Liturgical Colour : Red
John 12 : 24-26
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Those who love their life destroy it, and those who despise their life in this world save it even to everlasting life.”
“Whoever wants to serve Me, let him follow Me; and wherever I am, there shall My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honour him.”
Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 111 : 1-2, 5-6, 7-8, 9
Alleluia! Blessed is the one who fears YHVH, who greatly delights in His commands. His children will be powerful on earth; the upright’s offspring will be blessed.
It will be well with him who lends freely, who leads a life of justice and honesty. For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered and loved forever.
He has no fear of evil news, for his heart is firm, trusting in YHVH. His heart is confident; he need not fear; he shall prevail over his foes at the end.
He gives generously to the poor; his merits will last forever; and his head will be raised in honour.
Liturgical Colour : Red
2 Corinthians 9 : 6-10
Remember : the one who sows meagerly will reap meagerly, and there shall be generous harvests for the one who sows generously. Each of you should give as you decided personally, and not reluctantly, as if obliged. God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to fill you with every good thing, so that you have enough of everything, at all times, and may give abundantly for any good work.
Scripture says : He distributed, He gave to the poor, His good works last forever. God, Who provides the sower with seed, will also provide him with the bread he eats. He will multiply the seed for you and also increase the interest on your good works.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the word of God in the Scriptures, speaking to us about the difficulties which the prophet Jeremiah encountered during his ministry among the people in the kingdom of Judah. He spoke to all of them about the coming of the time of trials and challenges for the people of God, of when the city of God, Jerusalem and its Temple would be razed to the ground and destroyed by the Babylonians.
Jeremiah spoke with the power and authority from God, and yet, the people refused to believe in him. They labelled him as a naysayer and a prophet of doom, dismissing his words as false and insulting to their ears. Some of them, especially those among the powerful ones in the society even condemned him as a blasphemer for having spoken such harsh words against God’s city, Temple and its people.
They claimed to speak for the Lord and for His people, but yet, all the priests, the elites of the society and all those who opposed Jeremiah, all of them failed to reflect on their own fallen and wicked state of life, and they overlook their own sins and disobedience against God before they cast judgment against Jeremiah. This was the same judgmental and self-righteous attitude shown against the Lord Jesus, as we have heard in our Gospel passage today.
At that time, the Lord Jesus went to His home village of Nazareth in Galilee, speaking to the people in the local synagogue, proclaiming the word of God in the Scriptures and the fulfilment of the prophecies of the prophet Isaiah regarding Himself. And He said so not just with words, but His actions and deeds have preceded Himself, in all the miraculous deeds and powers He had performed throughout the region of Galilee.
But the people chose to ignore this fact, and instead, they were being judgmental by comparing Him with what they thought they knew about His background and upbringing, as the apparent Son of a poor family of the carpenter, St. Joseph, His foster-father. They assumed that because He was merely the Son of a carpenter, that He could not have performed all of the wonders that others had claimed that He had done.
In doing so they have done exactly the same as their ancestors had done towards the prophet Jeremiah. They doubted the Lord’s good works and intention for His people, and they hardened their hearts and minds, closing their ears and the doors of their hearts from the Lord Who had tried very hard to reach out to them. And the very reason for these unfortunate and unbecoming attitudes is none other than the pride that is within each and every one of us.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, each and every one of us have pride in our hearts and minds, and this pride and ego cause us to fall into temptation, the temptation of worldly power, prestige and the desire for what is great in the world. And we end up being self-centred and egoistic, thinking that we are better than others. It is why many of us have this tendency to be judgmental upon others and to look down on them.
Yet, is this what we should be doing as Christians? No, certainly not. The Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord and God Himself has been prejudiced against, betrayed and struck upon, rejected and humiliated. How can we act in the same manner as those who have persecuted and rejected Him and His prophets? Instead, all of us should imitate the examples of Christ Himself, in how He reached out to all with love, with humility and without prejudice.
First of all, the Lord reached out to the most destitute and despicable ones in the society, as He sought the sinners and the most unworthy among all of God’s children, the prostitutes and tax collectors, and many others who had sinned against God. He was not prejudiced against them, and instead, showed them all the same love which He has given to each and every one of us, the sons and daughters of man.
And then, He called them to repent from their sins, and to be open to God’s love and mercy working their effects in their hearts, minds and existence. That is why all of us are also called to be role models in our respective lives, that through our following of the examples of Christ, each and every one of us may be brought to a renewed existence in God’s grace and love. Let us all be humble as Christ was, and in how much He has loved His people, even though His own had rejected Him.
May the Lord be with us in this journey of life, and may He strengthen the faith in our hearts, that each and every one of us will grow ever more faithful, day after day, and that we will be able to give our best to serve Him and to love Him ever more, from now onwards. May God bless us all and our every endeavours. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Matthew 13 : 54-58
At that time, Jesus went to His hometown and taught the people in their synagogue. They were amazed and said, “Where did He get this wisdom and these special powers? Is He not the carpenter’s Son? Is Mary not His mother and are James, Joseph, Simon and Judas not His brothers? Are not all His sisters living here? How did He get all this?” And so they took offence at Him.
Jesus said to them, “The only place where prophets are not welcome is their hometown and in their own family.” And He did not perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 68 : 5, 8-10, 14
More than the hairs of my head are those who hate me for no reason; mighty are those who attack me, many are my enemies without cause. What I did not steal I am forced to restore.
Since I am held in contempt for Your sake, and shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my kindred, an alien to my mother’s sons. Zeal for Your House consumes me, as fire, and those who insult You, insult me as well.
But I pray to You, o YHVH. At a time most favourable to You, in Your great love, o God, answer me, with Your unfailing help.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Jeremiah 26 : 1-9
At the beginning of the reign of Judah’s king Jehoiakim son of Josiah, the word of YHVH came to Jeremiah : YHVH says this, “Stand in the courtyard of YHVH’s House and say to all who come from the towns of Judah to worship in YHVH’s House – all that I command you to say; do not omit anything! Perhaps they will listen to you. Perhaps each one will turn from his wicked ways. Then I will change My mind and forget the destruction that I have planned to inflict on them because of their wicked deeds.”
“Tell them : This is what YHVH says : ‘You have not obeyed Me and you have failed to walk according to My law which I have set before you. You have not heeded My servants, the prophets, whom I have persistently sent to you. If you stubbornly close your ears to them, I will treat this House of Mine as I treated the Sanctuary of Shiloh and let all the nations see that Jerusalem is a cursed city.’”
The priests, the prophets and all the people heard what Jeremiah said in YHVH’s House. When Jeremiah finished saying all that YHVH had commanded, he was besieged by the priests and prophets saying, “You are bound to die! How dare you speak in YHVH’s Name telling us that this House will be treated like Shiloh and this city is to become a deserted ruin.” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the House of YHVH.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard of God calling back His people through His prophet Jeremiah, a people who have been lost and separated to Him, that they may be gathered again after they had been scattered due to their rebelliousness and sin. He has called them all to repent from their sins, and therefore, to turn their back to the unfaithfulness they had done before.
To this extent, He gave us all a Saviour, to be the One Who can deliver us out of our predicament, and from the current state of sin that we suffer from, in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and the Son of God. Through the giving of His own beloved Son, God wants each and every one of us to be reconciled to Himself. And indeed, He had done that, by His ultimate sacrifice and perfect love on the cross.
He offered us all salvation and liberation from our sins, bringing the truth about our need for salvation and repentance to us. He is the Word of God, through Whom His will has been revealed to us and made known, that we may know how we should live our lives in this world, in order for us to be receptive to His saving grace, mercy and forgiveness. And the Lord Jesus presented it well through the parable which He said in our Gospel passage today.
In today’s parable, well known as the parable of the sower, we heard about a sower who sowed seeds in a certain place, but the seeds fell on different types of environments. They landed in all sorts of places, from the most unfavourable to the most favourable, with some landing on the roadside, while others landed on rocky ground, or among thistles and brambles, while some others fell on rich and fertile soil.
None of the seeds grew on those places where the conditions were unfavourable for growth, as in the case of the ones that fell on the roadside, they were eaten up by the birds. Those that fell on rocky ground were unable to find firm ground to establish their roots and they perished in the hot sun. And those that fell among thistles and brambles were surrounded and suffocated by those same thistles and brambles, and thus all perished, save for those which fell on rich and fertile soil.
What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? And how is this relevant to us all as the people of God? The Lord explained to His disciples, that the seeds are the Word of God, freely given to all of us, just as the sower spread the seeds in all directions. God does not discriminate in giving His love, mercy and forgiveness for our sins, no matter our background and our origin. He gives to all of us, from the smallest to the greatest of sinners, His love and generous offer of mercy.
That is the seeds of faith which He sowed in us, and which He had hoped that those seeds will eventually grow in each and every one of us who believe in Him. However, as we ourselves have heard, not all the seeds were able to grow, because they fell in greatly differing conditions, which in fact, represent our varying responses to the Lord’s call and offer of love and mercy. If we are not receptive of God’s call and love, how can we then expect to grow in faith in Him?
Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why today, all of us as Christians are called to rediscover our faith and we are called to let our faith grow strong in a fertile ‘soil’ which is our hearts, our minds, our bodies and indeed, our whole being. And how do we make ourselves fertile? It is by enriching our spiritual life through sincere and devout prayer life, regularly communicating with God and seeking to know His will by listening to Him speaking in our hearts.
If we are able to do so, then just as the Gospel passage mentioned how the seeds grew thirtyfold, sixtyfold and hundredfold in produce, therefore, we too shall gain immeasurably from the richness of our spiritual life, in which our faith in God can grow and prosper. This is what we are called to do, and which we should aspire to be in our Christian life and discipleship.
Let us all therefore, from now on, strive to be ever better and more committed disciples of Christ, no longer closing our hearts and minds from God, but instead, willingly opening ourselves to Him and finding ways through which we can grow ever more devoted to the Lord, Our God and Saviour. May God be our guide and be our strength, that in all the things we do in life, we will always seek His greater glory, and desire to love Him ever more, with each passing day. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Matthew 13 : 18-23
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Now listen to the parable of the sower. When a person hears the message of the kingdom, but does not take it seriously, the devil comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed that fell along the footpath.”
“The seed that fell on rocky ground stands for the one who hears the word, and accepts it at once with joy. But such a person has no roots, and endures only for a while. No sooner is he harassed or persecuted because of the word, than he gives up.”
“The seed that fell among the thistles is the one who hears the word, but then, the worries of this life and the love of money choke the word; and it does not bear fruit. As for the seed that fell on good soil, it is the one who hears the word and understands it; this seed bears fruit and produces a hundred, or sixty, or thirty times more.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Jeremiah 31 : 10, 11-12ab, 13
Hear the word of YHVH, o nations, proclaim it on distant coastlands : He Who scattered Israel will gather them and guard them as a shepherd guard his flock.
For YHVH has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand of his conqueror. They shall come shouting for joy, while ascending Zion; they will come streaming to YHVH’s blessings.
Maidens will make merry and dance, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness, I will give them comfort and joy for sorrow.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 