Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday as we all celebrate the Eighth and the last Sunday before the beginning of the Season and time of Lent, we are all called to keep in mind how all of us carry ourselves in our lives, in our every actions, words and deeds. This is because all of us are ultimately accountable for our actions, and our faith in God truly ought to be made genuine, real and evident through our daily living, in how we carry ourselves and interact with one another, and in how we present ourselves in our society and world today, and not just merely paying lip service to the Lord. Each and every one of us must be active in living our faith in our daily lives, and be the good and worthy disciples and servants of God, in proclaiming God’s truth and love through our own lives and actions.

In our first reading this Sunday, taken from the Book of the prophet Sirach, we heard of the words of the prophet Sirach that brought forth the wisdom of knowing a person by his or her deeds, using the comparison to that of a kiln and its pottery product, or a furnace and its products, a tree and its fruits, among others. It is a reminder for all of us that our faith that we have in us are all ultimately proven through our actions, lives and deeds, in how we all live our lives each day and at every moments of our lives. We cannot truly call ourselves as being faithful to the Lord, committed to Him and His path unless we truly embody our faith in everything that we say and do, in each and every moments of our lives. After all, how can we call ourselves as Christians if we do not live our lives as Christians should, in the manner that the Lord has taught us to do?

Then, from our second reading this Sunday, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city of Corinth, we are all reminded of the dangers of sin which is death, and how St. Paul reassured the faithful that sin and death no longer have their hold and power over us because of what our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, had done for our sake, in offering Himself as the Paschal Lamb of sacrifice for the atonement of all of our innumerable sins and faults. We must first understand that disobedience leads to the existence of sin, as we and our predecessors since the days of Adam had disobeyed the Lord and His commandments, following instead the rebellion of Satan and the fallen angels, and hence, through sin, we have been sundered from the Lord and Master of Life, God Himself, and therefore, falls into the sufferings of death.

However, God does not desire for any one of us to be destroyed because of sin and death, and that is why, He sent unto us His Son to be our Redeemer, and to open for us the sure path towards Himself and His loving Presence. Through Christ, all of us have received the assurance of eternal happiness and life with God, because by His most selfless and loving sacrifice on the Cross, He has offered on our behalf the only worthy sacrifice and offering to blot out all of the corruptions of sin and evil that have afflicted us, and by His perfect obedience, He as the Son of Man and the New Adam, has shown us all the antithesis of the disobedience of man that had led us all into sin and death in the first place. Therefore, through the great love and mercy of God, all of us have received this assurance of salvation.

Our Gospel passage this Sunday, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard again something similar to what we have heard in our first reading from the prophet Sirach, in which the Lord told His disciples and therefore all of us of the need for all of us mankind to reflect upon our lives and actions, on whether we have truly lived our lives worthily of the Lord, by doing what He has commanded us to do, or whether we have allowed ourselves to be swayed easily by the many temptations of worldly glory and pleasures, ambitions and other attachments we may have to all these worldly things which can distract us from the true path towards God and His salvation. We must ourselves first be aware of our own shortcomings and sins, or else, we may not be able to take the right steps towards the Lord.

This was presented by the Lord using the analogy and comparison to the ‘blind leading the blind’ and also the example of how a person who wants to remove the splinter in the other person’s eyes, and yet failed to realise the presence of the ‘plank’ in his own eyes. This is in fact also a subtle criticism that the Lord presented against the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, the religious elites and the elders of the people of the time, many of whom were very proud of their superior knowledge of the Law and their piety to God, and yet, they failed to recognise that they themselves were sinners and unworthy before God, and their way of observing the Law had in fact been flawed as well, and that pride, arrogance and haughtiness had become stumbling blocks in their path towards God without them perhaps realising it.

That is why the Lord reminds all of His disciples and followers, all of us gathered here today that we should always be vigilant against all sorts of the temptations to sin, and continue to grow in our faith and virtues in the Lord, resisting all the temptations of sin and evil, and disconnecting ourselves from all the worldly pursuits of glory and all the other things that may lead us astray away from the Lord. We must always try our best to keep our lives holy and worthy by doing what is right according to the Law of God, and to do His will in each and every moments of our lives, being good inspiration and examples to our brothers and sisters around us, leading by examples as good and faithful servants and disciples of the Lord. We should always be humble in all things and at every circumstances, knowing that we are truly sinners, and it is by God’s grace that we have been made whole again through His mercy and forgiveness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all reflect upon these words of the Sacred Scriptures, let us all continue to commit ourselves to the Lord each day, doing our best to walk in the path of the Lord, being devoted servants of God and being good examples to others, while giving our support to our fellow brethren who may be struggling in their faith and lives. And the best day that we can do this is by trying our best to live lives that are truly committed and obedient to the will of God in our own capacity, and strive to support our brethren in their own efforts and actions, that together as the members of God’s Church, we may persevere together throughout whatever challenges and trials we may have to face along our journey together as one united people of God.

May the Lord, our most loving and compassionate God and Father, continue to guide us all through this journey of faith and life, especially as we begin to prepare ourselves for the upcoming season and time of Lent, to be more aware of our sinfulness and the need for conversion and renewal in our lives, to renew our faith in the Lord and to attune ourselves once more with Him, so that we may draw ever closer to His loving Presence and be ever more courageous in committing ourselves to the path of virtue and righteousness, distancing ourselves from all that is sinful and evil. May the Lord bless our every good efforts and endeavours, and be with us always. Amen.