Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures we are all reminded of the need for all of us to be truly righteous and worthy in everything that we say and do in our lives, in our every interactions with one another, so that each and every one of our works will truly be worthy of the Lord, and that we may always be the great beacons of God’s light and grace to the nations, to everyone who have encountered and been interacting with us, in each and every moments of our lives, even to the smallest actions, the seemingly least significant words, efforts and deeds. All of us should always do our part to proclaim the Lord by our exemplary actions and deeds so that everyone may experience God’s works and love through us.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Proverbs we heard of the reminders from the Lord to His beloved people that they must not do what is evil and wicked in the sight of God and man alike, and they should not treat their fellow brethren with wicked intentions and contempt. Instead, each and every one of them must always be righteous and full of virtue in all things, and they should always be exemplary in their actions, words and deeds so that they may not be counted among those who were wicked and unjust, and therefore would have to face the reckoning from the Lord for all of their wicked deeds and sins, which they had to account and answer for. The Lord wants each one of them to know that if they do good to others, then good things shall be given to them as well, while if they do bad and evil to others, then they too shall face the just consequences for those things.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples using a parable to explain to them what He wanted to teach them regarding the matter of them living their lives in the manner that He has taught and shown them to do, so that in all that they have done, they may continue to proclaim the Lord faithfully in all of their whole lives, in their every actions, words and deeds, much as the author of the Book of Proverbs had said to the people of God many centuries earlier. The Lord essentially used this parable of the lamps to tell them that whatever good things He had taught and shown them to do, they should all do them faithfully and courageously in each and every moments of their lives, and not to hide them and not to ignore whatever responsibilities and missions which God had entrusted to them.

The Lord wanted them and hence all of us to know that as His disciples and followers, it is important that all of us must always be active and missionary in all the things that we do in our lives. Otherwise, our faith is truly empty and meaningless, and will not avail us on the moment of reckoning, when the Lord would ask us to account for our lives before Him, for everything that we have done and for all that we have failed to do. If we have been given many blessings, opportunities and capacities by the Lord to do what we are supposed to do as Christians, in doing His will wholeheartedly and in serving Him to the best of our abilities, then we should not be ignorant any longer of this calling that we have, and instead, we should embrace our calling and mission with great courage and with the desire to glorify the Lord ever more by our worthy living.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, also much more commonly and famously known as St. Padre Pio, a Capuchin Franciscan saint, a holy and truly pious priest and servant of God who had been known well for his many miracles and wonders. St. Padre Pio was remembered for his great piety and commitment to God, for his humble dedication to the Lord despite the many challenges that he had to face throughout his life and ministry. St. Padre Pio did not have it easy early on in life as he had been born to a family of poor farmers, and they had faced a lot of challenges, and yet, they were all very devout and committed to God, spending a lot of time in devotion and prayer to God despite all the hardships that they had to endure in their lives.

Amidst all that background, the young St. Padre Pio has begun to discern the calling to serve God and become a priest, and at the same time, he has also begun experiencing various heavenly visions and mystical experiences that he would go on to experience through the rest of his life. Eventually, St. Padre Pio joined the Capuchin religious order and dedicated himself to the order’s way of life, but even in that he also faced struggles and hurdles, as he was not properly educated, and needed to further his studies first before he was allowed to join the order. He faced several bouts of ill health and problems during his formation years, and this problem still plagued him even after he was ordained a priest, an experience which was worsened by his mystical experience of being a stigmatist later on in life, bearing the wounds of the Lord Himself on his body.

The appearance of the stigmatq gradually made St. Padre Pio to be very famous later on in his life, but for many years and decades, he encountered a lot of doubts, opposition and also persecution from the Church hierarchy and others who cast doubts on the authenticity of the miracles and the stigmata which were associated with this holy man of God. He had to bear through periods in which he was banned from celebrating the Mass publicly and preaching to the people of God, all the while experiencing spiritual attacks from the devil. Yet, all these did not dampen his spirit, and he continued to live his life humbly, faithfully and devoutly in all things, spending a lot of time in prayer, and many more people were coming to him seeking for his help and guidance, and other occasions happened when miracles happened to those who have interacted with this man of God.

To the end of his life, St. Padre Pio continued to dedicate himself to God without cease, continuing to showcase what it truly means to be a faithful Christian disciple and follower. All of us therefore are also reminded that we should also commit ourselves and our every actions, words and deeds, our every efforts to proclaim the Lord, in each and every moments of our lives. Let us all therefore do our part to proclaim the Lord our God faithfully as how St. Padre Pio, St. Pius of Pietrelcina had lived his life, in being good and worthy beacons of God’s light and hope, His love and salvation to all others around us. Let us all continue to walk ever more worthily in God’s Holy Presence from now on, helping and inspiring our fellow brethren in faith, committing more of our efforts and time to glorify the Lord by our lives.

May the Lord be with us all and may He empower each and every one of us to live our lives henceforth with the strong zeal and fervour, to continue to love Him and to love one another ever more generously, in the manner that the Lord Himself has shown and taught us, now and always, forevermore. Amen.