Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are called to live faithfully in the Lord and to commit ourselves to the path which the Lord has shown to us so that we may truly bear rich fruits of our Christian faith. Each and every one of us are reminded that as Christians, our lives cannot be idle and devoid of virtues and good deeds, for if we do not live our lives as Christians should live, then we may end up scandalising our faith and our Christian way of life, as well as besmirching the Holy Name of God. We Christians are known by our fruits, the fruits of our Christian faith, that is our actions and lives that are truly in accordance with God and His ways, as we live out our lives faithfully each day in His Presence. Those who profess to be Christians and yet act in a different manner are truly deficient and dead in faith.
In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard of the words of the Lord to His people, the Israelites and their remnants, which was at that time in exile in Babylon and in other places, that He would renew His people, just as they had fallen from grace and been cast down into defeat and exile from their homeland. The Lord used the allusion to a cedar tree to show how the Lord would renew the cedar tree, that a new sapling would regrow and be reestablished on the mountain of Israel, which firstly showed us all how God would not abandon His people even as He chastised and punished them because of their sins and wickedness. God after all still loved all of His beloved people who were all like His children. And like a loving and caring Father, He wants all of His children to grow up well and in the right way.
This is why He chastised and disciplined them when they disobeyed and refused to follow Him and His ways. The Lord does not want any one of them to be lost to Him forever, which could indeed happen through our disobedience and wickedness, all of which led into sin, and sin brings us all into the dominion of death and eternal damnation, condemned and separated forever from God, from His love and grace. That was why, while mankind disobeyed Him from the very beginning of time, God did not obliterate and destroy them all. He gave them chances and opportunities, again and again for them to return to Him and to find their way once again towards Him. Many had been lost along the way, but not few had been saved from the precipice of destruction, and brought into salvation in God.
In our second reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Corinth in which the Apostle reminded all the faithful people of God that they must all live in faith, in the spirit and not in the way of the flesh. St. Paul often exhorted the faithful to be vigilant and to guard themselves against all those things of the flesh which may cause us mankind to fall into temptation and hence into disobedience against God. Throughout history, many people have fallen into these various temptations, failing to resist all the things that led them to follow the whim of their desires and greed, all the things that kept them from finding the path towards the Lord. When mankind prioritised themselves and forgot about God, His path and His teachings, that is when we are likely to fall into sin and destruction.
That was why the Lord reminded us all through His Apostle St. Paul that as Christians, we are all God’s beloved and holy people, and as is therefore expected from us, we should strive to live each and every moments of our lives worthily of the Lord, by cultivating our faith within us, allowing our faith to continue to grow and flourish throughout time, so that we may truly bear rich fruits and wonderful things and deeds in each and every moments of our lives. This is why we believe that our faith must always be supported and made alive and vibrant, living and true through our actions, by showing it in our love for God first and foremost, and then in our love for one another, for our fellow neighbours, brothers and sisters just as the Lord Himself had taught us.
Without these genuine and real actions, then our faith is no better than those of hypocrites and unbelievers. Those were the faults of many among our predecessors, as they made empty gestures and meaningless faith, while on the other hand, they committed grievous sins and wicked deeds against God and their fellow brothers and sisters alike. That is why we are cautioned that we should not walk down this same path which had led so many of our predecessors towards their downfall and destruction. We should always strive to inspire each other that even in the smallest and simplest things we say and do, we will always strive to embody our Christian faith in all things. This is how we can then make our faith truly alive, and how we can bring real impact and great fruits of our dedication, the fruits of love and hope, the fruits of goodness and virtues in our community of the faithful and in our world today.
In our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel of St. Mark, we heard of the Lord speaking about the parables of the Kingdom of God, comparing the Kingdom of God firstly to a sower of seeds and what happened when the seeds germinate and grow into plants that bear rich fruits and products, and then also to a small and tiny mustard seed which when it germinates and grows, it becomes a great and large tree under which many birds and other animals may take shelter in. All of these are ways for the Lord to explain and to make it clear that each and every one of us are parts of this same Kingdom of God, the Church that the Lord has established in this world, manifesting God’s kingdom and dominion through each and every one of us, through our very lives and efforts.
Through us and our works, our contributions and efforts, each one of us are part of the nurturing of the Kingdom of God being present in our midst, by us all partaking in the good works and efforts of the Church in each and every unique areas in life and in every particular missions and vocations that we have been called into. Through our every actions, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, all these will lead to the blossoming of the Kingdom of God in our midst, and we must never underestimate the impact of our actions. Our actions and way of life can either positively or negatively impact those present around us, as good and virtuous acts and works can truly lead to many others believing and following the Lord as well, and more therefore would be doing good deeds and works, but on the contrary, the same will also happen if we do negative and wicked acts, which may turn people away from the Church and the salvation in God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore realise that each one of us are cooperators of the truth and love of God, each and every one of us are the labourers in the vineyard of the Lord, and we have been called to our respective vocations and ministries, to proclaim the Lord through all of our words and deeds, and to be the shining beacons of God’s truth and Good News. May all of us continue to grow ever stronger in our faith in the Lord, and may the Lord continue to help, guide and support us in our journey throughout life, to do His will and to glorify His Name, now and always. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 