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Sunday, 21 September 2014 : 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle, Catechetical Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of St. Matthew the Apostle and the Evangelist, one of the Four Evangelists who wrote the Four Holy Gospels, together with St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John. Consequently, today we also celebrate the occasion of Catechetical Sunday, which if we notice from the name, it refers to catechesis, which is the teaching of the Christian faith, of which no better source is present other than the Four Holy Gospels, one of which was written by St. Matthew.

In these occasions of celebration, we hear the words of the Holy Scriptures, from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in our first reading, where the Lord God exhorted His people through Isaiah to seek for Him and not to wait until it is too late, and in it was also an admonition for the pride and desire of mankind, who often thought of themselves as great and mighty, but they are really no more than the servants and creations of God, who should therefore obey His will and not their own selfish desires.

Then we hear the Psalms which exalted the Lord and all His goodness, and how His love and mercy will embrace all things, as well as all of us, if only that we resolve to seek Him and find Him in our lives, and as the Psalm mentioned, that the Lord’s mercy and love are upon those who call on Him. This is why mankind should stop delaying and being slothful, and begin to walk on the path of repentance to seek for God’s infinite mercy.

In the second reading, taken from the letter of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Philippi, he reminded the people of God, of the importance of labour and work, and the benefits one may gain if they do their labour for the sake of Christ, and for the sake of His beloved people, our own brothers and sisters in the Lord. It was also highlighted of the importance of the teaching of the Gospels and the faith to the people of God.

Then finally in the Gospel, as written by St. Matthew, we heard how Jesus taught His followers and the disciples using parables, and in today’s Gospel, the parable of the vineyard owner and the workers. In this parable, the vineyard owner employed many people who were unemployed and idle, and he brought them to work in his vineyard. And when the time comes for them to receive their pay, all of them, regardless of their working hours, they all received the same amount of pay, that is one silver coin each.

But the ones who worked for long hours complained before the owner, and they complained to the owner for unjust treatment compared to those who worked very little hours. They argued for the fact that they have been given the same pay although they worked for much longer. The owner then admonished them for their grumbling, and mentioned that they should have been thankful that they have been given the opportunity to work and receive the reward as everyone else had, regardless of the amount.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we look at it more closely and reflect more intently on the meaning of the words of the Scripture which we have heard today, it should be obvious that God wants us to know about the nature of salvation, and how we can play a part in that work of salvation, and therefore having a part in the salvation of one another, ensuring the security of all of us together in Christ.

The Gospel refers to how the Lord is truly willing to seek out those who are lost from Him, and the owner of the vineyard is Himself the Lord. The unemployed men and the idle ones represent mankind who still live in the darkness of the world and sundered from the Lord their God. The reward that the men received symbolised the promise of salvation and eternal life which God had revealed and vowed to us through Jesus.

And the time of which the men were called refers to none other than the opportunities in life for us, which are plenty, from the beginning and early days of our lives, until even the eleventh hour, and the time near the end. God is actively seeking for us, just as the vineyard owner was actively seeking for employees as he went around the city to look for the unemployed, that is those who are still lost among mankind.

And just as all mankind are equal in the sight of God, regardless of their status, wealth, influence, fame, power and all other things often attached to us, we are all the same before God without any embellishments. And this is perfectly shown in the Gospel, as the owner paid the workers equally without any consideration for the amount of work or for any virtues, and all were paid a silver coin each, just as all of us have equal part in our divine inheritance that is life eternal.

Brethren, it is in our nature to always want more and seek more, and we always think that all of our efforts are definitely ought to be paid, and the world itself had supported this, by enhancing in our minds the thought such that when we do more and put more effort, we are conditioned to demand for more and feel that it is justified for us to demand for more, in accordance to what we did.

Does this seem familiar somehow? Yes, precisely because it exists in our world, and it is indeed the force behind the economical progress and how the economy works in our world. Yes, it is the same as capitalism, in the system where supply and demand controls everything. And that is why we always desire and seek more, because in this system, when it is unbridled and uncontrolled, can lead to excessive materialism and desire for things of the world.

And these are what precisely made it so difficult for many of us to be saved, that is many among mankind, because we are so easily tempted by the goods and the wonders that are in the world, that Satan made that very good opportunity to steer us away from salvation in God. We end up doing things to satisfy our desire and greed for more goodness and pleasures of the world, as shown by the grumbling of those workers who came early to work in the owner’s vineyard. We have much to learn in terms of sharing with one another God’s love and blessing, and not to just be concerned about our own benefits.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this we should learn that our Lord loves us all without exception, even the greatest of sinners. There is always hope in the conversion of sinners, and even the greatest sinner can eventually be turned to the way of the Lord to become the greatest of the saints. Indeed, many great saints were themselves once great sinners. What matters is that they repent from their sinful ways and embrace the ways of the Lord.

St. Matthew himself was once a hated tax collector, a profession which was reviled in the society, and they were seen by their Jewish society as traitors and evil, as those who seemingly collaborated with the Roman, the masters of the world at the time, in oppressing the people with the taxes imposed on them. Yet, St. Matthew, despite the good promises of the job, and the security in life it provided him, he left everything and followed Jesus, and eventually became one of the four great Evangelists who recorded the life and works of Jesus our Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we commemorate the occasions I mentioned earlier for today, we have to always be reminded that we have our roles to play in this world today, that is to embrace, seek out and welcome those who hunger for the truth and the Good News of Christ in the Holy Gospels, and that is why we even celebrate today as the Catechetical Sunday, where we together as the Church, seek to spread the words of salvation of our Lord to all the ends of the earth.

Let us not be proud of our achievements or be greedy for more acclamations for what we had accomplished in life and in our faith. Instead, let us look with love upon those who have less or none, and especially those who have less or none of the faith. Let us not be jealous of them when the Lord offers them the same salvation He had also offered us. Let us rather help each other and together as brothers and sisters in the same Lord, equal in the eyes of God, enter the kingdom of heaven as one people, to praise and worship Him forever more.

Do not wait until the last minute to seek the Lord, too, for we do not know when the time is up for us. If we are late, then there is no more opportunity for us, and we will suffer for eternity together with Satan and his fellow fallen angels. Let us pray that this will not be our fate, and thus let none be lost in the darkness. Amen.

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Tuesday, 9 September 2014 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Claver, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the nature of today’s readings are very clear to us. This is because first we must have realised that it talked about the calling of the chief disciples of Jesus Christ our Lord, namely the twelve men selected as the Twelve Apostles, with their names highlighted and explained to us. It seems that this selection brought great honour to the Apostles, who were chosen among many to be the chief among the disciples of the Lord, but as the rest of the readings would tell us, with great honour comes great responsibility.

We heard in the first reading, where St. Paul chastised the faithful in Corinth for their inability to work and live together in faith. He also chastised them for their unruly behaviour, disputes and infighting within the community of the believers, and their apparent inability to settle their own issues and problems, and the mention of the term arbiter, or the one who decides matters much like a judge.

And then in the Gospel again, after Jesus had chosen the Twelve Apostles to be under His care, then it was shown to us how people brought their sick ones and afflicted ones to Jesus and asked Him to heal them. People came from far-off places just to listen to the teachings of Jesus and to be healed by Him, even from areas, if we noticed, that include places where non-Jewish populations were likely those who also came to visit Jesus and listen to Him.

Then the Gospel highlighted yet another aspect of today’s readings, that is on authority, the authority to heal and to judge, as it mentioned how the people tried to touch Jesus, even just the fringe of His cloak, as through these, the people were healed by the very authority that flowed out from Jesus, the Lord and God. Thus, Jesus as Lord and Master of all is the font of power and authority, from whom all authority in this world came from, and there can be no true power or authority if the Lord had not granted them to those whom He deemed worthy.

And how is this related to the calling and the choice of the Twelve Apostles? That is because as I have mentioned before, that the calling to be an Apostle of Jesus, and in fact, even to follow the Lord as a disciple was not an easy one. Neither did it bring honour and glory, for the world had hated Jesus and thus would also hate all those who follow Him. Neither would it be easy, because the world and the forces of darkness would be arrayed against all those who walk in the path of righteousness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is why as the chosen Apostles and disciples of the Lord, the Twelve Apostles and their successors, our Pope, Cardinals, Bishops and the priests, as well as those in the religious and priestly orders had great privileges, but also equally if not greater burdens and responsibilities. They serve the people of God, the arbiters of justice as mentioned, the bearers of the teachings and the Good News of the Lord, and the bearers of the Lord’s authority in healing.

It was not an easy task, and challenges await them along and throughout their respective ministries in the Lord. How can we help them then? It is by our contribution and the part we can play in this world, as part of the Church, giving both our time, resources and other form of contributions to help the Lord’s trusted servants. In that we do our part as the children of God and as the members of the Church.

Today we celebrate the feast of a saint, a priest and servant of God whose life is truly exemplary of those who were called by the Lord to be His instrument of love in this world. St. Peter Claver was his name, a Spanish Jesuit priest who was born in Spain during the era of Counter Reformation at about more than four centuries ago, and who joined religious life to dedicate himself to the Lord.

St. Peter Claver was particularly noted for his great piety and dedication as well as having a mind of great intellectual quality, and he dedicated this in his works, as he embarked on the mission to evangelise and preach the Good News in the New World, in what is today Latin America, then known as Spanish America, the colony of the Spanish Empire in the New World.

In those colonies and territories, there are four groups of people, namely first the administrators and Spanish lords who came from the Old World, from Spain and they were the greatest and the most influential in the society, then the colonists from Spain and the Old World, who had settled in the land and bore children there. Then below them we have the native indigenous populations of the Aztecs, Mayans, and the American Indians, who had lived in the land before the arrival of the Europeans.

And at the bottom of all in the society were the slaves, who were mostly of African origin, captured and brought to the New World to be used as slaves in various menial works that treated them as things less than human. And it was to this group in particular that St. Peter Claver dedicated himself. And St. Peter Claver was against slavery, which is an abomination among men, the practice of making others subservient to certain people, which is unacceptable to our faith.

Therefore, St. Peter Claver followed the footsteps of the Apostles and faithfully carried out his duties as the Lord had appointed him to, that is to serve the people of God humbly and courageously, especially the least among them, those who were oppressed and disadvantaged against, and lead them into a new and better life, founded on the teachings of the faith, through his ardent opposition against slavery of any kind.

St. Peter Claver also ministered to them, healing them body and soul, listening to their problems and assisting with those who were sick. And in this, his actions are exemplary for us all, not just for the priests and the ordained ministers, but also for all those in the laity. In following his examples and works, we truly can become better Christians, by embodying and practicing what we believe in our actions and deeds in life.

May Almighty God thus bless us this day, that we may grow stronger in faith, hope and love, so that we may walk in the footsteps of the saints, the disciples and the Apostles, people You have chosen from among the people and made holy so that we who witnessed their works may also be inspired to seek holiness in You. God be with us all, forever and ever. Amen.