Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scriptures speaking to us about the faith which we ought to have in God, for all the wonders that He has done for our sake, from the very beginning of time. God has blessed us all His people since the beginning, even when we have disobeyed Him and sinned against Him, by not following what He has commanded us to do, and His love for us still prevailed against His anger at our sinful actions and deeds.

In today’s first reading, we heard the account of the building of the Ark of Noah, the great Ark that God commanded Noah and his family to build, in order to rescue themselves from the wicked generation of the people of his time. At that time, out of all the descendants of men, Noah and his family alone were still righteous and obedient before God, while all other people followed the path of sin, wicked and deviant before God.

But God, despite of the anger He has towards us mankind because of our sins, ultimately, He still loved us even more than He was angry at our sins. He created us out of His immense and boundless love, and as a result, He wanted to save us all from our predicament. Yet, it was us mankind who have often erred and refused to follow and obey Him, again and again, many times, despite His constant and thorough reminders towards us.

Noah spent over a century building up the Ark upon God’s instructions given to him, but during all those years, none of the people, except those within Noah’s own family, believed in the Lord and the message of His upcoming wrath, the Great Flood which He would send into the world, to wash it all away from the great wickedness and sins that the sons and daughters of men had committed. None of them believed and repented, and as a result, when the Flood began, and the Ark sailed away safely, all the rest of humanity perished.

In the Gospel passage today, the Lord was also doing the same among His people, as He taught the disciples and all those who have seen Him performing many miracles and healing among them. He saw the doubts and the lack of faith which were still in their hearts and minds, that has become a barrier for them from truly being able to understand and appreciate the love and the truth which He was bringing unto them.

They saw His miracles and marvellous deeds, but their hearts and minds were still burdened by doubt, and by the sins in their flesh. They were after all, mortal beings, corrupted and dirtied by sin, much as their ancestors had been, like all those who at the days of Noah, refused to believe in God and continued to live in the state of ignorance, both of their wickedness and sin, as well as their impending doom.

That is why God rebuked His disciples and chastised them for their lack of faith in Him, as they still put their trust in worldly matters such as food and provisions, rather than to put their complete trust in God. They are still creatures of the flesh, easily swayed by the demands and the desires of their bodies. God’s words and truth have not yet been planted and taken root deep within them yet. But God did not give up on them, and continued to teach them and guide them to the right path.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today many of us have not obeyed the Lord in the way that we should have done it. And many of us are still easily swayed by worldly desires and thoughts, and thus were distracted in our journey of faith towards God. But God has always been kind and loving towards us, and He is always ready to extend His merciful love towards us. Now, what matters is for us to accept His generous offer of mercy and love.

Are we willing to be forgiven by God? Are we willing to attune ourselves once again to His will and to His ways? Then we need to have a profound change of heart and attitude in life, that we should no longer be self-centred or be egoistic in life, but instead, learning to put our trust in God, in He Who alone is able to give us true joy and happiness in Him. Let us all grow ever more in our faith in God, and take up the chances that God has given us, to be forgiven from our sins, and to receive from Him the promise of eternal glory and life. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture reminding us all about the obligations that each and every one of us ought to have for the Lord, our loving Father and Creator, the One Who has created everything that are within this existence and universe. In the first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis, the continuation of yesterday’s account on the creation of the world by the Lord, culminating with the creation of all those whom God has created in His own image, that is all of us mankind.

He created each and every one of us out of love, because He wants to share the perfect and boundless love present within Himself, for He is love Himself. He did not create us to cause us to be troubled and enslaved unnecessarily to man-made laws and regulations that did not have their roots in God’s divine Law. The Law of God is perfect and filled with love, and it is a delight for us all to follow His Law.

Unfortunately, as what the society of the Israelites had experienced during the time of the Lord, there was the societal elite in the form of the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law, all those who held the knowledge of the Torah, that is the Scriptures and the Law, those who held the influence and power within the community, all of those who guided and led the people of God with their laws and rules, regulations and enforcements. And they enforced laws and rules that were unfortunately against the true meaning and intention of the Law of God.

The Lord criticised the way that those leaders had followed and enforced the rules and demanded the people to obey what they have imposed to the people. They imposed a very strict and rigid interpretation of the Law, and instead of truly understanding the significance and importance of the Law that God has given us, they took to nitpick the details of the Law and enforced them as external profession of faith.

That was why many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were not internally oriented correctly towards the Lord in their way of life and in their actions. Outwardly they might appear to be faithful and committed, exemplary in their prayerful life and deeds, but as the Lord Jesus Himself rebukingly pointed out to the people, that those people did so because of the desire to glorify themselves and to gain influence and worldly approval.

And they allowed, as mentioned in the Gospel passage today, the people to overrule the precepts of the commandments and the Law, with regards to care for the family and parents, as well as in matters of marriage and in offering sacrificial offerings, to the point that it invalidated the whole meaning and intention of the Law. They did this with certain arrangements that brought about profit and advantage to the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and the priests involved.

That was why the Lord was often critical at those people, who have not only misunderstood the Law of God and its application, but even worse still, manipulated the Law for their own advantage and personal ambitions and desires, and misguided the people into the wrong path. They showed each and every one of us, the path that we must not take, in our journey towards becoming a better and more faithful servant of God.

Instead, brothers and sisters in Christ, we should grow stronger in our love for God, and place Him at the centre and as the main and sole focus of our life’s attention. Everything that we say, we act and we do in this world should be aimed for the greater glory of God, and in everything we do, we should show our love for God, by truly spending quality time with Him, and more importantly, by listening to Him and knowing what it is that He has called each and every one of us to do in our respective lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all renew our commitment and our desire to love God through our actions, words and deeds. He Who loved each and every one of us created us with love, so that we may share in His love. Let us therefore share that love which God has given us, with one another, so that all of us will grow stronger in love, be more gentle towards our fellow brethren, and grow more caring and compassionate, especially when we see our brethren who are in need of help.

May the Lord continue to sow in us, the seeds of His love, that He may continue to help us to grow better in faith, in our love for Him and in our fellow men, so that day after day, each one of us may grow ever closer to Him, and in time to come, we will be worthy to receive the eternal and true glory that He has promised us all who have been faithful to Him. May God bless us all, in all of our works and endeavours. Amen.