Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are reminded today by what we heard in our Scripture readings today, of the need for all of us to follow the Lord faithfully in all the things that we do, in doing His will and in obeying His Law and commandments. All of us as Christians, as the holy and beloved people of God are reminded that we should always follow Him and put Him at the centre and as the focus of all of our whole lives. We are reminded that we have to be sincere in our actions and way of living our faith in our respective lives so that we do not end up being hypocrites or self-serving in our faith and actions. It is easy for all of us as Christians to fall into this temptation of worldly desires and ambitions, putting our own wants and desires above what the Lord truly wants us to do in life.

In our first reading today, we heard from the continuation of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in Rome, in which the Apostle spoke of the mercy which God has shown to everyone, both to the Jewish people, the descendants of the Israelites, and also to the non-Jewish people, the Gentiles, like the Greeks, the Romans, the Egyptians and many other people, all the children of mankind. Each and every one of them have been shown the mercy of God as we all have been, by the power and grace of God, so that we might see the salvation of God and His ever enduring love and patience for each and every one of us. None of us have deserved this love and compassion, this mercy and forgiveness, and yet, God has shown them to all of us nonetheless by His great care for all of us.

This is an important reminder to all of us that we are all called to be thankful and appreciative of everything that God had done for us out of love, that we, humble and sinful creatures of His may be the recipient of His most generous love, compassion and mercy, all of which had made it available for all of us to return to Him and to be fully reconciled to Him. We have deserved death and destruction, but God not only continued to love us and not desiring our damnation and destruction, but He even also crafted and prepared for us the ultimate and best gift in His own Beloved and only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, Whom had been sent into our midst to bring us all into eternal life and assurance of salvation in God.

Then from our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist in which the Lord Jesus told His disciples to show true Christian charity, love and generosity in all of their actions by using the metaphor of inviting people to lunch, dinner or any other celebrations, that they should not be inviting only those whom they know or those like their families who appreciate what they have given and who often would give back in return for everything or most of the things done to them. Instead, they should be inviting those who were unable to return what they had invested or prepared so that they would truly be known by their generosity in giving and not because they seek to be recompensed or gain returns from what they have given.

In saying this, the Lord Himself referred to what He Himself had done in continuing to love us generously despite us having always been stubborn in hardening ourselves against His patient love and care. He still cared for us nonetheless and He continued to reach out to us, showing us all consistent effort and care even when we have always disappointed Him through our attitudes and disobedience. Hence, all of us as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, we are always reminded that we are called to love everyone around us in the manner of how the Lord Himself has always loved us, ever so patiently and wonderfully despite all the tough attitudes that we have shown Him, all these while.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Martin de Porres, a great and virtuous man of God, a holy servant and follower of Christ, who had dedicated himself and his life to the Lord, though his works, his commitments and actions. He is a humble and simple man, and yet, in his simplicity and great faith, he has shown us all how to truly be good and faithful disciples of the Lord, in doing our best to follow the Lord’s commandments, in obeying His will and doing His Law. St. Martin de Porres has shown his love both to the Lord and towards his fellow brothers and sisters, and hence, he has been doing what the Lord had commanded and told us all to do, and his virtues become for us a shining beacon of his faith, righteousness and justice amidst the darkness of this world and all the temptations and corruptions of sin.

St. Martin de Porres was born in Lima, in what is now Peru, and then part of the Spanish dominions in the New World, the Americas. He was born of a mixed ancestry, of Spanish and natives, being an illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed slave of mixed African and native descent. He grew up in poverty, like many others like him at that time, and eventually, he wanted to join the Dominicans, only to be stopped by the law of the time which forbid those who has similar background as him from joining as full members of the Dominican Order. Instead, he became a third order member of the Dominicans, and he performed various works and actions in supporting the Dominicans and also in other charitable actions, particularly towards the poor, whose sufferings he understood very well, having been born, lived and dwelled in poverty and amongst the poor.

St. Martin de Porres was renowned for his great piety and faith, and for his loving outreach to the poor all around the community he was living and ministering in, faithfully doing whatever the Lord had commanded and told him to do through his part in the Dominican Order as a religious brother. He devoted much of his time before the Blessed Sacrament, in which he had a great devotion and also among the poor as mentioned. He did not even hesitate to help those who were sick and suffering, and showed everyone around him the true compassionate and loving face of God, shown clearly through his exemplary virtues and compassion. He obeyed the Lord perfectly and continued to do what he could to serve God till his death. He continued to inspire countless others even long after his death.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have discussed earlier from the Sacred Scriptures and as we heard from the life, dedication and humility of St. Martin de Porres, let us all therefore strive to do our best to love the Lord our God first and foremost, and then to love our fellow brothers and sisters around us, as best as we are able to. Let us all be good examples of our faith and live our lives ever more wholeheartedly and faithfully at all times, doing whatever we can so that we may lead many others on the way towards God and His salvation. May God bless us always, in all things, now and forevermore. Amen.