Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all called to remember that each and every one of us must always be proactive in living our lives faithfully and worthily as Christians, in obeying God’s will, in walking down His path, and doing His Law and commandments at every possible opportunities and instances. Each and every one of us must always be filled with the desire to carry out whatever it is that the Lord has commanded us to do, and to be exemplary in our everyday living and efforts so that we may always be truly active in

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Rome, we heard of the words of the Apostle St. Paul which reminded the people of God of how everyone who have been obedient to God and are righteous in their way of life and their deeds will be honoured by God and their deeds will be remembered, no matter how small or insignificant they might be. The mention of Abraham, the father of the Israelites and many other nations, as well as King David of Israel, considered by many to be among the greatest of the kings and rulers of Israel, were meant to show good examples of what St. Paul had mentioned.

Both Abraham and David had done many great things in their respective lives, and they had dedicated most of their lives, their actions and efforts to the glory of God. While they were not perfect and they were also sinners just like any one of us, but their dedication, hard work and commitment in glorifying God far surpassed the mistakes, faults and sins that they had done throughout their lives. Abraham followed the Lord all the way, in whatever path and wherever that God had led him into, despite the many trials and challenges that he had to encounter and endure through. It was through his obedience and faith that many among his descendants were justified and brought to God’s saving grace.

In the meantime, David, one of the greatest kings of Ancient Israel, had also obeyed the Lord well, and did what the Lord had asked him to do, in leading the people of God back on the way towards Himself, and in showing a great, committed and benevolent rule truly worthy of one whom the Lord had chosen to be the king and ruler over all of His people, the Israelites. David had led the people of Israel to greatness, as he defeated all the enemies of the people of God, and established firmly the kingdom of Israel, rebuilding many cities and prepared for the building of the great Temple and House of God in Jerusalem, that would be completed by his son, King Solomon.

All of those righteous and good deeds were truly worthy of God, and they showed us all the examples of Christian virtues and all that we should also do in our own lives, in how we act, work and interact with one another. Abraham and David centred their lives on God, and showed everyone how they could live their lives in accordance to the will of God, in obeying His Law and commandments. Abraham and David had always strived to do the will of God, and lived their lives with a firm focus in God, and while they did still sin and falter in some occasions, but they always picked themselves up and kept on following the Lord afterwards, faithful to the very end.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord Who continued to teach the people and spoke to them to be very careful regarding the ‘yeast of the Pharisees’. This is in reality a reference to the attitudes and the way of many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who had not lived their lives and obeyed the Lord as they should have done, because they were very much preoccupied in maintaining their version and observances of the Law, the commandments and the many precepts and details of the Law of God, such that, in their overemphasis on such trivial details, led them to forget the true meaning and intention of the Law.

Not only that, but in their pride and arrogance, ambition and greed, they had filled themselves up with those wickedness, and persecuted, ostracised and treated others badly simply because they deemed themselves superior to others, and all those whom they disagreed with, they cursed and detested as sinners and unworthy, which no doubt was how they also viewed the Lord Himself and His disciples, because they did not conform to the way that those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had believed in, in their obedience and way of living the Law of God, in their flawed understanding and implementation of those commandments.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, these readings from the Scriptures are important reminders for us that we must always be on guard and be vigilant lest our ambitions, greed, pride, ego and worldly attachments and all the temptations present all around us, we may not be easily swayed by evil intent and by the forces of those who sought to lead us astray down the wrong path, into our downfall and destruction. We are all reminded that we should always be focused on the Lord as our forefathers and good examples of faith had done in their lives. Each and every one of us should always put the Lord at the centre and as the focus of our everyday living.

May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen us, and may He empower each and every one of us so that we may always endeavour to do God’s will, to obey His Law and commandments in each and every moments of our lives. May He bless our every good efforts and works, so that in our struggles and striving to glorify the Lord by our virtuous examples and lives, we may inspire many more people to do the same, just as our forefathers have inspired us to do what is right and just as the Lord Himself had taught us. May all of us be truly fruitful in our Christian living and virtues. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scriptures, all of us are reminded that we are all truly blessed that we have the Lord our God, Who has always cared for us and never ceased to send us help whenever we need that help. He has always ever been generous with His grace and love, and He wants each and every one of His beloved and faithful ones to be reunited with Him, that we may find our way back once again towards Him. We have once been lost to God because of our disobedience and rebellion against Him, which brought about sin and our downfall. But God has never given up on us, and He has always patiently cared for us and looked out for us despite our frequent and constant rebelliousness and disobedience against Him.

In our first reading today, from the Book of the prophet Joel we heard of the Lord calling on all of His people through Joel to be repentant and to regret their sins and wickedness, remembering how the Lord has been kind and merciful towards them and their ancestors. The prophet Joel was sent to the people of Israel at the time of their sufferings and hardships because they had disobeyed and abandoned the Law and the commandments of God as passed down to them through their ancestors. It was not conclusive according to historical and Scriptural evidence available, whether Joel ministered to the people of God before or after the destruction of Israel and Judah, as the words and the events depicted in the Book of Joel could refer to both before and after the periods when the people of God were exiled from their lands.

Regardless of the fact and the timeline of his work and ministry, the prophet Joel brought about the much needed reminders for the people of God that they should not take God’s love for granted, because the day of God’s reckoning will come for each one of them, and if they are to be caught unprepared and unaware of, steeped in their sins and wickedness, in their evil and vile ways, then unfortunately what remains in store for them will be an eternity of regret and despair. This is because God has always been kind, patient and merciful in all of His actions and outreach towards us, but there is also a limit to how much we can be part of that love and grace, as if we constantly and repeatedly refused and rejected that mercy and love, then it is by our own conscious choice that we have landed ourselves a place in hell and eternal damnation.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the confrontation between the Lord Jesus and some of those who have accused Him of colluding with the demonic forces, that of the prince of demons, Beelzebul, in performing His miracles and works, particularly in the casting out of evil spirits and demons. The Lord immediately rebuked all those who accused Him of such falsehoods, and pointed out the utter folly of such an idea and suggestion, that the forces of evil were divided amongst themselves. As we heard, the Lord used the comparison and analogy with that of a worldly realm and kingdom that would not have been able to stand together and remain strong if its members and parts are locked in disagreements, rebellions and civil wars against each other. Hence, in the same manner, it was a folly and indeed blasphemy for those people to accuse the Lord Jesus of colluding with Beelzebul.

The fact is that, the forces of evil, of Satan, Beelzebul, of all the princes and lords of demons and other evil spirits, all of them may indeed have their own agenda and aims, and they may differ in the methods of their actions and works against us, but they are all no less united in their constant and works in striking out against us, in their campaign and efforts to lead us away from God and His salvation. It is therefore nonsense to say that the devil and his associates are conflicting and being divided against each other, as they were quite united in their hatred and efforts against us, in tearing us away from the path that God has shown us and prepared for us. They repeated and constantly tempted all of us to walk away from the Lord.

In truth, the attitudes of all those who have accused the Lord wrongly of collusion with Beelzebul was yet another effort by the evil ones in trying to divide us all and to turn us away from the path towards God. By attempting to discredit the Lord and His works, His miracles and power, the devil and all of his allies, all the forces of evil were trying and working hard to snatch us away from God and His salvation. They sowed those doubts, mistrusts, lies and all the misinformations in order to confuse us, keeping us away from the ability to fully trust in the Lord, and to hold onto faith in Him. And that is exactly where those wicked forces will come and swoop in, tempting and misleading us down the wrong paths in life.

This is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, just as we remember and reflect upon these readings from the Scriptures today, let us all do whatever we can so that we may rid ourselves of all these corruptions and temptations present all around us. Let us all strive to do our best in living our lives with ever greater zeal and effort, to do what God has taught and shown us to do, which He had done through His own Son, His prophets and servants. We are all reminded that we should always do what is right and just according to the Law of God, and keep ourselves free from the wickedness and sins present all around us, not allowing the wicked and evil spirits to dissuade, mislead and drag us away from the path of God’s salvation and grace. Let us always put our faith and trust in the Lord, now and always.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Father, continue to guide and strengthen us in our journey of faith through our lives, and may He empower each and every one of us with the courage and the willingness to walk in His path, so that in all things we may always ever be faithful and committed to His cause. May all of us dedicate our time and effort, that we may become ever better and ever more faithful role models and inspirations of our Christian faith, in all opportunities and at all times. Can we be the ever more worthy and devoted servants of God, and be His most faithful disciples, now and always, brothers and sisters in Christ? May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours, our works and dedications, at all times. Amen.