Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we heard of the virtues and faith which we ought to have in the Lord as His followers and disciples, following the examples of our predecessors, like that of the great King David of Israel, who was truly a devoted servant of God in all things, in all of his attitudes and actions, and then none other than the Lord Jesus Himself, Our Lord and Saviour, Who has shown us all how we truly should live our lives as Christians, in spending the time and effort to carry out all that the Lord has entrusted to us to do. Each and every one of us should always be inspired to live with great courage and commitment to the path that God has led us into.

In our first reading today, we heard of the story of the moment when the account of the death of King Saul and his son Jonathan, with many other Israelites at the Battle of Mount Gilboa was told to David. For the context, David was the one whom God had chosen to succeed Saul as the next King and ruler over His people, the Israelites. Saul had disobeyed the Lord and acted without virtue in some of his actions and choices, and hence, God withdrew His approval and favour from him and his house, and chose David to be the one to lead the Israelites instead. This led to plenty of frictions and sorrow that happened between David and Saul, as the latter even tried to kill and destroy David, trying to have him killed in several occasions despite the advice and pleading from Jonathan, Saul’s son, whom David had close partnership and Covenant with.

Eventually, if we heard what Saul and David went through in these past few days of Scripture readings, we will know that although David had been grievously wronged and had his life made very difficult by Saul in several occasions, but David did not hold any grudge against Saul and forgave him. And in yesterday’s reading, when the perfect opportunity was presented to David to end Saul’s life, he did not take it and he refused to be tempted to do such a vile action even when his closest confidants and followers begged and pressured him to do so. David was truly a righteous man and while he was himself also with his own flaws, he was a man whose heart was after God’s own Heart. He truly grieved for Saul and Jonathan when he heard of their deaths at the battle against the Philistines. And all these are reminders for all of us to follow his good examples in his virtuous life.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the moment when the Lord was carrying out His works and ministry among the people of God, something that took much of His time, and we then heard of how His own relatives came to Him and took care of Him, because the ministry took so much of the time of the Lord and His disciples that they could not even have a proper meal or time to eat. Therefore, the relatives of the Lord, probably His cousins and others, some of them likely followed Him throughout His ministry and works, were likely unhappy because of the extensive commitments that this Jesus had committed Himself into, and therefore took Him out from the crowd.

 

In this very short reading passage of the Gospel, there is not really much that we can talk about, but if we are to understand better the context and the intention of the author of the Gospel in writing this, we are all reminded that ultimately, what the Lord has called us to do in our lives may not necessarily be something that is popular or easily acceptable by others, even by those who are closest to us. And yet, this does not mean that we should become afraid or uncertain in doing what the Lord has called us to do. We should continue to do as the Lord has shown us, but at the same time in a measured and careful way that we still do God’s works faithfully but not in the manner that caused inconvenience to others around us. We should do our best to love God wholeheartedly and love our brethren around us in the same way as well, just as the Lord has commanded us to do.

Today, all of us should follow the examples of one great saint whose faith and dedication to the Lord can become a great source of inspiration for us to be more faithful ourselves in living our lives as Christians. St. Francis de Sales was the famous inspiration behind the later foundation of the Salesian order, and he was also a pious and devoted man of God, as a bishop and shepherd to his flock. He was always referring to God as ‘God is Love’ and was convinced that God’s Love for us was so great, which drove him to continue carrying out more missions and works for the sake of the people of God. He became a priest and missionary in opposition to his family’s insistence that he took up secular role, having been born into privileged, rich and powerful family at that time. He chose to serve the Lord rather than indulging in his or his family’s own desires.

St. Francis de Sales dedicated himself to his mission, ministering even to the hard-heartened and stubborn heretics who initially refused to listen to him and even accused him to be a sorcerer. When he was appointed as bishop, he continued to serve the people entrusted to his care with great humility, devotion and love both for the Lord and for the people. He preached with great zeal and sincerity, and with great love and compassion, which touched quite a lot among the people, who were either led closer to conversion and reconciliation with God, or drawn away from heretical teachings or being strengthened and affirmed in their faith thanks to the hard work and dedication of St. Francis de Sales. The commitment and love which St. Francis de Sales had for the Lord is something that should inspire us all to do the same as well in our own lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have discussed earlier from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures and from the life and works of St. Francis de Sales, let us all therefore continue to strive to live our lives well and worthily, in the manner that the Lord has prescribed for us, in everything that He Himself has shown and taught us, and everything that He has revealed to us through the Holy Spirit and the Wisdom that He has imparted upon us and His Church. Each and every one of us have been called to be good examples and role models in faith to everyone we encounter in our lives. May the Lord be with us all and may He empower us to live our lives ever more faithfully in each and every moments so that we may lead more and more people towards Him. Amen.