Liturgical Colour : White
1 John 3 : 1-3
See what singular love the Father has for us : we are called children of God, and we really are. This is why the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Beloved, we are God’s children, and what we shall be has not, yet, been shown. Yet, when He appears in His glory, we know, that we shall be like Him, for, then, we shall see Him as He is. All who have such a hope, try to be pure, as He is pure.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 23 : 1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
The earth and its fullness belong to YHVH, the world and all that dwell in it. He has founded it upon the ocean and set it firmly upon the waters.
Who will ascend the mountain of YHVH? Who will stand in His holy place? Those with clean hands and pure heart, who desire not what is vain.
They will receive blessings from YHVH, a reward from God, their Saviour. Such are the people who seek Him, who seek the face of Jacob’s God.
Liturgical Colour : White
Revelations 7 : 2-4, 9-14
I saw another Angel, ascending from the sunrise, carrying the seal of the living God, and he cried out with a loud voice, to the four Angels empowered to harm the earth and the sea, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.”
Then, I heard the number of those marked with the seal : a hundred and forty-four thousand, from all the tribes of the people of Israel. After this, I saw a great crowd, impossible to count, from every nation, race, people and tongue, standing before the Throne, and the Lamb, clothed in white, with palm branches in their hands, and they cried out with a loud voice, “Who saves, but our God, Who sits on the Throne, and the Lamb?”
All the Angels were around the Throne, the elders and the four living creatures; they, then, bowed before the Throne, with their faces to the ground, to worship God. They said, “Amen, Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honour, power and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen!”
At that moment, one of the elders spoke up, and said to me, “Who are these people clothed in white, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, it is you who know this.” The elder replied, “They, are those who have come out of the great persecution, they have washed, and made their clothes white, in the Blood of the Lamb.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture through which we are reminded that we must do our best to resist the temptation to sin in this world because by our human nature, we are always exposed and easily tempted by sin, because as the Lord said, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Therefore, unless we make the conscious effort to resist those temptations, it is likely that we will fall again and again into sin.
In our first reading today, St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Rome spoke of how sin truly is a very dangerous enemy that we have in us, and because of that, we must always be vigilant lest these sins mislead us further and even deeper into the trap of sin. Sin brings us into more sins because sin by nature itself is disobedience against God, and the more we disobey God, the more we are disconnected from Him and become more vulnerable against even more temptation.
But St. Paul also reminded us all that while we are easily tempted to sin because of the weakness of our flesh, but in truth, this was not how it was all supposed to be. When God created us man in the beginning, as well as all creation as described in the Book of Genesis, He intended everything to be good and perfect, unblemished and pure, and indeed He created everything to be all good.
Unfortunately, because of our desire and pride, our preference to listen to the lies of the devil rather than to obey the words of our Lord and Creator, sin entered into our hearts, into our minds and into our whole beings, corrupting us and making us filled with this sin, the original sin. And this sin made us enslaved to it, making us vulnerable even more to the temptations of Satan and his wicked forces.
And in our Gospel passage today, the Lord is reminding us all of what we need to do before it is too late for us, as He spoke of signs and wonders that led to the coming of the time of reckoning, as all of us ultimately have to give account of our own respective lives. We have to own up on all things we have done in our lives, whether we have been faithful or whether we have been disobedient and sinful in our way of life.
He reminds us all that the coming of the end of times is a certainty, while we ourselves completely do not know of the time of that precise occurrence. And in addition, all of us will also encounter death in our life sooner or later, as our earthly and mortal existence is limited and temporary. No one can lengthen their lives beyond what God has willed it. And when the time comes, we have to face the Judge of all, God Himself, and give an account of our lives.
If we have allowed ourselves to be swayed by sin and continue to sin without repentance or regret of the wicked things we have done in disobedience to God, then the outcome for us will not be good. And as long as we allow ourselves to be enslaved by sin and reject God’s rich offering of mercy and forgiveness, there will be no place for us in God. For God is all good and perfect, and the sins in us will be obstacles for us in our reconciliation with Him.
But as I have mentioned, and which all of us should be aware of is the fact that God loves us all regardless of our sins. And He is always patient and ready to welcome us back to His embrace should we be willing to accept His offer of mercy and strive to be forgiven from our sins by sincere and complete repentance. Indeed, this is not something that can just easily be done, as we all know that sin is very powerful in its allure and power, and we have ended up falling again and again into sin despite our best efforts.
Yet, we should not give up, as God Himself is by our side, guiding us and encouraging us on our struggle and journey. We must trust in Him and let Him to guide us on our journey, and not allow our desires and pride to lead us even further into sin. This is why it is important for us to deepen our relationships with God by having a healthy and regular prayer life, as well as by practicing our faith sincerely in our respective lives and capacities.
Let us all draw closer to God and strive to stay true to God’s path, dedicating our time and effort, our whole lives from now on to God’s greater glory. Let us all turn our backs towards our sinful past and allow God to forgive us our sins that we may be welcome into the kingdom of His eternal glory and receive true joy and happiness forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 12 : 54-59
At that time, Jesus said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it happens. And when the wind blows from the south, you say, ‘It will be hot’; and so it is. You superficial people! You understand the signs of the earth and the sky, but you do not understand the present times.”
“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is fit? When you go with your accuser before the court, try to settle the case on the way, lest he drag you before the judge, and the judge deliver you to the jailer, and the jail throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the very last penny.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 118 : 66, 68, 76, 77, 93, 94
Give me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust in Your commands.
You are good, and Your works are good; teach me Your decrees.
Comfort me then with Your unfailing love, as You promised Your servant.
Let Your mercy come, to give me life; for Your Law is my delight.
Never will I forget Your precepts; for with them, You give me life.
Save me, for I am Yours, since I seek Your statutes.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Romans 7 : 18-25a
I know, that what is right, does not abide in me, I mean, in my flesh. I can want to do what is right, but I am unable to do it. In fact, I do not do the good I want, but the evil I hate. Therefore, if I do what I do not want to do, I am not the one striving toward evil, but sin, which is in me.
I discover, then, this reality : though I wish to do what is right, the evil within me asserts itself first. My inmost self, agrees and rejoices with the Law of God, but I notice in my body, another law, challenging the Law of the Spirit, and delivering me, as a slave to the law of sin, written in my members.
Alas, for me! Who will free me from this being, which is only death? Let us give thanks to God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord!
Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate together as the Universal Church the feast of one of the four great Evangelists or the writers of the Four Holy Gospels. Today we honour the memory of St. Luke the Evangelist, the writer of the Gospel of St. Luke, notable for his meticulous method of writing and attention to details, being written many decades after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.
While St. Luke was not counted among one of the Apostles, unlike that of St. Matthew and St. John, but St. Luke was mentioned quite a few times in the Acts of the Apostles and was known to be a very important Church father for his many works of evangelisation and ministry among the people of God. St. Luke followed St. Paul during some of his missionary journeys and it was also likely that the Acts of the Apostles was authored by him.
St. Luke had contributed greatly to the Church and his role in the early establishment of the Church and the faith cannot be underestimated. He was a physician and doctor by trade, but after he had found Christ, he went on from treating the people of their physical illnesses into treating their spiritual shortcomings and sickness too. He dedicated his whole life to the service of God and did his best to deliver and proclaim the truth of God to the people.
And he also faced the difficult challenges and persecutions just as the other Apostles and disciples of the Lord had experienced. He continued to serve the Lord faithfully regardless of these difficulties and did his best to be a faithful witness of the Gospel of Christ. His numerous contributions especially in the early codification of the New Testament works helped to ensure that eventually when the Scripture Canon was assembled a few centuries later, the faithful had his immensely useful works in hand.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we ought to reflect on our own lives, on whether we have lived our lives as true Christian disciples as St. Luke had been in his own life. And in today’s Scripture readings, we are reminded of just how challenging it can be for us to be true disciples of Christ, as St. Paul clearly showed his frustration in his second Epistle to St. Timothy, how he was abandoned and left behind by his travel companions and many deserted him when they encountered difficulties in their journey.
The Apostles and disciples of the Lord even had to risk their lives and suffered greatly through all the rejections and persecutions they encountered throughout their missions, just as the Lord Jesus Himself had predicted as mentioned in our Gospel passage today, in how He was sending them like sheep among wolves. But at that same time, the Lord also reassured all of His disciples that He would be with them and the Holy Spirit He would send to them would be their strength and guide.
Then now, we need to realise that in our own lives too, we shall be subjected to similar kinds of persecutions and challenges, not necessarily in the same manner as what the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord had faced during their days, but these oppositions we face may even be mental and spiritual in nature, and also even from those who are dear and close to us, our own family members and friends among others. Throughout the history of the Church, we have had many similar examples facing our predecessors trying to dedicate themselves to holy lives in God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we able to follow in the footsteps of St. Luke the Evangelist, the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord? Are we able to dedicate our lives and serve God with conviction and commitment each and every moments of our lives? We must remember and heed also what the Lord had also said in our Gospel passage today, that the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers to gather the harvest of the Lord are not sufficient.
We are all called to be those labourers, to gather the harvests of the Lord, by being true disciples of His in our world today by being His faithful witnesses in the world, not just by words but also through concrete deeds and actions. And we do not have to start big or being ambitious, as in fact, in whatever little things we do in our daily lives, we should truly embody what we believe in as Christians and be true disciples of Christ in everything and at every moment.
May the Lord continue to watch over us and guide us, and may He bless us all in our works and in our endeavours from now on that more and more people may come to believe in Him through us and through our living and real examples in life. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Luke 10 : 1-9
At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them, two by two, ahead of Him, to every town and place, where He Himself was to go. And He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to His harvest. Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know.”
“Whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.”
“When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them : ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.'”
Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 144 : 10-11, 12-13ab, 17-18
All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o YHVH, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom, and speak of Your power.
That all may know of Your mighty deeds, Your reign, and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endured, from generation to generation.
Righteous is YHVH in all His ways, His mercy shows in all His deeds. He is near those who call on Him, who call trustfully upon His Name.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 