Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we embark on this journey of the Lenten time and season, we are reminded that all of us as Christians, that is all those whom God Himself has called and chosen to be His own people, we are all caleled to live our lives in the manner that is truly worthy and pleasing to God. This means that we should always do our best to walk in the path that God Himself has revealed to us and led us through. We should not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by worldly temptations, glory, desires and all the things which can lead us astray in our path towards God and His salvation. Each and every one of us as Christians should be good role models in living our lives with great and genuine faith at all times.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, we heard of the words of Moses, the one whom God had sent to the midst of His first chosen people, the Israelites, to be the one to lead them out from the land of Egypt to their Promised Land of Canaan where they would dwell in true happiness and satisfaction after many years and decades at least living under the tyranny of the Egyptians. The Lord Himself had led the Israelites out of the land of Egypt through Moses, and defeated their enemies before them, and He also made a Covenant with every one of them at Mount Sinai, putting His Law and commandments to them.

And with those Law and commandments in place, the Lord revealed that as His people, each and every one of them ought to live their lives faithfully in the manner that He has taught and shown them through those same Law and commandments, which in essence were meant to guide and help them all in their manner of living so that their lives and actions, all of those would always be aligned to God and His ways and that they would always live their lives with God at the very centre of their existence as they should all have done.

The Israelites often disobeyed the Lord and rebelled against Him, if we read through the whole account of the Exodus from the Old Testament, and many among those same Israelites perished and died in the desert because of their rebelliousness. They perished and died because of their disobedience and refusal to follow the ways of the Lord, allowing themselves to be swayed by worldly desires and temptations that led them to sin against God. But at the same time, God also revealed that He has always been full of love and mercy towards His people, and wanted them all to be reconciled with Him.

Therefore, Moses as he gathered the people in the latter part of his ministry and towards the end of the long Exodus journey from the land of Egypt to Canaan, he told them all very clearly and bluntly that they all had been given the freedom to choose their course and path in life, and that if they were to choose to obey the Lord, then they would be blessed and receive the bounty of God’s grace. However, like those who had perished earlier on during their sojourn in the desert, should the people of God choose to disobey God, then they would suffer for their disobedience and lack of faith.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples and followers on how He would be betrayed by His own, handed over to His enemies and made to suffer grievously for the sins and mistakes of the people, all of which were due to the wickedness and the ego, pride and greed of those who have frequently opposed the Lord and His efforts to minister to the people of God, such as many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, the Temple authorities, the chief priests and the Sanhedrin and many others.

The Lord also told His disciples and followers that if they want to be His true disciples, then they all ought to take up their crosses and follow Him. Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, what does it really mean by taking up the crosses? It is a figurative speech representing the need for all of us as the disciples and followers of the Lord to follow Him wholeheartedly and confidently, in resisting the temptations of sin and worldly vices, which is a path that is more difficult to take and walk in as compared to following the worldly ways and manners. Hence, this is the cross that all of us have to bear as Christians.

But, we must also remember that we do not carry these crosses alone, by ourselves, as the truth is that, we carry them together with the Lord, and we never suffer alone, as the Lord Himself is always often by our side, providing for us and giving us the strength necessary for us all to persevere and to walk faithfully in the ways that He has revealed to us. When He is calling on us to follow Him, He is not putting unreasonable demand from us, and He is there with us, journeying together with us, as we walk side by side towards His salvation and grace as one people.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, having been reminded of our calling and obligation as Christians, as those whom the Lord had called to be His disciples and followers, let us all live our lives worthily from now on, in obedience to His will, to follow faithfully the Law and commandments that He has passed down to us and taught us all through the Church. Let us all continue to observe this Lenten season faithfully and meaningfully, doing our very best to practice our faith and our Lenten practices with good appreciation and understanding of their importance in our lives. Amen.