Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the importance for all of us to embrace our calling as Christians, in doing what we have been called to do, and in following the will of God. Each one of us have received the mission through our Church and faith to proclaim the Lord and His truth, His Good News to all the people and all the nations. The Church of God is composed of all of us the faithful people and flock of God and each one of us have important roles to play in our respective fields and areas of responsibility, at whichever time and opportunity that God has given us in each one of our lives. That is why we must always be aware of the opportunities and chances that God has given uniquely to each one of us so that we may truly be active in living our Christian lives faithfully.

It means that just as we heard in our first reading today from the Book of Ecclesiastes or Qoheleth, we should remember that there is time for everything, for our every actions and interactions, for us to experience good things and the not-so-good things in life, time to be spent with our friends and relatives, with our loving family and others around us. However, there is also time for us to be spent with God and for us to be with Him, focusing our attention and our thoughts on Him rather than constantly being distracted and occupied by our ceaseless pursuits of worldly happiness and pleasures, and the many temptations of pride and desire present all around us, and all those things that can become great stumbling blocks in the path of our service to God.

There is a time for us all as Christians to dedicate ourselves to God, as is right and just for us to be doing His will and to proclaim His truth and love through our every words, actions and deeds. Each and every one of us are part of that same Church, the Body of Christ, of which Christ our Lord Himself is the Head, and because we ourselves are united to Him, we should obey His will and commandments, as we have been taught to do. All of us have that responsibility to bear as Christians, that we become the living beacons of God’s light to others. We have to embrace this calling, inspired by the faith which the Apostles themselves had shown in their lives, missions and efforts to proclaim God’s words and Good News to all those whom they had ministered to and labour amidst.

We had a glimpse of that when we heard the Gospel passage today in which the Lord asked His disciples of Who they think He was. And they were mentioning of who the others were thinking He was, either that of the prophet Elijah, or one of the other prophets, or St. John the Baptist among others, and then when the Lord asked them on His identity, St. Peter representing all of them spoke confidently and with faith that He is the Messiah or Saviour that came from God, the Holy One and Son of God. He spoke with courage and faith, of the truth that others maybe found difficult to proclaim. Yet that was likely why the Lord chose St. Peter to be the leader of His Church and the Apostles, because of his faith and great courage.

The Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord would have to face great sufferings and challenges in the years to come, and yet, they all faced them with great faith and love for Him. They willingly suffered and faced persecution in defending what they believed in and what they themselves had witnessed. The Lord has shown His truth and wisdom to them, and they had been entrusted with the mission to spread that same truth to all the whole world. They did their best to proclaim the Lord to all those whom they encountered, and they spent a lot of time and effort to reach out to those who have yet to know the Lord, despite the challenges and persecutions against them. They continued to trust in the Lord and they knew that He was always with them, through even the greatest challenges, and that was why they kept on persevering regardless.

As we can see, there are in fact a lot of things that each one of us as Christians can do in doing our part as a follower of Christ. Each one of us have been given distinct opportunities, talents and capabilities, that we may bring God’s truth and love closer to His people. We are all called to do what we can in doing God’s will, and it is in the end up to us how we respond to His call. And we have the saints, our holy predecessors, the holy men and women of God, as well as many others, whose lives have been exemplary and inspirational, in how they themselves had committed their lives in the service of God and His people. We too should therefore be inspired to walk in the Presence of God and men alike in the manner that our holy predecessors had done.

That is why each and every one of us should always keep in mind on how we are to live our lives in each and every moments such that we do not end up causing scandal and humiliations for us and our faith in the Lord. Just as there were those who had inspired us all to live in the virtuous and worthy manner, there were also countless people, those who had brought great shame and scandal to our faith and the Church, and also to the Holy Name of God, with these people having come even from the upper echelons and the elites within the Church, some were even the highest leaders of the Church. All of their attitudes, behaviours and actions brought about great scandals and disrepute to the Church and to the whole body of the faithful.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do our very best to proclaim the Lord, His truth, Good News and salvation through our own dedicated and sincere living. Let us all continue to go forth in our respective lives, in each and every moments, in doing what we can, even in the smallest things so that we will be good examples and inspirations in our lives for everyone around us, and for all those whom we encounter in each and every moments. May the Lord continue to inspire in us the courage and zeal to live our lives ever more worthily in His Presence, with great love for Him and also great love for those whom He has entrusted to us to love, and may He bless all of our efforts and endeavours. Amen.