Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded of the fact that we serve the Lord not for our own glory but for the greater glory of God, and we should always listen to the Lord and keep His commandments and words. We should always strive to proclaim the Lord’s truth, His love and Good News together, to glorify Him with all of our hearts and might at every opportunities provided to us. We must not be easily swayed by the temptations of worldly glory, ambition and all the other things that may easily mislead us down the wrong path in life. We must always be focused on the Lord and do our very best in our every moments in life so that we will always be firmly rooted in our faith and commitment to Him, to live our lives as Christians each day and every moments to the best of our abilities.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the time when St. Paul and St. Barnabas was cast out from the place they were in because of the machinations of their opponents, some of the Jews and pagans  who were hostile to their efforts at evangelisation and mission, and how they then ended up in Lystra, where they performed more works and miracles, healing a crippled man in the Name of the Lord Jesus. And as we heard, there in that place the deed quickly became known to all the people, many if not most of whom were pagans, who believe in the Greek pantheon, and hence why the people considered the two Apostles as their gods that had come down in human forms, appearing before them.

For the context, for those who are not familiar with the Greek mythology and gods, this was what the Greek gods were commonly believed to do, as they regularly walked among the people in human form, taking up avatars and forms familiar to mankind, and interacting withthem, the mortals in various ways and means. That was why the miracle performed by St. Paul and St. Barnabas was easily mistaken by those people in Lystra as the actions of their pagan gods, and as we heard, they began treating both of the Apostles like as if they were their gods manifesting themselves in human forms, bringing sacrifices and offerings to them. The two Apostles were trying hard but mostly in vain in trying to persuade the people with the truth, that they were bringing unto them the revelation from the true God and Master of all.

St. Paul and St. Barnabas could have also been swayed by the temptations of power and glory, as those two Apostles were treated literally like kings and gods, and with all the adoration and praise from everyone in that place, it was easy for anyone with weak or no faith to succumb to the temptations of worldly power and glory. But they remained firm in their faith and in their commitment to the Lord, and did not let any temptations or pressures to affect them, as they continued to proclaim the Lord and His truth to the people, no matter how they were unwilling to listen to them and acting as if they were really their gods. To do such an action required great amount of faith and dedication, as well as humility and the strong desire to serve the Lord, and not doing things for one’s own glory and personal ambitions.

Then, as we listened from our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, the Lord Jesus told His disciples that He and the Father are really one and the same, and that all of them who obey Him also obey the Father, and those who listen to His commandments, the commandments that He revealed and presented to the disciples and all those whom He had taught, have also listened to the same commandments that the Lord has revealed from the time of Moses. Essentially, the Lord Jesus was highlighting that He is indeed the true Messiah, the One Whom the prophets since the ancient days had been prophesying and proclaiming about, and which the people had long awaited for, and yet, when He finally came into this world, many among the people, particularly among the leaders were skeptical and even hostile against Him.

Thus, the Lord reassured His disciples that everything that He had told them all were indeed true, and they were the witnesses of everything that He had done before them, all that He had taught and told them about the truth about Himself and His relationship with the Father, of which He as the Son and the Father are One and the same. Back then, in the Jewish community, there was no understanding and knowledge of the true nature of God that is in fact a Holy Trinity, of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and therefore, what the Lord Jesus presented to the disciples must also have been something that was quite difficult for the disciples to understand the words and revelations of the Lord to them, but the Lord kept on slowly and gradually teaching and enlightening their minds about His truth.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to put our trust and focus on the Lord, doing our very best to let Him be known to everyone we meet and encounter in life, not just through words but also through our actions in being good role models as faithful disciples and followers of Christ. In everything that we say and do, in all of our interactions, let us all be good and worthy bearers of our Christian faith and examples at all times, being the beacons of God’s light to everyone whom we encounter in our lives, to our communities and in our world today. That is what all of us have been entrusted by God to do as Christians, as those whom He has called and chosen, and entrusted with the truth and commandments that He has given us all through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

May the Risen Lord continue to help and guide us all in our journey in life, and may He continue to strengthen us all in our every good efforts, works and endeavours, doing them for the greater glory of God and for the salvation of more souls. May all of us continue to be blessed with the strength and courage to carry out the missions entrusted to each one of us in our various and unique circumstances and opportunities, now and always. Amen.