Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us to continue to put our trust and faith in the Lord, focusing our efforts and attention on the Lord, doing whatever we can so that in each and every moments of our lives we will always continue to walk in the path that the Lord has shown us and staying faithful to Him. This is because during our journey in life we may encounter many moments when our faith and trust in the Lord may be tested and put on trial, as we face the challenges and difficulties present in our path and the many obstacles we may have to face as we journey together in proclaiming the Good News and truth of the Lord in our daily lives.

In our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of the moment when the order of deacons were instituted in the Church because there were discrepancies in the distribution of the resources and goods for the faithful especially among those who came from non-Jewish or Gentile origins. At that time, we must understand the situation and the context such that the earliest Christian communities lived communally and pooled together their resources just as described by the same Acts of the Apostles. At the time, there were some expectations that the Lord would return again soon, and hence, many among the community of the believers chose to live their lives in shared existence and means, abandoning private ownership and goods, sharing them with one another instead.

However, this system was not sustainable and was ultimately no longer used as the Christian community kept gaining large number of converts to the faith, which resulted in many more resources needed to sustain them all. And while it lasted, this system was also biased as many among the early Christians belonged to the Jewish converts, some of them from the Pharisees who held firmly to the Jewish traditions and customs, and had inherent prejudices against those who did not fully subscribe to their way of observing the Law of God and also against the non-Jewish people or the Gentiles. They favoured their own Jewish background, practices and customs, and it was likely that those entrusted to share the resources shared them more with their own fellow Jewish converts rather than with those converts originating from among the Gentiles.

That was why the Apostles decided to institute the order of deacons, appointing first of all seven men who were deemed worthy from among the faithful, to be the ones to minister to the people of God as the first deacons of the Church. This was how the Lord guided His Church and faithful ones amidst the many challenges that they had to endure as they navigated the intricacies of living amidst the rule of the Romans and having the Jewish authorities harassing and oppressing them at every possible turns. Many of those faithful servants of God, including those deacons had to bear the brunt of the sufferings and persecutions, like that of St. Stephen, who was the very first martyr or protomartyr of the Church, killed because he was oppressed for his faith in God.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the moment when the Lord appeared to His disciples at the Lake of Galilee where a storm with strong waves and wind were battering at their boat, and they were all very afraid that the boat would sink and then they perished in that lake. But it was at that time the Lord appeared to them and walked on the water, and He told them all not to be afraid, calming the waves and the wind, bringing them all to safety at the shore where they were going to. This was very symbolic and important reminder for all of us that no matter whatever hardships and dangers, trials and tribulations that we may face amidst our struggles in faith, in our commitment to the Lord, He will always be there by our side, guiding and strengthening us, leading us all to the right path.

This is because the boat with the disciples inside it is a representation of the Church of God, which is often represented as a boat, like that of Noah’s Ark that saved Noah and his family, with the other living things inside it, from the Great Flood. The waves and the wind represented the challenges and trials that the Church of God would be facing, the sufferings, persecutions and hardships that the Christian faithful would have to suffer in the path of their lives and ministry as God’s faithful people and missionaries. But all of us must not be afraid, as the Lord, Who is the Head of the Church is with us, and with Him as the Guide and the Leader of all of us, not even the greatest challenges and trials can overcome us, the Church of God, which He has built in this world. This is why we must always keep our focus firmly directed towards God at all times.

Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of Pope St. Martin I, a great leader of the Universal Church and the last among the Popes who died as a martyr for his faith and commitment to God. Pope St. Martin I is a good example of a great leader of the faithful and a role model for all of us in how we should continue to persevere in faith despite the challenges and trials that we may be facing in life. He was an abbot earlier on in life, and eventually becoming the Apostolic Legate of several Popes at the court of the Roman Emperor in Constantinople before being elected as Pope and Successor of St. Peter the Apostle, as leader of the whole Universal Church. And as Pope, he stood firm amidst the heresies and challenges that were rampant among the Imperial court at the time.

At that time, the heresy of Monothelitism was widespread, in which this heresy believed falsely that Christ, Our Lord and Saviour has only one single will, as contrary to the accepted truth and teaching of the Church that Christ has two wills, that corresponds to the two distinct natures He has, that is Divine and Human, though inseparable due to perfect union of love in the Person of Jesus Christ. Yet, this Monothelite heresy brought many people to abandon the true Church teachings, and had the support of even the then Roman Emperor in Constantinople and other powerful members of the court and society. Pope St. Martin I strongly condemned the Monothelite heresy, and convened the Lateran Council in the year of Our Lord 649 to address this heresy. As a result, he was arrested by the Emperor with false accusation of treason, was imprisoned and eventually banished, where he died as a martyr of the Church.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Scripture readings today and the examples of the life and ministry of Pope St. Martin I showed and reminded us all that we are likely to face sufferings, difficulties and hardships amidst our lives and journey of faith as Christians, and unless we remain focused on the Lord, Our Hope and Guide, then it may be easy for us to be swayed and to be tempted to abandon the Church, where we may then end up being swept away by the currents of worldly temptations into our downfall and destruction. Instead, all of these should remind us to keep firmly faithful in our commitment to the Lord, to proclaim Him ever more faithfully at all times. May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to help and lead us in our journey of faith, and in our respective missions as Christians, now and always. Amen.