Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we heard the continuation of the discourse which St. Paul had with the elders, the bishops, priests and the faithful of the Church in Ephesus, we heard of the reminders that we all should also pay attention to, in how they ought to live their lives faithfully, committed to God. St. Paul reminded the people of Ephesus on what things to expect as they live in faith.

In the Gospel, we also heard about the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ to His Father in heaven, during the moments just before He was about to suffer, to be crucified and to die on the cross. He prayed that the Lord His Father would protect His disciples and keep them from harm’s way, and from the predation and attacks by the evil one. He prayed that they will remain in God’s grace and remain as one people faithful to God.

In all these, there is a similar theme to all, that is the alertness, the readiness and the care which all of us must take against the encroachments of evil, the allure and the pull of darkness, and all the methods and ways which the devil and its fellow allies are using against each one of us who are faithful to God. We must realise that the danger and the threat are ever present, and we cannot be less prepared or be less aware of the danger.

As Christians, and indeed as human beings, all of us are always presented with choices in our respective lives. And with each of the choices we made, we are presented with the consequences that are inevitable to come for each of these choices that we made. If we act in ways that are contrary to God’s laws and teachings, then we only invite harm and danger to ourselves, and then, it is not only affecting us, but in fact, also others around us.

How is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is because we mankind are visual and auditory creatures, and we form our judgments and ideas based on what we see, what we hear and what we witness in others. How would people believe in us, no matter what we show them and teach them, if we as Christians do not act as how Christians should act? Indeed, if we do things that are contrary to our faith, we even would scandalise our faith, and prevent people from ever reaching salvation.

And if by our actions we have caused our fellow brethren to be condemned and thrown into hell, then we too would be held responsible for their downfall. We should have inspired them and helped them to attain salvation in God, and yet, what we have done had merely made them to go even further in their own sinful ways and prevent them from approaching the Lord through faith, because they saw in us the wickedness of the faithful.

Therefore, all of us today are challenged, just as St. Paul had reminded and challenged the elders, the bishops and the shepherds of God’s people in Ephesus. And this challenge is that we all should live our lives faithfully as Christians, and we should devote our time and our actions to be truly worthy of being called as Christians, that is by obeying the Lord in all of His laws and commandments, loving and caring for our fellow brethren, and acting with full faith in God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the challenge has been given to us. Are we up to the challenge? It is up to us to choose whether we want to walk in this path, difficult and challenging, but reaps rich rewards of eternal life and glory in God, or we rather follow the path that is offered to us, the easier path of the world that leads to uncertainty and even to damnation.

Let us pray for discernment, that God will strengthen our faith and our resolve. May all of us be ever more courageous to carry out the laws and commandments of God in all of our actions, even if those actions may not be viewed favourably by others around us. Let us remember that we live to serve the Lord and not to serve the world. Let us all work together, so that hopefully at the end of the days, when the Lord comes again to claim us His faithful ones, He may find us worthy and just, and thus bring us to everlasting life. God bless us all. Amen.