Liturgical Colour : Gold

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are celebrating the great occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of our nation Singapore. On this Golden Jubilee of our nation’s sovereignty, where fifty years ago, our nation began its long journey on its own as a sovereign and independent nation. And we gather on this day to give thanks to the Lord, for all of His blessings for Singapore.

And this year we celebrate this truly special occasion, because our young nation has already reached the fifty years mark of its existence as a proud and independent nation, and when we look back, we should see how far we have gone from a small and backward fishing village, from our years as a burgeoning nation, to be a metropolis we are today, a bustling and global city.

We have to give thanks to God who had given us so much help and assistance in the years past, that whenever challenges came our way, He provided our nation with help in what we may see sometimes as unexpected. And yet, we know that our nation had survived, and become what it is today. Of course, the future is yet to come, and is yet to be known, and it will have its own challenges, and therefore, we continue to pray for our Lord’s guidance as we go on as a nation to face the uncertain and yet promising future.

But on this special day, as we celebrate fifty years of nationhood and nation building, let us all take some time of withdraw and reflect on what had happened all these while. There is one clear danger to all of us, as we become more affluent and prosperous, and as we grow more and more globalised and surrounded by all the good things which we have enjoyed all these while.

And this danger is that we tend to become more and more selfish and insensitive to the plight and the concerns of others who are around us, be it in Singapore and beyond. It is quite common knowledge for us that many people in Singapore are stressed and troubled about many things, but if we look into the causes, we can see how these revolve around prosperity, good things, and material wealth, things such as cars, money, possessions, shopping and lifestyles, and many other things that if we look at it, actually we have no need for all these things.

Yet we worry, because we have become so affluent and so accustomed to having all these good things, that we have grown to desire them all the more, as is our human nature. We are by our nature filled with desires and are greedy, seeking to have more of what we already have. We have the tendency to covet what others have and what we do not have.

And it is something that we have to be mindful of, as we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of our nation Singapore. We have to be careful in how we act from now on, if we do not want Singapore to be a nation filled with selfishness and lacking in love and charity. For a nation that loses its integrity and harmony, because everyone is bothered about their own needs and desires, will certainly fall apart.

We have to reflect on what Jesus had told the people and His disciples in the Gospel today, that all of us have no need to worry or be concerned of what are to have in life, every single day of our lives. For God who knows all, had known all of our needs without exception, and in His own way and in His own time, He will provide us all that we need.

All that we are often worried about are in fact our wants, our insatiable desires, which often will bring us to cause even harm and danger to others around us. How many times have mankind cause suffering and oppress others around them so that they can have what they want or to have a comfortable life on top of others’ discomfort and sufferings?

What we want for our nation Singapore is that from now on, the fiftieth year of our nation onwards, we may become an ever more united people, a people united with love and charity, that be it rich or poor, strong or weak, and regardless of our differences, in ideas, in our racial origins, in our languages and many others that distinguish us as a melting pot of peoples, we may be united in our actions, which bear love to one another.

And as Catholics in this nation, we all have a duty to our nation, that is to show our faith through our actions, so that the love of God may be made concrete and real for our nation and for all of us together. Let us all from now on profess our faith through action, caring for others around us who are less fortunate, those who are without jobs, those who are sick and dying, and those who have no one to love them or care for them.

For this Golden Jubilee, this SG50 celebration is not just for a select few, but for everyone, and even for others around the world who share the joy with us, seeing how God had blessed our nation such. The joy we have now should be shared with all, for joy that is shared will be much, much greater than joy that we keep to ourselves.

And therefore, let us all make a renewed commitment to the Lord, that we will become ever better disciples and followers of His, and through our actions, let us all bring ever more good things for this world, for our nation, and for the peoples, our brothers and sisters around us. May Almighty God, our Father and Lord of all the nations, bless our country Singapore, bless all of its people, and may His grace and blessings continue to be with us as we go forth to the future. God bless Singapore! Amen.