Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops and Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we heard of the word of God from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us to come ever closer to the Lord and to seek His treasures of truth and love, of His glorious majesty and compassionate kindness, which He has always generously and richly granted to us. All of us as Christians are God’s beloved people, and we have all received His wisdom and truth, through the Holy Spirit that He has imparted upon us. However, many of us still do not realise the importance and the value of these treasures of faith which the Lord has promised us, and which He has shown and revealed to us. Instead, many of us are busy in pursuing worldly treasures and pursuits of worldly glory and pleasures, which truly distracted us from the path of righteousness, virtue and grace, through which we can reach out to the Lord and to His salvation.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Exodus, we heard the continuation of the story of what happened around the time when the Israelites were camping at Mount Sinai, the holy Mountain of God, where Moses, God’s servant and the leader of the Israelites went up and gained for the people of God, for all of us, the set of Law and commandments, especially the Ten Commandments which God set over all of His beloved people, to guide and help them to remain true to the Covenant which He had set up with all of them. The Lord has called upon all of His people to follow Him faithfully, as He freed them from the slavery in Egypt. Many of them had grumbled and rebelled against Him, and just right after He gave them His Law and His Covenant, they established and built a golden calf idol to be their god and lord over them, in defiance and betrayal of God’s love and kindness.

But God forgave His people and showed them His most wonderful mercy. Those who were responsible most for the rebellion and the disgraceful pagan worship of the golden calf were crushed and made to suffer the consequences of their sins, while the rest of the people repented from their mistakes. And hence, as we heard, God did not hate us all and instead, He truly loves each one of us, but He detested and despised the sins and wickedness that we have committed in our lives. Each one of us should not take God’s love for granted and we should not spurn the love that He has always generously lavished upon us all these while. Like the people of Israel, who had often been ungrateful of the love of God despite them having been shown the great compassion and love of God in many occasions, and yet, they still grumbled, disobeyed and rebelled against God.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the parables that the Lord used in revealing the truth and knowledge of the kingdom of God to His disciples, that is with the examples of the treasures of the field and also the pearl of great price. Those examples represent just how important the great graces and blessings of God can be to us, and how each and every one of us should learn to put the Lord and His truth, Law and commandments as the centre and focus of our attention and our whole lives. We should not allow the worldly temptations and the allure of power, greed and desire to turn us away from the righteousness and salvation in God, just as those had mislead and misguided the people of God in the past, in their inability to resist the temptations of evil and sin, of worldly attachments, of glory and fame, amongst many others. The Lord has always been patient in guiding them all to His path, and sent His messengers to help and correct the people whenever they were wrong.

That is why, today all of us are reminded as Christians, as God’s beloved people, that we should always strive to lead a life that is truly worthy of the Lord as well as exemplary and filled with righteousness and justice. We should not allow the false treasures, pleasures and the excesses of our worldly existence and life to prevent us and to become obstacles in our path and journey towards the Lord. We have to keep in mind that it is only the true treasures and the precious grace of God that will last forever and that will keep us safe and good to the end of days and beyond. No matter how many worldly things and goods we have with us, none of these will be sufficient to satisfy us, and none of them can last forever. No form of worldly glory and fame, of joy and pleasures of the flesh, of the body and all the money and material satisfactions all around us can replace the true joy that we can only find in the Lord alone. Hence, that is why we should strive to resist those worldly temptations and allures, and reorientate ourselves and our lives towards the Lord and His path.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of not just one but two of God’s faithful servant, holy men who dedicated their lives to the Lord, who lived their lives with great commitment and love for God, and the Lord has made them to be great and inspiring role models and examples for many of us, the faithful people of God so that we may follow their examples and inspiration, in their dedication and commitment, their holiness and great actions. St. Eusebius of Vercelli and St. Peter Julian Eymard are truly blessed and worthy servants of God, His holy and just role models, for us all to follow. St. Eusebius of Vercelli was one of the Church fathers, a Roman bishop from Sardinia, in what is today part of Italy, who was remembered as a great and humble shepherd of the people that were entrusted to his care. St. Eusebius of Vercelli dedicated a lot of his time in living among his priests and flock, and cared for their spiritual needs, helping and guiding them on the way to the truth and salvation in God.

He was instrumental in the efforts of the Church in combatting the heresy and falsehoods of Arianism, the great heresy which had afflicted the Church and many among the people of God at that time. And as part of that ministry and work, he had to endure great challenges and sufferings, as he went up together with those who upheld the orthodox and true teachings and Christian faith against those who sided with the heretics. He had to endure bitter sufferings as he faced the opposition from those who supported the heretics and the false wicked ways. However, he remained firmly true to his faith and commitment to the Lord, and devoted himself wholly to the Lord, to the very end of his life, dedicating himself to guard the faithful against the false and heretical teachings that misled many to their destruction and downfall. His commitment to the Lord and his inspiring examples should be great inspiration to all of us as Christians.

Then, St. Peter Julian Eymard was a great and dedicated priest of the Lord who was renowned for his commitment and piety to the Lord, and for his popularisation of the dedication to the Blessed Sacrament, to the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. He dedicated much of his time and work in reaching out to the faithful and to all those in his ministry and areas of responsibility, who are suffering and in need of both physical and spiritual help. St. Peter Julian Eymard spent a lot of time reaching out to the lost souls and to those who are facing difficulties and hardships of the world, and helped many to find their way to the Lord. His commitment to serve the Lord and his efforts in gathering like-minded men and women in the two religious orders he founded, the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament and the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, and the popularisation and spread of the effective Forty Hours devotion are truly great examples and inspirations for all of us to follow.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be inspired by the great examples shown by St. Eusebius of Vercelli, St. Peter Julian Eymard and countless other saints, holy men and women of God, all those who have shown us what it means for us to be truly dedicated and committed Christians, servants and followers of the Lord. Let us do our very best to lead a life of virtue that is truly worthy of the Lord, lives that are truly exemplary and great, free from the corruptions of various worldly temptations all around us, and worthy of those whom God had called and chosen, being ever thankful and grateful that He has always shown us such great compassion, tender love and mercy. And may He bless us all and keep us all in His grace, and empower each and every one of us to walk ever more faithfully in His Presence, now and always, forevermore. Amen.