Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord contained within the Sacred Scriptures, we are being reminded that God and His love for each and every one of us is so great that no one among us will be left out from His most generous and wonderful love, which has always been given to us without limits and boundaries, in His desire to see us all prosper and safe from harm and danger. He has always listened to our prayers especially during times of distress, and He sees the faith that we have for Him. There is nothing that the Lord cannot do for us, especially if it is within His will and desire for us. That is why through what we have heard in our Scripture readings, we are reminded to always have faith in the Lord and to trust in Him wholeheartedly.

In our first reading, we heard from the Book of Genesis in which the story of Abraham and his sons, Ishmael and Isaac, was told to us. Earlier on this week, as we heard from our passage taken from the Book of Genesis, Ishmael, the firstborn son of Abraham came to be because of the plans laid down by Sarah, his wife, in trying to get a son for herself and Abraham by giving her own slave Hagar to be the mother of the child. According to the customs and practices of the time, if the slave of a woman had a child with her owner’s husband, then that child would be considered as a legal child belonging to her master and not her own. As such, Ishmael was indeed considered as a legal heir to Abraham, who had been childless for a long time and been waiting to have a child that God had promised him and Sarah.

But that was not what God had planned for them, and indeed, God’s promises would be fulfilled perfectly with the arrival of Isaac, the promised son who was born miraculously by Sarah for Abraham. And with Isaac and Ishmael both being the sons of Abraham, that set the stage for confrontation between both of them and also the frictions that arose between them, and also that of Sarah and Hagar, their respective parents. And this eventually led to Sarah asking Abraham to cast both Hagar and Ishmael out, to definitively show that Isaac was the only one meant to be the heir and successor of Abraham, and not Ishmael. God reassured Abraham, telling him to do what Sarah had asked, and that He would also take care of Ishmael and bless him greatly as he was also a son of Abraham.

This is a reminder for all of us of how great God’s love for each one of us are, because even though Ishmael was not conceived and born with the approval of God, but God made all things into good things in the end, and even though it was not ideal, but God was so full of love for each one of us that He turned all things to be good in the end, making everything to be part of His grand design, while giving us the freedom to choose our action and path in life. He took care of Hagar and Ishmael, fulfilling what He had promised to Abraham in turn, making Ishmael to be a father of many nations just as Isaac also did. God did not abandon Hagar and Ishmael when they were abandoned and were struggling in the desert, but took good care of them and blessed them.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, as we heard from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, the account of how the Lord Jesus cast out demons and evil spirits from within two men who had been afflicted and possessed by them was highlighted to us. The Lord ordered those evil spirits to get out of the two men to the herd of pigs that happened to be nearby. Those evil spirits obeyed the Lord and went to those pigs, which therefore were driven crazy and ran towards a nearby cliff and jumped down, all perishing together as a herd. Through what we have heard, the Lord provided for those two men, and extended His help to them when they were so afflicted by those evil spirits, and freed them from their troubles.

And we heard how He did this when no one else dared to come near to them because of the great ferocity of the evil spirits afflicting the two men. The Lord came to those two men, not fearing them and full of love and compassion, knowing that each one of them were truly dear and beloved to Him, and the Lord did not want them to be under the subject and the domination of the evil ones any longer. He reached out to them and saved them, bringing those who have been in darkness back into the light, restoring hope and true joy to those who have been deep in darkness and despair, not allowing evil to dominate us any longer. That is why we have to appreciate all the love we have received from God and all these generous wonders we have received, and not to take them for granted.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore renew our faith in the Lord and remember firmly the love and kindness which we have received from God. Let us appreciate everything that He had done for us, in ever being patient to reach out to us and touching our lives, showing us all His love without cease and without limit. He has never abandoned us even when we have frequently disobeyed Him and abandoned Him, time and again. The Lord has been there for us in our good and bad times, and when things are the darkest for us, He has always helped us, lifted us up and restored us from our fallen state into the renewed existence in Him, full of His love and grace, and strengthened with His light and hope.

May the Lord continue to grant us His great and most wonderful love, the generous love and kindness, compassion and all the tender mercy which He has always shown us. May He continue to help and guide us to remain truly committed and faithful to Him at all times, even when we are facing lots of hardships, uncertainties and troubles in life, so that by remaining firm and committed to Him, we may be reassured and strengthened, and will not lose our focus and emphasis in Him, and that we may truly be able to walk down this path that He has shown and led us through. May God bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.