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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day the Lord continues to remind us all through the words of the Sacred Scriptures of the need for us to be truly faithful to Him, not just by formality or by empty faith, but through genuine commitment and dedication, through our very actions and deeds, our efforts and all that we do in our daily living that we are truly being faithful to God in all things.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord spoke of the parable of the silver talents in which He spoke of a master who entrusted part of his properties to his servants, giving them varying amounts of silver talents to be made use of and invested so that when he returned from his travel abroad, he could gain back the investment with much returns from the efforts of his servants.

And we saw how the servants who were given five and two silver talents each made use of the wealth entrusted to them and invested them until their master’s return, when they could return him the original five and two silver talents and doubled the original investment. The master was pleased and entrusted them with even more things. And the servant who had one silver talent and hid his silver talent was rebuked by the master for his laziness and unwillingness to make use of his entrusted wealth.

What is the significance of all of these, brothers and sisters in Christ? The silver talents in fact represent the many gifts, talents, abilities, blessings and wonders that God had granted to us all mankind, each one of us having been given unique gifts from God. But many of us have not realised or appreciated these wonderful gifts and in fact many of us even made use of the gifts and blessings in the wrong way.

Take for example the many sufferings present in our world today. Many of us suffer because we have misused the gifts and the talents we have received, in order to satisfy our own selfish desires, our own greed and wants for more of this world’s goods and temptations. Those with power and wealth, influence and achievements became greedy and filled with desire for more of what they already have, and instead of doing what the Lord has asked them to do, they chose to follow their own way, much like what the lazy servant had done.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we must be aware that as Christians, meaning as those whom the Lord had called to be His own and that by our faith we have taken Him as Our Lord and Saviour, we have been entrusted by God with responsibilities and duties over His creation, that is over this world in various capacities. Each and every one of us are stewards of God’s creation, and at the same time we are also charged with the care of one another, our fellow brothers and sisters in faith.

Are we able then to live our lives with good responsibility in our every actions, words and deeds then, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we able to put our effort to be exemplary in our respective capacities and callings in life, and do whatever we can within our power and ability to serve God to the best of our abilities, and do all within our power to bring greater glory to God and to serve Him with love.

Let us all be true and devout Christians from now on, and be inspiration for one another in how we live our faith life. May the Lord continue to guide us through this journey of life, and may He strengthen our resolve and give us the courage and perseverance to endure the difficult challenges we may face, the many temptations that we have to endure, and may He bless all of our good endeavours and works for the greater glory of His Name. Amen.