by his manipulative and trickster younger brother. But the Lord was with Jacob, and I mentioned this in the last week reflections, as although Esau was the elder son, and the customs and practices at that time dictating that the elder son should receive the inheritance, but Jacob was the one who had God’s favour, and Esau was according to Scriptural details and traditions of the Israelites, was not virtuous in his way of life. Nonetheless, Jacob had to bear the brunt of his brother’s anger, and had to flee therefore to his mother’s household in Haran in Mesopotamia.

It was in that occasion that the Lord appeared to Jacob to strengthen and to reassure him, renewing the same promises which He had spoken to Abraham and Isaac both, that He would make all of them to be the father of many nations, and He reassured Jacob that He would be with him in every step of his path, even when it seems to be unsure and full of challenges ahead. At that place, Jacob had a dream in which he saw the greatness of God, a stairs or ladder that extended all the way to Heaven, with the Angels of God ascending nad descending through that ladder to the earth. It was the reason why the place was named by Jacob as Bethel, because it was there that he saw the very House of God, the Gate to Heaven itself.

And Jacob was strengthened through that experience, so much so that he was able to persevere for many years during his time in exile from his home, at the household of Laban, his uncle, and was patient and strong in his labours and works, while fulfilling everything that God had promised him earlier on. Through his wives, especially Rachel, the one whom he loved very much, he became the father of twelve sons and at least one daughter, and from them indeed would come forth the great nation of Israel, all their twelve tribes having come from the sons of Jacob, who later on would be known as Israel, the one whom God had called and chosen, to be His own first called and chosen people, and God would be with them, guiding, loving and providing for them just as He has promised.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the two great miracles that the Lord Jesus performed before the people, one that happened with a woman who had been suffering from a bleeding or haemorrhage problem, while the other was the sick and eventually dead daughter of a synagogue official. In the first case, the woman was trying to hide her condition and was discreetly seeking the Lord because her condition was deemed to be unclean, and she certainly did not want anyone to know of her conditions, and her faith in the Lord and in His ability to heal her eventually cured her of her condition. And as we heard, the Lord was aware of her faith and what she had done, and He presented her faith before all, telling everyone what kind of faith she had in Him and how she was therefore cured.

This was followed by the healing and the miraculous resurrection of the official’s daughter which happened because of the faith of those who have believed in Him, and despite the others who were there laughing when the Lord told them all that the girl was just sleeping. Through that great miracle of the resurrection and the healing of the woman suffering from the haemorrhage problem, the Lord showed everyone that He was indeed the true and perfect fulfilment of everything that the Lord God has promised to His people, the salvation and liberation which He has promised to them and their ancestors, of the One Whom He would send into their midst to save them, in that Person of none other than Jesus Christ Himself.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now as we reflected upon these readings from the Sacred Scriptures, let us all therefore continue to trust in the Lord and be faithful to Him in all things, knowing that it is with Him alone that we shall truly have joy and peace, true happiness and satisfaction in life. Let us all not worry about what tomorrow may bring, as truly there is no certainty of what may happen to us, be it whether we are now in good or bad times. Instead, we should continue to be faithful and trusting in God, knowing that with Him we will not falter and fail in this life. He will always provide us all that we need, and we need to just trust in Him in all things, and not be worried because with the Lord we will truly be triumphant in the end, over all kinds of trials and sufferings we may be suffering from.

May the Lord continue to bless us all in each and every moments of our lives, and may He continue to encourage us in everything that we do, in our missions and callings in life, in all of our actions, works and good efforts for the sake of God and His Church, for the good of everyone around us. May He bless our very good works and endeavours, and help us to continue to be faithful and committed to Him in whatever areas of life and responsibilities that we are in, becoming good examples and inspiration, worthy beacons of God’s hope and light to all. Amen.