Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that as Christians, that is as those whom the Lord Himself has called and chosen to be His own, we have to trust in the Lord and allow His Holy Spirit within us to guide us all in our paths and journeys in life, so that in everything that we do, in our every actions, words and deeds, in our choices that we made, and in how we all interact with our fellow brethren around us, we will always be guided to the right path, in the manner that is truly pleasing to God. Each and every one of us must remember that all of us are examples for everyone around us, be it fellow Christians or not, in the manner how we live up to our faith.

In our first reading today, we heard from the continuation of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Rome, in which the Apostle spoke of what I had just mentioned to the people of God in Rome, to both the converts from among the Jewish diaspora and the Gentiles alike, that each and every one of them ought to live out their lives courageously and faithfully at all times and in all circumstances as Christians, in doing God’s will, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, so that they might indeed walk the path of virtue and righteousness, and not to succumb to the temptations of sin and evil being present all around them. And the Lord will make righteous all those whom He had called, and He will bless them and gather them all to Himself.

And this is also an important reminder therefore for each and every one of us as Christians, as if we truly seek to be genuine and faithful Christians, then it is important that our lives must indeed show this faith being manifested in each and every parts of our lives, in everything that we say, in all that we do, in all of the manner in how we interact with those we encounter daily in life. This means that if we truly obey the Lord, then we must always put our trust in Him and allow Him to subtly and gently lead us all in the path towards righteousness and virtues, in doing what is right, good and just in our daily actions, in everything that we do even to the smallest actions. It means that we should also continue to show genuine love and care to those around us, especially to those whom we love and those God had entrusted to us.

Then, from our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord to someone who asked Him of whether there would only be few people that would be saved. First of all, before we misunderstand the context of what the Lord answered and presented to the man afterwards, we must understand first of all the context in which this question was made, because to the ancient Jews and their ancestors, the Israelites, there was no clear concept of punishment and damnation, and quite a number of them actually believed that since they were the chosen people of God, they were then guaranteed salvation and eternal life with God. This was why in one other occasion, some of the people who opposed the Lord made the claim of righteousness simply by stating that they were ‘descended from Abraham’.

But the Lord Jesus told him and all those who were assembled there that, while the Lord their God indeed loved them all and showed them His compassion and love, but this does not mean that being chosen people of God means that we are immediately guaranteed salvation and eternal life. Instead, our lives and works have to be truly representative of this faith which we have in God, this attitude and predisposition by which we are truly seen and known as Christians, as those whom the Lord has called and chosen to be His own. We should always strive to follow what the Lord has taught us and in fact shown us to do, in every aspects of our lives, and not merely paying lip service to our faith. We need to be truly authentic and genuine in our faith at all times.

We must not think that we deserve salvation and eternal life from God more than others around us, or that we are better or superior than others, because it is precisely this hubris and arrogant attitude which cause us to face difficulties in our paths as Christians, in our journey towards God. That was what led many of the Pharisees to their downfall, in their inability to listen to the Lord speaking to them, trying to convince them of the reality and truth, and instead, they preferred to trust in their own often flawed judgment, ideals and perfection, thinking that others who do not share their insights, beliefs and ways of practicing the Law and the faith, were unworthy of God and were inferior to them, when they themselves were equally sinners before God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to walk ever more faithfully in God’s Presence, and strive to do our best at all times, to be really appreciative and understanding of what our Christian faith is truly all about. We are all called to be authentic witnesses of the Lord in all of our respective communities and among all those whom we encounter in life. We must always be full of God’s love that we ought to share with one another, especially to those whom God has placed in our lives, those whom we love dearly and also to all those whose lives we are capable of changing and influencing for the better, through our own inspirational actions, words and deeds. Each one of us have been given unique talents, abilities and opportunities for this purpose, and we should indeed make good use of them.

May the Lord continue to encourage and strengthen us all in all that we say and do, and may He continue to empower each and every one of us daily, in all that we do, so that by our every actions, words and deeds, we will always bring glory to Him, and be steady and committed in proclaiming God’s truth and Good News to all those whom we encounter daily in life. May He bless our every good efforts and deeds, our every good works and endeavours so that in all things, we will always be good role models and examples of our Christian faith, and be the genuine witnesses of the Lord and His teachings, now and always. Amen.