Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday each and every one of us are reminded that all of us as Christians, as those whom the Lord had called and chosen, as His own beloved and holy people, we are all expected to lead lives that are truly worthy of the Lord in all the things that we say and do, in being committed to God and in loving Him wholeheartedly, just as we also ought to show the same love to everyone around us, to those whom we love and who are precious to us, and also to those who have no one to love them, those who are poor and needy, all those whom the Lord had placed in our path so that through the opportunities, the blessings and all the good things He has given us, we may use them to touch the lives of others positively.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of the prophet Amos in which the prophet rebuked the people of God who had lived wickedly and in disregard of the ways of the Lord, and how they continued to celebrate and steeped themselves in lots of merrymaking and parties despite them having led the people of God and the nation ever deeper into the path of their downfall and destruction. The prophet Amos was sent to the Israelites in the northern kingdom centred in Samaria during the time of its prosperity and power, and yet, the people were morally corrupt and disobedient against God, abandoning Him for the pagan gods and idols, and doing exactly what the prophet Amos was rebuking them all against.

The prophet Amos was essentially mentioning that if the people continued to do that and if they kept on disregarding God’s words and commandments, then they would face the consequences of their wickedness and disobedience against God. The Lord does not look kindly on their behaviours, in how they rejoiced in the midst of their sins and disobedience, in how they behaved wickedly towards one another. And yet, God in His ever loving and patient kindness towards His people continued to love them nonetheless and did His very best to reach out to them just as what He had done by sending the prophet Amos and many other prophets and messengers to those wayward people. God kept on sending His messengers and prophets even as they continued on opposing Him and refusing to believe in Him, and in the end, they faced destruction and had their cities and kingdom destroyed by their enemies.

Then, from our second reading this Sunday, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to his protege, St. Timothy, we heard of the words that the Apostle spoke to St. Timothy regarding the importance of living one’s faith genuinely, in practicing what all of us have believed as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, those whom He had called and chosen to be His own. St. Paul also reminded the faithful through St. Timothy that all Christians ought to walk in the path of God, in being holy and godly, in doing the will of God and being good examples and role models for one another in their faith and in their way of interacting with each other. That is because, unless we truly devote themselves to the Lord faithfully, we cannot truly call ourselves as Christians, and especially if our actions and attitudes contradict what we believe in.

Unfortunately, the reality in this world is often one of apathy, lack of faith and true understanding of what it truly means for us to be good and faithful Christians. For some people, they may think that it is good enough just for them to be in so called ‘personal relationship with God or with Jesus’ and then nothing else matters. Alternatively, with similar attitudes, one can even be hypocritical in their way of living their faith, selfishly seeking their own salvation and righteousness, but neglecting their responsibilities in this world, their need to care and love for those around them who have loved them sincerely and genuinely, confusing their own comfort zone and community as Heaven, while there are others who suffer because of their neglect and their inconsistent attitudes, lacking in accountability and responsibility, hurting those who care for them due to their own lack of maturity in faith.

This is something that is related to what we have heard in our Gospel passage this Sunday, from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the well-known parable that the Lord Jesus used to teach His disciples, that is the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, where the story of Lazarus, a poor man sitting down in front of the house of a rich man was told to them and all of us, as reminders for all of us that we should never neglect those around us who are poor, needy and who have been placed in our hands and responsibility so that we may help and assist them with whatever it is that they may need in their lives. That rich man may not necessarily have lived wicked ways of life, and one interpretation is that, he might even be a devout person like those of the Pharisees and the religious and the societal elites of the community.

But, his fatal mistake was his neglect of the one whom God had put into his path, thinking that he had everything he needed in his life and his friends. The poor man Lazarus begged and waited at the doorstep of the house of the rich man, seeking even crumbs of bread from the table of the rich man, but had none at all until the day he passed away. And this leads to the need for us to question ourselves and our own actions in life. Have we treated those who care for us in this way as well? Have we ignored those whom the Lord had placed in our lives and gave us the responsibility and the opportunity to care for? Or are we all too blinded by our own pursuits, in whatever it may be? Have our own actions led to us neglecting and ignoring those whom we can love but chose not to because we are so full of ourselves?

Like those Pharisees of old, they were so overzealous and overly obsessed with their own version of the faith, that they shut the doors of their minds and hearts against God trying to reach out to them and speak to them, to make them understand what it truly means to be faithful to Him, and to see God being present in all things and in all people, even in the least and those the society often considered to be unworthy and wicked. If God continued to love all these people, then we should also do the same in our own lives as well. If we do not do what we can do in loving others and showing care and concern for those who need them, then that is the sin which the rich man committed, the sin of omission. This reminds us that sin is not just about doing what is wicked or evil, but also by not doing what we should be doing in our lives, and chose not to do so.

Like the rich man who regretted after he fell into hell, those of us who neglected those whom God had put in our path, for us to show care, love and concern, and all those beloved ones to us all the more, then we too shall regret for not having shown better care and attention to those whom the Lord had called us to love and care for. This is exactly what the Israelites in the northern kingdom had done, and which the prophet Amos had chastised them for, and it is a timely reminder for all of us to show genuine faith in the Lord and to love everyone generously, to those who need our love and compassion, the poor and the needy, the oppressed and the ostracised, and even more so to those who love us the most. Let us never take them for granted any longer.

May the Lord guide us ever in our path, so that we can be good role models and inspirations for everyone around us, to be the shining beacons of God’s light and truth, and to lead all the people to Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, by our genuine actions and lives. Amen.