Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures that we have received today, we are all reminded that all of us as Christians, as the disciples and followers of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we are all part of the same Body of Christ, the Church, and as such we are also called to remain true and faithful to the ways and teachings of the Lord, so that we do not end up separating ourselves from the true path of the Lord. We are reminded that ultimately all of us must always be focused and centred on God, and not on our man-made rules and laws. And whatever rules and laws we have should be attuned harmoniously with the Law of God, so that in our way forward in life we will always be truly truly committed to God and not be distracted into the wrong path.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the disagreements and conflicts between the members of the early Christian community from Judea, likely those who originated from among the Pharisees, with that of the other members of the faithful and the Apostles, particularly that of St. Paul and his companions. This was because the former group taught that unless the Christian faithful followed the whole set of the commandments, laws, rules and customs observed by the Jewish people, the Law as revealed through Moses and which was further expanded throughout history by the passing down of the rules and laws through the Israelites, then they could not be saved. This was contrary to the more open-minded attitude adopted by those like St. Paul and his companions, who spent a lot of time and effort reaching out to the Gentiles.

For the context, the Jewish customs and practices involved circumcision, relatively strict dietary restrictions and practices, among others, many of which were seen as abhorrent, disgusting and even barbaric by many among the Gentile populations like the Romans and the Greeks. Had such rules and customs, practices and ways were imposed upon the early Church, it would have severely curtailed the spread of the Christian faith as many of the converts among the Gentiles would have found it difficult to live their lives with such regulations and practices that their own community found abhorrent, foreign and unacceptable. That was why St. Paul and his companions like St. Barnabas spoke up firmly and courageously against those who attempted to impose such ways on the Church, citing the experiences and examples that they had encountered in their mission along the way.

They said that those rules and customs of the Jews, especially those practiced and imposed by the Pharisees should not be imposed on the faithful, especially to those who were from the non-Jewish background, mirroring what the Lord Jesus Himself had actually often criticised the Pharisees for during the time of His ministry, especially in how those Pharisees imposed very heavy burden on the people of God, and not helping the people to carry this burden, by the overly rigid and excessive interpretation and imposition of the many rules, customs, rites and other practices that were superfluous and in fact preventing the people from truly realising the true purpose and intention of the Law of God. The Law of God was in fact meant to show the people of God how they ought to love Him and commit themselves to Him, and not to make their lives very difficult or impossible to carry on.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard a related story in which the Lord Jesus told His disciples using a parable, the Parable of the True Vine to highlight to them the nature of His teachings and ways as the ways of the Lord, how He is the True Vine that came from the Father, the Almighty God, Creator and Master of all. And using this comparison to the vine, to the people who must have been quite accustomed to viticulture or the growing of grapes for the wine, the Lord wanted to tell them all that in all of their ways and beliefs, they have to be firmly connected to Him, and centred upon Him. The relationship between the Lord and all of us as He Himself had highlighted with that parable is indeed like that of the Vine and the branches. For without the connection to the Vine, the branches cannot have life on their own, and will perish.

That is why, as the Lord Himself has explained to His disciples, that if they keep on their focus and connection to HIm, in their actions and way of life, in adhering to His Law and commandments, then they will flourish and prosper, and they shall all be truly blessed by God, and will not be found wanting or unworthy. On the other hand, as the Lord Himself said, all those who separate themselves from Him, the True Vine, will wither and perish, and they will have no part with Him at all. This is a reminder that we must always trust in the Lord and His teachings, His ways and commandments as the Church has preserved it, and not to break away from these teachings and traditions, which the Apostles and their successors had sustained for the past two millennia.

As Christians, it is important that we must always remain united in Christ and not be easily divided against each other in our ideologies and beliefs, in our preferences, prejudices and biases which may end up leading us to be separated from the true path of the Lord. And this is not what the Lord wants from us, as He wants us all to remain united to Him as the one united Body of Christ, His Church, that should remain firmly united and established strongly against the many currents and pressures of this world. We must not allow ourselves to be fractured and shattered in our unity because we fail to resist the pressures and temptations of worldly ambitions, glory and other pursuits that lead us away from God.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Christopher Magallanes, holy priest and martyr of the Faith, and his companions in martyrdom whose faith and commitment to God were truly exemplary even in the midst of heavy persecutions and hardships. St. Christopher Magallanes lived and ministered during the time of heavy persecution against the Church in Mexico, where the government at that time was very strongly against the Church, pursuing a rather extreme anticlerical and anti-Catholic stance, where many of the faithful, especially the members of the clergy were persecuted heavily and even martyred. Nonetheless, this did not discourage St. Christopher Magallanes and his companions, both the clergy and laity alike, who continued to do the works of the Lord and persisted in faith despite the persecutions, even if they were to lose their lives in martyrdom. They inspired many others who are suffering for their faith in our world today too.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us should continue to focus ourselves on what is important, that is our faith and trust in the Lord, and not to be tempted by worldly glory and ambitions, or be divided by our pursuits and ideals in life, or be fractured by our disagreements and conflicts. This is because none of these will last forever, no matter how much worldly power we accumulate, and our ideologies and superficial divisions do not elevate our faith and magnify the Lord, but instead bring about rupture in the unity of the Lord’s Body, the Church, a serious sin that we commit in His Presence that we will have to account for. Let us all instead be inspired by the humility and dedication of the Holy Martyrs of Mexico, St. Christopher Magallanes and Companions, that we may ever be more faithful in following God, now and always. Amen.