Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about God Who had given us all His laws and covenant, the commandments and guide on how we ought to live out our lives, in full alignment to His ways and in full and perfect obedience to His laws and ordinances. If we say that we are Christians, then indeed all of us have to be those who do the will of God with all of us heart’s zeal and strength.

In the Gospel today, Jesus challenged the teachers of the Law, the Pharisees and the elders of Israel for their aberration and their twisted following and observance of the Law of God. These people called themselves as pious and holy people, and they maintained that they have been obedient and observant of God’s laws and ordinances, by maintaining close observation and preservation of the laws according to Moses.

But they have not been obedient in the way that God wanted them to. They thought that Jesus tried to destroy and alter the laws that they had tried to protect for many years and generations, without knowing that whatever they attempted to protect had been twisted and turned away from the truth due to years of corruption by human interests and ego.

Yes, this means that instead of truly using the Law to seek out the Lord and to love Him more in all things, they have used the Law to oppress the people, to force upon them customs, observances and rituals that were done for the sake of doing them, and which did not help to bring God’s people closer to God. In all their attempts, they were only trying to satisfy their human needs, the need for praise and adulation for their ‘faith’ rather than true love for the Lord.

Our Lord Jesus showed them the errors of their ways, and thus, He was showing it to us all as well. It was not by showing off our faith, or by public display of prayers and piety that we can be saved, but it is through real and concrete dedication of ourselves, our efforts and our whole beings for the love and the commitment we can show to the Lord.

This means that we should do all things that God had asked us to do, His commandments and laws, because in the first place, we know that we are sinners, and we have been delinquents and rebels, stubborn people who had refused to listen to God in many occasions, and now, knowing that God is full of mercy to all those who are willing to turn from their evil ways and return to Him, then we want to make a difference in our own lives.

How to do so, brothers and sisters in Christ? In this season of Lent in particular, it is the perfect opportunity for us all to renew our faith and to restart our own lives on the path towards righteousness and salvation in God. We cannot call ourselves true Christians if we do not act and behave like one. Being Christians mean that we imitate our Lord Himself in all the things that He had done, and He had indeed shown all these through Jesus His Son, Who came into the world in order to save us.

And this means that we should show care and concern for the poor, for those who are less fortunate than us, either because they had less things than us, or having even little or none to eat and drink, and also those who were unloved and ostracised from the society, making sure that we ourselves do not participate in actions that bring about misery upon others for our own benefits.

Therefore, let us all pray, brothers and sisters in Christ, that we may become ever better and more faithful disciples of our Lord through real action, and may all of us in this season of Lent be completely and thoroughly converted to the Lord. Let us all turn our every effort, our every focus and attention to God and His ways, and let us sin no more, but do His will from now on with proper understanding, and with genuine love for Him and for our fellow brethren, God’s same children. Amen.