Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that we should always be prepared and ready in all circumstances and moments, to be truly dedicated in all of our words, actions and deeds, in everything that we carry out in life so that our whole lives may indeed be the worthy examples of our faith in God. We must not take for granted all the opportunities and chances which God had given and opened for us. He has entrusted to us all the time and the crucial missions in our own respective areas, to do what is fruitful and righteous according to His designs. And this is how we can live our lives as genuine and good Christians in each and every moments of our lives, and becoming good role models and examples for one another.

In our first reading today, we heard from the continuation of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Rome in which the Apostle continued to speak about the true meaning and the matter of understanding the Law of God, which is Love. For without love, whatever faith and piety we have in God, in all the actions and words we have presented, we will have no genuine and fruitful faith in us, and God will find us wanting. This also means that without love, it is not possible for us to be truly faithful to God, as if we do not love God and others in the manner that God has taught us to, and more than how we love ourselves, then it may be impossible for us to be truly and genuinely faithful to God.

Love is the hallmark of our Christian faith, something that makes us distinctive and unique, a reflection of God’s Love for us all. It is because He Himself is Love, and He has given us all the capacity to love through His Spirit, and He has taught us all how to love through His own Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Who has come into our midst, showing us the promise of eternal life and deliverance through His ultimate sacrifice on the Cross. And that is why as Christians we must always be full of love in all things, in all of our every actions, words and deeds, because without love, then our Christian faith and lives will be mostly empty, dead and meaningless. Is that what the Lord wants us to do in our lives? Certainly not! God wants us all to be truly filled with His genuine love at all times.

Then, from the Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples and to those who were gathered to listen to Him and His teachings, speaking to them about the importance of being prepared and ready in all the things that they do in their lives so that they may truly be worthy of God when they are to account for their lives and actions in the end. And this teaching was made such that the people of God will always do their best to observe the will of God and to accomplish His Law and commandments, and not to veer off or turn away from what He has Himself taught and shown them through His Church and through His words contained within the Scriptures.

The Lord told them that unless they were all willing to make sacrifices and follow Him wholeheartedly, they could not be His disciples. Of course, this must also be well understood from the context of His words, as He was saying this in reference to the calling to be the disciples of His who went with Him in ministering to the other people of God. This calling requires a lot more commitment because they had to follow the Lord everywhere and therefore, they had to leave their family members behind and commit themselves fully to God. This does not mean hence that we ought to abandon all our responsibilities to our families, beloved ones and those whom God had put in our lives. However, what the Lord wants us to know is that we have to know what it takes to follow the Lord.

And each one of us have different callings, purpose and missions in life, depending on what God had entrusted to us. We must not ignore what the Lord had entrusted to us, and we have to embrace His calling and missions for us wholeheartedly, devoting our actions, words and all of our works in each and every moments to reach out to all those whom we meet in our daily living and interactions. Like the Lord’s parable on the builders of houses who planned carefully on how and where to build the houses, and also like the king who would consider and plan carefully before going to war with another king, hence, all of us must also be prepared in all the things we do, in our whole lives, knowing that in the end, we will have to reckon our lives and actions before God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the Scriptures today and as we have reflected from the words of the Lord, we are reminded that in each and every moments, we should always do our very best to live lives that bring forth the teachings of our Christian faith to life and to be truly real and existent. Each and every one of us are called to be genuine Christians in all things, in our every works, actions and deeds, or else we are no better than hypocrites and unbelievers, in not truly being honest and genuine in the manner that we live our lives with faith. All of us must continue to walk the talk, doing our best to be the shining beacons of God’s light and truth in our communities and societies today.

May the Lord, our loving God and Master continue to strengthen us all with the encouragement and strength to carry out faithfully the missions and to fulfil the opportunities which He has provided to us. May the Lord continue to bless each and every one of us and may He give us His blessings for all the good works and efforts that we have been inspired to do by His grace and love. May all of us continue to live our lives genuinely and courageously at all times, doing what the Lord has entrusted to us, that we may become courageous and true missionaries of the Lord in all circumstances and occasions. Amen.