Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all gather together and listened carefully to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, and as we continue to journey through this time and season of Lent, we are reminded that as we carry out our Lenten activities and practices, we must do them with the right and proper intentions in our hearts and minds, and we must not do them in vain or with the wrong intentions, such as to make ourselves look better, more pious or superior spiritually before other people, or in seeking praise and glory. Everything that we do in life, particularly in this time and season of Lent, we should always do them with God as the centre and focus.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the words of the Lord to His people through Isaiah telling them all how they ought to be carrying out their observance of the Law and how to live their lives genuinely as the people of God, those whom He has loved, called and chosen from the world. And unfortunately, if we read through the Old Testament, we can see how many of the people of God over various periods and times, failed to obey the Lord and observe His Law and commandments, and hence, God kept on sending His servants and messengers, like the prophets including Isaiah to help and guide them all.

The Lord told the people clearly through Isaiah that they should not practice the Law and commandments without truly understanding what they truly meant and what He had taught and shown them. Many of them practiced all those laws, tenets and rituals with rigour and detail, and yet, as the Lord criticised them, they still persecuted their fellow men and women, causing scandal in the faith and bringing about suffering for those whom they had treated badly. Essentially while they might outwardly look pious and faithful, but in how they lived their lives and faith in God, they did not truly embody what the Lord had wanted them to have in their lives, that is true obedience and adherence to His ways.

The Lord did not want their sacrifices, offerings and empty gestures. He did not want their lip service and all the things they did in vain, lacking genuine faith and love for Him, and not only that, but they had also caused scandal by their hypocrisy, in acting in the manner that was self-serving, selfish and wicked, truly unbecoming of those whom the Lord had called and chosen to be His people. That was why the Lord told them all through His prophet Isaiah what it truly meant for them to practice their faith, with examples of in the matter of fasting and others, where they should be showing love, concern and care for their fellow men and women, particularly those who were less fortunate and oppressed, instead of taking advantage and benefitting from them.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard of the discussion from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist where the disciples of St. John the Baptist were asking the Lord about why His disciples were not fasting or practicing the fasts required by the customs and traditions of the Law of Moses and the Jewish laws as how the Pharisees and the disciples of St. John the Baptist themselves were doing. And the Lord told them all that it was not fitting or right that they fast when the Bridegroom was with them, referring to Himself as the Bridegroom of the Church, and the disciples representing the Church of God just like all of us as well, as Christians.

In this occasion, besides predicting what He was going to suffer from in rejection by the chief priests and the Temple authorities, referred to by the Lord as how the Bridegroom would be taken away from those disciples and henceforth they would fast in grief upon losing the Bridegroom, the Lord was also highlighting how the ways of the disciples would not be the same as how those in the old Law and its interpretations and customs were like. Essentially, the Lord’s coming and revelation of the fullness of truth about God’s Law superseded and perfected the understanding, purpose and application of the Law which God had bestowed upon His people. This was especially in the context of how many among the people, particularly among the Pharisees, who practiced the Law hypocritically.

What this means was that, like the people of God of old, that the Lord criticised and rebuked through the prophet Isaiah, those Pharisees did not truly learn from the examples of their ancestors, but doing the exact same mistakes and committing the same kind of errors and misbehaviours that were particularly unbecoming given their position as the leaders and respected members of the community of the people of God. And that was why the Lord was also equally critical on the way how those Pharisees and elites of the community had behaved, in their failure to practice their faith sincerely and properly as they should have done, and not becoming good examples for everyone around them, seeking for personal glory and fame instead of truly obeying God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore as we continue to progress through this time and season of Lent, let us all continue to do our best in living our lives as good, faithful and worthy Christians, as beloved disciples and followers of Our Lord, so that our words, actions and deeds, all align together with our faith and love for the Lord. Let us always be focused and centred on God, and not seeking our own personal ambitions and greed in life, but instead striving at all times for the greater glory of God’s Name. Amen.