Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

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 as Christians to believe wholeheartedly in the Lord and to live our lives in the manner that is truly worthy and obedient to God and His will. Each and every one of us are reminded that we have been called by the Lord to follow Him and His ways, just as how He has called His Twelve disciples and the other disciples, to live our lives in the manner that is truly worthy of Him, to be good role models and examples for one another in how we act and carry ourselves in our various communities in this world today, in our various respective responsibilities in life, in doing what we must in each and every moments, even in the smallest things that we do.

In our first reading, today we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in Colossae in Asia Minor regarding the need for the faithful to follow faithfully the true teachings of Christ in all of their actions, activities and all their interactions with one another. And because all of them have become the members of the One Church of God, with Christ as the Head of the Church, naturally all of them should follow and obey the commandments and the Law which the Lord had presented to them, doing what the Lord had told them to do through the Church and the Apostles, renewed and strengthened, and exhorted to keep from themselves all sorts of corruptions, evils and sins.

This reminder to the faithful in the city and region of Colossae was an important one because during that time, living amidst a world full of worldliness and wickedness, in the manner of how the pagans and all the other non-Christians were living in, it would have been easy for them to be tempted, swayed and coerced to go against the teachings and truths of the Lord, to return to their past, pagan way of life. It is more difficult for one to follow the path of the Lord rather than the path of worldliness, and this applies for all of us living in our world today too, as we are also faced with many distractions and temptations present all around us each day. And unless we ourselves put our efforts to live to the best of our abilities in being good role models and examples to everyone around us, and to stand up faithfully to our Christian mission and calling, then we cannot truly commit ourselves to the Lord.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus chose His Twelve disciples, the ones whom He had chosen to be His closest collaborators and as the ones whom He would entrust His missions and His Church to, as the pillars of support for His Kingdom in this world. He called all of them from various sources and origins, from different backgrounds and having different characters, some educated and some uneducated, some rich and some poor, but all were called to the same purpose and misison to serve the Kingdom of God and the ministry to which Christ has called all the Apostles and the disciples to do, to commit themselves to what He gave to them.

Through His works and efforts, the Lord and His disciples continued to proclaim the Good News that God Himself had promised to His people, showing the signs, miracles and wonders, the healing by which He had delivered to many people who had come to Him, the casting out of evil spirits and other good works which He also delegated to His disciples through the authority that He had granted to them. Such works required a lot of efforts and commitmens, and to those whom the Lord had called and chosen, He had given them the authority as well as the responsibilities to fulfil and accomplish amidst the challenges and trials that they might have to face in their works and respective ministries.

To each and every one of us therefore, in our own various responsibilities and areas in life, God has entrusted to us many things and opportunities for us to make good use of as His missionaries and disciples, in how we live our lives faithfully according to the way that He has shown us. Each and every one of us, be it the members of the clergy or the laity, all of us are called to be active in the fulfilment of the missions entrusted to us, in our respective areas, to be good role models and examples for each other in faith, and to do our best to encourage one another in how we live our lives and in how we carry out our actions, so that by our efforts and good works, we will continue to strengthen everyone around us in faith and helping each other to find our way towards the Lord.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of a faithful servant of God, namely St. Peter Claver, who was a renowned Jesuit priest and missionary from Spain, working in his ministry amongst the slaves and African Americans in the New World, as well as among the natives in that region, where his extensive works and contributions across many decades apparently reached out no less than three hundred thousand people whom be personally baptised over all those years. He travelled to many places, personally ministering to the people he was working with, especially among the slaves and the African Americans as mentioned, often on foot, and he patiently worked and championed their cause amidst the rampant abuse and maltreatment of these people, who were often at the lowest strata of the society.

St. Peter Claver tirelessly worked hard amongst the poorest, the least, those ostracised, forgotten and often manipulated by the community. He championed their rights as fellow Christians, highlighting the equality of all mankind before God, even when at that time the community at the place where St. Peter Claver ministered in was very much stratified and were full of racist and prejudiced attitudes, especially against those whom St. Peter Claver had dedicated his life in serving. But St. Peter Claver kept on doing his best and championed the rights of the less privileged and the less fortunate, much as Christ Himself had done and taught His disciples, showing all of us how we ourselves should live our lives as the true followers and disciples of the Lord, by caring for the less fortunate in our midst and by truly embodying our faith in all of our actions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the good examples which we have heard and discussed regarding St. Peter Claver, so that we may live our own lives faithfully and courageously as active and devoted Christians, as good and faithful servants of God in all things, in how we interact with one another and in each and every things that we do, even in the smallest things that we do in life. We must not underestimate the impact of our actions, as good and faithful actions can bring so many others towards the Lord, and vice versa, that our scandalous and unfaithful actions can distance and prevent so many from reaching the Lord and His salvation, and on the Day of Judgment, we will have to account for all these before Him.

May the Lord, our most loving and compassionate God continue to strengthen us all in faith and help us to continue to walk ever more faithfully in His Presence at all times, being the worthy bearers of His Good News and truth in our community and societies today. May He bless our every efforts, good works and endeavours, so that we may always be encouraged in our journey of faith and life, in inspiring one another in faith, now and always. Amen.