Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in our Scripture passages today we are all reminded to live worthily of the Lord through our own relationships particularly that of within our own Christian families. Each and every one of us as Christians are called to be the faithful and committed members of our respective Christian families, building up within our own Christian communities good and faithful Christian families and relationships, which are truly the bedrock of Christian communities and the Church, and is essential in ensuring that the Church and the faithful community remain strong amidst the many challenges, temptations and trials they may all face.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus, the Apostle spoke of the responsibilities that each and every members of the Church and in their respective obligations as families and as sons and daughters of God to do what has been expected of them in building up a loving and harmonious relationship within their families, in which every members are committed to each other and in which love is the foundation of their relationships. St. Paul elaborated on what each members ought to do, and how all Christians are tasked to follow this example, and to build up their holy and loving Christian families.

Back then, while various cultures had their own definition of families and marriages, which were in fact not very distinct from Christian marriage and family, but in practice, people still quite commonly practiced things like having mistresses and concubinage, especially in the culture of the Roman Empire. There were also quite a lot of immoral behaviour and attitudes, excesses of worldly habits and actions which led to great scandals and which are unworthy of those who have been called as Christians, as God’s own beloved children and people. As Christians, all of them were given higher standards and responsibilities, the path that the Lord Himself has shown and revealed to them, as the path to righteousness that they should follow as part of their lives.

St. Paul therefore reminded the faithful people of God that they are called to be the beacons of God’s light and truth, and that they ought to show good examples in the way they all lived their lives, where they were dedicated to one another in love, and where they were not led and guided by the temptations of their worldly desires, greed, pride and ambition. St. Paul told all of the people that they ought to show love and care for each other, in caring for the needs of their family, where husbands, wives, parents, children and relatives are all united in the bond of Christian love and virtues. Each and every one of us have our own roles to play in showing our Christian love genuinely to the best of our abilities, at every moments in our lives.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord speaking to His disciples and followers regarding the kingdom of God using a parable. Through the parable of the mustard seed and flour, the Lord wanted to highlight to them about the coming of His kingdom, and how each and every one of those who believe in Him, the members of the Body of Christ, the Church, are truly building and establishing this kingdom of God in this world. Yes, that is right, brothers and sisters in Christ, the kingdom of God is indeed already in our midst, and we witness its presence through our Church, the community of the faithful and also through our respective Christian families.

And we are all reminded through the parables mentioned of the importance of providing the necessary conditions for the nurturing of this kingdom of God in our midst, just as the Lord made use of the examples of the germinating and growing mustard seed, as well as the leavening of bread dough with the use of yeast. All of those are examples that were well known and understood by the people, as agriculture and bread-making are things that are crucial to the livelihood of most if not all of the people. Through this example, the Lord wanted His people, that is all of us included, to realise that we have to nurture our faith through providing the optimum condition needed for the growth of our faith, and this is important especially for our younger generation.

That is why the family is truly the domestic Church, the smallest and yet very important subunits of the Church. If our families are not founded upon the firm foundation of our Christian faith and the truth of God, and if the love of God is not present within our families, then easily our Christian families, our Christian communities and all the people in them will be swayed and tempted away from the path of the Lord’s righteousness and virtue, and we will be easily divided and led away from the unity that we should have within our families and communities. Unless we make the conscious efforts to live our lives according to the Christian truth and love, we have not been doing what we are called to do as Christians.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore commit ourselves to a renewed effort to be exemplary Christians in all things, in upholding our Christian values and virtues at all times, in all opportunities and possibilities. Let us all show by our faithful commitment to God, what it truly means for us to be Christians, and how we can help lead and inspire one another to be ever closer to God. May God bless us always and our every endeavours, and may He bless and strengthen our families, that we may always be committed to God and to one another, and be filled with love, the love of God, always and evermore. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Scripture passages, a reminder that as Christians and members of God’s Church, we must always be first and foremost, dedicated to God and centre our lives on Him. For it was through God that all of us have been vindicated and liberated from the chains of our sins. And as long as we live, we should glorify the Lord by our lives, at all times. Each and every one of us are also reminded that we are all part of the same Church and Kingdom of God, all of us under the dominion of our most loving and compassionate God, Who has gracefully made us all to be His own people, those whom He had called and chosen to be His own. Consequently, we are reminded therefore that our lives should always be centred on Him and aligned to His will.

The first reading today from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians highlighted very, very clearly the role that Christ our Lord has played in the salvation of all mankind. The Lord Jesus has made peace between us and God, and He has reconciled us through His Cross, which reconnected us to God’s love and grace. By His perfect and humble obedience on the Cross, Christ has bridged what was once a great chasm separating us from God that was impossible to cross. He came when we had no hope and were in a wretched state. He extended God’s love and compassionate mercy to us, and redeemed us with love when we were in the greatest need for His love, care and mercy. He made a new Covenant with us when we were in darkness, lost and were distracted by sin, calling on all of us to return to Him with love and sincere faith and commitment. We can therefore see just how generous the Lord had been towards us all these while.

And all these are very timely kind reminders from the Lord to us, that each and every one of us ought to be ready and prepared for the Lord by living our lives each day with the full conviction and desire to proclaim our Christian faith through our lives, to serve the Lord and glorify His Name by our every living moments. We must always be ever ready and prepared, as the Lord reminds us again today, how the time of reckoning may come at any time, and we do not want to be caught unprepared. Each and every one of us have been told that in the end of our lives, and at the end of time, we will be judged by what we have done in our every moments in life, by what we have failed to do in reaching out for the good of others, and by every moments of us either following or disobeying God and His commandments.

How do we then live our lives that we truly become worthy of our Christian faith and God? We can therefore look upon the examples of the Lord Himself, as He dedicated Himself completely and humbly to obey the will of His heavenly Father, in reaching out to us all, the wretched children of mankind, in loving us all even when we have not been faithful and obedient to Him, and when we have abandoned and betrayed Him for false gods and idols. And when I refer to idols, I am not merely mentioning all those idols and false gods that the people worshipped, but rather, even more tangibly in our world today as it had been in the past, there had been other idols like money, power, worldly glory and ambition that had chained so many of us and our predecessors.

We are all called to love as generously as the Lord has loved, to show the love of God in everything that we say and do, in all of our interactions with one another. We should be faithful bearers of our Christian faith in our community, and to be beacons of God’s light, to love and care where others had caused hurt and injury, to bring forgiveness and compassion where hatred and jealousy, anger and divisions had once reigned. That is why we need to be really careful and mindful with our actions and way of life, so that we do not end up causing scandal to our faith and the Church, because our every actions, words and deeds can both bring good things and inspiration to others when done in accordance to our faith and belief in God, or it can instead end up leading to others becoming disillusioned or scandalised by our lack of sincere and genuine faith.

It is why we are all called to live our lives with faith that is truly sincere, strong and alive. We are not merely following the Law and commandments of God without understanding and appreciation of His intentions for us, and we also do not and should not obey blindly as some had done, doing things and observing the faith without truly internalising what God had truly shown and taught each and every one of us, His beloved people, all throughout history. All of us are part of the living Church of God, in which God’s words, His Law and commandments live well throughout all of our every moments, our every breaths, actions, words and deeds. In all that we do, in all that we say, we should always be filled with that genuine faith, that we may truly be the shining beacons of God’s light, truth and Good News.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all called to be true disciples of Christ, not just in  appearances or formality, but in real deeds, in all the little things we do that bring honour and glory to God. Are we willing and able to commit ourselves to the Lord in this way, brothers and sisters? God has called and chosen us to be His followers, but are we ready and willing to dedicate ourselves and answer His call definitively? Are we willing to be the real bearers of our Christian faith, and not merely just paying lip service to the Lord? Are we willing to show forth our belief and faith through real and concrete actions grounded in our love for God and hence, our love for one another? If we cannot do this in even the smallest moments of our lives, or worse still, by treating others with disdain and with prejudice, then how can we truly call ourselves as Christians?

Let us all hence discern God’s call carefully, and think of what each and every one of us can do in order to respond to His call. Let us all wait no more, and give our very best to serve God and to love Him with all of our hearts, by living virtuously and most-Christianlike in all of our works and efforts, actions and interactions. Let us bring God’s light, truth, compassion and hope to this world, that through our efforts, more and more people can be saved. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.