Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Scripture readings today speak to us about the hope which we have in the Lord, the happiness and true joy, the salvation and goodness that we shall enjoy because of the faith and devotion which we have in the Lord. And when God comes again to gather His faithful ones, He will bless us with the eternal life and grace He had promised us.

But in the meanwhile, as we still await the day of our salvation, we have to heed what Jesus our Lord had said in the Gospel today. Many people in this world today, as it was in the past, still dwell in darkness and they were unable to find their way to the Lord. And it falls to us to do something in order to help one another, so that all of us will be found worthy in the end when the Lord comes again.

The Lord spoke about the parable of the harvest and the workers, where He spoke of the field and the harvest that is ready to be gathered, and yet there were no labourers to collect the harvest. These were meant to show us about how in this world there are so many opportunities for us to do great and good works, and yet, we have not capitalise on the opportunities given to us, and the abilities given to us, to help each other to reach out to the Lord and His salvation.

The field here refers to this world, the vast fields of the earth, all of its people, all of the communities, societies, all the nations and the groups that are in this world. The master of the field, the Lord of the harvest is the Lord our God Who owns the world and all that is in it. The labourers and the workers that God had referred to in the Gospel actually refer to all of us, who are God’s people, His servants in this world.

What our Lord Jesus Christ wanted to convey to us is that we who follow the Lord has this obligation to go forth and beyond from our comfort zone, and go to harvest the fruits of the Lord’s labour on earth. The opportunity mentioned was how so many people are waiting in this world, to hear and to witness the Good News of the Lord, and yet as long as no one is available to bring to them the Good News, they will be ignorant of the truth forever.

And all of us, to whom God had revealed His truth, and to whom the teachings of the Lord had been taught, by the Church, therefore have the responsibility of passing on what we have known to those who have yet to know. And if we think the way to do so, is just by preaching and stating the truth to others about the Lord, then we are really mistaken.

For the best way to spread the Good News and the Lord’s truth is by practicing it ourselves. No one will believe in whatever we preach about God if we ourselves do not practice what we preach. No one will believe in us if our actions show contrary to what we have said. Indeed, it will only serve to scandalise God and to make people further away from salvation.

We have been called by the Lord to be His workers and servants, to help Him to gather all the rich harvests of this world, that is the souls to be saved from the clutches of the devil, from the tyranny and enslavement by sin and death. It is our task and responsibility to not let these fall into the darkness, but let us all work together, as one people, and as the members of God’s holy Church, to bring all mankind to eternal life and salvation which can be found only in God.

May Almighty God be with us always, and may He bless us and strengthen us, that we may be able to carry out our duties as His workers and servants, that we can help gather as many souls as possible, out from the jaws of death and from the claws of sin, and into the blessing of eternal light and the glorious life found in the Lord, forevermore. Amen.