Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

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 to put our faith and trust constantly in the Lord, our most loving and compassionate God, remembering that it is by His love and providence that all of us have managed to survive and thrive even amidst the hardest challenges and trials in life. There will likely indeed be trials, difficulties, obstacles and hardships that we may have to enconocunter in our paths in life, but we must not lose faith and hope in the Lord, believing that with the Lord our God, all of us can overcome all things, together as one united flock of the Lord, God’s holy and beloved people, His Holy Church which He has established in this world in our midst.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Numbers, we heard of the time when the whole congregation of the people of God, the Israelites grumbled, complained and rebelled against the Lord at the site known as Massah and Meribah. This was one of the worst occasions of the rebelliousness of the Israelites because it affected Moses so much with their lack of gratitude, their constant complaints and refusal to listen to him and in refusing to obey the Law and precepts that Moses had spent so much time explaining and enforcing among them, that even Moses himself was fed up, and when the Lord asked him and Aaron to gather together the Israelites to show His Providence and power, Moses himself disobeyed the Lord by striking the rock with his staff instead of commanding the rock to bring forth water for the people to drink.

From what we have heard in that occasion, we can see clearly the intention for us all to remember that we should not allow ourselves to be swayed and distracted by our desires and emotions, all the things that can keep us away from the Lord and leading us down the same path that the Israelites had once walked through. We have to be vigilant and careful lest our actions and preoccupations with ourselves, our desires and emotions, our fears and uncertainties, our doubts and other things cause us to stumble and lose our way. We have to keep in mind that the Lord is always by our side, guiding and providing us all with what we need, and we should not lose faith in Him. No matter how tough or difficult the conditions may be, ultimately, with God by our side, we will be triumphant in the end, if not in this world, then in the world that is to come. 

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the account of the time when the Lord asked His disciples about Himself, about His identity and what people said about Him. And the disciples spoke of what they had heard and believed about the Lord Jesus, with only St. Peter courageously speaking up the truth, stating that he believed that Jesus is none other than the Son of God Himself, the Holy One of God, the Messiah sent into our midst to save us all, and not merely just like any other prophets or teachers of the faith. The Lord praised St. Peter for this answer, and He told everyone that He would establish His Church in the firm foundation of the Rock of faith that is St. Peter, with the name Peter meaning ‘Rock’.

Through this, we are reminded that it is indeed important for us all to trust in the Lord and have faith in His plans, in all that He has shown and given to us through Christ, His Son, Our Lord and Saviour. And at the same time, right after that event, when the Lord Jesus told the disciples that He would face sufferings and persecutions from His enemies, St. Peter immediately pulled Him aside and complained against Him saying such words, and the Lord rebuked Satan who was speaking thrugh St. Peter. This is a reminder that if our faith in the Lord is not strong, and if we allow ourselves to be swayed by worldly considerations, attachments, and desires, by our fears and doubts, as the Israelites and even Moses and St. Peter experienced, then we may end up allowing Satan to strike against us and bring us to our downfall. We have to be truly careful and vigilant in how we live our faith then.a

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of Pope St. Sixtus II, a holy martyr of the Church, and his companions in martyrdom, as well as St. Cajetan, a holy and devout priest and servant of God. Pope St. Sixtus II reigned as Pope during a difficult time in the Church as the faithful were facing many persecutions from the Roman state at that time while also facing divisions over several heresies and disagreements among the clergy, such as what had happened earlier due to the supporters of one Novatian, which divided the Church in the Western part of the Roman Empire, in the area of northern Africa and the Eastern churches. Pope St. Sixtus II played an important role in bridging the divisions and mending the relations between the churches. He helped to unite the Church and lead the faithful through difficult times in their lives. He was martyred together with several others who shared his martyrdom during the intense persecution under Emperor Valerian in the year 258.

Meanwhile, St. Cajetan was the renowned founder of the Theatines, the religious order also known as the Congregation of the Clerics Regular. He was born in the region of northern Italy, in the area of Thiene, where the Theatines eventually got their name from, and he grew up being educated in both civil and canon law, and as a diplomat working for the Pope. He only became a priest later in his life, once he reached his mid-thirties. He ministered to the faithful in his home region, caring for the needs of the sick and those who suffered from maladies by helping to build a hospital there. But her longed to cater to the needs of the people’s spiritual troubles and healing more than their physical ones, and that was how he gathered together a group dedicated to a prayerful life modelled by the monasteries, and yet remaining in active life and ministry in the world, which inspired the foundation of the Theatines, that he founded together with another saint, St. Jerome Emiliani.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, recalling what we have heard and discussed from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures, and being inspired by the examples, courage and efforts shown by Pope St. Sixtus II and his companions in martyrdom, and by the faith of St. Cajetan, let us all thus continue to do our best to live our lives worthily in the Lord, doing whatever we can to glorify the Lord by our lives, and to carry out God’s will and trusting in Him at all times. Let us all continue to be good role models for our fellow brothers and sisters around us and do whatever we can to proclaim God’s truth and Good News, now and always. May God be with us all and may He strengthen us in our resolve to live truly worthy and faithful lives, in accordance with God’s will. Amen.