Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings are reminders for us all that we ought to go forth and preach the Good News of God to all the peoples, and not to be afraid or to be fearful of repercussion and the persecution by the world. The world may not like us and what we believe in, but remember, brethren, that they have not welcomed the Lord Jesus either, and neither had they welcomed the Apostles and the disciples of our Lord.
We are often not aware that being Christians does not mean just being passive and knowing that all of us have been saved. There are so many things that all of us can still do, and indeed, are expected to do. The Apostles certainly did not remain quiet and passive during the days and months after Jesus had risen from the dead and after He had ascended into heaven.
They healed the people from their sickness, performing many miracles in the Name of the Lord, and they most importantly, preached the truth and the salvation in Jesus Christ to the people, despite the staunch and fervent opposition from the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law, the chief priests and the elders, those who had been against the Lord Jesus once, and now also opposed the good works of God continued through His Apostles and disciples.
But even though they were persecuted and put to trial, mocked and cast out from the society, imprisoned and tortured, they continued to keep up their faith, and they resisted the attempts of those who were trying to persuade them otherwise, either through persuasion or through force. They stood up for the Lord, and for all those who deserve salvation from hearing the word of truth that they preach.
The problem lies in that many of us may think that their work has been completed, and seeing the state of our Church today, with its over a billion members, then surely everything is good, the Church is thriving, and there is nothing much that we need to do, as after all, we are no longer in those eras when the Church and the faithful ones were persecuted. But is this the case? Is it true that there is nothing that we need to do, or that we can do?
No, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important that we remember how the Lord Jesus commissioned His disciples to spread forth the Good News of salvation to all the peoples all over the world, preaching to them and showing them the truth. But while this have been mostly done, and countless people have heard and been saved by believing in Jesus and His truth, but there are still so many others who are out of reach of the salvation in Christ.
And inside the Church itself, are we confident to say that all of us Christians are truly believing in God and obeying all of His laws and commandments? Do we even realise how many of us in the Church actually do not believe in all of the teachings of the Church, picking only what we want to believe, or like to believe and rejecting those which we do not like? That is not what a true Christian should be.
And how many of us are lukewarm about our faith? How many of us do not see the importance of doing what the Lord had taught us and shown us through His many teachings, and all the truth which He had spoken? This is important, brethren, as if we are not careful, the temptations of the world and even persecution to come, may just be strong enough and persuasive enough to pull us away from the path towards God’s salvation.
Let us all in this Easter season commit ourselves anew to God and to His ways, and in our words, our deeds and actions, in all the things that we do in our respective lives, in our interactions with one another, let us all devote ourselves, our time and effort to bring ourselves closer to God, and to help lead one another into the salvation found only in Christ our Lord. May God help us and bless us in our endeavours always. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 