Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are all reminded of our obligations as Christians to be true to our faith, and to be worthy and ready at all times for the Lord, Our God. Each and every one of us, as St. Paul mentioned in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth, have been sanctified and made worthy by the Lord Jesus Himself, Who has given His own Body and Blood in the Eucharist, and sent us the Holy Spirit.

He has given us the rich and wonderful inheritance of His grace and many blessings, and all these He has given us because of His love for us all. All of us have been entrusted by God with the stewardship of our own lives in this world, entrusted with the many things we have possessed in this life, as His stewards and caretakers of this world. And this is related to what we have heard in our Gospel passage today.

In the Gospel today, we heard about the parable of the faithful and unfaithful steward, in which the contrast was placed before those who heard the Lord, between a prudent and good servant of a master, who obeyed the master’s commands and desires, and did all that he was supposed to do, and then, with a wicked and unfaithful servant, who did not obey the commands of his master, but delayed in doing what he was supposed to do.

The good steward and servant did not delay in doing the will of his master, putting his master’s will and expectations above that of his own ones. But the bad and wicked servant enjoyed life and abused his authority and position, and put his own desires and wishes first above that of his master’s. And he even took pride in thinking that he was safe, as he thought that his master would be delayed in returning.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in what we have heard and learnt from the Gospel passage, all of us are reminded not to be like the bad, wicked and lazy servant, who only thought about himself and his own needs. In his selfishness and pride, he has led himself into his own downfall. The master caught the lazy servant unprepared, and sent him to his own doom.

Now, this is a reminder for us all, that we must be ever prepared and ever ready for the reckoning of our lives, as we must realise just how fragile our human life and existence is. All of us will one day, sooner or later experience death, that is the ending of our mortal and earthly existence. And at that moment, we will be judged on our actions and deeds in life, our obedience and disobedience against God, our fulfilment or failure to fulfil God’s will.

Now, do we want the fate like that of the wicked and lazy servant, who was caught unprepared by his master when he suddenly returned? The same fate will be ours should we ignore God’s reminders and calling for us, to repent and turn away from our sinful ways. If we do not actively resist the temptations of life and all sorts of pleasures and distractions that the devil placed on our path, then we will end up falling badly in our journey of faith.

Let us all remember this, brothers and sisters in Christ, the suffering of those who have rejected and disobeyed God, and refused to listen to Him. Let us all seek the Lord from now on with all of our hearts and with all of our strength. May God be with us all, and may He continue to watch over us and strengthen us, that we will always walk faithfully in His path, and not fall into the temptation of human pride and greed. Amen.