Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that all of us as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, His disciples and followers, we have been given important tasks and missions in our respective lives, in whichever area we are, to carry out what God Himself has shown and taught us all, in loving Him first and foremost before all else, and then in showing that same love to our brothers and sisters all around us, especially to all those whom we truly find dear and beloved to us. If we have been called by the Lord to show love even to strangers and to those who hated and persecuted us, then all the more we should love those dear and beloved to us even more.

However, this is not what many of us have done in our lives, and many of us failed to love in the way that God has called us all to do. We often love ourselves and our selfish desires and ambitions more, and we allow ourselves to be swayed by those selfish ambitions and desires, to the point that we have forgotten what it truly means to be truly and genuinely caring towards those whom God had placed in our lives, to all those whom we encounter in life, because we are too busy and preoccupied into seeking for our own personal ambitions, desires and achievements, and in the process, we may even cause harm and neglect upon others, even to those whom we love and are dear to us. That is why today all of us are being reminded that we should always be sincere and committed in living our lives as Christians in the manner that God has taught us.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Thessalonica, we heard of how they have been faithful to the teachings of the Lord and His disciples and missionaries, following closely to what St. Paul and the other Christian missionaries and disciples had been preaching and showing to them. Contextually, we must also remember, based on the earlier part of this Epistle, St. Paul had praised the faithful in Thessalonica for their exemplary faith which was contrasted by the rather cold and unwelcoming attitudes of the people in the neighbouring regions. The Thessalonians therefore stood out as the rare examples of those who have willingly listened to the Lord and embraced His truth and Good News, and not only that, but also lived according to what they had believed.

That is why St. Paul was truly happy and pleased at their good attitudes in living their faith. They had been exemplary and inspirational in the way they treated one another, with love and genuine care, as how all Christians are supposed to live their lives. However, many among Christians then, and throughout history and even to the present day world we are living in, many among us now have not truly lived our lives in the manner expected of us as disciples and followers of Christ. Many among us Christians even treat our fellow Christians, our fellow brothers in the manner unbecoming of our Christian faith and identity, causing hurt and divisions among us, by our way of manipulating and exploiting even those closest to us for our own advantages and benefits.

In our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the well-known parable of the Lord which He spoke to the disciples and followers in order to remind them what it truly means to be His followers and disciples, to do God’s will and to live in accordance to what He has shown and taught all of us. In that parable, also known as the parable of the talents, we heard how the master entrusted to his servants different amounts of the silver talents from his possessions for them to take good care and make good use of while he went away. We then heard how two of the servants make good use of the silver talents given to them and eventually doubled their silver talents by the time the master came back, while another servant hid the silver talent and did not use it at all.

The purpose and idea behind this parable is such that God wants each and every one of us to make good use of what He has given to us in our unique talents, abilities and the various opportunities which He had presented to us. The master represents the Lord, our God Himself while the servants represent each and every one of us, God’s beloved people. Those who invested their talents and got rewarded in the end represent all of us who have made good use of our various blessings and opportunities provided by God to us, and benefitted those whom God had entrusted to us and put in our paths. Meanwhile, the servant who was punished for his lack of action represents all those who failed to make good use of what God has given to them for the good of others, and instead keeping these idle or for themselves only.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, let us all reflect carefully on what we have heard in our Scripture reflections today. Let us all remember that as those whom the Lord has called and chosen to be His own beloved and holy people, each and every one of us have the responsibility and obligation to follow the Lord’s will and to do what He has taught and shown us to do, to be loving towards Him and to show that same love to everyone around us. That is what each and every one of us should do, just as the servants in the Lord’s parable were expected to do good upon the silver talents that had been entrusted to them. And we are reminded that we have to be accountable to the works that we are doing in this life, as well as what we may not have done for the good of others around us.

Let us all therefore do our very best to live our lives in the manner that the Lord Himself has taught and shown us all to do, to be truly loving in all things, full of love for God, for one another and for ourselves. As Christians, each and every one of us should always be exemplary in our way of life, in inspiring faith, hope and love in everyone whom we encounter daily in life, in each and every one of our actions, words and deeds. May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen each and every one of us so that by our every efforts, endeavours and contributions, we may continue to glorify His Name at all times, now and forevermore. Amen.