Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we approach the end of the current liturgical year and as we are going to enter into the new season with the start of Advent in two days’ time, we continue to listen to the words of the Sacred Scriptures highlighting to us the eschatological readings and revelations from the Word of God through His prophets and messengers, reminding us of the eventual coming of His salvation and all that He has promised, all the fulfilment of everything which He has reassured all of us, His beloved ones with. God wants to remind us that He is always with us and in the end, if we continue to have faith in Him, eventually we shall be vindicated and triumphant with Him.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Daniel we heard about the continuation of the passage from the prophet Daniel and this time, the details of the vision of the prophet Daniel which he received of the upcoming upheavals that would happen in due time, which is also echoed by St. John the Apostle and Evangelist in his own Book of Revelations or the Book of Apocalypse of St. John. In that vision we heard how Daniel saw the four great and wicked beasts that would arose, which St. John would later on witness as well. Those beasts represent the forces of evil, those arrayed against us and seeking our destruction and downfall. They represent the kingdoms and the powers of the world that had risen and will rise up against God and all those who are faithful to Him.

But as we all heard, no matter how mighty or frightening those beasts were, they were all to be defeated, crushed and destroyed by the Lord Himself, Who will rescue all those who are truly dear and precious to Him. In the end, everything has to submit to the power, authority and dominion of God, and while Satan and all of his wicked forces may be able to hold dominion for a while over us and over the world through sin and evil, through all the darkness and wickedness present all around us, but eventually, through the Lord and all that He has done for us and our sakes, we will be triumphant in our struggles and oppositions against him and his other forces of evil, if we put our complete faith and trust in the Lord, even in the darkest and most difficult moments.

Daniel then saw the wonders of Heaven and the Lord in all of His glory, where he saw a grand vision of Heaven and God Himself upon His Throne, a revelation of things to come, with the prediction of what would come to happen, as he saw God Himself as the One of Great Age, representing the Heavenly Father, and also the Son of Man, who is the representation of the Son of God, the Divine Word, Who at that time had not yet been incarnate and manifest in the flesh, an event which at that time was still a few centuries away. Yet, at that time, through what Daniel had seen, was a glimpse of what the Lord Himself would accomplish and fulfil for our sake, in delivering all of us from 

Through the vision of the prophet Daniel, the Lord wants to remind us all that He has always been with us, and if we remain truly faithful to Him, despite all the challenges, trials and difficulties that we may face in our paths and journeys, 

and He will never abandon us. None of us, even those of us who think of ourselves as being small, weak, poor and unworthy, are beyond God’s love, grace and protection. God loves each and every one of us most generously and wonderfully, and He wants us all to be truly beloved and to thrive with Him and through Him, and He has given us all these revelations and hope so that we too may be strengthened and encouraged in our daily moments in life.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel of St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus Himself speaking to His disciples and followers, reminding all of them of the sign of the times which they all can observe and appreciate to know of what would happen. His reminders to His disciples were mainly meant to let them know and to be aware that His coming and return into this world, the Second Coming, also known as parousia, can come at any time, and they ought to present this in everything that they proclaim to everyone they encounter, to all the faithful, reminding them all to be truly faithful in all things and to be committed in their way of living their lives do that they will always be worthy of the Lord in all of their words, actions and deeds.

What the Lord has told us will come true just as He has always been faithful to His promises to His servants and people, in how He has fulfilled His promises of salvation and deliverance through the sending of His Son, Our Lord and Saviour Himself, Jesus Christ, the Son of God manifested in the flesh so that by His appearance and arrival in this world, He might show unto us the genuine and most wonderful love that is truly boundless, selfless and perfect, made tangible and real to us through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, through His appearance and dwelling among us, and also through everything that He had said, revealed and done, ultimately through His most loving and selfless sacrifice on the Cross, the ultimate loving sacrifice He had done for all of us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore remember that in everything we may encounter in our respective lives, in each and every moments, we should always put our faith and trust in the Lord, believing that through Him alone we can find true satisfaction and joy, fulfilment and true happiness in life. Let us all be good examples in inspirations for one another in how we live our own respective lives so that in all the things that we say and do, we will always be the authentic, courageous and responsible bearers and witnesses of our Christian faith, that is not merely just a formality or empty gesture, but truly lived in a genuine manner in our everyday lives.

May the Lord continue to strengthen and encourage us all in our every efforts and endeavours, in all the good works we carry out in our every moments throughout our lives. May He continue to give us the willingness to go forth courageously and authentically to be good and worthy witnesses of Our Lord’s truth and Resurrection, of all the things which He has shown and taught us all from the beginning. May God bless us all in our every steps and endeavours, now and always. Amen.