Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded that as Christians, each and every one of us are to remain committed to the Lord, righteous and just, worthy in how we live our lives and in how we carry out our actions so that we may indeed live our lives in the manner that the Lord has always expected us all to live them, to be good role models and inspirations for one another in all things. The Lord has shown us through His servants and by His own examples what they and He Himself had done in glorifying God, contrasting these with those who had disobeyed the Lord for their own selfish desires and those who have given in to the worldly temptations, those who have wickedly carried out their lives and actions, refusing to listen to the Lord and those who have lived selfishly as the Lord highlighted in today’s Gospel passage.

In our first reading today from the Book of Tobit we heard the story of Tobit, an Israelite exile hailing from the tribe of Naphtali, which dwelled in the northern kingdom of Israel after it was separated from Judah under the House of David. Tobit and many others in the northern kingdom were carried off from their homeland by force through the conquest done by the Assyrians who have conquered their homeland and kingdom, destroyed their cities and towns, and then brought them away from their ancestral lands while bringing many other people from all parts of their Empire to dwell on those lands. Tobit and his family was therefore brought to the region of Assyria itself, around Nineveh, where they dwelled, and as we heard in our first reading today, life went on initially as rather normal for them, with Tobit continuing to carry out his life, supporting fellow Israelites in exile in their lives after they had left their homeland.

It was there and then that Tobit faced the harsh reality of the situation when he heard from his son Tobias that one of his fellow Israelites had been strangled and killed, which disturbed Tobit greatly. Tobit went on to bury the man and became distressed, having been a truly righteous and selfless man who had not placed himself and his own desires above that of the rest. We can see that Tobit was truly an upright and just man, who loved others just as much as himself, not caring even about his own reputation, safety and personal matters, and who was also faithful to God despite the faithlessness among most of the people of Israel that had led to them ending up in exile in the first place. Despite the ridicule and the contempt from his neighbours, Tobit still did what he had done because of his faith and principles.

Later on when he became blind by an unfortunate accident, Tobit remained faithful and trusting in God, and sending his own son Tobias to settle matters for his family, God would help them all and bless Tobit and his whole family if we continue to read on the rest of the story of Tobit and his son Tobias. This is a reminder that God never abandons His people, and for all those who are faithful to Him, God will always be with them, guiding them and providing them at the time of their need, giving them His help and assistance through His mysterious ways and at His appointed time, just as He did to Tobit and his family without them all realising at first. Then, linking to what we have heard in our Gospel passage today, we are reminded to be similarly upright in life, and not be like those wicked tenants who were selfish and who allowed themselves to be swayed by worldly temptations and greed.

In that Gospel passage, we heard of the Lord Jesus telling His disciples about this matter using a parable, namely the parable of the wicked and evil tenants. It was told that the tenants who had leased a vineyard and its plots from its owner had reneged on their dues and supposed pay for the lease, and they refused the efforts from the master of the vineyard to collect their due payment, even harassing, persecuting and murdering all those servants who had been sent to them to remind them. In the end, they did not even respect or listen to the son of the master who was sent to them, and in fact, they even plotted against him and had evil designs and wicked desires in their heart to seize full control of the vineyard for themselves. It was then that the master therefore struck at those evil tenants and destroyed them.

These are all reminders for us to stay upright in our lives as Tobit and others had done before us, and not to give in to the temptations of worldly desires and greed, all of which can lead us down the slippery slope of sin and evil, that will bring us to our downfall, if we are not vigilant and ever careful. All of us should do our best not to allow all these things to happen to us, and hence, that is why we are always reminded to keep an eye on our actions and way of life, and be willing to listen to the Lord speaking to us, reminding us in our path and journey in life so that we do not end up falling away from the path that He has shown us. We are reminded that we all should also be humble, humble in being able to listen to the words of the Lord speaking in our hearts and minds, guiding us to Himself. And besides that, we also have our holy predecessors, the saints whose lives may inspire us.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Boniface, a great bishop and martyr who had dedicated his life and all of his works for the greater glory of God. He was an English Benedictine monk who was especially remembered for his efforts in evangelising amongst the Germanic people in the northern parts of what is Germany today, proclaiming the Good News and salvation of God to many of the people there who still believed in pagan and false gods and beliefs. He was born in England to a rather prominent family and then against the wishes of his father, learnt theology and eventually became a monk and priest. St. Boniface was then appointed as a missionary to the region in northern part of Germany and what is today Netherlands known as Frisia. In his mission to Frisia, the Pope appointed him as a missionary bishop to establish the Church in that region and to convert the people there to the true faith.

In a story still well-remembered to this day, St. Boniface once persuaded many among the pagans as he chopped a great oak tree held sacred by the German pagans, who revered the tree and the spirits. Miraculously a great wind blew upon the oak tree and the whole tree fell down to the ground. Having witnessed the miracle and the fact how St. Boniface was not struck down by their gods and deities for such a supposedly sacrilegious act, many among the pagans believed in God and gave themselves to be baptised by St. Boniface and other missionaries. He went on to establish many churches and institutions in his mission areas, and continued to labour for the good of the Lord and His Church until eventually he was martyred when he and his entourage was beset by a group of Frisian bandits during his last missionary trip to the region.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the courageous examples of Tobit and other faithful servants of God like St. Boniface and many others of our faithful and holy fellow brothers and sisters, our predecessors should inspire us all to also be faithful to God and to be fully dedicated to Him, to give our time and effort, our attention and more to serve the Lord our God at all times. May the Lord continue to bless us all and our every good efforts, works and endeavours, now and always, forevermore. Amen.