Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we begin the last part of this Advent season, marking the final seven days of the season of Advent and entering into the more intense phase of discourse and preparations for the imminent celebrations of Christmas, we are reminded first of all of Who it is that we truly commemorate and celebrate at Christmas. It is not Santa Claus, Father Christmas or any other popular secular Christmas figures familiar to many of us whom we are celebrating about. It is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of the whole world, Who has been promised to us from the beginning of time, Whom we are all celebrating and rejoicing about. God has sent us all the perfect gift in His Son, in fulfilling everything that He has ever promised us, and showed us the perfect manifestation of His Love in the flesh, tangible and approachable by us all.

In our first reading today, we heard the words from the Book of Genesis where towards the end of Genesis, Jacob, the grandson of Abraham and the one whom God called Israel, the father of all the Israelites, was at the end of his earthly life, and gathered all of his children and extended family before him. At that occasion, as he knew that he did not have long time remaining with him, he prayed over all of his children, giving his blessings over each and every one of them. To them he prayed over and asked God to bless them in their own various ways, while also prophetically mentioning how each of his sons’ tribes would turn out to be. And most peculiarly and interestingly among all of them is what we heard contained in our first reading passage today regarding Judah, the progenitor of the tribe of Judah, and all the words regarding that tribe.

The blessing that Jacob gave to Judah seemingly showed a premonition of great things to come through Judah and his progeny, which was indeed prescient considering that later on, the tribe of Judah would eventually become preeminent among all the other tribes of Israel, and it was from among the tribes and houses of Judah that God had raised David, His chosen king and servant, to be the ruler over all of His people, Israel. Jacob told Judah and all his other children assembled that the house and tribe of Judah has been destined to rule over all of the people of God, and this was accomplished and fulfilled through the establishment of David as King of Israel, and his house, the House of David as the one that God had chosen to rule over all the Israelites.

To David, God Himself had also promised that his house and reign will be forever secure, and that his descendant will sit upon the Throne of Israel, ruling over all the people forevermore. All these promises that God had made became expectations by the people of God upon the downfall of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, centuries after the glorious days of the rule of David and his son, Solomon as Kings of Israel. The prophets spoke of the coming of God’s salvation and liberation for His people, and that a Messiah or Saviour would be born unto them, coming from God Himself, and that He would be born into the House of David just as prophesied and promised, that God’s many promises and words would be fulfilled through this same Messiah.

And as we heard from our Gospel passage today, which listed the full genealogy of our Lord Jesus from Adam all the way through Abraham and then David to Jesus Himself, we see the fulfilment of all of God’s promises made to all the three individuals mentioned through Christ, the Son of God born this Christmas, Who we are all celebrating and commemorating joyfully for. To Adam, God has promised the salvation and liberation from the tyranny and bondage of sin, the defeat of Satan and all of his wicked plans by which he had led mankind to downfall through disobedience and sin. To Abraham, God has made a Covenant with him, and has promised that his descendants will be glorious and numerous like the stars. To David, as mentioned, God promised to establish his rule and kingdom forever, and that his house will always sit on the throne of Israel.

All these were fulfilled completely and perfectly through Jesus Christ, the New Adam, born into this world as the Son of Man, as the perfect Man, obeying His Father’s will perfectly, and breaking forever the dominion of Satan and sin over us mankind. While our ancestors sinned by eating from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, disobeying God, Christ showed perfect obedience to God, His heavenly Father, by taking upon Himself the burden of the Cross, and was crucified and nailed upon the ‘tree’ of the Cross, that through Him, we may see and receive the salvation of God. And through Christ, all of us mankind all become the children of God, the children of Abraham by the adoption through the same faith we have in the same one God, in the New and Eternal Covenant He has established by His perfect offering and sacrifice on the Cross.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect on all these and remind ourselves once again on Who it is that we truly celebrate for this upcoming Christmas, and for Whom we prepare ourselves thoroughly throughout this season of Advent, let us all truly reconnect ourselves with God and with all the love and compassion which He has shown us all so generously all these while. Let us all not be easily swayed and tempted by the many temptations of pleasures and worldly greed and desires especially aplenty around these periods, when we see all the excesses of all the secular celebrations of Christmas showed us. We must keep in mind our focus as Christians, on Christ Himself, our Lord and Saviour, the true Joy and Hope of Christmas, the very Reason we are celebrating.

Let us all not forget the Child born on Christmas Day, more than two millennia ago. Too often we have celebrated all of our Christmas observances and festivities while forgetting and ignoring the One Whom we ought to be celebrating with and about. We should no longer be ignorant of Christ and all that God had done through Him for our sake. Let this upcoming Christmas and the remaining time of this current Advent season be a good reminder for one another and also a model for all others, that our faithful observance and our inspiring examples may help to lead more and more souls towards God and His saving grace, the eternal life that He promised us all who believe in Him. May God be with us always and may He guide us and strengthen us, and help us to make most use of this time of Advent. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that each and every one of us as we continue to progress further through this time and season of Advent, this time of spiritual and wholesome preparation for the upcoming celebration and joy of Christmas, all of us are called to continue putting our focus on the Lord, doing our very best to prepare ourselves so that we do not just celebrate Christmas for all of its merrymaking and enjoyment, but rather that we truly understand its true significance and importance for us, being the moment celebrating the time when the salvation of the Lord has finally been revealed to us all, His beloved ones, after long wait from the beginning of time, proving that God is always ever loving and faithful.

In our first reading today, we are reminded by the reading from the Book of the prophet Zephaniah in which the prophet spoke of hope and consolation for the righteous and all those who have devoted themselves to the Lord and are righteous in their ways and actions. Zephaniah spoke against all those who disobeyed the Lord and those who disregarded His ways, referring to the actions and ways of the people of Israel who have erred and worshipped pagan idols and gods instead of their one and only true God, YHVH, the God of Israel and the true Lord and Master of the whole world and Universe. They have persecuted the prophets and messengers that were sent by God to their midst to help and guide them, ignoring the reminders and messages that God sent to them.

That was why the prophet Zephaniah spoke of the prophetic words reminding those people that those who continue to disobey the Lord and wicked in their actions and way of life, that they would face the wrath of God and that they would not survive, while those who listened to the Lord, obeyed Him and followed His ways would eventually flourish and prosper even if they were to suffer trials and hardships in their path and journey. And it was also mentioned that God’s intention was ultimately the salvation of the whole entire world and all the children of mankind, and not merely just those who belong to the tribes and people of Israel, unlike what some believed, especially by the time of the ministry of the Lord Jesus. God’s salvation is universal, and is meant for all of us.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord telling all those people who were following Him using a parable with a man who had two sons, in which one of the two sons said that he would do what the father told him to do but in the end, never did as he had been saying, while the other son said that he would not do what the father had asked him to do, and yet, in the end, that second son did what the father asked him to do. Through this parable the Lord wanted to highlight that as His followers and disciples, it is important that all of us must truly mean what we say and we have to be genuine in our intentions and actions. We cannot say one thing and yet do another, and not to honour what we have said that we will do.

It is an important reminder for all of us as Christians that we must always be genuine, consistent, accountable and responsible in everything that we say and do, in our every actions, words and deeds, in our every interactions with each other. As good and faithful Christians we cannot be hypocrites in the manner of how we live our faith lives, in professing to belief in something and yet acting in an entirely different manner altogether or worse still by acting in ways that are contrary and in opposition to what we believe in, in the first place. Otherwise, we will become a contradiction, scandal and anathema to our own faith. We must not be inconsistent and untrustworthy in our behaviour, as unfortunately, in many occasions, it is our own wicked actions that do not match our words which caused hurt and harm to many people.

We are reminded that it is important that we embody what we believe in our own daily lives, in our every actions so that we may truly glorify God by our lives as we should have. If we instead cause scandal to our faith and to everyone around us by our own selfish actions and ways that are not reflective of true Christian beliefs, then we are no better than hypocrites and unbelievers, and we will need to account for all these things which can lead to others distancing themselves from the Lord and salvation all because of our own actions which are contrary to what the Lord had told us to do. This means that we should always strive not to hurt others and to show love in each and every things we do, in our love for the Lord and also in our exemplary love for one another.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, as we continue to progress through this time and season of Advent, and as we continue to delve deeper into the preparation for the upcoming joyful celebration and commemorations of Christmas, let us all continue to keep ourselves centred and focused on Christ, doing our best to show all these in every preparations we have made and more for this upcoming joyful season. Let our Christmas celebrations not be an empty and meaningless one, or merely filled with parties, merrymaking and celebrations but devoid and lacking of its true heart and focus that is Christ Himself, the One Whose birth and appearance into this world has restored new hope for us all, the hope of salvation and eternal life.

May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen us all through this time and season of Advent so that we can always lead others ever closer to God through our daily actions and works. May all of us continue to embody our Christian faith sincerely and courageously at all times. Let us all be the good and worthy bearers of Christ’s light and hope in this world, restoring them in a world filled with darkness, just as He has done for us. We are the bearers of the Light, Hope and Joy of Christmas, and we should always show this in our actions and lives, now and always. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures and as we continue to progress through this time and season of Advent, we are reminded that each and every one of us as God’s people, His followers and disciples, as Christians, we ought to continue to have hope in the Lord our God, our Father, our Master and Creator, Who will always be with us, blessing us all and protecting us from harm’s way and from those who hate and despise us. He will shield us even from those who seek to curse and destroy us, and even when we have to suffer and endure tribulations, we must not forget that God is always there with us, by our side, supporting us all just as He has once suffered the worst of persecutions, rejections and humiliations for our sake.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Numbers, we heard of the occasion when the prophet and seer Balaam was tasked by a king who was the enemy of the Israelites, king Balak, to utter a curse against the people of Israel. He must have been quite a well-known seer and whose prayers and utterings had the power, such that the king of Israel’s enemy, desperate in trying to seek for a way to stop the seemingly unstoppable might and advance of the Israelites on their way to their Promised Land, sought this seer’s help to assist him in defeating the people of God. And yet, as we all heard in what Balaam actually spoke in song to the Israelites were in fact words and songs of blessing, which God had inspired him to say and sing for His people.

We heard the song of praise and blessings which Balaam spoke and sung for the Israelites, praising the glory and the joy of the children of Jacob, and how God had richly blessed them all and how they were guided, protected and led to the right paths by their loving God and Master. And at the same time, this reading was chosen for us on this occasion also because Balaam also received a vision of the distant future, as he saw glimpses of the fulfilment of God’s plan of salvation, as he saw a Star rising from Jacob, the coming of the Light of the nations, referring to the future coming of the Messiah long before other prophets even spoke of this coming Saviour. This is what we have also been hearing throughout this time and season of Advent, of the coming of God’s salvation, which He has indeed fully accomplished through Christ, His Son.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the encounter between the Lord Jesus and the authorities of the Temple of Jerusalem, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, the latter of whom questioned the Lord on the authenticity and the basis of His authority in everything that He had done and performed, just as they themselves had also done against St. John the Baptist, the one whom God had sent to prepare the path for His Saviour. It must have indeed been very frustrating for the Lord to keep on encountering the repeated challenges, trials and oppositions as such that He had faced against those stubborn chief priests, Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, many of whom kept on interfering with His works and ministry in many occasions.

Then it was at that time that the Lord then questioned them with another question on what they thought of the works of St. John the Baptist, the one whom they themselves had opposed and questioned in the similar manner as they had done against Him. This was indeed a very smart move, as highlighted by what those members of the Sanhedrin, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law immediately discussed afterwards. They could not agree on whether they should tell the Lord that they believed that the works of St. John the Baptist were the works of man, or whether they were Divinely ordained and appointed. They were in a dilemma because both responses would have led them into great trouble either way, as mentioned, that if they said that the works of St. John the Baptist were worldly in origin they risked the wrath of the people who mostly and widely believed that St. John the Baptist is a man of God.

On the other hand, if they responded with the works of St. John the Baptist as Divinely ordained, then not only that this would affirm whatever the Lord Jesus Himself had done, but that would also undermine their own position considering that they themselves had earlier on criticised St. John the Baptist and doubted him. In that way, their answer would be a slap to their own faces. Hence, we heard how they all eventually agreed to tell the Lord that they did not know, and this led to a stalemate where the Lord therefore said that He was not obliged to share either where He had His authority from. It is sad indeed to see all these oppositions that happened against the Lord, against all the efforts and good works that He had carried out for the people of God because of the pride, arrogance and greed of those who were the leaders of the people.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore as we have discussed and discerned through these readings of the Sacred Scriptures today, let us all continue to do our best in living our lives faithfully in the Lord, following His path thoroughly despite the many challenges and trials that we may encounter and face in our lives. We should always put our faith and trust in the Lord, knowing that whatever challenges and hardships we face, we will always be steadfast in staying firm in our course towards the Lord, and not be easily tempted or swayed to turn away or seek alternatives that lead us further from the Lord and His salvation. Let us be courageous and strong so that by our faith and our hope in God, we will inspire many others we encounter to continue to be strong and faithful in everything that they do, and become ever closer to the Lord.

May the Lord, our most loving God continue to inspire and strengthen all of us so that by His guidance, strength and wisdom, we may continue to do our best in glorifying Him at all times through our every efforts, endeavours and all the things we do in our interactions with everyone we encounter in life. And especially during this time and season of Advent, let us all continue to prepare ourselves thoroughly so that in our every daily endeavours, efforts and all of our preparation for the upcoming Christmas season, we will always put the Lord at the centre of all things. Amen.