Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, as we continue the discourse from the Sacred Scriptures, we listened to the tale of Noah and his Ark, which endured the great flood with all of his family and with all of kinds of living animals and plants. Noah was saved from damnation and utter distraction because of his faith, dedication to God and to His ways, there is a new hope that arises within us, because God did not forget His beloved ones, and neither did He want to see us perish.

He had sent the great flood to the earth, wiping out all mankind save for Noah, for they were wicked and they refused to repent, and therefore, they met their fated destruction, because of their inability to change themselves and their ways of life. They died and perished because of their own sins, the result of their disobedience against God and His ways.

Noah alone had remained faithful, and therefore, God extended His protection and grace over him and his whole family, that he would not be counted among the wicked and the unjust, and perish with them. Instead, he was carried away safely in the Ark with his whole family, and from him descended all the sons and daughters of man, all the way down the generations to us today.

We are all around in this world because God has had mercy on our ancestors, on our forefathers. He has showed His love and forgiveness to them, and there were those among them who believed in God, turned away from their sins and followed Him. These were the ones who passed down their faith to their descendants, and from them, and also through the Church, we receive our faith.

And so great was God’s love for us that He gave us help and assistance throughout time, that whenever we fall into sin, He would give us His guides, prophets and messengers to remind us all of the true and right path, so that we would not fall deeper into the darkness and sin. There were many of those who refused to listen and therefore perish, but there were also those who listened to the Lord’s call, believed, and were saved.

Ultimately, He also gave us Himself through Jesus Christ His Son, Who came into the world in order to save us. He has done His many miraculous works, as what we heard in the Gospel today, healing those who were blind, and also those who were deaf, mute, paralysed, and also those who were afflicted and possessed by demons and wicked spirits.

He came into this world to rescue us, that we may not sink into the multitudes of our sins, and all the wickedness that are all around us. To this extent, He has established His Church, through which He gathered all those who believe in Him, and bring them to safety. For often the Church is likened to a boat, a ship sailing through the turbulent waters of this world. It was indeed just as how the Ark of Noah saved him and his family, with many other animals and plants from the destruction by the great flood.

God had given us all so much of His love, and now what we all need to do, is to replicate the same love which He had given us. We should not harden our hearts so much so that we became like those people living at Noah’s time, who must have laughed at Noah and mocked him for obeying the Lord’s command to build a great Ark. It was only when it was too late for them, when the flood took over them, that they realised their folly. But it was way too late for them.

Let us all spend some time to reflect on this matter, and learn to put forth more of our effort to love the Lord, by obeying Him and by listening to His words, following in His laws and commandments, so that in everything we say and do, we will always be found righteous by God, and be worthy to receive the eternal glory God had promised to all those who remain true and faithful to Him.

May the Lord bless us all and may He strengthen in us our faith, so that we may continue to serve Him with all our heart, and draw closer to Him with each and every passing day. God be with us all. Amen.