Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, through the Scripture passages which had been chosen for us today, we are reminded by what St. Paul told the Jews at the synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia, on the history of the salvation of all mankind by God. The people of God whom He had chosen, He had led and guided through the many tribulations and difficulties, and He had given them the way to follow through by the means of His servants and messengers.

They all had spoken about Him, about the love He had for them, and which He Himself had proven time and time again, by liberating His people from their oppressors, bringing them to the land He had promised them. And when they erred, He sent messengers and prophets to them in order to guide them, through advice and through hard work, to wake the people up from their sinfulness and to stir them from their darkness, that they might turn back on the darkness and return to the light.

And we ourselves, have received the same revelation of truth through the Church, by the hands and the works of the people who have laboured tirelessly for the sake of God’s people, especially our bishops and priests, and also many other countless people involved in the good works of Christ’s Church on earth, all the volunteers and laymen who volunteered and made use of their time and efforts, talents and abilities to advance the good cause of the Lord.

We have heard about the faith from them, from our priests, from our catechists and teachers in the faith, and also from our relatives and friends, those who have kept the faith, and themselves received the faith from their predecessors. This is how they came to believe in God, and how we ourselves, in turn, come to believe in God, in His teachings and in His ways.

Yet, we also have to realise that there are still many people out there who have not yet known God’s light, or that the Lord’s light had come to them, and yet they rejected it out of various reasons, be it ignorance, or be it the lack of faith, or be it because the temptations and falsehoods that were spread by the devil that prevented the faith from taking up roots in them.

It is therefore now up to us all, to continue the good works that the Lord and His faithful servants had begun in this world, beginning from the messengers and the prophets, from Moses to king David, and to all the other prophets sent to lead the people of God to Him. They have done much work, and the same responsibilities now pass down to us, to share the Good News we have received, and the joy we have had in the Lord, with all those who have not yet witnessed it.

And how do we do this, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is not by great deeds or miraculous works that we perform all of these, but rather through simple and yet regular and necessary deeds in our lives, by our interactions with those whom we meet and interact with in our regular lives. This is where it is important that all of us Christians must act in accordance with what we believed in, and in what we have been taught through faith.

Otherwise, how would others then come to believe in us? And instead of bringing the people closer to God, we will keep them away instead, as our actions that are not in accordance with the ways of the Lord bring about scandal to Him and to our faith. If we do this, we would have sinned against God, and against our fellow brethren, and that is clearly what we should not have done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore commit ourselves to serve the Lord with a renewed zeal, so that through us the will of God and the good works of God may be made a reality among us all, and more and more people will come to know of the Lord’s truth and salvation, and therefore, seek to find the Lord and repent from their sins, so that their souls will no longer be lost in the darkness, but instead come to the light of Christ.

May the Lord empower us all to live with faith in His presence, so that we shall no longer commit deeds that are sinful and disobedient against Him, but instead seek to be ever more committed and faithful to Him, and thus, leading others with our good examples, that all of us may be saved together through Jesus Christ, our Lord. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.