Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures and as we all reflect and ponder upon its meaning and truth, let us all spend some time remembering just how wonderful God’s love and mercy is for all of us, that even when we have sinned against Him, He has always been rich in mercy, compassion and forgiveness, in wanting to embrace us all with His great love, to bring us all back to Himself, to gather us all, His beloved and yet lost sheep scattered all throughout the world, and He has always been welcoming and kind in reaching out to us, as our most loving and patient Good Shepherd, calling all of us to return to Him, giving us the assurance of His most generous and compassionate love.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Samuel, we heard of the continuation of yesterday’s story of the time when King David of Israel, the king whom God had blessed and secured in his position as king and ruler over all of Israel, in which on one occasion he encountered the beautiful wife of his own captain of the guard, Uriah the Hittite, a woman named Bathsheba, whom we may also know as the one who would become the mother of the famous King Solomon, David’s son who would become his eventual successor. At that time, Bathsheba was still married and the wife of Uriah, and we heard how David was tempted upon seeing Bathsheba which led them to commit sin of adultery before the Lord. We can see from this how even the faithful and famous King David himself was also a sinner and was able to fall into sin during his life.

And not only that, but David tried to conceal the fact and settle the problem by trying to make Uriah to sleep with his wife so that her pregnancy with David would not be discovered and a great disgrace be known to everyone. But Uriah did not do all that, and in the end, David plotted for Uriah’s death by purposely placing him at the frontline of the battle, which then led to his death and then David was free to take Bathsheba as his own wife. Through all of these that we have heard from today’s story of David’s life and this particular incident, and what happened afterwards, we can see how dangerous sin and its allures can be, and how weak our flesh can be, in the face of temptations and sin, which can lead us to commit ever greater mistakes and faults in life.

Yet, despite all of that, God eventually still forgave David after He had chastised him through the prophet Nathan as we heard in our first reading passage today, as unlike his predecessor Saul who doubled down on his sins and disobedience, David was truly repentant after the prophet Nathan pointed out his mistakes to him. This is also therefore an example of how sometimes we may not realise that we are in the wrong, especially when we allow ourselves to be swayed and deluded by the temptations and sins around us. God is however all loving and forgiving, and He wants to forgive us all should we truly seek His forgiveness and mercy, and He never stops any one of us from coming towards Him to be forgiven and loved fully and completely once again. What matters is that we should realise our errors and faults, doing our very best to improve ourselves and seek God’s forgiveness, mercy and love.

We must also take note that although David had committed sin with Bathsheba, God did not forbid them to be together, but instead, transforming both of them to be part of His Divine plan as mentioned. This aligned with what I have highlighted earlier on that our Church and therefore the Kingdom of God is not the gathering place for the perfect and the ones without sin or fault, but rather as often mentioned, is a ‘hospital for sinners’. God gathers everyone that He loves, all of us, without any bias, prejudice or exceptions, and He does not reject anyone, no matter how sinful they have been. Even the worst sinners are still beneficiaries of God’s most wonderful love and mercy, which He always extends to all those who seek them.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the account of the moment and time when the Lord Jesus and His disciples were travelling in the lake, likely the Lake of Galilee and they were all afflicted by the terrible storm, waves and wind that battered their boat. We heard how the disciples were all terrified, scared that their boat would capsize and would go under all those waves. And yet, then we heard how the Lord reassured them all and showed them His power and might, calming the storm with the mere command of His words, and everything was well again. The disciples were all naturally astonished and surprised at the turn of events, the great miracle that the Lord Himself has shown them.

Linking to what we have heard from our first reading earlier about what happened to King David, we are reminded that this storm, all the waves and the wind that battered the disciples in the boat are just like the temptations, sins and darkness present all around us, all the uncertainties of our lives and everything which made us all to lose our faith and trust in the world. But as we have seen, God has the answer to all of our troubles, and if we only hold firmly onto Him as our anchor and steady guide in life, He will rescue us and help us all out of our predicaments, because ultimately we must realise that God loves us all so generously and wonderfully, each and every one of us.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is right and just for us to follow the Lord once again more wholeheartedly, and learn to commit ourselves to Him once again, to the best of our abilities despite our flaws and sins. Today, we can model ourselves based on the great examples which our holy predecessor, St. John Bosco, a great priest of the Lord and holy man of God, whose feast we celebrate today, have done. St. John Bosco was remembered greatly for his great piety, love and dedication to God, as well as for his great love and compassionate care for those whom he encountered in the midst of his missions and works, as a priest and most well-known in his role as one who initiated and was in charge of an outreach to the underprivileged youth, those juveniles and teenagers who had none to lead and guide them to the right path.

St. John Bosco helped to get them proper education and place to stay for those who were orphaned and homeless, and cared for their spiritual, mental and material needs. He dedicated much of his time to touch the lives of the underprivileged, and inspired many others to begin similar initiatives, resulting in the blooming of many institutions of Christian education that benefitted especially the underprivileged youths, and in particular underprivileged girls. The faith, dedication and commitment which St. John Bosco has shown us should inspire us all as well in our lives so that hopefully we may also become good sources of inspiration and hope for many others whom we encounter and all those who have witnessed our actions and works.

May the Lord continue to guide us all and bless our many good works and efforts in following Him ever more wholeheartedly in all things and at all times. God has always been generous in loving us and we all should appreciate everything that He has always done for us, in calling on all of us to return to Him and to His loving Presence. Let us all be therefore good and worthy witnesses of His truth, bear with courage and confidence the Good News and all that He has presented and taught to us in our world today. May our actions, words and deeds are truly worthy of being good Christian disciples and followers in all things and at all times. Amen.