Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are urged through the readings of the Holy Scriptures, to follow the path of righteousness, namely by abandoning all the wicked and selfish urgings of our own desires and wants, and also to distance ourselves from the temptations of the flesh. As we are all members of the Church and the children of God by the virtue of baptism, we should follow the Lord in His ways and obey His will.
And what is this will which we should all obey, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is for us to love, and love genuinely and tenderly, without thinking or asking for returns, and without contemplating the potential benefits to ourselves, putting the needs for others ahead of our own. Only then, that our faith will truly be genuine and good for our salvation, as not only that our faith is not just mere words like the hypocrites, but that our faith is truly concrete, founded on love, which we ought to show our Lord, and our fellow men.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, faith without love is incomplete, and love with condition, or conditional love is also incomplete. Why is this so? That is because, we mankind by nature are creatures who always like to demand for more, and who are prone to think about ourselves first before others, and we are naturally selfish, driven by our human instincts of self-preservation.
Let us all look into our own lives, when we are interacting with one another, even with those closest to us, how often is it that we think first of the costs incurred to us, and the potential benefits we may gain by performing certain actions with another? How often indeed men bicker over small matters, just because nobody wants to lose, and indeed as nobody wants to lose face in front of the other?
How often is it that mankind become jealous over his or her brother and sister over a small matter such as possession, inheritance and others? That is because mankind always have desire in their hearts, their wants and what they seek in life. And these are difficult to satisfy, as the tendency is for us, after having our desires fulfilled, to have even more of what we desire or that we desire even more other things.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore if our love is based upon such materialistic attitude, and the desire to be repaid with the same love, for the love we have been given, then it is not fully sincere nor genuine, as such love will become merely a ‘transaction’ between us and the other one we ‘love’. Instead when we love, we ought to follow the examples of Jesus Himself, who had loved us unconditionally and completely, even unto death, death on the cross for us.
I would like to bring to your attention, therefore, the words of St. Paul in one of his letters, that while it is indeed perhaps worthy for one to give up his or her life for one of the friends he or she have, as Jesus mentioned that there is no greater love than for us to lie down our life for a friend, but this is, according to St. Paul, in the argument and idea of men, only makes sense if the one whom we gave up our life for, is someone who is righteous and good.
Will one then want to die for a wicked person? Will one then want to die for his or her enemy? This is the question that we can ask ourselves as well. Can we love our enemies and forgive them their sins, as well as whatever evil and wickedness they have committed to us? This is exactly what Christ had done for us, even to those who had rejected Him and persecuted Him unto death.
Yes, He sacrificed His life for us, endured for Himself the entirety of our mountains of sins, the weight of all those sins combined which would crush anything under it, but not the Lord, who bore them patiently, though in pain, on that way of sorrow and suffering towards Golgotha, where He died. Therefore, what the Lord had said as we heard in the Gospel reading today, is not just mere words, but what He really had done.
He had indeed invited us and brought us to His own heavenly feast, although we are unworthy, and to us, He gave the chance and opportunity to become the children of God and the inheritor of God’s heavenly promise and inheritance. He died for us and sacrificed Himself for us, even when we are still sinners and committing fornications of the body and soul daily. He died and offered Himself to us, so that we may have hope of salvation in Him.
Nevertheless, if we do not believe in Him and reject Him, then we can have no part in Him. And even though He offered us sinners a new chance and opportunity, but if we remain and linger in our sinfulness, then His wrath and anger will instead be upon us. That is just like the king who invited guests to his banquet, in another similar parable of Jesus, and yet the guests refused to come to the banquet because they were busy with their own works, just like us, always making excuses before God and preferring to live in sin than to embrace God’s forgiveness and ways.
Today we also celebrate the feast of St. Martin de Porres, a Peruvian saint, who hailed from the New World. He was a lay member of the Dominican order, or the Order of Preachers who was of mixed race parentage, between the local native and the Spanish coloniser. St. Martin de Porres grew up in poverty, and because of his parentage and heritage, he was not allowed to join the priesthood of the Dominican order, but nevertheless, he persevered on and continued to do good works in his part as the lay member of the order.
St. Martin de Porres was renowned for his great humility and charity, giving away whatever he has to help others who were poor and less fortunate, and those without love. He performed numerous miracles, and by the power granted to him by God, he dedicated himself even more to help his fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. He is the patron saint of those of mixed race and also those who are less fortunate.
How is his life relevant to us? If we look at the readings today, we see indeed that what St. Martin de Porres had done was truly in accordance to the words of the Scriptures. He had loved unconditionally, both God and his fellow men. And he gave himself in dedication to them, not asking for any return, but all only for the sake of serving for the greater glory of God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us from today on, realise our own sinfulness, as well as our capacity to love one another, unconditionally and with genuine love, just as our Lord Jesus Christ had done for us, and as St. Martin de Porres had shown us by his actions.
Let us stop sinning and fornicating our bodies and souls, seeking instead the love and mercy of God, which He will gladly give us, if we sincerely want to repent from our sins and begin to love Him and our fellow men, with all of our heart and strength, just as He always does to us. That we will indeed throw away our selfishness and begin to embrace with all of our hearts, the unconditional love that is of God. God bless us all, forever and ever. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 