Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture through which we are reminded that we must do our best to resist the temptation to sin in this world because by our human nature, we are always exposed and easily tempted by sin, because as the Lord said, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Therefore, unless we make the conscious effort to resist those temptations, it is likely that we will fall again and again into sin.

In our first reading today, St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Rome spoke of how sin truly is a very dangerous enemy that we have in us, and because of that, we must always be vigilant lest these sins mislead us further and even deeper into the trap of sin. Sin brings us into more sins because sin by nature itself is disobedience against God, and the more we disobey God, the more we are disconnected from Him and become more vulnerable against even more temptation.

But St. Paul also reminded us all that while we are easily tempted to sin because of the weakness of our flesh, but in truth, this was not how it was all supposed to be. When God created us man in the beginning, as well as all creation as described in the Book of Genesis, He intended everything to be good and perfect, unblemished and pure, and indeed He created everything to be all good.

Unfortunately, because of our desire and pride, our preference to listen to the lies of the devil rather than to obey the words of our Lord and Creator, sin entered into our hearts, into our minds and into our whole beings, corrupting us and making us filled with this sin, the original sin. And this sin made us enslaved to it, making us vulnerable even more to the temptations of Satan and his wicked forces.

And in our Gospel passage today, the Lord is reminding us all of what we need to do before it is too late for us, as He spoke of signs and wonders that led to the coming of the time of reckoning, as all of us ultimately have to give account of our own respective lives. We have to own up on all things we have done in our lives, whether we have been faithful or whether we have been disobedient and sinful in our way of life.

He reminds us all that the coming of the end of times is a certainty, while we ourselves completely do not know of the time of that precise occurrence. And in addition, all of us will also encounter death in our life sooner or later, as our earthly and mortal existence is limited and temporary. No one can lengthen their lives beyond what God has willed it. And when the time comes, we have to face the Judge of all, God Himself, and give an account of our lives.

If we have allowed ourselves to be swayed by sin and continue to sin without repentance or regret of the wicked things we have done in disobedience to God, then the outcome for us will not be good. And as long as we allow ourselves to be enslaved by sin and reject God’s rich offering of mercy and forgiveness, there will be no place for us in God. For God is all good and perfect, and the sins in us will be obstacles for us in our reconciliation with Him.

But as I have mentioned, and which all of us should be aware of is the fact that God loves us all regardless of our sins. And He is always patient and ready to welcome us back to His embrace should we be willing to accept His offer of mercy and strive to be forgiven from our sins by sincere and complete repentance. Indeed, this is not something that can just easily be done, as we all know that sin is very powerful in its allure and power, and we have ended up falling again and again into sin despite our best efforts.

Yet, we should not give up, as God Himself is by our side, guiding us and encouraging us on our struggle and journey. We must trust in Him and let Him to guide us on our journey, and not allow our desires and pride to lead us even further into sin. This is why it is important for us to deepen our relationships with God by having a healthy and regular prayer life, as well as by practicing our faith sincerely in our respective lives and capacities.

Let us all draw closer to God and strive to stay true to God’s path, dedicating our time and effort, our whole lives from now on to God’s greater glory. Let us all turn our backs towards our sinful past and allow God to forgive us our sins that we may be welcome into the kingdom of His eternal glory and receive true joy and happiness forevermore. Amen.