Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all presented with the story of the great love of God that had been given to His people, as He generously provided for them and helped them throughout their time and journey in the desert, after their Exodus from their land of slavery in Egypt. God patiently cared for them, gave them food and blessed them even despite their many faults and sins, their stubbornness. And we are all also reminded of how the Lord has given us all His love and truth, and how all of these should be nurtured in us as we heard from the parable of the sower in our Gospel passage today. Each one of us must realise just how blessed we are to have been beloved in such a way by God, and how fortunate we are that the Lord has always kindly watched over us, providing for us and strengthening us despite our many stubborn attitudes.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Exodus, we heard of the story of the journey of the Israelites, who had been led out of their enslavement in the land of Egypt by God, their Lord and Master, through the actions and leadership of Moses, the servant of God. The Israelites had been freed from the sufferings and the humiliation that they had to face in Egypt, and God led them through the desert on their journey to the Promised Land. But as we have heard in that reading passage today, no sooner than they have left the land of Egypt that they lost their faith in God and ended up complaining and being angry against God for having freed them from their slavery in Egypt. Their reason? As mentioned in the Book of Exodus, those Israelites said that they could have all the meat and bread they wanted in Egypt, although they were enslaved, while in the desert they did not have such a luxury.

This is truly the mindset and also shows us the lukewarmness of the faith of those people whom the Lord had endeavoured to bring out of their suffering and humiliation. The Lord had shown them many times His providence, help and love, and even from the days of their ancestors, the Lord has always provided without fail, and everything would be fine in the end. But many among the people of Israel chose to forget about all the love, kindness and compassion which God has shown them through all the years, and chose to be angry against God and to malign Him, accusing Him of leading to their suffering and deaths. But God, in His most patient and compassionate love, chose to be magnanimous, in granting His people their need and desires for food and sustenance, which are something that the Lord would have provided anyway, should the people just be more patient.

Thus, we heard of how God gave His people the bounty of food throughout their long journey in the life-forsaken desert, with the gift of flocks of birds to sustain them all everyday, and also the gift of the heavenly bread, the manna, which God gave to all of His people for them to eat, that they have enough to eat and to be well and strong even as they journeyed through the wilderness and desert. He also gave them water to drink and other providence and sustenance throughout the way. Despite this, if we are familiar with the Book of Exodus and the later books involving the journey of the Israelites to the Promised Land, we surely would have known of how the Israelites have often rebelled against God, complained and being angry at Him, although He has provided and cared for them, even going as far as abandoning Him for other, false and pagan gods and idols.

Yet, God still continued to care for them, and from those who remained faithful, He raised a great new people, while those who have constantly disobeyed Him were crushed and destroyed. The Lord eventually guided those who were faithful and true to His Covenant into the Promised Land, and made them all to settle there in peace and happiness, to enjoy everything that He has promised to them and wanted to give to them. This is then related to what we heard in our Gospel passage today, in the famous parable of the sower. Through the parable of the sower, we heard of the teachings of the Lord, Who told His disciples and all of us how important it is for us to provide the necessary conditions to nurture well the faith and the graces that He has provided for us, as it is easy for us to fall astray and end up losing our way unless we remain vigilant and strongly faithful, in all the ways of our lives.

In the parable of the sower, we heard how the sower sowed the seeds, representing the faith and the truth that God has brought upon us, which have fallen on four different places, namely by the roadside, on a rocky ground with barren soil, among brambles and thistles, and finally on rich and fertile soil. Each one of these represent our attitudes upon listening to the words of the Lord and upon receiving the love and grace of God. Those seeds that fell by the roadside represent all those who have ignored the truth and love of God, and made themselves to be ignorant of the words and teachings of the Lord, which is why they did not have any faith in the Lord, much like those Israelites in the past. Then, those seeds that fell on the rocky ground and barren soil did not manage to grow well because they could not grow proper roots, and they were scorched by the Sun, symbolising those that did not let the truth and love of God to grow roots in them.

Meanwhile, those seeds that fall onto the midst of brambles and thistles were surrounded by those weeds, and while they managed to germinate and grow, they were choked to death by the brambles and thistles, representing those who allowed worldly temptations, desires and evils to lead them to their downfall. Then lastly, those seeds that landed on the rich and fertile soil managed to grow well and ended up with vastly greater returns, which is what will happen when we allow ourselves to grow in faith under great and nurturing environment and conditions, and if we put the effort to live our lives in accordance with God’s Law and commandments, and dedicating ourselves to serve Him at all times, in our every words, actions and deeds, and in our every interactions and dealings with one another.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Joachim and St. Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and hence, they are the grandparents of the Lord Jesus, Our Lord and Saviour. On this occasion too, therefore, we celebrate the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, remembering all those who are elderly in our families, all of our elders and those who have given us their love patiently and constantly, even when they have not been appreciated and when they were tired and facing challenges in their own lives. Like St. Joachim and St. Anne, who had loved and cared for Mary, the Mother of God, since when she was not even born yet, and throughout her formative years. While we did not have a lot of information about them, but we can be very sure that they have brought Mary up very well, that she became a truly worthy being to be the Mother of God and the Saviour, in her exemplary faith and piety, and commitment to God.

Let us all therefore today remember and remind one another not to take those who love us for granted, from our elders and grandparents in particular, and especially more so, our Lord Himself, Who has done so much for us, and Who has unconditionally taken care of us and loved us, despite our constant and frequent disobedience and rebellions. Let us all turn once more towards Him, and strive to make ourselves and our whole lives to be worthy of the Lord, so that we may always grow ever closer to the Lord and be worthy to receive His love and grace. And may the Lord bless us all and our every endeavours, good efforts and works, that we may ever be fruitful in carrying out our actions and works, as good and faithful Christians, in each and every moments of our lives. St. Joachim and St. Anne, pray for us all and pray for our elderly and grandparents in our midst, that God will continue to bless and strengthen them in their lives. Amen.