Liturgical Colour : Green or Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the story on Jesus, and on who Jesus truly is. Yes, Christ is the Son of God, God incarnate into man, the Word of God made flesh, but what is the significance to us? What is the significance of the coming and the revelation of this Man, who made even Herod tremble, hearing about His Name and His deeds?

That is because, dear brethren, Christ is the bringer of new hope, the new hope in God, in the same way as how we heard in the first reading today, on the prophet Haggai admonishing the people of Israel for not taking their part in the rebuilding of the House of God in Jerusalem. Through Christ, the House of God long forgotten and which laid in ruins, was rebuilt, in all its new splendour and glory.

That new House of God is us, brothers and sisters in Christ, that is the Body of Christ, that is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Through Christ, we had been brought together into one, as one people, and towards God. The old, ruined house had been rebuilt, and a new hope arose for all mankind and for all creation marred by sin.

The first physical House of God, that is the First Temple of Jerusalem, the Temple King Solomon had built, was truly magnificent and mighty, and yet, it faltered and was destroyed, when Jerusalem and Israel were both given over to their enemies, to the Babylonians who enslaved them for years. The Temple, as the symbol of the unity of the people of God was destroyed and the people of God was scattered, because they themselves had rejected the Lord and His love.

The prophet Haggai criticised the people and rebuked them, because they seemed to become lax in their faith, in how they showed no concern and general ignorance on the need to rebuild the House of God in the midst of His people. All these while they themselves lived well and had had a good life. They lived according to the world and gave in to the temptations of the world. Sin still held mastery over them, and enslaved they were to it.

The Lord sent His own Son, Jesus the Christ as the One who would reestablish that Temple, and not just any Temple like that of Solomon, but an eternal Temple, the renewed House of God, of all the people of God, reunited once again as one people, united by Christ the Lord, through His sacrifice on Calvary. That Temple is the new Temple, also known as the Temple of the Holy Spirit, that are our physical bodies, all of us who had accepted Christ and He dwells in us.

Just as the Temple of Jerusalem housed the Lord residing among the people in the Holy of Holies, we too house the Lord within each one of us. That is why we have to keep ourselves pure and holy, and therefore worthy of His presence within us. Not only pure and clean in physical terms, but even more importantly, the purity of our soul, our spiritual being, from any kind of sins or fornication.

Today, we celebrate the feast of two saints, St. Cosmas and Damian, who are well-known martyrs of the Church, and they were martyred for their faith at the last great persecution against the faithful ones of God, during the late Roman Empire. St. Cosmas and Damian were twin brothers who were doctors and faithful servants of the Lord living in the late third century after the birth of Christ.

St. Cosmas and Damian worked hard for the good of the people of God and even performed miracles on the sick, bringing them back to good health, even in impossible cases. Yet, the Roman Emperor at the time, Diocletian, was staunchly against the faithful of the Lord, and ordered a vicious persecution on them, killing and capturing many, torturing them to abandon the faith in God.

St. Cosmas and Damian were also among those who were imprisoned for their faith, and despite attempts, persuasion, and even torture to make them recant their faith went nowhere, and they stayed ever faithful and did not budge even in the face of suffering and death. They were crucified, shot with arrows, and finally beheaded. They spilled their blood defending their faith, keeping their purity, the purity of their souls from the taints of sin.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, following the example of Saints Cosmas and Damian, let us also strive to strengthen ourselves, our faith in God, and our love, that we will be ever holy and worthy for our God, that we, as the Temples of the Lord, where He resides, will be found worthy and that God will reside in us, and we in Him, that we will be welcomed into His kingdom on the last day.

Pray for us, St. Cosmas and Damian, that we will be always inspired by your examples and strive to keep our faith strong and alive in Christ. May God bless us all. Amen.