Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded ever always of God’s providence and love, especially in moments when we are suffering and enduring challenges, trials and difficulties in life. There may be many moments when the world may be very difficult for us to live in, and when everything seems to be terrible for us, when it may seem impossible for us to carry on in life. However, we must not forget that the Lord our God will always be by our side, protecting and providing for us even when we do not realise it. He is always there guiding us and helping us to walk down the right path, encouraging us and strengthening us by His Presence and through the Holy Spirit, and we should not forget this fact or ignore His Presence and existence in our journey.
In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Job, we heard the conclusion of the story of Job, the faithful man of God who suffered from the attacks of the evil one, Satan, who tried to prove to God that Job would fall into sin if he was to lose all the blessings and the good things which he had received from God. Job lost almost everything in the events that happened, his great wealth, his family and loved ones and even his health and body was affected. But Job did not lose faith in the Lord and continued to be faithful to Him throughout all of His ordeals and difficulties. He did not let all those challenges and trials to dissuade and tempt him away from the path that God has led him through. Job continued to hold fast and strongly in the faith that he has always had in the Lord. Despite all the attacks he also faced from his friends, who accused him of wrongdoings to have merited such a suffering, he remained steadfast.
Job did face a lot of struggles and also moments of despair, which he had to endure throughout his path of suffering as he did experience all the pain and sorrows associated with what he had to persevere through at that time. He had his doubts and uncertainties, but he never let his fears to tempt him away from God. But God did rebuke Job for his despair and for having questioned himself and his faith because of his sufferings and the opposition he faced from his peers. He should not have doubted himself and his self-value, and he should have continued to trust in the Lord wholeheartedly, and indeed, the Lord rewarded His faithful one, Job, most wonderfully, double than everything that he had once received and been blessed with, showing that God indeed is the source of everything that is good, and if we have trust and faith in Him, then truly we shall not be disappointed.
In our Gospel passage today, we then heard about the account from the Gospel of St. Luke in which the Lord Jesus had His disciples that He sent out earlier returning to Him with great joy because of all the wonders, signs and works that they had performed among the people through the power and authority which the Lord Himself has granted to them all. They had healed many of the sick brought to them and showed power and authority against the evil spirits and demons, casting them out from those who had been possessed. Never before had this power and works had been shown among the people of God, and they all received this great grace of God from none other than the Saviour of the world Himself, the Divine Son of God Incarnate, Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
Through Him we have received the assurance of God’s love and providence, and the assurance of His salvation. We heard the Lord proclaiming the downfall and destruction of Satan, because it was indeed what was happening to the order of the world, to the power and dominion of Satan, the evil one, who had ruled and held dominion for so long over all of us through sin. By His power and authority, and by the great love and kindness, compassion and generosity which He has always had for us, God Himself has rescued us from the destruction and damnation that threatened because of our sins and wickedness. God would not let us all to be lost from Him, and He did whatever He could so that through His providence and help, through His Son, our Lord and Saviour, we are shown the path to eternal life.
The Lord also proclaimed before His disciples everything that God had done through Him, the manifested and incarnate Son of God, fulfilling every promises and reassurances which He has promised to each and every one of us and our predecessors. God has manifested Himself in His Son, making Himself approachable to us and allowing us all to share in this generous love. And through Him, the revelation of God’s truth and love had been made to us, showing to us just how faithful and loving God has always been towards us, from the very beginning. He reassured us all with His love, showing us that He has always desired to be reunited and reconciled with us. God showed us all His power and majesty, overcoming even the mighty power of Satan and the forces of this world, to rescue us and to bring us all back to His Presence, much as He had done for Job earlier on.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the significance of this to all of us is that we must always continue to trust in the Lord our God, in all things and at all circumstances of our journey in life. We may encounter lots of trials, challenges, obstacles and difficulties in our path, but we should not allow all these to distract us from the Lord and from dissuading and coercing us to abandon the Lord and instead to seek other sources of desire, hope and satisfaction. We must always continue to stand by the Lord and uphold our faith in Him, obey and follow His Law and commandments, resisting the challenges, difficulties, trials and temptations, all of which had threatened to lead us away from the Lord and His path. All of us should continue to trust in the Lord at all times and be the examples and inspirations for one another in faith.
May the Lord continue to help, guide and inspire us all with His strength, love and compassion, and grant us all the Holy Spirit and the power to persevere through the various challenges in life, and may He continue to love us all generously as He has always done. May the Lord be with us all and may He bless our lives and works, our every efforts and endeavours in all things, now and always, forevermore. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 