Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures we are all reminded of the need for us to seek God at all times and to focus our attention to Him as our Lord and Master, as the One Whom our hearts desire and wish to be reunited with. If God is not the most important thing in our lives, then it may be easy for us to fall prey to all the temptations of the things around us, which may lead to us losing our sight on the most important thing and treasure in our lives. It is why we are constantly being told by the Lord Who has always patiently given us much help along the way, encouraging us all and making Himself approachable to us by His coming into this world, in His Incarnation in the flesh, born of the Virgin Mary, His mother. He became Emmanuel, God Who is with us, dwelling amongst us all.

In our first reading today, we heard of the readings from either Book of Song of Songs or from the Book of the prophet Zephaniah. From the Song of Songs we heard of the pursuit of one who seeks her Lover, and how this Lover gives encouragement, joy and strength to His beloved one. This is a metaphor representing our relationship with God, and the Lover represents the Lord, our God, with each and every one of us as the Lord’s beloved ones. And as we heard from this passage from the Book of Songs, there is that yearning for both the Lover and the beloved, and as they search for one another, as they are reunited, this will restore order in all things, showing us of the end of our sufferings and struggles, the restoration of grace and the beauty to everything, no longer defiled and corrupted by the darkness and evils of sin around us.

Then, from the Book of the prophet Zephaniah we heard yet another words of encouragement from God as we heard the proclamation to all the people of God, represented by the daughters of Zion, the common name used to represent Jerusalem, the Holy City of God. At that time, during the ministry of the prophet Zephaniah which happened after the reigns of the wicked kings of Judah, Manasseh and Amon, and during the time of the righteous king Josiah, the last righteous king to rule over Judah and Jerusalem, many among the people of God had fallen into the worship of the false gods and idols, Baal and Asherah, and that wicked deeds and blatant disobedience against God and His commandments had led to the imminent coming of the Divine retribution and just consequences for their actions in disobeying God and committing great sins against Him.

Yet, just as the Lord spoke through the prophet Zephaniah of the punishments and the consequences that those who have embraced the worship of the pagan and false idols would receive, He also reassured them at the same time of the salvation and redemption which He also offered for all those who sought His mercy and forgiveness. Essentially God wants us all to know that each and every one of us are truly dear, precious and beloved to Him, and it is far for Him to desire our destruction and damnation. However, at the same time, He is also a just and righteous God, Who is all good and perfect, and in Whose Holy Presence sin and evil cannot remain and survive. Therefore, each and every one of us, God’s people must not allow sin to continue corrupting and staining us, which may prevent us from finding the way to His salvation and grace. God has always been generous in offering us His mercy, but we must also be willing to embrace His mercy and forgiveness, and be ready to commit to repentance.

From our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the time when Mary, the Mother of God visited Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist, her relative, when both of them were expecting and during their respective pregnancies. We heard how Elizabeth and her child, St. John the Baptist in her womb recognised the coming of the Messiah, the Saviour Son of God in the holy womb of Mary when Mary came and approached their house. And this was another revelation of God’s loving care and compassion towards each and every one of us, reminding us of everything which He has done for our sake and for our salvation. He sent us all His Beloved Son so that by His entry into this world, He may show us all the sure path towards His loving embrace, grace and eternal life. The coming of Jesus Christ into this world, which we are celebrating in Christmas, is the fulfilment of what God had promised through the prophet Zephaniah and many other prophets.

Through the coming of Christ into this world, the Lord wants us all to embrace His ever present and enduring love, that He has manifested in His Son, and making us all to share in the fullness of His compassionate love and mercy, to make available to all of us His boundless and ever bountiful mercy, forgiveness and grace. We cannot save ourselves, and it is only by the grace of God that we can be saved and liberated from the bondage to our sins and the evils around us. That is why God in His boundless mercy reached out to us to help us to leave our predicaments and bondage to sin, leading and bringing us all into the straight path of redemption by His Son’s saving works on the Cross. This is what we are truly celebrating this upcoming Christmas time and season.

Now, today the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Peter Canisius, holy priest and an esteemed Doctor of the Church, one of my patron saints and also the patron of this blog. St. Peter Canisius was born as Peter Kanis in Nijmegen, which is now part of the Netherlands but which was then considered a dominion of the Holy Roman Empire. St. Peter Canisius was born to a wealthy merchant family and he also had prodigious talent in academic studies, gaining his master’s degree at the mere age of nineteen. It was during his study that he encountered St. Peter Faber, who later on together with St. Peter Canisius, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Xavier and other men would become the founder and co-founders of the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits.

St. Peter Canisius was called and convinced to give himself to the mission of the Jesuits, and after a period of preparation, he was ordained as a priest, and became one of the Jesuits’ spearhead in the efforts of Counter-Reformation against the rampant Protestant heresies and other wrong teachings and practices that was then widespread throughout the region that are now parts of Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland. St. Peter Canisius put strong emphasis on education both of the priests and the laity as part of the efforts to rejuvenate the faith and to combat the false ideas and heresies. He was also renowned for his crafting and authorship of his ‘Catechism’ also known as the German Catechism, composed of the important articles and teachings of the Christian faith for the formation of Christians, especially that of Catechumens going through preparation for baptism.

St. Peter Canisius was also a strong advocate for dialogue and cooperation, mutual understanding and empathy during his works and efforts in the Counter-Reformation, quoted for his words, ‘with this kind of attitude, this condition becomes incurable’ referring to the hardline attitude and approach that some of the Counter-Reformation figures took in approaching those who have embraced the ideals of the reformation and other heretical teachings. In addition, he was also a strong Marian devotee and the final words of the prayer ‘Hail Mary’ or ‘Ave Maria’, that is ‘Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.’ was composed and added by none other than St. Peter Canisius, who was ever faithful to the very end of his life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect upon our own lives after having heard and discussed the messages from the Sacred Scriptures, and by the inspiration from the life of St. Peter Canisius, holy servant of God, let us all continue to strive to do what is right and just, worthy and appropriate for all of us as Christians in our everyday living so that we may truly be committed to a life that inspires others to follow in our footsteps in glorifying God by our lives and actions, just as we have been inspired by our holy predecessors, particularly that of St. Peter Canisius, holy priest and Doctor of the Church. Let our lives truly be reflection of God’s light, hope and love, and may the Lord be with us always in our every good endeavours. Amen.