Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded that God is truly merciful, loving and forgiving towards all of His beloved people, even those who have offended Him the most, and He is always ever patient in guiding those who have slipped away and fell away from His path to return once more to His grace and blessings. Now what matters is whether we are willing to embrace that generous mercy, forgiveness and love or not. God has always given us His mercy and forgiveness generously, without limits, and He has given us all many opportunities to embrace Him and His most loving and generous mercy, but it is indeed up to us whether we want to accept that offer of mercy or not.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Ezra in which the prophet and priest Ezra presented before the Lord the prayers that he offered on behalf of the people of Israel, who had finally returned to the land promised to their ancestors after long period in exile in distant lands. They had managed to rebuild their lives, their homes and their cities, and most significantly, with the support of the Persian monarch and state, they finally had the freedom to worship their God again, and rebuild the Temple and House which had once stood in Jerusalem dedicated to the worship of God. That was a truly joyous occasion amidst the long period of suffering and humiliation endured by the people of God, through which God has shown His persistent and patient love towards them.

All those sufferings and hardships were after all caused by the disobedience which the people had done, in refusing to walk in the path of faith as the Lord had taught them to do. Instead of listening to the prophets and messengers that had been sent to remind them of their true purpose, their true allegiance and obedience to God, their ancestors had hardened their hearts and minds, persecuting those servants of God who had laboured patiently and courageously in their midst. That was why they fell from grace and were left to suffer the consequences of their disobedience and sins, which brought them to their downfall and the destruction of their kingdom, their cities and their livelihood. But God never forgot about them or abandoned them, as while He chastised and punished them, He has always done so with the intention to lead them to Himself.

That was how after having been humiliated and after having faced a lot of sufferings due to their disobedience, the people of God having repented from their sins and having been reconciled with God, came back to the land promised to them and their ancestors. The priest Ezra presented this collection of the people’s regret and repentance in prayer towards the Lord, highlighting the shame and the regret that they all had gone through and experienced, and had in their and their ancestors’ disobedient and wicked behaviours, committing to a new life and existence in God. And Ezra also thanked the Lord on behalf of the people for His constant presence and guidance, and for having always guided them all, staying with them throughout their good and bad times.

In the Psalm today, we also heard the song of Tobit, the man of Israel living in exile in Assyria after the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel who had faced a lot of hardships and challenges, to whom God had shown great mercy and love, delivering him out of his troubles and hardships. Tobit encountered hardships and challenges when he showed mercy and love to his fellow Israelite exile, and then faced blindness as another difficulty to add on to the trouble that he already had. But God did not abandon him and remembered his kindness and generosity, and how he still kept faith even amidst the hardships and challenges, and through the Archangel Raphael whom he sent to the world, Tobit was helped and cured from his condition, and others were also impacted in positive ways, as God answered their prayers.

All these are reminders that God is always with us all, His beloved people, and He never forgets about us. He has always cared for us and has always put us before anything else, showing us His patient guiding hands throughout even the most difficult and toughest moments in our lives. God has always been there for us, providing for us, lifting us up and strengthening us even when we thought that we were alone in facing those darkness and struggles around us. Even if we are to abandon Him, He will not abandon us, and to the very last moments, He will always be there for us, extending His hands and mercy to us, ever wanting to be reconciled and reunited with us. We should continue to hold on to hope and have faith in God, at all times, remembering His ever patient love and presence in our midst, even in our darkest moments.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus sent out His disciples, to go in pairs before Him, as He sent them on the mission to go to those places that He Himself was to visit, to reach out to many more people and to carry out more good works for the Lord. He told them to not depend on themselves and their own means to survive, but rather depend on the good will of the people whom they were to visit, with the purpose that they should not depend on their own power or think that it was by their own greatness and abilities that they were able to achieve successes in their works and ministry, but rather, all of their successes were all due to the guidance and providence of God.

We are therefore also reminded that in our lives and also in our missions as Christians, all of us should not depend on only our own human power, abilities, achievements and intellect. Above all else, we should always be firmly rooted in the Lord and put our full faith in Him. We should allow Him to lead and guide us all in our every works, missions and efforts so that we do not grow conceited and proud, haughty and ambitious, thinking that it is by our own greatness and power that we manage to gain success, and we do not become distracted by the temptations of success and glory that we may end up losing sight on what it truly means to do the good works of God. Instead, we should always remain humble and continue to centre and focus ourselves on the Lord wholeheartedly as always.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do our very best and strive such that we can continue to live our lives ever more worthily and faithfully in God’s Presence. Let us always follow the examples that our holy predecessors had shown us, and do our very best so that by our good examples and as good inspirations and role models to everyone around us, we will always glorify God by our lives in each and every moments. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.