Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 98 : 5, 6, 7, 9
Extol YHVH, our God; worship at His footstool. Holy is He! And mighty!
Among His priests were Moses and Aaron; and Samuel, among those who called on His Name. They called to YHVH, and He answered them.
In the pillar of cloud He spoke to them; and they kept His statutes and the decrees He gave them.
Extol YHVH our God; worship at His holy mountain. Holy is YHVH our God!
Liturgical Colour : White
Exodus 34 : 29-35
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that the skin of his face was radiant after speaking with YHVH. Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw that Moses’ face was radiant and they were afraid to go near him.
But Moses called them, and Aaron with all the leaders of the community drew near, and Moses spoke to them. Afterwards all the Israelites came near and he told them all that YHVH had commanded him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.
Whenever Moses went before YHVH to speak with Him, he took off the veil until he came out again. And when he came out and told them what he had been commanded, the Israelites saw that his face was radiant. Moses would then replace the veil over his face until he went again to speak with YHVH.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture speaking to us about the moment when the Israelites rebelled against the Lord in the desert from the Book of Exodus, and then from the Gospel passage we heard from the Lord Himself speaking to His disciples on the parable of the sower.
In the first reading today, we listened to the anger and rebelliousness of the people of Israel who did not show gratitude to the Lord for having freed them from the slavery in the land of Egypt. They grumbled and complained against the Lord and Moses, His servant and their leader who had led them out of the land of Egypt, saying that they would rather be enslaved in Egypt and enjoy the bountiful food and drinks there rather than to suffer in freedom in the desert.
And yet, the Lord continued to provide for them patiently, promising them food and drink, providing them with nothing less than bread from heaven, and also flocks of birds to give them meat to eat daily, as well as crystal-clear, clean and sweet water to drink. And all of these God gave to His people Israel, for the entirety of the forty years during which all of them journeyed through the desert, where there was no life, nothing to eat and nothing to quench a person’s thirst with.
Sadly, that would not be the last time that the people disobeyed God and refused to listen to Him and to Moses. They would constantly grumble, rebel, disobey and work against the Lord, as the people continued to complain that life had been better in Egypt, or that the food and drink that the Lord provided to them were not as good as what they had expected or what they thought they had experienced in their former life in Egypt.
And let us all keep all of those in mind as we move on into our Gospel passage today, in which the Lord mentioned the famous parable of the sower to His disciples and to the people. In that parable, we heard of how the sower spread the seeds to several different places, and depending on where the seeds landed, they ended up and grew differently based on the conditions of the locations where they landed at.
Those seeds that fell on the rocky ground, or by the roadside, or those that fell among the thistles and brambles were those seeds that fell on unfavourable grounds that did not allow those seeds to grow properly, and therefore preventing the seeds from growing into a well developed plant that can bear rich and bountiful produce or fruits, unlike those seeds that fell on the rich and fertile soil.
And this is what had exactly happened to the Israelites as mentioned in our first reading today, as those people have received the ‘seeds’ of faith from God, having received the truth of God and His laws through Moses, and yet, they did not let the seeds of faith to grow deep in their hearts and minds. They were bogged down and distracted by the concerns of the world and by their desires for worldly pleasures.
That prevented them from being truly faithful to the Lord, and that was why they constantly rebelled against God, again and again. They did not provide the good and fertile soil for the seeds of faith to grow well in them, and as a result, they did not have a genuine faith for God. That was why they continued to slip and fall into sin, again and again. They did not allow God to enter into their hearts.
Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, are we going to be like them as well? God has also given us the same seeds of faith, and unless we do differently from what the Israelites had done, we will end up falling into the same trap of faithlessness and disobedience against God. And therefore, today, we should look up to the examples shown to us by one of our holy saints, whose feast we celebrate today, namely that of St. Sharbel Makhluf.
St. Sharbel Makhluf, also known as St. Charbel Makhlouf was a Maronite monk and priest, whose piety and commitment to the Lord was truly exemplary and legendary, as many people came to regard him as a paragon of virtue and faith, in how he dedicated himself completely to the Lord in prayer and through a holy life. He allowed the Lord to make use of his life as a wonderful display of what being true Christian means for all of us.
Many miracles and wonders happened after he passed away, and his body was found to be incorruptible and in excellent condition even decades after be passed away. This is the truly good example of how the Lord’s sown seeds of faith have grown wonderfully and bountifully in a fertile and rich soil, that is the rich and fertile soil of our hearts and minds that are fully attuned towards the Lord and are centred on Him.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore devote ourselves to serve the Lord from now on with all of our hearts, with all of our strength and courage, and with all of our abilities, and not allowing ourselves to be distracted and tempted by sin and the desires and greed within our hearts. May the Lord be our guide and may He empower us all to live faithfully from now on. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)
Matthew 13 : 1-9
At that time, that same day, Jesus left the house and sat down by the lakeside. Many people gathered around Him. So He got into a boat, and sat down, while the crowds stood on the shore; and He spoke to them in parables about many things.
Jesus said, “The sower went out to sow; and, as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path; and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil, and the seeds sprouted quickly, because the soil was not deep. But as soon as the sun rose, the plants were scorched; and they withered, because they had no roots.”
“Again, other seeds fell among thistles; and the thistles grew and choked the plants. Still, other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop : some a hundredfold, others sixty, and others thirty. If you have ears, then hear!”
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)
Psalm 77 : 18-19, 23-24, 25-26, 27-28
The people of God tested Him, demanding the food they craved. They blasphemed against God, saying : “Can God spread a table in the desert?”
Yet, He commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven; He rained down manna upon them, and fed them with the heavenly grain.
They ate and had more than their fill of the bread of Angels. Then, from heaven He stirred the east wind, and, by His power, let loose the south wind.
To rain down meat on them like dust. Birds as thick as the sand on the seashore fell inside their camp, lying all around their tents.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)
Exodus 16 : 1-5, 9-15
The Israelites left Elim and the entire community reached the desert of Sin, between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after leaving Egypt. In the desert the whole community of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of YHVH in Egypt when we sat down to caldrons of meat and ate all the bread we wanted, whereas you have brought us to this desert to let the whole assembly die of starvation!”
YHVH then said to Moses, “Now I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to gather what is needed for that day. In this way I will test them to see if they will follow My Teaching or not. On the sixth day when they prepare what they have brought in, they will find that there is twice as much as they gather each day.”
Then Moses directed Aaron to say to the whole community of Israel, “Draw near to YHVH for He has heard your complaints.” It happened that as Aaron was speaking to the full assembly of Israel, they turned towards the desert and saw the Glory of YHVH in the midst of the cloud.
Then YHVH spoke to Moses, “I have heard the complaints of Israel. Speak to them and say : Between the two evenings you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have bread to your heart’s content; then you shall know that I am YHVH, your God!”
In the evening quails came up and covered the camp. And in the morning, dew had fallen around the camp. When the dew lifted, there was on the surface of the desert a thin crust like hoarfrost. The people of Israel upon seeing it said to one another, “What is it?” for they did not know what it was. Moses told them, “It is the bread that YHVH has given you to eat.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture speaking to us about the calling of Moses to be the deliverer of God’s people in the famous encounter he had with the burning bush, which all of us are surely familiar with. God called Moses from within the burning bush that miraculously do not burn, to send him to the Pharaoh of Egypt and to convince him to let the Israelites go free from slavery.
He is calling Moses to be His servant, His worker and His mouthpiece among His people and to the Egyptians and their Pharaoh. God then revealed to Moses what His plan was in freeing His people from slavery and bondage. He was to go to Pharaoh and present God’s words before him, and should he refuse, God’s power and majesty would force Pharaoh and the Egyptians to submit to His will, as what He eventually showed through the Ten Plagues.
In the Gospel passage today then we heard about the Lord Jesus speaking to His heavenly Father in His prayer, thanking Him for all that He has done. The Lord has planned everything for the salvation and liberation of us all, all mankind, from the slavery of sin. And He has done it all through none other than His Son, Jesus Christ Himself, Whom He sent into this world to be our Saviour and Liberator, much like Moses had been sent to the Israelites to be their deliverer.
The Lord has finally revealed the plan for His salvation, to save all of us from destruction due to our sins, through His Son, and the Lord Jesus joyfully thanked His Father for the truly Good News, revealing the truth to His disciples and later on through the Holy Spirit. It is truly a great joy that has come into this world, just as the coming of Moses brought about a great joy to the Israelites who have long suffered in slavery.
We can see therefore the clear parallel between the two readings today, one from the Old Testament and another from the New Testament. And we can see how Moses and his works in the liberation of Israel is a kind of prefigurement of the works which God Himself would do for the liberation of all of His servants. The old Passover itself is the foreshadowing of the one and true Passover that Christ Himself brought with Him.
All of us are the ones who have received this Good News and the truth which Christ has brought with Him into this world. But now, let us spend some time to reflect on our own lives and how we have responded to the Good News and the truth God has revealed to us. Have we been faithful and have we devoted ourselves to God all these while? Or have we instead walked down our own path and disobeying God all these while?
Look at the example of the Israelites themselves, after they have left Egypt and as they journeyed through the desert. The Israelites have received the wonders of God’s power and love, as He brought them out of the land of Egypt with many miracles and intervention. And yet, they refused to believe and continued to disobey Him repeatedly. They rejected His ways and His laws, and chose a golden calf to be an idol for them to worship, committing many wicked deeds along the way.
Are we going to follow their examples too? Are we going to disobey the Lord and choose to follow the twisted path of the Israelites as well? If all these while we have not been living our lives with faith, what are we all waiting for then? We have such a loving God and Father waiting for us to return to Him and yet, we have been so stubborn in our refusal to listen to Him all these while.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day let us all reexamine how we should live our lives from now on, and let us all grow ever stronger in faith, and commit ourselves ever more, in living our lives aligning ourselves to God’s truth. May the Lord continue to guide us in our journey and may He continue to bless us each and every days of our lives, now and forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Matthew 11 : 25-27
At that time, Jesus said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise You; because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to simple people. Yes, Father, this was Your gracious will.”
“Everything has been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 6-7
Praise YHVH, my soul; all my being, praise His holy Name! Praise YHVH, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.
He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.
YHVH restores justice and secures the rights of the oppressed. He has made known His ways to Moses; and His deeds, to the people of Israel.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Exodus 3 : 1-6, 9-12
Moses pastured the sheep of Jethro, his father-in-law, priest of Midian. One day he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the Mountain of God. The Angel of YHVH appeared to him by means of a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that although the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
Moses thought, “I will go and see this amazing sight, why is the bush not burning up?” YHVH saw that Moses was drawing near to look, and God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He replied, “Here I am.” YHVH said to him, “Do not come near; take off your sandals because the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
And God continued, “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face lest his eyes look on God. YHVH said, “The cry of the sons of Israel has reached Me and I have seen how the Egyptians oppress them. Go now! I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the people of Israel out of Egypt?” God replied, “I will be with you and this will be the sign that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 