Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded of the need for all of us to have true and genuine faith in the Lord, in everything that we say and do in life, so that we will not lose our trust and faith in Him even when we may be facing hardships and challenges in our path. We should always be sincere in living our lives with faith, in dedicating our every efforts and works for the greater glory of God. We must not be hypocrites who profess to have faith in the Lord and yet, in our actions, words and way of life, in our interactions with one another, we do not live in the manner that we have professed and claimed to believe in. If we behave in that way, then we will be judged by that lack of faith and hypocrisy that we have.

In our first reading today, we heard of the account from the Book of Genesis in which the Lord told Abram, who would later on be known as Abraham, to come and follow Him to the land that He would show to him. Abram at that time was already nearing hundred in age, and was still childless in his marriage to his wife, Sarai. God promised Abram that he and his descendants would inherit all those lands and that Abram would become the father of many nations, despite being childless at the time. Abram trusted in God and therefore, he left all the good life he had in the land of his ancestors behind, from the land of Ur in Mesopotamia and from the lands of Terah, his father in the land of Harran, to go to the place which God had called him to go to.

In Abram we can see the great faith that he had in God, despite all that he had otherwise without God. He could have stayed on in comfort where he had been well established in, and he did not have to go through the challenges and the difficulties he had to face in following God, and yet, he still followed the Lord nonetheless, because he trusted wholly and completely in the Lord, devoting himself to walk in the path that he has been shown by the Lord. Even though he has not yet see the fruits and concrete proof of his faith, he still followed the Lord nonetheless, because he truly believed in Him, and it was this great and enduring faith that Abram had in the Lord which brought him to be so blessed by the Lord, who knew the true love and faith that Abram had in Him.

This is an important reminder for each and every one of us that as Christians, all of us should also have this kind of faith in the Lord as well, that we should always trust the Lord wholeheartedly and not be easily distracted and tempted by all sorts of worldly temptations and distractions which may keep us away from the true faith in the Lord and from following Him with great faith and dedication. Each and every one of us as Christians should always put the Lord at the heart and centre of everything that we do in life. Unless we live our lives in accordance to our Christian faith and beliefs, we will easily lose track of our lives and paths, and we may end up walking away from God and from His assurance of salvation, into destruction and eternal damnation.

Then, from our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord’s teachings to His disciples and followers telling them all that they should not be hypocrites in their faith in God, and they should not seek to criticise others for their shortcomings while they themselves were also full of shortcomings, faults and sins themselves. This was the exact attitude which many of the religious elites and leaders at the time of the Lord’s ministry had shown, like those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, the members of the chief priests and the elders, many among whom had been hypocrites in their way of living their faith, that while they imposed heavy burdens on the strict observances of the Law, they themselves had not been faithful in fulfilling them all, and they had not been doing them for the purpose of serving God alone.

Instead, many among them often carried out those actions of piety and faith out of the desire to be praised for their faith and obedience to God, and for the others to look up upon them. In essence, they allowed their pride and desire to lead them astray in their path towards God and in neglecting the mission and work which God had entrusted to them, as they were in fact entrusted with the care of all those who have been put under their jurisdiction. They put heavy burdens and obligations on others, and were openly prejudiced against those whom they deemed to be spiritually inferior and less worthy than them. All of these, coupled with their ignorance and blindness to the sins which they themselves committed, brought them ever further from the Lord instead of closer, and this is what the Lord does not want to happen to us all as well.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to reflect and discern carefully our path in life as we all listen to the words of the Sacred Scriptures just as we have received and heard today. Let us all continue to remind ourselves that it is important for us to have true, living and genuine faith in the Lord, a faith that is truly firm and strong, and not merely done by paying lip service, but through commitment to God, through our constant and persistent dedication to Him, in all of our devotion and trust in His Providence and help, and by our steadfast belief and trust in everything that He has planned for us, as Abraham, our father had done, and as our many other holy predecessors, the holy saints and martyrs, had done in their own lives.

May the Lord therefore continue to strengthen us all in faith, and continue to help us all to commit ourselves to the path that He has shown and taught us to walk through, so that despite the many challenges, trials and difficulties that we may encounter in life, we will always continue to be faithful to Him and that we will not lose sight of what is important, the true treasure and happiness of our life that we can find through the Lord alone and our perfect union and harmony with Him, together with all of our loved ones around us. May God bless our good works and efforts, all for His greater glory, now and always. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the great love which we have received from God and how we are then expected to show the same love towards our fellow brothers and sisters around us. Each and every one of us as Christians should always be filled with great love, firstly for the Lord and then of course for everyone around us, for our loved ones and for those whom we encounter daily in life. As Christians, all of us should also should be patient in enduring hardships and difficulties in life, and especially when facing persecution, hatred and evil around us, we ourselves should not be doing the same to one another, but instead be good examples of love and hope to everyone we encounter in life.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in Corinth, we heard of the Apostle reminding the people of God there to be truly genuine and sincere in all of their actions, dealings, in all of their ways and interactions with one another and with all those who have not yet believed in the Lord. It is indeed important because St. Paul said that they should not give anyone any reason to hinder the works of the mission which God has called them all to do by their own actions and deeds, their words and interactions which might be contrary to what they preach and believe in. Indeed, true and genuine Christian faith involve us all walking the talk, that means we really have to put into practice what we have believed in and not merely just paying lip service to our faith in the Lord.

St. Paul exhorted the faithful brethren in Corinth that they all should be good examples of faith to everyone around them, both their fellow brethren and everyone who witnessed their actions and great courage in living their Christian faith with true sincerity and commitment. Otherwise, if they were hypocrites who acted in manner that were contrary to the way they believed, then it could prevent many from coming to believe in the Lord because they would consider us Christians to be dishonest and even immoral, and such things can lead to scandal and harm not only to the Church but even to the Holy Name of the Lord and our Christian faith itself, and such acts are great sins against God.

As St. Paul noted and highlighted to the faithful in Corinth that people around them could notice and see the way that they lived their lives with true Christian charity, generosity and care, with kindness, patience and mercy in all of their actions, in how they have solidarity with those who are suffering and who are poor, and also standing firmly and courageously for their faith in the Lord, not giving in easily to the temptations and pressures of the world that may try to coerce and force them to do otherwise. Indeed, as St. Paul himself also said in another occasion that ‘People will know that we are Christians by our love’ which echo well to what the Lord Jesus told His disciples and followers to be full of love for Him and for everyone around them, to love without limits and boundaries.

This is therefore an important reminder for all of us Christians living in our world today that we should not allow ourselves to abandon our faith or be insincere in following our Christian faith because of our actions which do not show true Christian charity, compassion and care for one another, lacking in kindness, mercy and patience for our fellow brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, the sad reality is such that it is within the Church itself where people, fellow brothers and sisters in the same Lord, fellow Catholics who are often locked together in bitter struggles, rivalries and competitions with each other, in all the unhealthy and sinister church politics that permeate virtually every aspect of our church life and actions everywhere around us.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus Himself therefore reminded us all through His disciples and His Church that this is not the path that we should be walking in, but rather we should truly embody our faith in Him with genuine, compassionate and boundless love just as I elaborated earlier on. The Lord told His disciples that according to the old Jewish customs and laws, the ones which the Lord had passed down through Moses to His people, any sins and mistakes ought to be paid over in retribution, hence ‘eye for an eye’ and ‘tooth for a tooth’. But the Lord was putting an end to all of that and revealed that the Lord’s true intention and desire is for His beloved people to know His love and to be truly loving in all things, especially in how they ought to love their fellow brothers and sisters.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us hence consider carefully our actions in each and every moments of our lives so that we may always be loving to each other, be generous, kind and compassionate, especially to those who have need of our care and love. And let us never seek our own personal glory, ambition, satisfaction and personal fulfilment over the sufferings and hardships that others may have to experience because of our choice of actions and ways which may result indeed in even those among us as Christians to lose faith in the Lord by the scandal such actions have caused, whether we intended them or not. We have to keep in mind that as Christians, love and most generous love, kindness and compassion should be at the forefront of everything that we do in life.

May the Lord, our ever loving God and Father, continue to inspire in us all and strengthen us all in love, that by the imparting of the gift of love in our hearts, we may truly be inspired to love most generously and not be selfish in seeking our own comfort and salvation, but causing hurt and even harm to others around us. As true and genuine Christians, we must always be filled with pure, selfless and boundless love, following the example of the Lord Himself Who has loved us all so wonderfully. May the Lord bless our every endeavours and good efforts, now and always. Amen.