Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all presented with the words of the Lord reminding us to distance ourselves from sin and evil, and to embrace His path, and to do what He has called us to do. Each and every one of us are called to be missionaries of our faith and witnesses of God’s truth and love to our fellow men. What we have heard in our Scripture readings today remind us that we are all called to holiness and to be committed to our Christian living and faith, in each and every opportunities and moments provided to us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Hosea, who ministered to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel during the last years of its existence. The prophet Hosea came to bring forth the word of God to those people who had rejected Him for so many years, refusing to listen to the advice and words of the prophets who had been sent to them to remind them and help them on their way, in rejecting the kindness and compassion that the Lord had extended to them for a long time, all the patience that He had shown them. Hence, through Hosea and other prophets, the Lord made it known that the kingdom of Israel would be crushed and destroyed.

The pride and haughtiness of the kings of Israel in Samaria and the unfaithfulness of the people would become their undoing, and their wickedness and disobedience would lead to them being uprooted from their lands, crushed and conquered by other nations, scattered and exiled to far-off lands. But at the same time, as we heard from the same passage, God still did not give up on them, and still yet called on them to return to Him, to abandon their stubborn attitudes and wicked actions, and called on them all to follow Him once again and heed His ways. He wanted them all to be saved, and to be reconciled to Him.

That was why we heard constantly about how God had always reached out to His people through His prophets and messengers like that of Hosea and many others, and even today, the Lord still does so through His Church, which we all belong to and are part of. We are reminded that all of us have a place in God”s Church and His Kingdom, and we are all called to holiness, to be one and united with God and with all of our fellow brethren, all making up the united Body of Christ, the Church of God, through which we all journey together in this world, and are called to seek the true happiness and eternal life that can be found in God alone.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard the Lord Jesus and His calling of the Twelve Apostles, as He called on each one of them to be the chief ones among His disciples and followers. Each one of them were called from different places and they had different backgrounds and origins, but all of them were called with a mission, to be the ones through Whom God would perform and continue His many good works among the people, and to establish and allow His Church in this worlds to grow and flourish. They were all imperfect men and people with issues and troubles, whom God called to a new existence and holy life, and gave them the strength and guidance to do so.

Through the calling of the Apostles and the other disciples, whom the Lord commanded with the mission to reach out to all the peoples and to preach to them the Good News of salvation and eternal life, the Lord wanted each and every one of us to be active in contributing to the missions and works of the Church. We are all called to be exemplary in our way of life so that by our actions and deeds, we may inspire others all around us to follow our examples and to believe in God as well. Unless we devote ourselves to God wholeheartedly, and live to the best of our abilities to be virtuous in all things, we cannot then truly call ourselves as Christians.

That is why we are reminded today through the readings of the Sacred Scriptures that we have heard, and by the Church of the need for all of us to turn towards the Lord wholeheartedly, doing all that we can to proclaim His truth and love in our world today, by our own actions, words and deeds, our every interactions and good works which truly embody what it means for us to be Christians, to be those whom God had called and chosen as His own holy and beloved ones. Each and every one of us share in the missions of the Apostles and the Church, to do what the Lord had entrusted uniquely to each and every one of us, in calling more and more people to salvation in Him.

May the Lord, our most loving God, Father and Creator continue to help and guide each and every one of us in our journey in life so that we may continue to live our lives wholeheartedly and faithfully at all times, becoming good examples, role models and inspiration for everyone around us, to those whom we encounter in life, so that we may help lead many more people towards the salvation in God. May our lives be truly fruitful and blessed, not just for ourselves but also for everyone around us. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.