Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 130 : 1, 2, 3
O YHVH, my heart is not proud nor do I have arrogant eyes. I am not engrossed in ambitious matters, nor in things too great for me.
I have quieted and stilled my soul, like a weaned child, on its mother’s lap; like a contented child is my soul.
Hope in YHVH, o Israel, now and forever.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Malachi 1 : 14b – Malachi 2 : 2b, 8-10
For I am a great King; and My Name is respected through all the nations, says YHVH of hosts.
This warning is also for you, priests. If you do not listen to it, or concern yourself, to glorify My Name, says YHVH of hosts. But you, says YHVH of hosts, have strayed from My way, and, moreover, caused many to stumble because of your teaching. You have broken My Covenant with Levi.
Therefore, I let all the people despise you and consider you unworthy, because you do not follow My ways; and you show partiality in your judgments. Do we not all have the same Father? Has the same God not created all of us? Why, then, does each of us betray his brother, defiling the Covenant of our ancestors?
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, the holy day of the Lord, all of us through the Scripture readings and passages we received have been reminded of the importance of obeying and adhering to the Law of God, as what all of us as Christians must do in our lives. And the Lord Jesus summed up the entirety of the Law of God into two very important commandments, that is the essence of the entire Law.
Why did the Lord Jesus do this? Why did He explain to the people at His time on this matter? That is because the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked Him about the question, “Which is the most important commandment in the Law?” And the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were well known for their strict adherence and interpretation of the Law, focusing on even minute details in the laws according to Moses.
And they wanted to test Him and to challenge Him, by making Him to be on the spot, when they asked that question. Should He try to give an answer by pointing out any particular laws and rules within the customs, laws and traditions upheld by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law at that time, then they would strike at Him using their in-depth knowledge of the laws and regulations, bringing even more questions and troubles for the Lord.
However, the Lord Jesus knew their thoughts and intentions. Those people had been so focused on the applications of the Law with regards to worldly concerns and other corruptions of the Law as it evolved throughout history, that they have forgotten the true intentions of the Law. And Jesus pointed out those intentions and purposes of God’s Law to them, in a way that they could not deny, because by denying, they would admit that they have not done what the Lord had commanded them to do.
Jesus made it very clear that the Law of God has in its primary intention, for the people of God to learn how to love, and indeed practice that love, which they have to give first and foremost to God their Lord and Master. The first three commandments of the Ten Commandments in fact is about this love which we must have for God, that we worship Him alone above any other things, above any other worldly matters and idols.
The other seven commandments of the Law, exhorting us to love our parents, not to kill, not to steal and all of that refer to the love that we must have for our fellow brethren, our fellow men and women. But do we know what it truly means for us to love our fellow brothers and sisters? It is by listening and remembering what we have heard in today’s first reading taken from the Book of Exodus, when the Lord exhorted the people through Moses to be loving and to be generous in compassion to one another.
Yet, the people had forgotten all these by the time of Jesus, when the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law oppressed the poor and the lowly, those whom they deemed to be inferior to them, and they levied great obligations and rules for them to follow. They cared only for their own desires and plans, and despised even those whom they should have cared for, as the leaders and guides of the people of Israel.
In our own lives, let us spend some time to think about how we have acted in these lives we have lived thus far. Have we been so focused on our own concerns and desires, like those of the Pharisees, that we have failed to give our love to those to whom we are commanded to love? First of all, the Lord our God, and then to our fellow men and women, those who are around us, strangers and acquaintances alike.
But in our own lives, as we can witness it ourselves among our relatives, friends, peers, colleagues and all those whom we interact with day by day, there is not much love among the peoples, but instead anger, disputes, jealousy, wrath, and all sorts of negative and wicked behaviours, that befits more that of those who follow Satan rather than those who follow the path of the Lord.
How many of us put so much great importance in our careers and in finding more money and worldly possessions, that we end up spending so much time trying to advance ourselves in our career, gathering more fame for ourselves, filling and satisfying ourselves with all sorts of worldly pleasures and more? In the end, what does all these earn us, brothers and sisters in Christ? All these things do not avail us when the end comes for us, when we have to give an account of our lives before God.
We may think that we do not worship the idols of false and pagan gods as the people in the past did, and that we are Christians because we believe in God. Yet, through our actions, in prioritising all the worldly pursuits ahead of God and others, we have made those to be our modern day idols, all the things that became great distractions and obstacles on our path to God’s salvation and grace.
And similarly, let us ask ourselves, how many of us have caused grievances and suffering for others, because of our selfish actions, and due to our desires to gain good things for ourselves, indulging in the ‘idols’ of our worldly lives? We cannot be true disciples of the Lord, as long as we put God and His people, our brothers and sisters in Christ aside, and not prioritising God as the centre and focus of our very lives.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us today embark on a new course and path of life, no longer being corrupted by our greed and worldly desires, by all the corruptions of our sins and all the temptations of life. Let us all devote ourselves wholeheartedly to God from now on, giving our very best to help those who are around us to do the same. Let us fill our hearts with the desire to love God, not just with words alone, but through our real and genuine actions as well.
Let us all fulfil our calling as Christians, to love our brethren unconditionally just as the Lord has loved each and every one of us, sinners and delinquents, and yet He was willing to forgive us from our sins. Let us reach out to those who are less fortunate than us, that if we see anyone who is struggling to make ends meet in life, then we should care for them and do whatever we can to aid them.
Let us also reach out to those who have been ostracised by others and are unloved, that they do not slide further into a world devoid of love. Let us bring them to experience the love of God through our own hands, and through the love which we now share with them. May God continue to guide us to Him, and make us ever more faithful servants of His with each passing day. May God bless us always, and guide us in all of our endeavours. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Matthew 22 : 34-40
At that time, when the Pharisees heard how Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together. One of them, a lawyer, questioned Him to test Him, “Teacher, which commandment of the Law is the greatest?”
Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and the most important of the commandments. The second is like it : You shall love your neighbour as yourself. The whole Law and the prophets are founded on these two commandments.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
1 Thessalonians 1 : 5c-10
You, also, know how we dealt with you, for your sake. In return, you became followers of us, and of the Lord, when, on receiving the Word, you experienced the joy of the Holy Spirit, in the midst of great opposition. And you became a model for the faithful of Macedonia and Achaia, since, from you, the Word of the Lord spread to Macedonia and Achaia, and still farther.
The faith you have in God has become news in so many places, that we need say no more about it. Others tell, of how you welcomed us, and turned from idols, to the Lord. For you serve the living and true God, and you wait for His Son, from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, Who frees us from impending trial.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 17 : 2-3a, 3bc-4, 47 and 51ab
I love You, o YHVH, my strength. YHVH is my Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer and my God.
He is the Rock in Whom I take refuge. He is my Shield, my powerful Saviour, my Stronghold. I call on YHVH, Who is worthy of praise : He saves me from my enemies!
YHVH lives! Praised be my Rock! Exalted be my Saviour God. He has given victories to His king; He has shown His love to His anointed ones.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Exodus 22 : 20-26
You shall not wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not harm the widow or the orphan. If you do harm them and they cry out to Me, I will hear them and My anger will blaze and I will kill you with the sword, and your own wives will be widows and your own children orphans.
If you lend money to any of My people who are poor, do not act like a moneylender and do not charge him interest. If ever you take a person’s cloak as a pledge, you must give it back to him by sunset, for it is all the covering he has for his body. In what else will he sleep? And when he cries to Me I will hear hum, for I am full of pity.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture in which we see how God had called us and chosen us from among the nations. He has called us to follow Him and to become His disciples, and yet, many of us are often reluctant to follow Him, because of our lack of faith in Him.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Gospel passage today, all of us heard of how the Lord Jesus confronted the Pharisees who attempted to trap Him with His own words, when they asked Him whether they should pay taxes to the Romans, specifically to the Roman Emperor, the Caesar, or not. They hoped that by His answers they could find fault with Him.
If Jesus were to answer that they should not pay taxes to the Roman Emperor, then the Pharisees could easily seize that moment and reported Him to the Roman authorities, as a great treason against the Roman state. The collection of tax was a very important matter for states at that time, just as it is today. Anyone who refused to pay tax to the government, would immediately be considered as rebels.
And then if Jesus answered that they should pay taxes to the Roman Emperor, then the Pharisees could have also used that statement against the Lord, as the Jews were quite unhappy at the taxes imposed on them by the Romans. That was why in various times throughout the Gospels, we heard how the tax collectors were reviled by the Jews because they were seen as traitors to the nation and country.
Therefore, whichever answers that the Lord gave them, each of them would lead to difficulties and trouble for Him. But, the Lord knew what to do, and He simply told all of them, that since the silver coins bore the image of the Roman Emperor, they belonged to him, and it was right for the people to return them to who they belonged to. And He said that they should give to God what belongs to God.
The Pharisees were unable to respond to the statement made by Jesus, since they recognised in that statement an inviolable truth, and they could not refute what the Lord has said. Their attempts to blackmail and strike at the Lord had ended in failure, because God was not with them, and they were serving their own selfish interests, instead of obeying the Lord’s commandments.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we may think what the Pharisees had done were bad, and indeed they were, for they were putting their own selfish interests and personal jealousies and issues against the Lord ahead of their responsibility to guide the people of God, who had been entrusted to them, to the truth of God. Yet, if we look carefully on what happened, and reflect on our own individual lives, we should realise that in fact in many occasions within our lives, we have done something similar.
How is that so? That is because whenever we do not give to God what belongs to God, we are doing what the Pharisees had done. They were unable to give themselves to the Lord, that is by obeying His laws and precepts wholeheartedly. Instead, they persecuted the faithful who listened to the truth. In the same way, whenever we are too preoccupied in our daily activities and busy schedules, we tend to forget about God and our obligations to Him.
It has been too often throughout our history, that we mankind have wandered away from the path that God had set upon our feet, because we have been tempted to do what the world wanted us to do. We have also been spending so much time with our worldly concerns, that we shut the doors of our hearts and minds against God. God wants to come unto us and to be with us, but we rejected Him, because we would rather satisfy our personal desires instead of obeying God.
Let us ask ourselves, on how much time we spent with the Lord every day? How much time do we spare for Him in prayer, to talk to Him and to listen to Him speaking in our hearts? I am not saying the time we spent in our prayers and our petitions, but rather, in quality time which we spend with Him, knowing what it is that He wants for us to do in our lives. Too often we find ourselves rushing from one activity to another, without even turning to look at the Lord.
We often sidelined the Lord and only came to Him when we are in great need for help. Besides that, He is practically forgotten and non-existent in our lives. But that is not what we should be doing, brothers and sisters in Christ. Rather, what we heard in the Scripture passages today are reminders for all of us Christians, that first of all, we must give what it is that we owe the Lord, for each and every one of us, our lives, and our very breaths are due to the gift from the Lord, and without Him, we would not have existed.
Therefore, just as He has loved us dearly and cared for us, then we should also love Him back with as much enthusiasm and intensity, giving our very best to love Him, not just through words, but also through actions, loving the poor, the weak and the lonely, those who have none to love and care for them. Remember, the Lord Jesus said that, in a parable, that all which we do for the least of our brethren, we do them for the Lord as well.
Then, let us also remember to be good citizens and obedient people, observing the laws of the land as long as they are not contrary to the divine laws of God. This is fulfilling what we heard in the Gospel today, that we should ‘give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.’ After all, the states and nations we belong to have taken care of us, and provided for us in various ways. It is only right that we return the favour wherever possible.
Last of all, today we also mark the occasion of the World Mission Sunday, on which day we remember our mission as Christians, which God has given us. The Lord has blessed us so much in our respective lives, in one way or another. Should it not be rightful for us then to follow Him and obey His commands? And how do we do this? We should go forth and proclaim the truth of God, our mission in this world, by our words, as well as through our actions.
That means, we must be exemplary as far as possible, and strive as best as possible to show care and concern for our brethren, and even for our enemies and all those who disliked us. This is our mission as Christians, that we touch others through our own lives, anchored firmly in God’s love and truth, that we may bring them closer to God and to His salvation.
May the Lord help us in these endeavours, and let us pray that through our missionary efforts, united with all those missionaries who have committed their entire lives, we may bring everyone together closer to God, that we may be saved through Him and in Him. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Matthew 22 : 15-21
At that time, the Pharisees went away, considering how they could trap Jesus by His own words. They sent to Him their disciples, along with members of Herod’s party, saying, “Master, we know that You are an honest Man; and truly teach God’s way. You are not influenced by others, nor are You afraid of anyone. So tell us what You think : is it against the Law to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
But Jesus understood their evil intentions, and said to them, “Hypocrites, why are you trying to trap Me? Show me the coin with which you pay taxes.” They showed Him a silver coin, and Jesus said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose name?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then Jesus replied, “So give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
1 Thessalonians 1 : 1-5b
From Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy, to the Church of Thessalonica, which is in God, the Father, and in Christ Jesus, the Lord. May the peace and grace of God be with you. We give thanks to God, at all times, for you, and remember you in our prayers. We constantly recall, before God, our Father, the work of your faith, the labours of your love, and your endurance, in waiting for Christ Jesus our Lord.
We remember, brothers and sisters, the circumstances of your being called. The Gospel we brought you was such, not only in words. Miracles, the Holy Spirit, and plenty of everything, were given to you.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 