Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that all of us as Christians, we should be good examples in our faith and way of life for one another, and we should always keep in mind what God has prepared for us, in a life blessed by His grace and love, and what He has taught us to do, in His Law and commandments. God has not abandoned us all sinners, and He has always loved us all regardless, and He wants each and every one of us to be reconciled and reunited with Him. He has shown us all these and taught us these so that hopefully we may come to realise the depth of our folly and wickedness, because of our sins, and hence be reunited once again with Him in embracing the love and forgiveness that He has offered us. However, it is often that in order to do this, we must first humble ourselves before God.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans in which St. Paul continued in his discourse, comparing the actions of the Jews who have persecuted him and how these oppositions and persecutions did not actually make them to be truly evil and wicked. They are still after all the chosen and beloved people of God, with whom God had made His Covenant, and confirmed in His love. Despite their many sins, God still cared for them and loved them all patiently, showing them His love and mercy, calling them to return to Him and reminding them of the Law He had given and revealed to them, and the Covenant He had made with them. God has always shown His salvation to all, and He intended it to be given to all mankind, and not just to the Israelites alone, unlike what some among the Jewish people at that time thought.

As St. Paul highlighted it in our first reading today, that as God revealed His salvation and grace to all the nations, to the pagan nations and the Gentiles, or the non-Jewish people, He was also calling the descendants of the Israelites, whom He had first called among the others, to be coming together with the other nations towards Him as well. That is what the Lord has always intended with all of us His beloved people, and He still loves all of His people, regardless whether they were called first or later, and as a sign that He truly loved all of them, was how He sent His Son, the Liberator mentioned by St. Paul through the Jewish people themselves, Whose truth, works and actions would purify not just the sons and daughters of Israel, but also the whole entire world, for all the children of mankind, whom God had created with great love and care.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord Jesus Who was having a meal in the house of a Pharisee, with the other Pharisees closely watching over Him to see His actions and responses, and the Lord told the people assembled and the Pharisees themselves of a parable in which He subtly criticised the Pharisees for their self-righteous and disobedient attitude, in thinking that they were better than any others, and that they were more worthy than everyone around them. In their blind obedience to the Law and in their overly strict interpretation of the Law and the precepts of God, they had actually failed to do what they had been entrusted and called to do, in showing the love of God to more of His people through their examples and actions.

Instead, many among the Pharisees chose to parade their piety and faith practices, showing off their faith and how committed they were to others, making public their prayers and observances, and thus, behaving like those whom the Lord presented in the parable, as those who sought the front seats and premier places in an event or celebration, only to be put to shame by the more distinguished guests that came later. This was a reference to how the tax collectors and prostitutes, whom the Pharisees despised and looked down upon as unworthy sinners, were in fact closer to God’s salvation because they were fully aware of their sins, and humbly sought the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy, being healed through their humility and obedience to God, and their desire to change their way of life for better.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of the renowned St. Charles Borromeo, a great man of God and a great inspiration for many people all throughout the world, right up to this day. St. Charles Borromeo was born into a noble Italian family, and he was brought up well and eventually entered into Church career as a priest, studying Canon Law and other aspects, before rising greatly in prospects and achievements, as his uncle was elected as Pope Pius IV. The new Pope appointed St. Charles Borromeo to be a Cardinal, as a Cardinal-nephew entrusted with the governance of the Church and the Papal States. St. Charles Borromeo carried out his duties most responsibly and unlike many other senior Church leaders, and other important nobles of his time, he lived simply and with austerity, in contrast the great pursuits of hedonism and worldly pleasures of his time.

St. Charles Borromeo was instrumental in his role in managing and being involved in the Council of Trent, which stood at the forefront of the Church’s efforts in opposing the effects of the Protestant reformation, which had divided the Church and misled many of the faithful people of God down the wrong, sinful and erroneous paths. St. Charles Borromeo and many other Church leaders helped to reform the Church well, and established a strong foundation upon which the Counter-Reformation would spring and restore the Church to its past vigour. Then, St. Charles Borromeo also resisted the call by his family to abandon the clerical state and marry when his eldest brother passed away, and he became the eldest surviving son of his family, choosing to continue living righteously in accordance to what God had called him to do.

Later on, the Pope appointed St. Charles Borromeo as the administrator and eventually as Archbishop of Milan, leading one of the greatest and largest dioceses in the Church. He was ordained priest and bishop, and then launched himself into a very vigorous campaign of reform in the Milanese Church, which had drifted into corruption and wicked ways due to the absence of many of its past Archbishops and leaders. There were, according to past accounts, many corrupt practices like selling of indulgences, simony and inappropriate behaviour from both the priests and the laity alike, who have embraced worldly excesses and debauchery, in their pursuit of hedonism and worldly pleasures, instead of following the true path set before them by the Lord and His Church.

St. Charles Borromeo led by his great examples, pushing forth the reforms as agreed and decided in the Council of Trent, purifying the Church and the community from the perversion of evil and sin, from various worldly corruptions and distractions which have brought so much harm to the Church and the community of the faithful. He reformed the seminaries, emphasising on better education and training of future priests, and he also enforced greater discipline among the presbyterate, ensuring that the corruptions of worldly ways and matters no longer come to corrupt the Church and its ways. He remained humble and committed to God despite his high rank and status, and in a famous occasion, he was known for bearing a yoke on him, as he led the procession of the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of Milan during a pandemic. To the end of his life, St. Charles Borromeo remained dedicated to God and to the flock entrusted to him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all have seen and experienced from St. Charles Borromeo and his exemplary life, and also heeding whatever messages from the Scriptures that we have discussed just earlier on, let us all therefore commit ourselves anew to the Lord, and entrust ourselves to God and His providence from now on. May the Lord continue to help us and empower us, so that we may always ever be worthy of Him, in all of our deeds, actions and way of life. May He bless us all in our every good efforts and commitment, to live our lives worthily of Him at all times, and becoming good role models for one another. Amen.