Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard about how Jesus cured a leper from his illness, making him whole once again and liberating him from the shame and curse which had once been upon him. And in the first reading, God renewed His promise and covenant with Abraham, His chosen one, that through the son He had promised Abraham, He would make His servant great and mighty among mankind.

Today’s Scripture readings therefore all spoke about the love and care with which God had showered us His many blessings and graces throughout these ages. God is willing to bless and cherish Abraham, His chosen one who had faithfully walked in His ways and followed completely His precepts and laws. The faithful shall indeed receive their just reward from the Lord.

And the leper was also made clean and healthy again through his faith, which he had shown to Jesus, by his genuine and sincere dedication of trust and love to the Lord. The leper did not fear persecution or rebuke from the Lord, for he knew that the Lord in Whom he trust will succour him and bring him out of his misery. Those who hold firm in their faith in God will never be disappointed.

On this day, we are called to remember once again the faith of Abraham, our father in faith. He was the father of many nations, because God blessed him, for he has abandoned everything to follow the Lord with all of his heart and his might. He has abandoned his relatives, his wealth and inheritance, his homeland and everything he had, because he had heard the Lord calling him and promising him even greater things if only he was faithful.

It is this ability to be faithful and devoted to God despite the challenges, difficulties and temptations that God found to be excellent in Abraham, as were in the many other holy men and women throughout the ages. And it was the same kind of faith that made the leper to deserve God’s mercy and healing, as it had been given to the army centurion, whose faith was so great that he refused to have Jesus come to his home because he was unworthy of Him.

It was the same faith that the Syro-Phoenician woman exhibited when she begged Jesus to heal her daughter, not even minding the supposed ‘insult’ when Jesus told her that the gifts He brought were not to be shared with non-Jews like her. It was this same faith that saved the woman who suffered from haemorrhage for twelve years, who believed that if she could just touch the fringe of Jesus’ cloak, then she would be healed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, these are just some well-known examples of how God is caring and loving, and to all those who keep their faith firm in Him, will have a firm foundation in Him and will not be shaken. On the other hand, those who do not put their trust in God and those who has no faith in God will be shaken, for their foundation is worldly goods and wealth, which can be destroyed.

How is this relevant for us, brethren? It is a gentle reminder for us that we ought to build up for ourselves the everlasting treasures in heaven and not to build for ourselves a repository of the treasure that will not last in this world. Our lives must not be filled with selfishness, jealousy and desire, in that we should not be myopic in our sight, and focus only on our own heart’s desires in life. Instead, we must find ways to renew our commitment and faith in God.

Let us get rid from ourselves wanton and unnecessary desires that kept us away from truly being able to have faith in God. May God help us in this endeavour and bless us always, so that we may be ever closer to Him, and may our faith in Him be forever stronger and firmer. Amen.