Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today each and every one of us as Christians are reminded to be full of love for the Lord and for our fellow brothers and sisters, as we are called to obey the word of God and His commandments, and are reminded to do what He has taught us to do, and even what He Himself had done for our sake. We are reminded of what it truly means for us to be Christians, not just in name only, but also in real deeds and actions. Otherwise, if we do not do as we are supposed to, then we are no better than hypocrites, and our empty and dead faith will avail us not on the day of Judgment.
In our first reading today we heard from the words of the Apostle St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Galatia. The Apostle was reminding the people of God that there was the need for them to adhere closely to the truth and the message of the Gospels and whatever that he and the other missionaries of the Lord had delivered to them. At that time, the people were easily swayed by the teachings of the false prophets and messengers, all those who came up with their own interpretations and ideas not inspired by the truth of God and the Holy Spirit, by those who sought to subvert the truth and the message of the Gospels for their own selfish desires and purposes.
That is exactly what would happen to the various communities of the Lord’s faithful across the many centuries afterwards, as the history of the Church can testify to us, how there were various false teachings and heretical thoughts and ideas that sprung forth and not founded upon the truth and the traditions handed down through the Church from the Lord and His Apostles. Those false teachers and preachers spoke of values and teachings contrary to the way of the Lord, and instead following their own worldly and mistaken ways. And thus we heard one of the Lord’s true teachings being highlighted in our Gospel passage today, in the story of the parable of the Good Samaritan, which I am sure many of us are well aware of.
In that parable of the Good Samaritan, we heard of how a man from Jericho, a Jew was beset by bandits and was left to die. A priest and a Levite passed by and ignored the man’s plight while a Samaritan was eventually the one who took care of the man but not only that, as the Samaritan went the extra mile in trying to help the man, and helped the man in his hour of greatest need, caring for him and told the innkeeper to provide extra care as much as needed, and that he would return for him no matter what. This is what I meant by the true Christian values and teachings that each one of us have been called to uphold and proclaim, and to practice and do in our respective lives.
At that time, the priests and the Levites were the elites and the most well-respected within the Jewish community, while on the other hand the Samaritans were greatly despised and hated, and no Jew of good standing at that time would want anything to do with a Samaritan. All of these happened because of the historical enmity and misunderstandings between both the Jewish people and the Samaritans, as each one of them claimed to be the authentic and true heirs of the people of God of old, of the old kingdoms of Israel and Judah in the past. The Jews of course claimed that they were the rightful descendants of Israel, having been descended from the exiles of Israel and Judah, while the Samaritans claimed that they had lived in their lands since the days of the Israelites of old.
These struggles and misunderstandings meant that the Samaritans were deeply mistrusted, prejudiced against and despised as mentioned. And yet, it was the Samaritan man who actually went out of his way to help the Jewish man, in loving and caring for him even when he was not obliged to do so. He went beyond and cared for the man anyway. That is what Christian charity and love is all about, brothers and sisters in Christ, and what we are all called and expected to do as followers and disciples of Christ, our Lord and Saviour. For the Lord Himself did that as well, extending His love to us when He was not obliged to, and cared for us deeply. God is always ever compassionate, patient and kind with us even when we have been difficult towards Him in all the attitudes and stubbornness we have shown.
He shouldered the burdens of our sins willingly, the punishments and humiliations, the scourges and tortures, and all of that and more, so that through all of them, we may receive the sure guarantee of eternal life and salvation through Him. Christ bore the punishment of sins for us, was beaten, humiliated and scourged for us, so that by His suffering and death, we who believe in Him and put our faith in Him will be freed from our fated eternal damnation because of our sins and disobedience against God. We should have perished as the Jewish man from Jericho should have perished, and yet, our Lord, like the Good Samaritan, came to us, brought us back to new life through Him, and gave us hope and strength.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore today as we listened to these readings from the Scriptures and remembering the great love by which God cared for us and loved us, let us all hence strive to be ever better and more committed disciples and followers of our Lord in all things. Let us all strive to love Him all the more, distancing ourselves from wicked and sinful ways. And most importantly, let us all heed His own examples in loving us, and the story of the Good Samaritan, for us to love one another in the same way, to love without boundaries and prejudices, and to love generously and sincerely without considerations for our backgrounds, origins, status or other things that often shaped our way of interacting with each other.
Today, we celebrate the feast of a great and renowned saint who lived and worked in the previous century, who helped many of us to come to know the love and mercy of God, His compassion and kindness, in the figure and persona of the Divine Mercy of God. St. Faustina Kowalska, a religious nun who was famous for her vision of the Lord’s aspect as the Divine Mercy, through her words and writings helped the world to come to know the vastness of God’s love and merciful kindness towards each and every one of us. She had felt the calling of religious life from early on in her life, and embraced that call by becoming a religious sister, and entering a convent in Warsaw, in her native Poland.
St. Faustina Kowalska was renowned for her great piety and dedication to God, and she periodically received visions of the Divine Mercy in the convent, throughout her period of prayers and contemplation, in which the Lord continued to reveal Himself and His desire for all mankind to embrace His ever generous love and mercy. St. Faustina Kowalska faced a lot of trials and hardships in the process, as there were quite a few who were skeptical about the veracity, authenticity and orthodoxy of her visions, and she faced interdict, restrictions and questioning from the religious superiors and other leaders of the Church regarding her visions and writings. Nonetheless, St. Faustina Kowalska persevered on and continued to do what the Lord had told her to do, and eventually, many years after her passing, she was vindicated, and her vision of the Divine Mercy of God became a very popular devotion in the Church.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard and discerned on the readings from the Sacred Scriptures that we have just received, and also through the inspiring example and story of the life of St. Faustina Kowalska, let us all therefore do our part as members of God’s Church, as His beloved people and as His disciples, to proclaim Him and His truth, His love and Good News through our own exemplary lives and examples. Let us always strive to live our lives worthily of the Lord, as our holy predecessors, the saints and martyrs, and like St. Faustina Kowalska have shown us, especially recalling what we have also heard from the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the story of the Good Samaritan. All of us are reminded that as Christians all of us need to show love for one another just as much as God loves us so wonderfully and so patiently, and as much as we love Him too.
May the Lord, our most loving God and Creator, the Divine Mercy, continue to shower us all with His love and grace, and through His mercy and compassion, may He continue to inspire all of us to be truly loving and forgiving, kind and compassionate in all of our encounters and relationships with one another, that we may truly bear forth the light of Christ in our lives, now and forevermore. Amen.
