Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

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 to seek the Lord, His love and compassionate mercy, at all times, and for us all not to be afraid to come towards Him, as God is and has always been full of mercy and compassion, wanting each and every one of us to be reconciled and reunited with Him. We must never be afraid because through His Son, Our Lord has opened for us the path to eternal life and true happiness with Him, and what we all now need is for us to embrace this love and mercy, and we have to answer Him calling each and every one of us in the depths of our hearts. We must always be prepared for the Lord Who can come at any time on us, and we may have to reckon our lives and actions, and account for everything that we have done and whatever it is that we have failed to do.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians in which the Apostle spoke of how God has reconciled us all to Himself, through the actions of His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, through Whom God had embraced our human nature and existence, entering into our world to reach out to us and to show His love for us, which He has always generously provided for us, and which He has endeavoured to make tangible and approachable to us through His Son. God has always loved us, His beloved children, which He has kept on doing all throughout time despite our frequent and constant disobedience against Him. He has always kept on His promises and love, giving us assurances, one after another through His many prophets and messengers, and eventually, by the sending of His Son.

Through all that Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, had done, we have been called to reconciliation and reunion with our loving God and Father, as His most loving and selfless sacrifice, offering and gift for us from the Cross, at the moment of His Passion and death, has become for us the source of Hope and Joy, the assurance and promise of everlasting life and total liberation from the dominion and power of darkness, sin and all the evils which had ruled over us and dominated us all these while. As the Lord Himself has shown us His love so generously and so wonderfully through Christ, His Son, let us all therefore have truly firm faith and conviction to follow Him wholeheartedly and devoutly, not allowing ourselves to be swayed by temptations or fears in our path in life, in journeying towards Him and following Him.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke in which the Lord told His disciples and all the people to be always prepared and ever ready at all times, using the comparison to the return of a master to his household, property and servants right after a wedding or function that he was attending, which could not be predicted and anticipated precisely. The Lord used that example to compare to our own situation, representing the Lord our God as the Master, while all of us are the servants in this world, and as the Lord Himself has promised and assured us all, He will return once again in glory, as we all believe, to judge all the living and the dead, and to usher in the eternal kingdom of glory and happiness that He has brought into our midst. No one knows exactly when this will happen, other than the fact that it will certainly happen.

Therefore, it is a very important reminder for us all to live our lives with genuine faith in God and to continue to do our best to practice love in each and every actions of our daily living moments. We should always do our best to proclaim the Lord through our every actions, deeds and interactions in life, in our every words and dealings with those who are around us, and in how we live our lives embodying the faith we have in Christ. Each and every one of us should continue to walk in the path of God’s grace, and also follow the great examples set by our holy predecessors, all of whom have spent many times and moments in difficulties and tribulations, enduring various challenges for the Lord, but they remained truly faithful and committed to Him because they remember the great love and examples which He Himself has shown us through His Son.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of one of the great and holy pastors of the Church, the recent Pope, Pope St. John Paul II, the first Polish Pope and the first one who was not an Italian in over four hundred and fifty years. Pope St. John Paul II was born as Karol Jozef Wojytla in Wadowice in Poland during the time right after the First World War, also known as the Great War at that time. He was born in a devout family, but was faced with a lot of difficulties from early on in his life. He encountered many personal tragedies when he was young, as his mother passed away early, and so was his elder brother due to sickness. His father cared for him well, and the young Karol grew up into a fine young man. However, circumstances would again cause him great tribulations and sufferings, as merely twenty years after the First World War, the Second World War erupted in Europe with the invasion of Poland by the NAZI German state.

This would begin the many years and decades of sufferings and persecutions for the Polish people, first of all by the NAZI Germans who invaded Poland and persecuted not just the Jewish people they then targetted, but many of the non-Jewish Poles as well. The years of war were difficult, and the young Karol also had to contend with losing his beloved father during those years, and it was at that time, that he joined the seminary, preparing for his priestly formation clandestinely and quietly amidst all the conflicts and destruction happening all around due to the NAZI atrocities and the war. Even the young Karol almost lost his life in one occasion, but God’s grace was with him, and he survived through all the challenges, and was eventually ordained as a priest of the Lord after the war. But that was not the end of his challenges and difficulties.

For then the Soviets and the Communists took over control over the country and subjugated many Polish Catholics and its leadership to a lot of challenges and persecutions, both officially and unofficially. Father Karol Wojtyla remained rather unassuming and quiet in his ministry among the faithful people of God, and he was particularly popular among the youths and students, a ministry which he continue to carry out faithfully until he was appointed as the Auxiliary Bishop of Krakow by the Pope, and then eventually succeeding as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Krakow. For many years after, the then Archbishop and afterwards Cardinal Wojtyla gradually became the centre of the faithful resistance against the atheist Communist government of Poland, such as a well-known moment when he stood up courageously against the efforts of the Communists to establish a new city, Nowa Huta, without a church, unlike others in Poland. Then Cardinal Wojtyla spent efforts to establish a church there, with the foundation stone blessed by the Pope himself, then Pope St. Paul VI.

Cardinal Wojtyla would then unexpectedly be elected as Pope, succeeding his predecessor, Blessed Pope John Paul I who had just reigned for thirty-three days. His Pontificate was one of the longest in the recent centuries, spanning over twenty-seven years, and during those periods, he continue to dedicate himself faithfully in the Lord, becoming an instrumental figure in the downfall of Communism in many parts of Central and Eastern Europe and also elsewhere around the world, becoming a great world figure and peacemaker in many occasions. In his numerous trips all around the world, visiting many countries and places where no Pope has ever set foot before, even in those places where there were only few Catholics, Pope St. John Paul II showed the great love of God manifested through Christ and His Church to countless people around the world.

Pope St. John Paul II also faced an assassination attempt early in his Pontificate, but he survived, and was well-known for his visit to his would-be assassin, and how he forgave his assailant, praying for him and his conversion. Pope St. John Paul II continued to do many other great things for the good of the Church and the faithful all throughout the world, and even in his final years, when he was faced with a lot of personal sufferings and hardships from his Parkinson’s disease and other complications, he continued to serve the Lord faithfully, becoming the face of God’s love and persistent compassion and mercy to many who were also suffering in this world. To the very end of his life, Pope St. John Paul II continued to remain firm in his conviction and dedication in serving God, and this should be an inspiration to many of us as well.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from the life of Pope St. John Paul II, and also from what we have discussed earlier on from the Sacred Scriptures, let us all therefore ponder upon the great love of God which all of us have had the privilege of receiving so that we may continue to live our lives faithfully in God’s Presence. Let us all continue to dedicate ourselves and our every moments in life with great faith and strive to glorify the Lord ever more by our exemplary lives and actions, following in the good examples that Christ Himself has shown us, and as His saints, like Pope St. John Paul II had done. May the Lord be with us and bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.