Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded of God’s love and providence, His kindness and compassion for all those who are dear and beloved to Him. God has always remembered us all in our good and bad times, and we are never forgotten or abandoned even when we cannot feel or see His Presence and works immediately. God is always with us regardless of the circumstances because He truly cares for us, and He has shown us His wonders and love again and again throughout history, in what He had done to His first-called people, the Israelites when they suffered in Egypt, and also in giving us all the best and most perfect gift of all, His own Begotten Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

In our first reading today, we heard the continuation of the account from the Book of Exodus in which the moment when Moses was born was told to us. Moses was the one whom God had promised to His people to be the one to lead them all out of their slavery in the land of Egypt. At that time, the new generation of Pharaohs had arisen in Egypt that did not know about the great deeds of Joseph and his exploits, and feared the rapidly growing numbers and prosperity of the Israelites who were dwelling in the region of Goshen somewhere in the Nile River delta region. Therefore as we heard yesterday, the Pharaoh decreed first the enslavement of the Israelites, forced to do hard labour for the Egyptians, and then, in a more desperate effort, the order to throw all the sons born to the Israelites into the Nile River to try to destroy them as a nation.

But God was with His people and despite all these challenges that they faced, they kept on growing in numbers and in one of the babies which had been saved from the water by God’s interventions, it was Moses who was named as such because he had been taken out and rescued from the water by his adoptive mother, the Pharaoh’s daughter. According to tradition, the Pharaoh’s daughter was childless and hence, she took upon herself the Hebrew baby that she found floating on the Nile as her own adopted son, and that was how Moses grew up in the court of Pharaoh as an Egyptian prince. But then we heard how Moses grew up seeing the injustice faced by his people, the Israelites, who were persecuted and oppressed by the Egyptians, and he fled from Egypt after killing one of the Egyptian slavemasters that struck upon a Hebrew, one of his own people.

But God would be with Moses, who fled to the land of the Midianites, and after many years later, he would be called by God and would return back to Egypt with God’s mission and words to the Pharaoh, beginning the fulfilment of His promises to them and their ancestors, where by His power and might, God would rescue all of them, with the Ten Great Plagues that He sent unto Egypt, the Egyptians and their Pharaoh. All of these show us the great might of God and the enduring love and patience which God has always had for those who are dearly beloved to Him. And this is an important reminder for all of us not to take this same love which He has shown all of us for granted. We should always be grateful of God’s love and Providence, everything that He had done for our sake.

Then, in our Gospel passage, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the Lord Jesus and His lamentations on the cities in the region of Galilee such as Capernaum, Chorazin and Bethsaida. Why did the Lord make such denunciations and lamentations? That is because of the lack of faith which many of the people in those places had shown despite having witnessed and seen all the miracles and wonders that the Lord had performed before them all. Some among them, especially from among the Pharisees, doubted and criticised the Lord for His actions and teachings, questioning His authority and authenticity, and even accusing Him of colluding with evil spirits and demons in doing His works.

It is all these lack of faith and trust in the Lord, in all that God had done through His Son, sent into our midst, into this world to bring all of us into His loving embrace and salvation which had led to the lamentations and anguish that the Lord had spoken against those places. This was compared to the faith of those whom the people of God then often deemed to be sinners and unworthy, like those of the Syro-Phoenicians, those living in the region of Tyre and Sidon that the Lord mentioned, as a Syro-Phoenician woman had such great faith in the Lord that she believed in Him so wholeheartedly even against His harsh words towards her. And the Samaritans whom the Jewish people often regarded as heretics and pagans, proved to be more welcoming to the Lord and His words and teachings.

All these showed us that we must not be prejudiced against anyone, and we must realise that God truly loves each one of us, all of us mankind without limits and boundaries. He loves each one of us unconditionally and He has always patiently done so, even when we ourselves had not been faithful to Him, and even when we have taken His love and kindness for granted. Each and every one of us should strive to do what is right and just, in loving, following and obeying the Lord to the best of our abilities, in each and every moments in life so that by our love for Him and in loving one another in the same manner, we may truly be worthy to be called as Christians, as those whom God had called and chosen as His own holy and beloved people.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Bonaventure, a renowned Franciscan bishop and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church who was remembered for his great many works and writings that eventually also earned him the honour of being one of the Doctors of the Church. St. Bonaventure was born in Italy during the High Middle Ages and while nothing much was known about his childhood and younger years, he eventually joined the Franciscans, and at the same time gaining great experiences and respect as an academic, earning his doctorate in theology which inspired him further in his many writings and works later on. St. Bonaventure was then also elected as the Minister General of the Franciscan Order, the overall head and authority over all the Franciscans.

He was also involved deeply in the works of reform of the Church at that time, before and after he helped the election of Pope Gregory X, who then appointed him as a Cardinal, as the Cardinal Bishop of Albano for his role in his election. St. Bonaventure continued to do great works in his various capacities, and it was well-known that he led the Franciscans in a moderate way, balancing faith and reason, making them very popular and outstanding in the Church. While he passed away not long after his appointment as Cardinal, St. Bonaventure’s legacy and inspiring works in various areas, especially in many matters of the faith and theology continued to touch the lives of many people even long after his lifetime.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect upon the words of the Scriptures that we have received today, remembering the love that He has always shown us, and through the inspiration and examples of St. Bonaventure, who has dedicated his life in the service of God and his fellow brothers and sisters. May the Lord help us all to be ever more faithful and committed to Him, to follow Him ever more wholeheartedly in each and every moments, becoming good role models and examples in faith to one another, now and always. Amen.