Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord contained in the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for each and every one of us to have a strong faith that is truly rooted and anchored in the Lord, and not to have the kind of empty and superficial faith that will not be of use to us at all and which will not justify us on the Day of Judgment. All of us must nurture in us the strong love and devotion to God, and build in us the strong and lasting foundation by our enduring faith and commitment to God. This is what we are being reminded of today by listening to the words of the Scriptures presented to us, that there is only firm and sure hope in God alone and that if we depend on worldly means and provisions we are likely to be disappointed in the end.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which God spoke to His people, the people of the kingdom of Judah about His promises and reassurance to them that He would protect and guard them against their enemies, and He would make their cities and towns secure again, setting up His strong wall against all those who would rise against them. The prophet Isaiah also spoke of the firm foundation in God, the firm and steady foundation Rock for all the people of God. This assurance indeed came at the right time for the people of God in Judah and they themselves at that time had likely witnessed in person what God had done for those who were faithful and beloved to Him against their enemies who tried to strike them down and destroy them.

We can understand this better by referring to the historical and Scriptural evidence of the time when the Assyrians came up to Jerusalem under their King Sennacherib, with his mighty army in the hundreds of thousands, after the Assyrians earlier on had destroyed and conquered the northern half of the kingdom of the people of God, the kingdom of Israel. At that time, during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah, the people of God and their king must have been fearful of the might of the Assyrians who were very powerful and undefeated those days, conquering many states and territories around the kingdom of Judah itself, and eventually they also came for Judah and Jerusalem. If we read the story contained in the Book of Kings, that Assyrian king Sennacherib even boasted against the Lord and ridiculed the faith of the people of Judah.

It was there and then that, having kept their trust and faith in God, the prayers of the people of Judah and their king, Hezekiah, who was faithful and obedient to God, led to the Lord sending His mighty Angels to strike upon the vast hordes of the Assyrian army, leading to the death of a hundred and eighty-five thousand men among them, a truly colossal devastation that God had brought upon the Assyrians and their proud and haughty king. Certainly, the people of Judah had witnessed all these happening before their very own eyes, and believed in God. In the same manner therefore, I decided to bring up this history and evidence to help us all to realise for ourselves just how great God’s providence and love for us are. We must not forget how blessed we are to have God Who has always been so loving and so patient in caring for us.

Then, from our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord telling and in fact warning His disciples and the people listening to Him that not everyone who claim to know Him and who says, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will be saved or worthy for eternal life. This was immediately followed by the parable of the foundations in which the Lord compared between the ones who built the foundations for their houses on the loose sand against those who have built their houses on the solid foundation from strong and firm rocks. This parable is meant to highlight to us all what it means to put our faith and trust in God as opposed to putting our trust in the many worldly means and alternatives that we have all around us, our wealth, property, abilities and all the worldly attachments we have.

The loose foundation is a reference to the trust that we have in our worldly means and abilities, as all those things while they may provide us temporary help, assurance and means to survive and prosper, but they will not last forever. Eventually none of those things will last and even the greatest of wealth and worldly property, belongings and treasures can be destroyed in the blink of an eye, no matter how careful we have taken care of them. And ultimately, none of us can bring any of these to the life that is to come. No amount of wealth, worldly possessions, fame, glory, worldly achievements and talents, all the things we have amassed in this world can be brought with us past the gates of death. Even the mightiest and richest ones among us go to the afterlife with the same things that the poorest and the weakest among us bring with them, that is no other than their bodies and their souls.

Before God all of us are equals and we are all equally beloved by Him. And in Him alone we can find true assurance and perfectly lasting happiness and joy. For it is in Him alone we can truly depend on and will not be disappointed. And while we may have to face difficulties, struggles and challenges in this life, but as long as we keep our faith in God and continue to love Him, anchoring ourselves and our lives very deeply in His love and providence, then everything will be well for us in the end. Just as the Lord has repeatedly promised, reassured us all and shown to His beloved ones throughout time, He is always ever faithful to the Covenant which He has made with us, and all of us who are faithful to Him, without exception, shall share in the eternal and true glory and joy with Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect upon these words of the Scriptures and what we have just discussed with regards to what we can do going forward in life, and especially in the short term for our Advent preparations and observances. Let us all continue to commit ourselves ever more strongly to the Lord, doing whatever we can so that by our good examples and commitments, by our faithful obedience and continued trust in God, we will always have that firm foundation in Him that will be unshakeable no matter what challenges and hardships we may be currently facing in our lives and whatever we may encounter from now on. Let us all inspire one another and encourage ourselves to be always faithful as well. May God be with us all and may He bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.