Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded to be truly faithful to God and not to be merely paying lip service to Him, or to be like hypocrites and all those who did not truly have genuine faith and trust in the Lord. Each and every one of us as Christians must always be sincere and genuine in our faith and belief in the Lord, and we should not merely be living our lives without commitment and the desire to live them in accordance to the faith and belief which we have in God. In each and every moments of our lives, we should always strive to do our best, to be exemplary and role model for one another in all things, to be true Christians not just in name, but also in our every efforts, endeavours, our words, actions and deeds.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians in which St. Paul greeted the faithful people of God in Thessalonica, in what is today part of Greece, praying for them and encouraging them amidst the many challenges and trials that they had to endure in their path and commitments as Christians, as those who have faith in the Lord and believed in Him. St. Paul reminded the faithful that the Lord would always be with them and they should not give up in enduring the many persecutions and challenges because rich would be their rewards in the Kingdom of God, the assurance that the Lord Himself has given to them, that they would be well taken care of, and no one who had made commitment and sacrifices for the Lord would be abandoned by Him.

This letter from St. Paul to the Thessalonians highlighted the reality of being a Christian, a follower and believer of Christ at that time, during the early years of the existence of the Church. At that time, the Christian faith was still a relatively new faith and faced many opposition and challenges from those who disagreed with the Lord’s teachings and from the pagans and also the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem. Being persecuted and enduring trials and tribulations were part and parcel of being Christians then, and many among the faithful had to face these difficulties on a daily basis. And yet, this did not discouraged many of them from continuing to follow the Lord faithfully as the persecutions in fact strengthened their desire to continue to serve and follow the Lord faithfully.

From the Gospel passage taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew today, we begin the next few days of discourses on the woes of the Pharisees, as the Lord launched a series of criticisms at the Pharisees for their lack of faith and genuine commitment to the Lord, for their many hypocrisies in enforcing very strict laws and regulations as according to their interpretation of the Law of Moses, and yet, they themselves did not practice those laws with sincere faith, true commitment and understanding of the Law of God, His precepts and rules. They made it difficult for the people of God by applying very strict laws and regulations, and yet they themselves did not obey them wholeheartedly, making excuses and exceptions that contradicted themselves.

Not only that, but the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law often took great pride in their supposed piety and obedience to the Law of God. They often showed off their faith and sought praise and glory from whatever they had done, taking great joy and satisfaction in being treated preferentially and respected by the others in the community. This attitude was also complemented by their exclusivist and elitist attitude as they often showed great prejudice and disdain against those whom they deemed to be less worthy than they were, those whom they condemned as sinners, like those tax collectors and prostitutes, those who were afflicted by diseases and possessed by evil spirits, as well as the pagans and non-Jewish people whom they deemed to be unworthy of God and His salvation.

It is all these attitudes and behaviours that the Lord had warned all of His disciples against, so that they would not adapt the same attitudes and ways. As His disciples and followers, the Lord expects each and every one of us to walk in His path, to be always humble in our disposition and our attitudes, not allowing ourselves to be swayed by worldly glory and pride. We should not allow ourselves to be taken over by the desire for greatness and superiority over others, like what the Pharisees had suffered from, and like the Lord Himself has shown and taught us, we should constantly remind ourselves that what God wants from us is not empty proclamations and hubris-filled piety. Instead, the greater and better we are, all the more we should be humble and be willing to help others around us.

As Christians, we should always lead by example in all of our actions, words and deeds, in each and every moments of our lives. We should always be centred on the Lord in all things, doing our best at all opportunities given to us to proclaim Him through our examples, even in the smallest things that we do. We should never underestimate the impact of what we are doing, as often we may not realise that our every actions have wider consequences and implications that we may not be aware of. Through our actions and deeds, even the smallest and seemingly least significant ones among them, we may either show many others the truth and love of God, calling many more towards Him and His salvation, or we may end up scandalising His Holy Name instead, turning many away from God and His grace.

The decision on which path we are to embark on is ours alone, brothers and sisters in Christ. God has given us all the free will to decide and choose our path, and we should consider carefully how we are to proceed from now on so that we do not end up falling into the wrong path. Let us all henceforth renew our commitments from now and beyond, to continue to glorify the Lord by our lives and to do our best so that in everything that we say and do, we will continue to be the faithful and committed disciples and followers of the Lord in all things. May the Lord be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.