Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are again reminded just as yesterday through the readings from the Sacred Scriptures that we should always be vigilant against the temptations of the world. We must always be careful as the evil one and all of his forces are always ever ready to strike at us with all their might, as they are looking for the opportunity to snatch us away from God and His salvation, trying to pull us into our destruction and downfall through the various worldly temptations and desires, just as they had done many times to us and our predecessors in the past. We must keep in mind that each and every one of our actions, words, deeds, interactions and all that we say and do, all will be held accountable by the Lord our God, at the time of our reckoning.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. James, in which St. James the Apostle continued to speak against the wickedness of those who have allowed themselves to be swayed by the temptations of worldly ambitions and glory, those who have allowed the allure of wealth and worldly possessions to lead them to bring about actions that hurt others around them. Many people throughout time and history had acted in manner that bring about suffering and hardships to others, through exploitation and manipulation of those who were weaker, so that those who acted in this selfish and wicked manner could enrich and empower themselves at the cost of those people whom they had stepped on amidst their pursuit for power, riches and worldly glory.

It was against all those people and all those temptations that St. James the Apostle had been speaking out about, an important reminder for all the faithful not to be corrupted by wealth, power and glory that they end up committing things that are against God’s ways and teachings. Too often throughout time and history mankind had been swayed by all those worldly temptations and end up benefitting from the sufferings of others, or even purposefully causing harm to others just so that one could gain profit and benefit to oneself from such heinous and selfish action. St. James also reminded the faithful that all those worldly things and ambitions ultimately would come to nothing as none of those things would last forever or remain amidst the passing of time and none would also bring their worldly wealth and glory beyond the world.

That is why he urged the faithful people of God not to follow that same path to ruin and damnation. He reminded the people that if they allowed themselves to be swayed in such a manner, they would be in serious danger as the temptations of wealth, worldly glory and ambitions are indeed slippery slope that many had found hard to escape from, and if we are not careful, we may find ourselves in a most precarious situation, falling ever deeper into the traps of sin and evil that lead us into our destruction. This is not what the Lord wanted to happen to us, and this is what we all should always be wary of, as we continue to live our lives in our world today. We should also remind one another not to live in such a wicked manner.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord telling His disciples very bluntly about the dangers of sin and the many temptations to sin, and what they ought to do in order to achieve that. As His disciples, the Lord expected those who followed Him and believed in Him to walk faithfully in the path of righteousness and virtue, to be truly committed to this path and to distance themselves from all sorts of temptations and sins that could prevent them from living their lives righteously, or worse still, could pull them ever deeper into the path of sin and destruction. The Lord told them to cast aside whichever things and obstacles, metaphorically referring to tearing their limbs, eyes and other body parts that could lead them into sin.

Of course we must understand that the Lord did not mean to cripple us or to cause us harm. Rather, His intention by using such a graphic message and delivery to His disciples was to highlight firmly how dangerous sin can be, and how harmful sin can be to our soul, leading us to eternity of suffering and damnation in Hell. Such a fate is far worse than any injuries or hardships, sufferings and pains that one could experience from losing parts of their bodies, or from other forms of sufferings. The Lord warned the disciples that Hell is truly real, and we must not delude ourselves thinking that everyone will get to enjoy the fullness of God’s love and compassion, His blessings and graces. If we are separated from Him because of our sins and wickedness, then there is nothing else for us other than an eternity of suffering, regret and despair.

The Lord has given us all many opportunities and means for us to do what He has taught us to do in our lives, to resist the temptations of worldly pleasures and evils, and to embrace once again the path of His grace and love. With our bodies, all the means and blessings that He has given us, He wants us to use them for good and worthy purposes. All these things are not themselves evil, be it money, material possessions and other things in life which we have, as they can be used either good or evil uses and purposes. There are a lot of good things that we can do with whatever blessings which we have received, as well as evil things, and the choice is ours on what we want to do with them. Unfortunately, it was our excessive and unhealthy attachments to those worldly goods and things which had led to us falling into the traps of the evil one, losing our sight on the light and truth of God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard of the reminders from both the Lord Himself and from St. James the Apostle, let us all continue to live our lives from now on with ever greater love and commitment to the Lord. Let our lives by the inspiration and strength to everyone all around us, to be the beacons of the light of God and His Good News to all the people of all the nations. May the Lord continue to bless us all in our endeavours and efforts, and may He empower each and every one of us to always be faithful to His path, to shun evil and wickedness in our lives and to be worthy Christians at all times. Amen.