Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 13 : 18-21
At that time, Jesus continued to say to the people, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? Imagine a person who has taken a mustard seed, and planted it in his garden. The seed has grown, and become like a small tree, so that the birds of the air shelter in its branches.”
And Jesus said again, “What is the kingdom of God like? Imagine a woman who has taken yeast, and hidden it in three measures of flour, until it is all leavened.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 125 : 1-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6
When YHVH brought the exiles back to Zion, we were like those moving in a dream. Then, our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues with songs of joy.
Among the nations it was said, “YHVH has done great things for them.” YHVH had done great things for us, and we were glad indeed.
Bring back our exiles, o YHVH, like fresh streams in the desert. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs and shouts of joy.
They went forth weeping, bearing the seeds for sowing, they will come home with joyful shouts, bringing their harvested sheaves.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Romans 8 : 18-25
I consider, that the suffering of our present life cannot be compared with the glory that will be revealed, and given to us. All creation is eagerly expecting the birth, in glory, of the children of God. For, if now, the created world was unable to attain its purpose, this did not come from itself, but from the one who subjected it. But it is not without hope; for even the created world, will be freed from this fate of death, and share the freedom and glory of the children of God.
We know, that the whole creation groans and suffers the pangs of birth. Not creation alone, but even ourselves; although the Spirit was given to us, as a foretaste of what we are to receive, we groan in our innermost being, eagerly awaiting the day, when God will give us full rights, and rescue our bodies as well.
In hope, we already have salvation. But, if we saw what we hoped for, there would no longer be hope : how can you hope for what is already seen? So, we hope for what we do not see, and we will receive it, through patient hope.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, each and every one of us are reminded that all of us have been made to be God’s own beloved and adopted children, to be His own sons and daughters. That is why, the Lord has brought us all His light, truth and love, gathering all of us and showing us how we should live our lives that we may be truly worthy of Him, righteous and just in all of our actions, works and deeds. We should not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by worldly temptations and other distractions which may end up leading us down the wrong paths, away from the Lord, His salvation and grace. There are many things which can turn us away from this path of righteousness and grace, including pride, arrogance, greed, desires and worldly attachments, among other things that had led so many to their downfall.
In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans in which the Apostle highlighted to the faithful people of God in Rome how they have all been liberated from the tyranny and dominion of sin, by the power and grace of God. Hence, since the people of God had been adopted by Him to be His own beloved sons and daughters, they are no longer subjected to sin and its power and dominion, and consequently, they all should live their lives henceforth according to the path which the Lord Himself has shown to them, in obeying His Law and commandments, and in doing what is right, virtuous and just in the sight of God and mankind alike. All of us, as God’s beloved people, should have true and genuine faith in Him, and show proper understanding and appreciation of what God’s Law and commandments are, and how we should live our lives faithfully according to them.
As highlighted in our Gospel passage today, there was another confrontation between the Lord and some of the members of the Pharisees as He was carrying out His mission among the people. Those Pharisees were unhappy that the Lord performed His miracles and signs on the Sabbath day in the synagogue, as He healed a woman who had been afflicted and crippled by the possession of evil spirit for eighteen years. The Lord had pity on her and showed her His kindness, love and mercy, casting out the evil spirit from her and liberating her from the dominion of Satan and his fellow demonic forces. Yet, what those Pharisees, synagogue officials and those who opposed the Lord focused on instead, was the fact that the Lord performed His miracle and wonders on the day of the Sabbath, that was a taboo and abhorrent thing for them.
Contextually, we must understand that the Pharisees were one of the few groups of influential Jewish community leaders and powerful figures who were particularly concerned with the way how the Law of God, the rules and commandments, the rituals and practices of the people of God were to be carried out as meticulously and detailed as possible. They took a rather rigid and strict interpretation of the Law, focusing and emphasising a lot on the letter and details of the Law, which ended up distracting them and preventing them from truly appreciating and understanding the spirit of the Law, that is the reason, meaning and purpose behind the Law which God had granted to us all, His beloved people. They basically ended up obeying the Law blindly without truly understanding why they did so.
In this case, many of the actions of the Pharisees were truly hypocritical as the Lord Himself pointed it out to them. They criticised the Lord and uttered such foul words when they saw Him healing the woman who had suffered for a whole period of eighteen years, and they could not even let that one Sabbath day go. They took offense because the Lord performed His miracle on that day, as they thought of and considered the Sabbath day as being a sacrosanct day in which no action or activity can be done at all. However, this is actually a misunderstanding and confusion about the purpose and meaning of the Law of the Sabbath as the Lord originally intended it. The Lord never intended the Sabbath Law to restrict and restrain His people from doing what is necessary and good, and He certainly did not want anyone to criticise a good action being done on that day.
The Pharisees were also being hypocritical as when their own flock, sheep and goats and other things need to be settled on that day, this would be done. Hence, how could the suffering of this woman who had suffered for so long be overlooked or for her to be made to wait even for one day longer? This was why the Lord was angered and frustrated at the stubbornness that the Pharisees had shown at that time, at their refusal to listen to Him and for their stubborn opposition to God and His works. The Lord has shown them what His Law and commandments are truly about, and that is to teach, show and guide us in the path of His love, compassion and mercy. The Law should not be misused for one’s personal ambitions and desires, and they should not be misunderstood as merely sets of laws, customs, practices, rituals and all other things that are merely done out of blind obedience without proper understanding and appreciation.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence remind ourselves of the obligation and the calling which we have received as Christians, as God’s beloved people, to do God’s will with the right intention and understanding of God’s will and intentions for us. Let us all be truly faithful and devoted to Him, by showing the love that He Himself had taught and shown us, in the love and kindness He has shown to the suffering woman, in healing and helping her to come out from her predicament. Let us all remember that great and most generous love that God has always shown us, and hence, strive to love the Lord ever more wholeheartedly and commit ourselves ever more to His cause. And as the Law and commandments of God have shown us, we should also show the same kind of love to our fellow brothers and sisters around us as well, in every opportunities and places that we are in.
May the Lord, our most loving God and Father continue to guide us all and help us to pass through the journey of faith and life, where we may have to face and endure difficulties and challenges that may appear in our path. We must not lose hope and faith in God just because of those challenges, trials and hardships. We have to keep our trust in God and follow Him ever more courageously and with greater love, knowing that God Himself has loved us all so much, and hence, passing on and showing that same love in our world today, where there are plenty of hatred and ignorance of God’s Law, commandments and ways. May all of us be the great examples of our Christian faith and beliefs, and show them through our genuine and real actions, at all times, and may God bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours to glorify Him. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 13 : 10-17
At that time, Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, and a crippled woman was there. An evil spirit had kept her bent for eighteen years, so that she could not straighten up at all. On seeing her, Jesus called her and said, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” Then He laid His hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight and praised God.
But the ruler of the synagogue was indignant, because Jesus had performed this healing on the Sabbath day, and he said to the people, “There are six days in which to work. Come on those days to be healed, and not on the Sabbath!”
But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Everyone of you unties his ox or his donkey on the Sabbath, and leads it out of the barn to give it water. And here you have a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound for eighteen years. Should she not be freed from her bonds on the Sabbath?”
When Jesus said this, all His opponents felt ashamed. But the people rejoiced at the many wonderful things that happened because of Him.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 67 : 2 and 4, 6-7ab, 20-21
Arise, o God, scatter Your enemies; let Your foes flee before You. But let the righteous be glad and exult before God; let them sing to God and shout for joy.
Father of orphans and Protector of widows – such is our God in His holy dwelling. He gives shelter to the homeless, sets the prisoners free.
Blessed be the Lord, God, our Saviour, Who daily bears our burdens! Ours is a God Who saves; our YHVH lets us escape from death.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Romans 8 : 12-17
Then, brothers, let us leave the flesh and no longer live according to it. If not, we will die. Rather, walking in the spirit, let us put to death the body’s deeds, so that we may live. All those who walk in the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God.
Then, no more fear : you did not receive a spirit of slavery, but the spirit that makes you sons and daughters, and every time, we cry, “Abba! (this means Dad!) Father!” the Spirit assures our spirit, that we are sons and daughters of God. If we are children, we are heirs, too. Ours will be the inheritance of God, and we will share it with Christ; for, if we now suffer with Him, we will also share glory with Him.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, each and every one of us are reminded of our first and most important obligation as Christians, as God’s people, that all of us must always be filled with love, both for our Lord and God, as well as for our fellow brothers and sisters, our fellow mankind. Love is always at the centrepiece of our Christian faith and devotion to God, and it is the central theme upon which our whole faith and existence revolve around. Without love, our faith in God is empty and meaningless, and not only that, but without love we would not have existed in the first place, as it was first of all by God’s love that each and every one of us were created and saved. Love is and has always been the cornerstone of our faith in God, and is the most fundamental and core tenet of our Christian beliefs.
In our first reading passage this Sunday, taken from the Book of Exodus, we heard about the words of the Lord to His people through Moses, in which He presented to them everything that He expected of all of them to do in their lives, so that, in all of their ways, actions and in everything they say and do, they would always be exemplary, faithful and committed to God, in obeying His Law and commandments just as He has shown and commanded each and every one of us to do. The Lord wants each and every one of His disciples, followers and people to be truly filled with love, first of all the love for Him, and then at the same time, He also wants each one of them to love one another, for us all to be loving towards our fellow brothers and sisters all around us. Unless we are filled with this love for God and for our fellow brethren, we cannot truly live our lives wholeheartedly and properly as Christians.
That is why He showed us all His love through His Law and commandments, by revealing to His people, to all of us, this path of true love as He has passed down first of all through Moses to the people of Israel, and which He would later on explain and expand upon through His prophets and messengers, and most important of all, through His own beloved Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who have brought the full revelation of God’s love in the flesh, manifested and made tangible for us, and also taught and explained to us the full meaning and purpose of the Law which God has given us. God showed us all His love first of all, so that we too may also love Him with all of our heart, dedication and might, and then we may also practice and experience the same love in our interactions with our fellow brothers and sisters all around us.
Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the confrontation between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisees, who tried to test and trap the Lord with their questions. The Pharisees in particular were a group of the Jewish people who were very particular and concerned regarding the Law of God, which had been passed down through Moses and many generations of the people of God, from time to time and from mouth to mouth, in oral and written traditions down the many centuries since the time of the Exodus. This Law of God had gone through many changes, additions and transformations, as the teachers and preservers of the Law and commandments, traditions and customs of the people of God had made amendments and modifications to them according to the prevailing conditions and situations of the time. This resulted in the Law of God and its many stipulations and tenets, as listed in the Torah or the original Scriptures, listed in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy to be twisted and changed out of context from their original purpose.
And it is worth mentioning today that the Pharisees were those who were particularly concerned about the details, rituals and practices of the Law, as one of the most influential groups and leaders among the Jewish community. The Pharisees had a very strict and rigid interpretation of the Law of God, as they enforced upon the people a very detailed, ritualistic and particular way of observing the Law, from how they ought to live their lives in the community, the practice of ritual washing and purification, and the enforcement of the Law of the Sabbath and the ban on any works and actions on that day, among many other things. Unfortunately, this led to them opposing the Lord and His disciples, persecuting and oppressing them throughout His earthly ministry, dogging them and disturbing them throughout including the occasion highlighted today in the Gospel passage, when they tried to question and trap the Lord with the question regarding the Law.
What was their intention? They thought and claimed to know the Law better than anyone else, and that they and their interpretation of the Law alone was correct and acceptable, worthy and good for the Lord and His people. Hence, perhaps out of the desire to test the Lord, and to see if the Lord was truly One Who knows about the Law, they asked Him regarding the Law, of which one among the many hundreds of the commandments, laws, tenets and practices, which traditionally numbers six hundred and thirteen if not more, is the most important one among all of them. This exposed the flaw and mistakes in the way that the Pharisees had lived their lives and faith, as they focused so much and was so obsessed with the details and the minute things in the Law, that they ended up doing the practices, commandments and other tenets of the Law without truly understanding the purpose and intention of why the Law was given to us in the first place.
It means that they have lived their lives and faith, practicing very strictly the commandments of God, the Law and the rituals, emphasising on the details of the Law, and doing them to the letter, but not appreciating and understanding the spirit of the Law, the intention of why the Lord had given the Law to us, which is in fact is to teach us all about love, and how love is very crucial for us to be able to understand, appreciate and apply the Law fruitfully in our lives. First of all, the Law was meant to help all of God’s people, all of us to put the Lord at the centre and as the focus of our lives, as we are reminded to love the Lord with all of our heart, with all of our might and strength, just as the Lord Himself has loved us all so dedicatedly and wonderfully. Then, as the Lord Jesus Himself highlighted, the same kind of love ought to be shown to others all around us, our own fellow brothers and sisters, be it those whom we know and love, and those whom we encounter, acquaintances, strangers, and even those who despised and hated us.
This is why all of us as Christians, we are all called to be truly faithful to God in all things, and we have to be full of His love, kindness and compassion, in loving Him as well as our fellow brethren all around us, at all circumstances and opportunities. The Lord has taught and shown us by His own examples and experiences, which Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, had done in His ministry and works in our midst. We should not be like many among the Pharisees who merely were going through the motion and focusing so much on the details, rituals and particulars of the Law, that they forgot to love, to practice what the Lord Himself wanted them to do in their own lives. Instead, they had used the Law to lord over their fellow brethren, in being condenscending and superior-minded, in thinking that they were better than others simply because they obeyed the Law in the manner that they did.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all in our daily living, in our every words, actions and interactions be truly faithful and obedient to God, and be filled with love for Him, at all times. Let our lives as Christians be enriching in love and faith, and let us all be great examples, role models and inspirations for one another, so that our lives may truly bring the richness of God’s grace and love to all of mankind, all over the whole world, in whichever parts and places that we all encounter each other. Let us all bring God’s love, truth and Good News to more and more people throughout the world, and enlighten them in this world darkened by sin and evil, wickedness and disobedience, with our love and kindness, our compassion and exemplary attitudes, in following and doing what God Himself has shown and taught us through His Son and His Church. Let us truly embody our Christian faith and obey God’s Law and commandments in doing so, not just in the letter but also in the spirit. May God be with us all, and may He continue to empower and strengthen each one of us, so that we may remain always ever faithful to Him, now and always, forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Matthew 22 : 34-40
At that time, when the Pharisees heard how Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together. One of them, a lawyer, questioned Him to test Him, “Teacher, which commandment of the Law is the greatest?”
Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and the most important of the commandments. The second is like it : You shall love your neighbour as yourself. The whole Law and the prophets are founded on these two commandments.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
1 Thessalonians 1 : 5c-10
You, also, know how we dealt with you, for your sake. In return, you became followers of us, and of the Lord, when, on receiving the Word, you experienced the joy of the Holy Spirit, in the midst of great opposition. And you became a model for the faithful of Macedonia and Achaia, since, from you, the Word of the Lord spread to Macedonia and Achaia, and still farther.
The faith you have in God has become news in so many places, that we need say no more about it. Others tell, of how you welcomed us, and turned from idols, to the Lord. For you serve the living and true God, and you wait for His Son, from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, Who frees us from impending trial.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 