Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of how beloved we all have been by God, and how great is the love and compassion which our loving Father and Creator for each and every one of us. That is why we should always strive to nurture our love for God and also our faith in Him, as if we do not nurture this love and faith we ought to have in us, they will wither and we will not get close to the Lord and we may even find ourselves shutting ourselves off from His love and kindness, from His grace and blessings. Each and every one of us should always strive to be ever closer to the Lord, and we have to begin it by living our lives from now on ever more faithfully in the Lord’s path.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah in which the prophet of God spoke of the words of the Lord to His people, telling them all of the love which He has always had for them, and how He called upon them all to return to Him once again. He would lead them all once again back to their lands and take care of them as He had always done, after all that the people had to endure came to pass, all the punishments and hardships that they would have to endure because of all of their sins and wickedness. The Lord did not despise or hate His people, and He still loved them all after everything that they had done to them, their disobedience and wickedness which were truly abhorrent. But God wished to reconcile them to Himself, and thus made the way for them to return to Him.

That was why He sent them His many prophets and messengers to help and guide them down the right path, turning away from all the wickedness which they had committed in life. He sent them the prophet Jeremiah as a sort of final warning, telling them of all the punishments and hardships that they would very soon had to face and endure for their disobedience and sins against God, the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, and the deportation of many of the people of God to distant places in Mesopotamia, in Assyria and Babylon, as what had also happened to the northern half of the kingdom of Israel, destroyed by the Assyrians a century or so earlier on. He wanted them all to realise the errors of their ways and to return once again towards His light and love.

Then, in our Gospel passage today from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples and the ones assembled to listen to Him as He used the famous parable of the sower to teach them about what He intended to tell them, which we have also heard in our Gospel passage yesterday. This parable of the sower highlighted the importance of us allowing the seeds of faith that the Lord has sown and planted in us to grow well and wonderfully in our hearts and minds, just as He has explained to the people then, how those seeds that landed in the places that were inhospitable and improper for the growth, germination and development of seeds either did not even manage to germinate, or were destroyed soon after because of the inhospitable conditions.

It is only those seeds that landed on rich and fertile soil which managed to germinate, grow and prosper wonderfully into plants that grew well and bear a lot of rich fruits, with products in thirty, sixty and hundredfold of what was planted earlier on. This is a reminder therefore for all of us tonight that we must always strive to provide this fertile environment for our faith and love for God to grow and develop, as the people of Israel and Judah failed to do so mainly because they allowed themselves to be swayed by the path of sin and wickedness, by the temptations of worldly glory, pleasures and ambitions which made them to abandon God’s path and His Law, His righteous ways and commandments, and instead seeking to satisfy their own selfish and worldly desires in life, and hence, fell into the trap of sin.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Sharbel Makhluf, also known as St. Charbel Makhlouf, who was a renowned Maronite Catholic monk living in what is part of Lebanon today, born into a pious family, raised up well in the faith by his family. He would ensure that he had time for prayers and committed himself to God even from a very young age. Eventually, he became a monk after years of preparation and instruction, taking up the name by which he is now famous today, namely that of Charbel, inspired by the saint of that name, a Christian martyr of the region during the early history of the Church. He therefore began a life of seclusion and withdrawal from the world as a hermit for the rest of his life.

St. Charbel lived the rest of his life in pious and prayerful seclusion, and he died about twenty-three years after he began his hermitic lifestyle. Yet, even after his passing, his great holiness and virtues, his examples and great commitment to God brought about great wonders and inspiring things to happen, as he is indeed famous for right up to this day, more than a century after this great saint’s passing. It was told since immediately after his passing that miracles happened aplenty at his tomb, and many people were healed and encountered miracles, and also through the intercession of St. Charbel, many experienced great things and were cured from their diseases and troubles. This led to many people to turn towards the Lord, as among those who sought for the intercession of St. Charbel were unbelievers.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the inspirational story of the life of St. Charbel Makhlouf, as well as the words we have heard today from the Sacred Scriptures on the calling and commissioning of the prophet Jeremiah, and also the parable of the sower, we are therefore reminded that each and every one of us as Christians, as God’s disciples and followers, have the important responsibility and part to play in ensuring that our lives are truly faithful to the Lord, and that we are always open to the Lord guiding and strengthening each one of us in our respective lives. All of us must be like those seeds that grow in the rich and fertile soil, and hence, we should ensure that our lives and environment, that is our hearts and minds, our whole beings are truly conducive to allow our faith in God and our love for Him to continue to grow and develop.

Let us all therefore strive to do our best in our daily living, in following the commandments of the Lord and in doing His will at every circumstances and opportunities such that we will continue to inspire many others around us by our own exemplary lives and actions. May the Lord continue to bless and strengthen us in our works and efforts, in our every good endeavours for the greater glory of God, now and forevermore. Amen.