Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are reminded through the words of the Sacred Scriptures that we have received in which focused on the matter of the Law and commandments of God, which we all have received from the Lord through His Church and the Scriptures themselves. We are reminded this Sunday that the Law of God is not just meant for us to follow and obey blindly, but we must truly understand the true meaning, purpose and intentions of such Law and commandments so that we can become better, more faithful and more loving Christians in all things. We cannot be shallow in our faith and be merely paying lip service or be hypocrites in how we live our Christian lives and in how we follow the Law and commandments of God, but we must always be sincere and genuine in following God wholeheartedly at all times.

In our first reading today from the Book of Deuteronomy, we are reminded that the Law that God has given us all originated from the Law which the Lord Himself has shown and revealed to His first called people, the Israelites, through Moses, and therefore was also known as the Law of Moses. It was composed of the famous Ten Commandments and also the many rules and regulations that accompanied the Law. All those laws and rules, commandments and precepts were all meant by God to help and guide His people in their path and in their journey towards becoming a people truly blessed by God. However, in time, such Law, commandments and all of the precepts became blurred in their intentions and purposes, and the people grew to forget what their significance truly were in the first place.

That was why by the time of the Lord’s ministry and life, the Law and commandments of God had become a shadow of its original intent and purposes, with the people who were entrusted with its guardianship and safekeeping, namely the teachers of the Law and Pharisees being more concerned with the manner of how the Law and the commandments were enforced and lived, followed through and obeyed, in all of its intricate details, particularly with the additions and modifications made on them over the centuries, rather than truly understanding their significance and purpose, that is to teach everyone, all the people of God how to love Him and how to love their fellow brothers and sisters all around them. This is what truly matters, instead of how many among the Pharisees using them to discredit and being biased against those they deemed to be inferior.

Then, from our second reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the region of Colossae in Phyrgia in Asia Minor, we heard of the Apostle describing the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of all as the Image of the Unseen God, the Firstborn of all, and the One through Whom God had created the whole world and the Universe. He is the Logos, the Incarnate Word of God, the Divine Son of God made Flesh, becoming the Son of Man, and He is indeed the perfect manifestation of God’s Love, His Law and commandments being made visible, tangible and real for all of us, that God is no longer a distant concept, but as One Who is truly present among us and within us all.

That is why all of us who have received this great grace from God, of knowing His love personally and most wonderfully, which He had made through the sending of His only Begotten Son, we should indeed be grateful and thankful of everything we have received, and at the same time, we should also realise what the Lord truly wants us to do with our lives, in following His Law and commandments in the right way and with the right purpose and intentions. As the Head of the Church, Christ has shown us all what it truly means for all of us to be Christians, to be the ones whom He had called and chosen from the world to be His own, to be loved by Him and to be the examples and inspirations for everyone around us in our way of life so that many more may come to know what it means to follow the Lord, His Law and commandments in the right manner.

Lastly, from our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we are all reminded of what the true meaning and purpose of the Law of God is, as we heard of the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples and followers, and to a teacher of the Law who asked of Him regarding what he ought to do to gain eternal life, and then regarding the Law and the commandments which he and the other teachers of the Law had always held very sacred and committed to guard and fulfil, the Lord then used the parable of the Good Samaritan to make it clear to all of them and to His disciples. This is important because the Samaritans from the perspective of the Jewish people at the time had a rather low regard and they were seen as heretics and even pagans, classified as the same level as sinners like prostitutes, tax collectors and those deemed to be unworthy of God.

But in that story of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan was clearly the protagonist of the story, unlike the behaviour of the priest and the Levite who passed by and ignored the plight of the man who had been beset by bandits and robbers and left to die on the way to Jericho. And this comparison is significant because the Samaritans as mentioned were seen as sinners and wicked people, while the priests were highly revered in the Jewish community as the ones who were offering the sacrificial offerings and prayers to God on behalf of the people, while the Levites were the members of the tribe that had been consecrated and dedicated to God, and from among whom the members of the priesthood came from, and hence, shared the same respect and honour as the priests themselves.

Therefore the irony in that parable story was that the ones who were supposedly the most devout, most pious and the ones who got the positive outlook and respect from the people were the ones that ignored the sufferings and hardships of their own brother, who was evidently from the story of the Lord, was also a fellow Jew. It was in fact a Samaritan, which at that time could be said as the bitter enemy of the Jewish people, who actually bothered to stop and help the wounded man, who was on the verge of death. Not only that, but the Samaritan in fact went the extra mile to help the wounded man, telling the innkeeper to take good care of the man, and how he would return and pay any extra expenses that the man incurred should his injuries required longer recuperation time.

Now, that is what the true intention and meaning of the Law of God is, what the Lord had wanted us all to learn, that is to love as He Himself has loved all of us, without limit and without boundary. To love everyone generously and sincerely, and even more so to those whom we love and are dear to us. And we cannot be biased and prejudiced against others simply because of our man-made divisions and categorising, that ‘us-vs-them’ attitude that often directed our actions and way of interacting with those whom we encounter, like how the Jews and the Samaritans were often at each others’ throats. For us to be true and genuine Christians, and to obey His Law and commandments authentically, we ought to learn to love as the Lord Himself has loved, as how the Good Samaritan has loved, so generously and so sincerely.

Now, are we all ready and willing to follow the Lord faithfully in the manner that He has called us to do? Are we willing to follow Him in His Law and commandments in the manner that He Himself has shown and taught us, in loving others around us sincerely and generously, and not only showing outward expression of faith, but by truly being filled with God’s love, and sharing that love to others, to be faithful at all times and to share our hope in God’s light and truth to everyone we encounter in life, at all times? May all of us be inspired and strengthened in all these, and may God bless our every endeavours made with truly generous love, all for His greater glory. Amen.