Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we all gather together to listen to the words of the Sacred Scripture, we are reminded that each and every one of us have been given such great gifts and opportunities by the Lord, Who has always been very compassionate, patient and kind towards us, in showing us ever more loving concern and in His desire to heal us all from our troubles and faults. That is why we should really appreciate that the Lord has done for us with such great love, persistence and patience, and not take all these for granted because if we allow ourselves to remain distant and separated from Him, then in the end, it is only us that will regret having disobeyed Him and refusing to listen to all the things that He has constantly tried to show us.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Second Book of Kings of Israel and Judah in which the story of Naaman the Syrian and the prophet Elisha was told to us, where this Naaman was the famous general of the Aramaeans, a Syrian kingdom that was bordering the kingdom of Israel. He came to the land of Israel when he heard of the famous deeds of the prophet Elisha and his miracles, through which he hoped to be healed from his problem of leprosy. Naaman went to seek Elisha and eventually found him, and before what was depicted in today’s passage, the prophet Elisha told Naaman to go and immerse himself seven times in the River Jordan, and initially Naaman felt insulted at being asked to do such a trivial task.

He further argued and tried to justify himself by saying that there were better and superior rivers in his own homeland in Aram and Damascus, as compared to the River Jordan in Israel. But his servant was quick to remind him that he should just obey and listen to the words of the Lord spoken through the prophet Elisha if he wanted to be cured of his condition. It was Naaman’s pride and ego which initially prevented him from doing what was necessary in order to find healing and while he wanted to be healed, he initially could not do so because he kept on refusing to follow the Lord and His commands. But eventually he relented and humbled himself, doing exactly as what he had been asked to do, and as a result, he was healed from his leprosy.

We heard how Naaman thanked the prophet Elisha greatly and appreciated everything that God had done to him through the prophet. However, when the prophet Elisha was offered with generous gifts from Naaman, who was full of praise and thanksgiving to God, the former refused to accept those gifts, as the prophet humbly highlighted that he was merely following God’s will and not doing all the things for his own personal gain and benefit. And again we can see here the importance of humility and obedience in our faith, and hence, we need to reflect upon what we have heard today from this passage from the Book of Kings, reminding us that at all times we should always be ready to listen to God speaking to us in various ways, even through those who disagreed with us.

Then, from our second reading this Sunday, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to his protege, St. Timothy in which the Apostle spoke of the matter of what the true Christian faith is all about, and how everything that St. Paul himself had endured and encountered throughout his ministry and works, all of them were done for the greater glory of God, and in full trust of everything that God had called on him and the other disciples and missionaries of Christ to do. Therefore, St. Paul wanted to remind and strengthen his protege, St. Timothy and the other early Christians, that they should not be afraid to continue to do their best for the greater glory of God. They should remember that even as they suffer, they were suffering for the sake of the Lord, and they were never truly alone in their journey and in their struggles.

Lastly, from our Gospel passage this Sunday, we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus encountered ten lepers who were cast out from their community, being forced to wander off in the wilderness as prescribed by the Law of Moses. According to that Law, the lepers were unclean and they could not return to the community until their leprosy had been cured. This definition of leprosy first of all may differ from what we commonly know as leprosy today, as it covered a rather broad variety of skin diseases and infections. But at that time, as we heard, when the ten lepers came to seek the Lord and sought His miraculous healing even from a distance, knowing that if they came to Him they would make Him and His disciples unclean, He did not keep Himself away from them, but approached them and showed them His mercy and love.

He told them all to go and see a priest as prescribed by the Law, even though they had not by then been physically healed from their leprosy. Yet, they chose to have faith in the Lord and trusted in Him, even when He did not perform grand gestures and miraculous powers before them, choosing to trust in God and go forth on their journey back to the priest as asked. They showed obedience and faith, and as a result, as we heard, they were all healed from their leprosy, and they realised it afterwards that they had been made whole again. Yet, none of them except for one among them, a Samaritan, who then went back all the way to the Lord again to thank Him for everything that He had done for their sake. This showed the Samaritan’s great character and virtue, not only that he had obedience and faith in him, but he was also grateful for the Lord’s goodness.

This leprosy is also a representation of an even greater ‘leprosy’ that often afflicts us, which is something that no earthly doctors and means can cure. This leprosy refers to sin, which is often likened to the leprosy that affects us even to the depths of our souls, corrupting and affecting our whole and entire beings. But with God’s help, and if we put our faith and trust in Him, then by His power, grace and forgiveness, we can indeed be healed and made whole again after the struggles that we have with sin. While sin and the temptations to sin against God are always ever around us, but we must put our faith and trust in God, knowing that it is in Him alone that we will be able to overcome the domination of sin and evil, and their hold on us.

Through what we have heard in this Gospel passage this Sunday, and from the other readings that we have discussed and reflected about, we are reminded that each and every one of us as Christians need to have a greater trust and faith in the Lord, and strive our best to do our part, in each and every moments of our lives such that we may indeed truly be obedient in all things to the Lord, ever righteous and virtuous in all that we say and do. Let us all be like the Samaritan leper, who obeyed the Lord and was faithful to Him, and yet at the same time, also know when to give thanks and praise to God when it is due. Let us all be good role models and examples for one another, and strive to be freed from the leprosy of our souls, that is our sins. May God be with us always, and may He continue to strengthen each and every one of us in our every good efforts and endeavours. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, each and every one of us have been reminded of the need for us all to trust in God, as His servants and followers, that we do not easily give up the struggle and fight for the sake of our faith in Him. All of us should always persevere in our faith even when it may be very difficult for us to endure through the various challenges, trials and difficulties that we encounter daily in our lives. We must continue to do our best each and in every moments to be good role models and examples for everyone around us. We should not allow ourselves to be dissuaded by those challenges and trials that we end up losing our sight and focus on the Lord and on what He wants us to do in our lives.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of the prophet Habakkuk in which the conversation between Habakkuk and God was highlighted to us. Prophet Habakkuk was sent by God to the people of the kingdom of Judah during the years of its waning and final existence, when the Babylonians were rising as a threat that would eventually lead to the end and destruction of the kingdom of Judah, its capital Jerusalem and the Temple that God had established and built in that city. Prophet Habakkuk delivered God’s words to the people of Judah, and much like his near contemporary, Jeremiah, he faced a lot of hardships, rejection and persecutions due to his efforts and works, as the people resisted what the Lord had wanted to tell them through His prophets.

The Lord revealed to the people of Judah through Habakkuk that if they continued to disobey Him and if they kept on committing what was wicked in His sight, worshipping pagan idols and gods, refusing to follow His Law and commandments and if they kept on persecuting and murdering His prophets, then in the end they would all face the consequences of their actions, where they would be conquered by their enemies, facing humiliation for losing their cities and lands, and they would be exiled from those lands to distant lands. But the stubbornness of those in Judah brought great misery upon Habakkuk, and the prophet sought the Lord’s help, for which he was strengthened and empowered, reassured and reminded that God could do everything for those who are faithful to Him.

Then, from our second reading this Sunday, we heard of the words of St. Paul the Apostle in his Epistle to his protege, St. Timothy, one of the first bishops of the Church and the successor of the Apostles as the leaders of the Church, reminding him and the other Church leaders about the reality of what it is like to struggle and to labour for the sake of the Lord in the works of evangelisation and the proclamation of the Good News of God. While sufferings and struggles, trials and difficulties would indeed be part and parcel of the works and ministry of the Apostles and their successors, all the disciples and the other missionaries of the Lord, but they were not alone in their struggles and efforts, as the Lord was always with them, guiding and journeying with them.

St. Paul encouraged St. Timothy and the other early Christians to remain strongly rooted in their faith in God, to remain true to what the Lord had called them to do, to be faithful to the teachings of the Gospels and the truth of God in all things, never be discouraged and be prevented from doing their good works because of the oppositions and challenges that they had to face. They should trust in the Lord and remember His assurances, just as what He has assured the prophet Habakkuk in the Old Testament. Through their hard works and efforts, firmly entrenched in the gifts of God through the Holy Spirit, they would indeed carry out many good and wonderful works for the Lord’s sake, and touched countless people and bringing many closer to God.

Lastly, from our Gospel passage this Sunday, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples in the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, in which He highlighted that first of all, if they were to have genuine faith in the Lord, no matter how small it is, then they can do all things in Him, and everything will become possible for them. This is the Lord highlighting to His disciples the importance and the power of faith, one which we ourselves should also have, the trust and faith that we ought to have in God, despite the hardships and challenges that they may have to encounter in their path and endure. The Lord does not abandon His servants and disciples in their hour of need, and even when they suffer, the Lord would always be with them, guiding and strengthening them in their paths, at all times.

Then, the Lord also highlighted to the disciples how each and every one of them should not expect remunerations and benefits from the Lord for what they were doing in carrying out the missions that the Lord had entrusted to them. They were supposed to be doing whatever the Lord had asked of them to do, and the Lord technically did not owe anything to them either. This is an important reminder which the Lord told to His disciples and also to all of us as well, that we should not be faithful merely to seek personal gains or for our own selfish desires and ambitions. We should serve the Lord because we genuinely seek to glorify Him and to do His will, and to carry out His good works in our community and among all those whom we encounter daily and at all times.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore remember that following the Lord will likely be full of challenges, trials and difficulties for us. There may be moments when we may want to give up and abandon our missions and even our faith, but we must remember that the Lord is always with us, by our side, ever encouraging us all throughout the way. We should always trust in God and His Providence and continue to do our very best so that in each and every things we do, in our every words and actions, in our interactions and in how we treat everyone around us, we will always be genuine in showing the most Christian love and way of living, so that we may become the powerful inspirations for all those around us, now and always.

May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours and strengthen us always in faith, in all that we say and do, in our every interactions, to be God’s ever faithful disciples, followers and servants at all times, ever full of devotion and faith in Him. Amen.