Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day from the Scriptures we heard about the gifts that God has given to us all Christians, the gift that He has blessed us with, and which all of us have, in our own distinct gifts and talents, some of which we may have discovered and nurtured, and there are still probably more that we have not yet realised yet. These gifts are God’s gifts for us, which is meant for one purpose, that is for us to bring glory to God.

And how do we do so? How do we bring glory to God? It is by doing what the Lord wants us to do, that is by obedience to His will. Those gifts that God has given us, are meant for us to be used for the greater glory of God through our own actions, as we are ultimately, God’s creations. And when God’s creations are glorified, God too, is glorified. And when we use these gifts for the benefit of one another, fellow brethren in Christ, then we also bring glory to God.

However, unfortunately, many of us have not been able to make use of these gifts for the right purposes and for the right intentions, as we have been influenced and corrupted by sin. All of us are sinners, and that is the reality that affects every single one of us, without exception. Our disobedience against God has caused us to sin, and because of that, we have also allowed our gifts to be ignored, misused or abandoned.

We have made use of our gifts, our abilities, our power and talents for the wrong purpose in many occasions, causing suffering, pain and injustice for others, for our fellow brothers and sisters, all for the sake of satisfying our own personal ambitions, glory and human achievements. That is why, through sin, we are making use of what God has given us, in the wrong manner and in the wrong occasion and for the wrong purpose.

In the Gospel today, we heard of the Lord Jesus Who spoke to the people about what happened at that time, when conflict arose between the Romans and the Galileans, as the latter were killed in the Temple of God, and their blood spilt in that holy place. And it was also mentioned about the accident that happened in the fall of the tower of Siloah. The Lord mentioned how those people who died in such a tragic manner, they did not die because of their greater guilt as compared to those others who did not meet their end in such a way.

Rather, death is a natural end point and consequence for our earthly lives and existences. And death exists because of our disobedience against God and refusal to do His will, which led us to sin. Death is the sting of sin against us, and death is the ending of life as we know it, as it is the gift of life which God has given us, and unless we make good use of this precious gift of life, then the Lord had already forewarned us, that our lot will be that of eternal death, that is hell.

God gives us many gifts and blessings, which we are expected to use in our lives, for the benefit of our fellow brothers and sisters. And this is mentioned in the Gospel passage today by the Lord’s use of the parable of the fig tree and its fruits. The fig tree is in fact a representation of each and every one of us, mankind, who have been given the ability to bear fruits, that is the fruits of the blossoming of the gifts that God has given each one of us.

But if that fig tree was barren and without fruit, then there is no reason for the tree to remain in existence or to be placed on the fertile ground, since that fig tree is essentially useless, not being capable of producing good fruits even though it has been given much in the way of nutrients, provisions and good care. The master of the garden wanted the fig tree to be uprooted and cast out, but the gardener asked for one last chance to be given to the fig tree.

If that fig tree bears fruit, then it will be spared. Otherwise, it will be uprooted and destroyed should it remain barren. This is a reminder for us that we should also bear fruit in our own respective lives, the good fruits of the Lord’s will, through our love for Him and for our fellow men, through our compassion and charity, through our wise ways and understanding of our faith. If our fruits are wicked and bad, because of our sins and continued disobedience against God, then we too shall perish.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, each and every one of us have been given the opportunities in our respective lives, by the Lord, Who wants us to grow well in faith and to bear good fruits of the Holy Spirit, and not the wicked fruits of sin and evil. That is why, all of us must realise this fact and take action, or otherwise, we will end up caught unawares and unprepared, when the Lord suddenly calls us back to His presence, at the time of His own determination.

Let us not waste any more time, brothers and sisters in Christ, or assume that we have plenty of time. At any time, we may be called by God to give an account of our own lives, and should we fail to be true and worthy to Him, then we will suffer nothing less than an eternity of suffering in hell, prepared for those who have not produced the good fruits of love, compassion, hope, justice and integrity, but the wicked fruits of pride, sloth, greed, hatred, jealousy and evil, such as Satan and his fellow fallen angels.

May the Lord be our Help and Guide, and may He continue to lead us to Himself, that each and every one of us may find our way to Him, and not be lost amidst the sway of temptations and allures of the devil and the challenges we face in this life in this world. May we come to bear good fruits of our faith, and be worthy of God’s grace and everlasting life in Him. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day the Lord Jesus reassured His disciples that He would be with them whenever they stood by Him and defended their faith. He would not abandon them, and would send His Holy Spirit to guide them and to inspire them in their words and their actions. Essentially, God was saying that, as long as His people remain faithful and true to Him, He would always be by their side.

This is important because there may just be moments when there would be times when the faithful had to endure rejection, persecution and oppression from worldly powers, governments, earthly forces, states, groups and others who disagreed and refused to believe in the Lord and in the Christian faith. And in such cases, there would indeed be so much persecution, pain and suffering, that the people of God might be tempted and pressured to give up their faith.

The devil is at work, through the power and dominion he had over the world, through sin, in order to bring mankind to ruin and into damnation. He is always ever busy trying to drag mankind’s souls into hell with him, by tempting us with the many offer of respite, pleasure, happiness, and freedom from pain and suffering, by showing us the alternative path he offered to us, which seems to be easier, less painful and less challenging.

But we all must realise that the path that the devil is leading us into, is one that leads into an eternity of suffering, pain and despair. If we follow in his path of rebellion and disobedience against God, then we may end up in hell, in the place prepared for the devil and for his fellow rebel angels, the evil spirits. The devil has done everything within his ability and power to bring about this fate to us, and he would even show us all sorts of lies and tempting offers just in order to achieve this.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us are called to reflect on our lives thus far, and see how we have reacted thus far in the face of difficulties, challenges and all the troubled that we have faced. Have we easily given up faith and our beliefs in the face of trouble? Or have we instead allowed ourselves to be easily swayed by the demands of the world when we encounter those troubles in life?

That was exactly why many of us Christians fell into the dangerous trap of relativism in how we lived our lives. What does this mean? It means that we allow ourselves to be swayed by the forces of those temptations and pressures in living our lives, and we have no standing in our faith, no anchor in which we may remain firm despite the attacks and the challenges being made against us each day after another.

We are often worried because there would be times when we despair, and think that siding with the Lord gains us nothing or that we will lose many of the things that we are concerned about. But this is when we really need to have faith in God, and believe that He is there, watching over us and guiding us, and that He will eventually triumph, against all those who are trying to bring about our ruination and destruction. We must have this hope in God, Our Lord and Our King.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all trust in the Lord, and deepen our relationship with Him, that we may come to know more of what it is that He wills of us, in His plans for us, going forth in our lives, and that we may become more reassured and firm in our faith, knowing that God has triumphed against Satan and all the forces of evil, who have been condemned for eternity in hell, and there is nothing that they can do to us, as long as we remain firmly rooted in God and in His truth.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to empower us and give us the courage to live our lives with faith, from now on, that we will be able to stand up for our faith and be beacons of truth to all those who see us and our actions, so that they too may come to believe in God by what we have done in our lives, in obedience to God’s will. May the Lord bless us all and protect us from all harm. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are all reminded to be true followers of Christ, in all of the life which we have lived thus far, and to obey and listen to the will of God, as much as we are able to do it. This is an important reminder, as sometimes, we may end up living our lives and living our faith devoid of true understanding of what it is that God wants us to do in our lives.

In the first reading today, St. Paul wrote to the Church and the faithful in the city of Galatia, explaining to them, both to the Jewish and the Gentiles among the faithful, about what they should be doing in following God’s will and in obeying Him. The Jews, even among the Christians, at the time still thought that they had to obey the Law of Moses, all the accumulated and compiled traditions and customs of the Jewish people in its entirety.

And the inability to agree on whether the Christian faithful ought to follow the Jewish laws and customs or not, have divided the communities of the faithful in many places, including that of in Galatia. Some of the Jews wanted that all the faithful must obey the entirety of the laws and the customs of the Jews, while there those among the Jews and the disciples themselves who thought that it should not be the case.

But the Lord Himself made it clear to His people, through what He has revealed throughout His earthly ministry, and through what He has taught His disciples and the Apostles, and by the wisdom and understanding, truth and revelation bestowed on them by the Holy Spirit. The truth is that, to be followers of the Lord, then we must truly believe in Him, listen to Him, and keep all the commandments and do them in our own lives.

And the Lord said that His commandment is about love, first of all, the love of God with all of our hearts, minds and with our whole being fully immersed in the love of our loving Father and Creator, and then the same love which we ought to have for our fellow brothers and sisters, our fellow men, all brethren in the same God, our Father. It is not about a burden or an imposition of practices and traditions that were done, many of them, without understanding their real purpose and meaning.

Many of the people then just followed and obeyed the practices of the Law without knowing what they were for. For many of them, it ended up becoming a formality and something that is an obligation, and for some others, it was even worse, as they ended up making use of those practices and impositions of the Law, to advance their own selfish desires and positions, such as what was done by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law.

Many of us unfortunately also share the same blame in this manner, as many of us have not been truly and wholeheartedly faithful, in how we approach our obligations to the Lord as Christians. To us, we have received the fullness of truth, as according to St. Paul, in the same Epistle he had written to the Galatians, which should have set us free from our bonds and from our old ways of sin. But many of us have not allowed God’s truth to set us free.

And that is because of our own inability to resist the temptations to sin and to keep on falling again and again into our sinful ways, and despite the reminders and calls which the Lord made to us, many of us are often still too stubborn to accept His calls deep in our hearts. Now, are we willing to overcome these challenges and resolve to overcome this unwillingness to allow God to transform our lives for the better?

Let us all turn towards God, from now on, with all of our hearts, with our every efforts, and commit ourselves towards Him with a new resolution and courage in our hearts. Let us all strive to seek our focus and our source of unity and our salvation in God, our loving Lord and Father. May the Lord be with us throughout this journey, and guide us to His everlasting glory. Amen.