Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we embark on this journey during this Season of Advent, entering into this appropriate time of contemplation, reflection and preparation, each and every one of us are called to reorientate our lives and rediscover that path towards the Lord and His salvation, especially if we have been so busy and distracted in life that we have forgotten what it truly means for us to be Christians, to be God’s holy and beloved people. Each and every one of us should always be prepared to welcome the Lord when He eventually comes again in glory, whenever it may be, as no one can know the exact timing of His Second Coming, but we know with certainty that this will definitely happen in the future. Therefore, all of us as Christians, we must 

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah we heard the message of reassurance and encouragement from God to His people in the kingdom of Judah where He had sent Isaiah to minister at, reminding all of them that their sufferings, humiliations and struggles all would not last forever, and that eventually they would all be vindicated and rescued if they continued to walk faithfully in the presence of the Lord and commit themselves to follow His Law and commandments. In the first place, it was the disobedience and sins of the people which had distanced them away from the Lord and from His path and blessings, and due to this, that is why they had faced challenges and trials, and like their brethren in the northern kingdom of Israel, whose disobedience were even greater, they had to face defeat and destruction at the hands of their enemies.

Back then, at that time, during the beginning of the ministry of the prophet Isaiah, the forces of the Assyrians came up to Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, besieging it and thereafter destroying it, and this led to the downfall of the northern kingdom, with many of its people being brought off into exile in the lands of Assyria and even beyond, and throughout all those challenges and trials, God still wanted to remind His people that He was still with them, patiently guiding them and encouraging them even through their darkest and most difficult moments. Even though the people of God had been stubborn in refusing to listen to His words and reminders which He had made to them through His many prophets and messengers, but He still patiently sent to them more reminders and help nonetheless.

This is why each and every one of us must realise just how fortunate we all are to have been loved by God in such a manner, and we should no longer take His most generous and patient love for granted. If we take God’s love, compassion and generous mercy for granted, in the end, there will only be regret for us all. We have been blessed by many opportunities which God has presented to us, again and again, as He calls on us to return to Him and to embrace His love once again, love that has always been made available for us even after we have continually disobeyed Him and disregarded His kindness and compassion. We should continue to strive to embrace God’s love and mercy, devoting ourselves anew to serve Him wholeheartedly from now on.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the moment when an army captain or centurion came to the Lord Jesus in Capernaum in Galilee, requesting and beseeching Him to take pity upon his servant who had fallen very sick at home, firmly believing that the Lord could heal his servant and make him whole again. And the faith of the army centurion was such that he was willing to believe and trust in the Lord that even without making Him to go to his place to heal his servant, and merely by the command and power of His words alone, everything would be accomplished and his servant would be healed. This kind of faith was then highlighted by the Lord as a truly great and exemplary faith for all the people to follow.

In order to better understand the significance and importance of what this event entailed, we must first understand that this army centurion or captain was likely to be a Roman, or at least a Gentile or non-Jewish person, and at that time, the Jewish customs and practices were mostly limited to only those of Jewish descent, and hence, the army centurion was likely to be considered as a pagan or non-believer. And at that time, for a non-Jewish person to interact with a Jew like the Lord Jesus and His disciples was often considered taboo, and in fact, why the army captain was reluctant to let the Lord to come to his house and mentioned that he was unworthy to have Him under his roof was because of the common practice at that time, in which for a Jew to enter into the house of a Gentile would have made them ritually unclean.

That was the reason why the chief priests and the Pharisees did not enter into the Praetorium where Pontius Pilate resided as the governor of Judea during the time of the Lord’s Passion, and it was in fact specifically mentioned that this act would have made them to be ritually unclean and therefore would be unable to eat the Passover that was to happen that moment soon. Hence, not only that the army centurion had great faith in the Lord but he was also very humble and considerate, knowing the local customs and not wanting to cause hassle and difficulties on the Lord and His mission. And for his great faith in the Lord, his faith was rewarded and everything came true just as the Lord deemed it to be, with the servant being healed the very moment the Lord Himself declared it.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we enter into this season of Advent and progress through it, let us all therefore realise that each and every one of us are in need of God’s love, mercy and compassion, and we should no longer take all these for granted. Every opportunities that He has presented to us should be cherished by us, and we should always do our best in each and every one of us our actions, words and deeds, in our every steps in life so that we may draw ever closer to our most merciful and loving God. Let us make great use of this time and the opportunities that the Lord has presented to us such that we will not squander them and that we can continue to grow ever stronger in our faith as true and genuine Christians moving forward.

May the Lord continue to help and strengthen us in our journey of faith and life during this time and season of Advent, so that we can continue to grow ever stronger in our faith and commitment to God. Let us all do our very best to glorify the Lord by our lives and actions, in everything that we say and do. Let us all continue to be good and worthy bearers of our Christian faith, and do our very best to shine forth with the light of God, showcasing what we truly believe in the Lord, in His love for us, and in the hope that we have for Him. May the Lord be with us always and bless our every good efforts and endeavours. Amen.