Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard in our Scripture readings today, we are all reminded that as the followers and disciples of the Lord, we may be facing a lot of struggles, hardships, trials and difficulties in our path, and we have to be prepared and ready for this eventuality. We should not be ignorant of the responsibilities and all the aspects of our Christian living and calling, in each and every unique missions and vocations that the Lord has entrusted to each one of us in this world. We must live our lives worthily as those who belong to the Lord, as His beloved and holy people, such that everyone who witness us and our works may come to know of God’s truth and love, manifested through our actions and every parts of our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Sirach in which the prophet reminded the faithful people of God of the difficulties that they might have to endure as part of their journey as God’s people, and yet, at the same time, he also exhorted them to remain true to their faith and trust in God, that they would not abandon Him or seek other avenues of help amidst the challenges and hardships they might be enduring from. The prophet Sirach reminded the people of God to remain steadfast and committed to the Lord regardless of what they had to encounter, to be confident in their Lord and Master, and how He would protect them and provide for them all that they needed. In the end, despite the hardships and challenges that they had to endure, those who remain faithful will enjoy the rich rewards from the Lord for their faith.

The prophet Sirach also mentioned the historic examples of how God had been with His people, patiently guiding them and taking good care of them such that despite their sufferings and the many tribulations they faced, and despite the stubbornness that those people had shown against their loving God and Master, the Lord still cared for them nonetheless, showing them His mercy and kindness, sending them His messengers and servants, the many prophets that He had sent for centuries up to the time of the prophet Sirach, who was active about two centuries or so prior to the coming of Christ into this world. God has always been with the people whom He loved and had chosen, and He repeatedly guided them, prodding them from time to time so that they would return to the path of righteousness, and He gathered them back again and again whenever they had erred and wandered off from His path.

Then, in our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord telling His disciples after He had miraculously healed a boy that was possessed by evil spirits, that He, as the Son of Man and the Saviour of all, would have to suffer greatly for the sake of the world and all mankind, and He would have to face persecution and rejection from even those elders and leaders of the people, to be mocked and reviled, made to endure the worst of humiliation and pain for our sake, His beloved people, whom He has painstakingly called towards Him, to be punished instead of us so that by His wounds, by His outpoured Precious Blood, all of us may gain healing and reconciliation with our loving God and Father, all of which he had intended for us from the very beginning.

Through this revelation, the Lord wants each and every one of us to realise that we are really called to be obedient to God and to be humble, just as the Lord went on to chide His disciples for arguing amongst themselves on who among them were the greatest of the disciples. He told them all that in order for them to be truly great in the eyes of the Lord, they should be like those little children, who came to the Lord sincerely and because they truly loved Him and wanted to devote themselves to Him. Those children were used by the Lord as examples and comparisons for their faith because for those who know how children behave, those little children are truly sincere in their faith and beliefs, and they are truly pure in their intentions, still not corrupted yet by the temptations and desires of the world.

The Lord Himself, as the Son of Man, as the Son of God the Father showed the perfect example of obedience to the Father’s will, as mentioned, how He was tasked to be the One to liberate the whole world and to redeem everyone through the bearing of the burdens of our sins on the Cross. The Lord, Who was without any blame or sin, was forced to bear the burden and punishments of the sins of everyone else, but He did this willingly and obediently, to show us all what it truly means to be a disciple and follower of God, and what it means to be truly faithful in our lives. He also showed us all the perfect example of love, manifesting before each one of us the perfect love that God has always had for us, a love that is ever enduring and strong despite the disobedience and stubborn attitudes that we often showed to Him.

Therefore, as Christians, as God’s followers and disciples, all of us are expected to follow in the good examples that our Lord and Master Himself has shown us, in His ever patient and wonderful love, and in how we should continue to devote ourselves thoroughly to His cause, resisting the temptations of this world, the desires for worldly pleasures, ambitions and attachments that can lead us astray from the path towards righteousness in God. God has given us the perfect means for us to reach out to Him and that is through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour Himself, Whose loving and most selfless sacrifice on the Cross has opened for us the path to the salvation in God, the reconciliation and reunion with our loving God and Father. And just as the Lord Himself has shown us the example of faith, love and obedience, then we should also do the same in our lives as well.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence be good and exemplary Christians in all things, not just in mere words but also in our everyday living and actions. Let us all be ever more committed and courageous in doing God’s will and in carrying out whatever it is that He has entrusted to us to do, so that by our good examples and actions, we may grow ever stronger in our faith and conviction to follow and serve Him at every moments in our lives, and be more strengthened and encouraged despite the trials and challenges that we may have to face in our journey of life. May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to bless our every good efforts, works and endeavours, all for His greater glory. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us as Christians to be virtuous and righteous, good and filled with the love of God in all things. We must not allow ourselves to be swayed and tempted by the many wickedness around us in this world which can lead us astray into the path of evil and damnation, or else, we will find it difficult to reject the allures and the strong pull of sin. If we are not careful, we may end up being distracted and pulled away from the path towards God’s grace and salvation, and falling into the eternal suffering and damnation, if we allow ourselves to be swayed by sin. 

In our first reading today, we heard of the words from the Book of Genesis when God proclaimed to Noah, His faithful servant about the coming calamity and destruction which He would bring upon the whole world because of the great wickedness and sin which mankind had committed in their lives. Their sins had become so great that while God loved each one of His children, but His displeasure at the sins which the people had committed eventually led to Him deciding to wipe away all the lives in the world with the sole exception of Noah and his immediate family, as well as those animals that had come into the Great Ark that God had commanded Noah to build before the time of the Great Flood. The Lord spared those who were in the Great Ark, and their descendants became the ancestors of all those who live in the world today.

From this story of the Great Flood and the salvation through the Noah’s Ark, we are all reminded that first of all, God loves us all and wants nothing less than to forgive us and to be reunited with us all, to free us from the bondage to our sins and wickedness, all the evils and other things that had kept us away from Him. But at the same time, we must not ignore the fact that God also despises our wickedness and evils, and none of those corruptions can or should be found in us or else we will be judged and condemned by those sins which we fail to repent from and continued to commit in our lives. We must always remind ourselves that while God is all merciful and generous with His love to us, but if we continue to harden our hearts and reject His generous offer of mercy and love, it is by our own conscious rejection and rebuff of God’s mercy and love that we shall be judged by.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist in which the moment when the Lord told the disciples to be wary of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod, which they misunderstood as the Lord chiding them for having no bread with them during their trip on the boat. This ‘yeast’ of the Pharisees is a reference to the corruption of the sins of their hypocrisy and the pride, arrogance and the desires which many of them had in them, in desiring for the glory and greatness of the world, in taking pride and being arrogant over their supposed superiority in intellectual understanding, knowledge and observance of the Law of God. They, who were entrusted with the guardianship and enforcement of the Law of God became conceited, and were obsessed with the details and rituals of the Law instead of understanding their true meaning and purpose.

They became proud in putting themselves ahead of others, thinking that they could not be mistaken, and hence, refusing to believe in the Lord and His words, even though they themselves had frequently seen and witnessed many of the Lord’s works and ministries among the people of God, all the miracles that He had performed in their own midst, all the words, the Wisdom and truth, the Good News which He had spoken and proclaimed in their midst. They had witnessed all those things and yet, they still refused and failed to believe because they could not allow themselves to accept that what the Lord had brought unto them is the truth, and that their way of observing the Law and the commandments of God had been mistaken all those while.

Then, regarding the ‘yeast’ of Herod, it is likely a reference to the hedonistic and excessive extravagance which Herod and his fellow royals and nobles, the rulers of that time, and their courtiers and followers had carried out in their daily living. This also included his immoral behaviour and actions in marrying the wife of his own brother Philip, for which King Herod had been chided and rebuked by St. John the Baptist earlier on. All these immoral and improper behaviour were not good examples for the people who lived under his dominion and rule, and hence, the Lord also warned His disciples and followers, as well as all of us, to resist the temptations of these worldly pleasures, glory and ambitions, all of which could lead us to our downfall.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do our part in whatever way we can so that we may distance ourselves from the path of wickedness and evil. We must not allow sin and corruption it causes to harm us any longer, and we should strive to resist the many temptations to disobey and sin against God. This is of course easier said than done, as many of our predecessors had failed to follow the path of the Lord faithfully and slipped into the path of disobedience, sin and darkness. Many times we may also be faced with great trials, challenges and obstacles, temptations, coercions and pressures, all of which may persuade or convince us to give up the struggle against sin and evil. But if we do not make the effort to resist sin, and depend and trust in the Lord, how can we be triumphant against sin then? Remember that only the Lord alone has the power over sin and death, and we should continue to put the Lord at the centre of our lives and existence.

May the Lord our most loving God continue to help and guide us in our journey, and may He empower each and every one of us so that in everything that we say and do, we will always be ready to face all the challenges and obstacles in our path towards Him. May He continue to bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours, so that we may be strengthened in all things and will be fruitful in our efforts and works, for His greater glory, now and always. Amen.