Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Lord today contained within the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the Lord Whom we worship and serve, the one and only true God, our Lord and Master, our King and Ruler over the whole entire Universe, which we will celebrate together this coming Sunday on the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and King of the Universe. We are therefore reminded today that we worship this Almighty, all-powerful and glorious God, Whose love for us has brought about our salvation and liberation from sin. By His mercy and most compassionate love, each one of us have received the assurance of eternal life and freedom from the shackles of sin that had held us hostage and kept us chained to our fate of suffering and death.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle, we heard of the revelation shown to the Apostle, regarding the triumphant victory won by the Lord, enthroned in glory among the Cherubim and Seraphim, among the Angels and innumerable saints. St. John saw in the vision of the slaughtered Lamb of God, the Triumphant Lord, the Heir of David and Son of God, Who has won the ultimate victory against the forces of evil, sin and death. And he shared it with all of us, the faithful in this world so that we may have hope in Him and that we may trust Him to guide us down the path towards His grace, salvation and eternal life. Many of us have often forgotten the One Whom we are serving, and the One Whom we ought to be following in our lives. We act as if God is nobody, and that He has no place in our lives.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord speaking of the coming destruction of Jerusalem, the Holy City of God. He spoke of this eventual event on few occasions, and told His disciples how all the glory that was Jerusalem and its Temple, the majestic House of God built by king Herod the Great and his successors, would not remain standing, and all of them would be destroyed. This is in fact a reminder to all of us that all the glory of this world is merely passing and will not last forever, and whatever the people at that time took great pride in keeping, like the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law, the elders and the chief priests who often rejected the Lord and His truth, and refused to listen to Him because they thought of themselves being superior and better, for all the properties, power, influence and glory they had.

They thought that their Temple authority, their Law and rituals, their practices and all their entrenched positions in the society of the people of God. They thought that their power and privileges earned them the right to boast and to be praised, to be entitled honour and respect they often demanded from the other people, but they forgot that, first of all, all of them were supposed to serve God and help others to come closer to God, as the guardians and custodians of God’s Law and truth. Instead, they often misused their authority and power, persecuting and ostracising those whom they deemed to be less than worthy, those whom they deemed as sinners and beyond redemption, while parading their own efforts and works, their piety and observance of the Law.

In that, the Lord wants us all as Christians to keep in mind not to fall into the same trap of pride, ego and greed. As the later destruction of the city of Jerusalem and its magnificent Temple, and the scattering of the Jewish people into various places, showed that no worldly glory, power, privileges, power or anything of those sorts can remain or last forever. Whatever is in the world can be destroyed and lost within mere short while and a mere moment, and those who depend on those things, on their worldly power and foundation, will indeed be disappointed and humiliated as history itself has shown us. Instead, God wants us all to put our trust and faith in Him, entrusting ourselves to His providence and care, and doing everything we can to follow Him and to obey Him. That, brothers and sisters in Christ, is our calling as Christians, what we are all supposed to do.

It is this same pride, hubris and arrogance which had prevented many among the people, particularly the elites and the influential ones among them, from listening to the Lord and the truth which God Himself had brought into their midst through His Son, the very same Messiah or Saviour that had been sent to the people to reveal all of those truths. Instead, they thought that they were better and superior, and that they could not be mistaken in their thoughts, ways, beliefs and ideas. But it was precisely all those attitudes which had prevented them from embracing the truth and the Good News which the Lord had brought into their midst, and with the irony that those who were supposedly most knowledgeable about the Law and the ways of the Lord, were the ones who were most vociferous in their opposition against the One Whom He sent to this world to save it.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is therefore a very important reminder for all of us as Christians, that as God’s people, those whom He had called and chosen, we must always be humble in all things and we must always keep our minds open and be ready to listen to others, especially when this truth comes from the Lord. We must not allow ourselves to be swayed and tempted by pride, worldly ambitions and glory, all the things which can derail us in our paths towards God’s salvation and eternal life. It is pride that had brought Satan to his heels, and it was that same pride and ego, that hubris and ambition which had brought down many among our predecessors in their paths, slipping down the path towards damnation and destruction.

May the Lord our God, our most loving Father and Creator, Who has sent His most beloved Son to us to be our Saviour, continue to strengthen and guide us all in our respective paths and journeys in life, so that we may continue to walk ever more faithfully in His path, in what He Himself has shown and taught us to do, and so that we do not end up being swayed by our pride and ego, and remaining committed to live our lives worthily for the Lord and to glorify Him by our every actions, words and deeds, rooted ever deeper in our genuine faith in Him, at all times. May God bless our every efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.