Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord, we are reminded that all of us need to have true and genuine faith in God, believing wholeheartedly in everything which He Himself has presented to us through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Who has come into this world to bring salvation upon each and every one of us. We are all reminded that we should not harden our hearts or be stubborn anymore in refusing to listen to the Lord or to obey His will, because we think that we know it better than others and thinking that we are superior in all things compared to those who are around us. Instead, we should grow more humble, even the greater we are and our achievements in life. As Christians, this is what we have been reminded to do.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in Rome, we are reminded by the Apostle’s words that each and every one of us as Christian believers, all of us have received the truth and Good News about the salvation which God has promised and reassured us all through Christ His Son, by Whom He has restored us all to grace and brought all of us to redemption. And therefore, as St. Paul himself mentioned, that he and the other missionaries had been entrusted with the testimonies and the other works meant to spread the words of God’s truth to many more people, and therefore, they ought to continue to do great works for the greater glory of God and especially not for their own glory.

That was why St. Paul presented this clearly to the faithful in Rome and also to the other missionaries, reminding them all that they were all truly the servants of God Most High, the ones whom the Lord had entrusted with the mission to reach out to those whom He had been willing to reveal Himself and His truth to, and in all of their actions and works therefore, they ought to keep in mind that they did not do all these things for their own glory and pursuits of worldly power and fame, but instead, as what we all should do ourselves, in our own lives and actions, we should always put God at the heart and centre of everything that we say and do, and we should always walk in the path that He has shown us instead of allowing ourselves to be misled by greed and pride.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus directed to all those who questioned Him and kept on asking Him to perform signs, miracles and wonders before them. Those people had in fact witnessed everything which the Lord had performed, all His miracles, signs and wonders, in all the parts of Galilee where the Lord had often worked and taught to those assembled to listen to Him. But despite having seen and heard everything, and having experienced what the Lord had done and brought to them, they continued to doubt and refuse to accept the truth that had been presented. It was likely that some of those people either belonged to the group of the Pharisees or might have been their supporters.

Why was that so? That is because the Pharisees were back then the religious and intellectual elites of the community of the Jewish people, and they were very rigid and particular in their understanding and application of the Law of Moses and the Jewish customs at that time. They also had a rather elitist and attitude thinking that they were better and morally superior compared to those around them, and that was why they, in their pride and ego, refused to accept that they could be wrong or flawed in their ways, or that anyone else could have known better than them in the matter of the faith and the Law of God. That was why despite having seen so many evidence and signs presented before them, they still doubted and refused to believe the clear truth from God Himself.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to these readings from the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that we should always strive to do our best in all things to be faithful to God, to trust in Him and to believe in Him beyond the superficials like how those Pharisees and those who doubted the Lord behaved. We should believe in the Lord even when we cannot see His works and miracles, wonders and power directly in our lives, as many of God’s works may be very subtle for us to see and realise. And yet, we must continue to be assured that God has always been by our side, journeying with us and supporting us throughout the way. God will always be there for us as He truly loves each one of us, and He wants us all to know that if we remain faithful in Him, our faith in Him will not disappoint us.

As Christians, each and every one of us are called to be the shining beacons of God’s light and truth, to be the ones to transmit the faith that we have in Him, true faith that is truly innate within us and faith that is not merely based on external appearances or affirmation from those around us. Instead, we should have faith that truly endures and is truly organic and living, through our faithful and dedicated commitment to God in all things, in how we practice our faith even in the smallest things that we say and do, in loving Him wholeheartedly and also even more importantly, in how we love those whom we love around us and also those whom we encounter each day in our lives. How we carry out our lives reflect on our true nature as Christians and as those whom God had called and chosen.

May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen each and every one of us in our paths, in all the things we carry out in life, in our every actions, words and deeds so that in all things we may always be good examples and inspirations for everyone around us, to all those whom we encounter each day. May He continue to provide us with the strength and blessings necessary that we may continue to persevere in glorifying Him at all times through our good works and efforts. Amen.