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, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord contained in the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded through them that each and every one of us as Christians must always live our lives in each and every moments, in every day living to the best of our abilities, to do what the Lord has shown and taught us to do so that our lives and works may truly be worthy of God, and that we may truly be inspirational and exemplary in our own actions, words, deeds and all the things we have, so that many more people may come to know the Lord through us and our examples, and hopefully by our inspiration we may continue to lead more and more people to follow the Lord as well.
In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Ephesus, we continue to hear the same exhortation which St. Paul had made to the faithful there regarding how they all ought to continue to follow the Lord faithfully in the manner that he himself has taught and shown them, and to remain united as one, just as he highlighted in today’s passage, reminding them of their one common baptism, the same Church and Body that they all belong to, the one united Church of God that they should all keep together, and not to be divided by the many sources of divisions that are often around us all, which threaten the unity of the Church and the salvation of souls among other things.
At that time, as we have discussed earlier in the week, and if we understand the context of the early Church situation at the time, there were strifes, distrust and disunity among the early faithful especially between the Jewish converts and those who came from the non-Jewish origins, or the Gentiles, with some of the former often seeing themselves as superior to those who did not follow the Jewish laws, rules and customs. They claimed that those who did not follow the fullness of the strict Jewish laws, practices and customs could not have a share in God’s grace and Presence, but St. Paul and the other Apostles definitively opposed this view and false idea, reminding all the faithful to remain true to the path that the Lord has shown them and not to follow the excesses of the way of how the Pharisees had practiced and observed the Law, which the Lord Himself had criticised earlier on.
In their preoccupation to follow the Law, in all of its rituals and details, all the extensive restrictions and rigid ways, those people had forgotten the true meaning and intention of the Law of God, which was never meant to oppress, restrict or make the people’s livelihood and circumstances difficult. Rather, the Law of God was always meant to teach and show the people, all of us mankind on how to love the Lord and to follow Him, He Who is Love, as God is Love, and this great love which God has for us therefore brought Him to teach us all His Law, which had been meant to show us all how we can love Him ever more perfectly, and then show that same generous and genuine love in our own actions and interactions, in loving our fellow brothers and sisters around us.
Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples and to the people assembled all around Him about the signs of times, and all the things that they could perceive from their senses and experiences. He told them all that they all had seen and known the signs of things around them, and yet they failed to perceive the truth from what He has taught and shown them all, and some among them were still stubborn in their refusal to follow His teachings and truth by their constant opposition and attempts to discredit Him and make His path difficult. And there were some others yet who also failed to understand and believe despite everything which they had seen, witnessed and heard from the works and ministry of the Lord, Who has performed great miracles and spoken with great Wisdom as prophesied by the prophets.
He also told them all to make peace with one another and to settle things that had divided them, and all the obstacles to peace, harmony and love, which had caused divisions among them. It is our prejudices, arrogance, ambitions, ego, pride, greed and all other negativities in us, all the temptations and wickedness around us that can lead us astray away from God and into the path of disobedience, disharmony and all the things that lead us into our downfall and destruction. And we must not forget that the evil ones are always busy at work in trying to divide us against each other, to be jealous, angry and hateful towards our brethren, because it is when we are divided and when our hearts and minds are filled with these negative thoughts and emotions that we are more susceptible to their strikes and attacks.
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard and discussed from the Scripture readings earlier on, clearly all of us are reminded to keep the Lord at the very centre and focus of our whole lives, our existence and our every actions and deeds. And we have also been reminded to keep the unity in our Church and Christian community, to remain firmly united in love and to remain rooted in God in all things. We should not allow our pride, ego, ambition, desires and attachments for worldly glory to distract and tempt us away from God and lead us to be divided and torn in our unity in the One Church of God. We should always work towards strengthening the unity of our love and actions, so that we may draw ever closer to God and His holy Presence, all united in our common love for God and our generous love for each other.
May the Lord, our ever loving God and Father continue to bestow upon us His strength and encouragement so that we can always remain firmly faithful in Him at all times, and may He continue to help us to preserve the unity in the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, in the one united Body of Christ. May all of us also strive to be good and active contributors in our respective ministries and calling in life, to do what we can to proclaim the Lord and His salvation to more and more people, by becoming holy and worthy beacons of God’s light and grace, His love and compassion in our own communities, now and always. 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 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 : Green
Ephesians 4 : 1-6
Therefore, I, the prisoner of Christ, invite you, to live the vocation you have received. Be humble, kind, patient and bear with one another in love. Make every effort to keep among you, the unity of spirit, through bonds of peace. Let there be one body, and one Spirit, just as one hope is the goal of your calling by God. One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God, the Father of all, Who is above all, and works through all, and is in all.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of the great St. Luke the Evangelist, one of the four renowned Evangelists who wrote the Four Holy Gospels. Each one of these Four Evangelists wrote their Gospels with specific target and audience in mind, and with lots of shared contents and similarities, being divinely inspired and from the same deposit of faith, but with some differences especially pertaining to the intended audience of each of the authors of those Gospels, where there are differences in the way that the stories and passages of the Gospels were written, with different contexts and explanations to help whoever were listening to the messages of the Gospels to understand better about the Lord and His salvation, His Good News, His truth and love.
In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to St. Timothy in which St. Paul the Apostle spoke to St. Timothy about the matter of his experiences with the other disciples around him, including with St. Luke the Evangelist, who was one of St. Paul’s companions during his numerous missionary journeys. St. Paul spoke of how some of them including St. Luke had been good companions and were faithful to God and to their mission, while there were also others who were not helpful or even detrimental in how they had probably hindered the works of St. Paul and his other fellow missionaries. Through this conversation and exchanges, coupled with historical evidence and Church tradition, we can see how the early Church grew through the dedicated efforts of the early missionaries, including the Apostles and their companions like St. Luke the Evangelist.
St. Luke the Evangelist himself was a known physician who was a follower of St. Paul the Apostle, and journeyed with the latter in some of his missionary journeys as mentioned earlier. He was of Greek origin from the city and region of Antioch in Syria, and became a disciple of the Lord. Some Church tradition and accounts numbered St. Luke among the seventy-two or seventy disciples that was mentioned in our Gospel passage today. Regardless of the fact, whether St. Luke followed the Lord from during the time of His ministry or afterwards, it was clear that he was closely intertwined with the efforts of the early Church missionaries, the Apostles and the other disciples in proclaiming the Good News of God to many people and communities throughout the region.
St. Luke was credited with not just the authorship of the Gospel of St. Luke, but most Church historians and the traditions of the Church also attributed to him the authorship of the Acts of the Apostles, the Book in the New Testament which gave details on the many actions and works of the Apostles and their companions, the authenticity and accuracy of which is further bolstered by the fact that St. Luke was actively participating in many of St. Paul’s missionary journeys, and therefore can indeed be seen as the various experiences and things that St. Luke the Evangelist himself had experienced and received during his journeys and exchanges with St. Paul, with the other Apostles and missionaries of his time and era, giving us all important insight of the experiences of the early Church and early Christians.
According to Church tradition, St. Luke continued to carry out his mission by following St. Paul all the way to Rome, as attested in the Acts of the Apostles itself, accompanying the Apostle to the last stage of his mission before he was martyred for his faith during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Nero. Then, St. Luke himself according to some traditions was also a martyr, by being hung from an olive tree, while others said that he was not a martyr. Nonetheless, regardless of the detail or fact about the end of his life, St. Luke ended his life at a rather advanced age of eighty-four in Boeotia, in what is today central part of Greece, after a long life of service to God and after a lot of great contributions to the Church and the faithful, through his writings and works of evangelisation, among many others.
Then, in our Gospel passage, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist about the Lord Jesus sending out His disciples, a total of seventy-two of them, in addition to His Twelve, to do their missions and prepare the way and path for Him before He went to the various places He Himself would be visiting. He sent them all in pairs, two by two to proclaim the Good News, to perform miracles and signs, heal the sick and cast out demons, through the authority and power which He had granted to them. He gave them the mandate to do what He has come into this world for, to bring us all out of the darkness and from the tyranny of sin, allowing us all to be free once again and to be reunited and reconciled with God. And each and every one of those disciples were all part of this whole mission, as are all of us as well.
We should continue to remember that each and every one of us are part of the same mission and effort of the Church in evangelisation and proclamation of God’s Good News and salvation. Through us and our good works and contributions, each and every one of us can contribute to lead many more people ever closer to God, to bring them all towards His salvation and grace. The Lord told His disciples to go forth and courageously proclaim His message and Good News to everyone, and not to be afraid to do so, and to entrust themselves to His providence and care as they do so. Therefore, we must also have the same attitude, doing whatever we can so that our every actions will always help others to come ever closer to God and to find their way to the eternal life in God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the Scriptures and from the life, works and examples shown to us by St. Luke the Evangelist, let us all therefore recognise our own mission and calling in life to be truly missionary and evangelising in our every words, actions and deeds, in our every interactions with one another. All of us as Christians should always be full of courage and zeal to proclaim the Lord and His Good News at all times and in all the opportunities provided for us by the Lord. We should not be ignorant of all the things which we can do by making good use of everything that we have been blessed with by the Lord, in all the blessings and graces that He has provided to us, and by utilising all the opportunities that He has given us that we may glorify Him by each and every moments of our lives.
Let us all continue to follow in the footsteps of the holy saints and martyrs, and today especially of St. Luke the Evangelist, the great servant of God who has dedicated his life to glorify the Lord and to proclaim Him through his writings and works, and through his efforts in evangelisation. May our lives be truly holy and worthy of God, so that God’s light, truth, love and hope may be shown to others just as St. Luke and the many other holy men and women of God have been our inspiration and role model. May the Lord, our loving and ever compassionate God, continue to guide us all in our journey of faith, and may He help us to walk ever more faithfully in His Presence, now and always. 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 