Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today through the readings from the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded what each and every one of us must do as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord and belong to Him. All of us have been shown both the actions of the wicked people in the first reading today, and then we have also been told of the actions and way of life which the Lord had called us all as Christians to do in our own lives. If our lives are not in accordance to the path which the Lord has shown us, then how can we call ourselves as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people.

In our first reading today, we heard from the first Book of Kings of Israel and Judah in which the story of the wickedness of king Ahab of Israel was told to us, in how king Ahab treated the man named Naboth, who owned a vineyard at the land which Ahab desired for himself, and we heard how king Ahab, spurred on by his own wife, queen Jezebel, plotted against Naboth and managed to seize his property after having made false accusations against the man, and this led to Naboth being condemned to death for something that he was innocent and blameless for, and such was the wickedness of mankind, as exemplified by the actions of Ahab and Jezebel.

This is why God sent Elijah to Ahab, warning and reminding him of the wickedness of his actions, through which he had led the people ever deeper into the path of evil and sin. God does not want any one of us to be lost to Him through the darkness and wickedness of this world, through the many temptations present all around us. We must always be vigilant and be ready to resist all the things which may result in us losing sight and focus on the Lord’s path, and end up giving in to the temptations of our pride, ego and desires as Ahab had experienced. He allowed his ego and desires to give in to the temptations and thus, leading him to carry out the wicked deed as he had done to Naboth.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. Matthew in which the Lord told His disciples about what is expected for them all as His followers and disciples, in how each and every one of them should not oppose evil with evil, quoting the examples from the old Jewish customs and laws, which prescribed equivalent consequence and punishment as a just consequence and result of an evil action committed by a person, summarised as ‘eye for an eye’ and ‘tooth for a tooth’. If we understand the reason why such harsh laws and practices were included in the old Jewish laws and customs, that was because of the stubbornness of the people of Israel, who often disobeyed the Lord and allowed themselves to be tempted by worldly desires into sin.

That was not what the Lord actually wanted from His people, but those laws and rules were put in place initially because it was meant as a deterrence for them to keep away from all sorts of wickedness and evils, from doing what the Lord had told them not to do. What He wants to tell them and expects them to do is that He wants all of them to be just, holy, good and loving just He has been doing all of that, and He wants to show them, lead them and teach them to do what is right, and not to allow the evils and temptations of this world to mislead them down the wrong path which may lead to eternal damnation and total separation from Him.

This is why, today, we are reminded that as Christians, as God’s followers and holy people, all of us are called to be loving, compassionate and forgiving, and to do whatever we can for the good of others, to go the ‘extra mile’ in loving and caring for one another if necessary. This is what Christian charity and love is all about, and what we are all reminded of, so that each and every one of us strive to resist the temptations of this world, the temptations of sin and evil, and at the same time also strive to do whatever is good, holy, worthy and just, so that by our every actions, words and deeds, all of us will be truly good and worthy of the Lord our God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are therefore reminded today to recall our Christian calling and missions in life. Each and every one of us have to contribute to the good efforts and works of the Church of God, which the Lord had entrusted to all of us, in the evangelisation of the whole world, of all the people whom we have been sent to, so that by our exemplary way of life, actions, words and deeds, we may inspire more and more of the people around us to follow our examples and to have faith in the Lord as well. Unless we ourselves have done as the Lord had told us to, and live our lives sincerely in the manner that all of us as Christians had been expected to live, then we cannot truly call ourselves as Christians, and we cannot inspire others to follow our path.

May the Lord continue to strengthen us all in our ways, and may He empower us all in our every efforts, in our every contributions and deeds, so that by our every actions in life, we may continue to glorify the Lord and that we may always proclaim Him, His truth and love all throughout our whole lives, now and always, in our every words, actions and deeds, in how we interact with one another, with our fellow brothers and sisters. Amen.