Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are being reminded of the need for us to continue obeying the will of God and to do whatever it is that the Lord has entrusted to us to do in our respective lives, through the good use of whatever talents, opportunities and other blessings that we have received from Him. Each and every one of us as Christians are expected to do our best such that we will continue to glorify Him by our lives, and be the good and worthy bearers of His truth, Good News and love to everyone whom we encounter and interact with in life. As Christians, all of us are called and expected to be the faithful bearers of God’s Good News, to be truly evangelising and missionary in our everyday moments.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Sirach, we heard of the Wisdom of God and how through this Wisdom all of us are led and guided through the right path, with God guiding us through the words that His Wisdom speaks in the depths of our hearts and minds, helping us all to make the good choices and judgments in each and every turns of our lives. If we can trust in His Wisdom, His guidance and truth, then we will truly be assured of the path towards God and His salvation, as the prophet Sirach had mentioned. There will be difficult and tough moments in which we have to endure and persevere through, but with the guidance from God, eventually everything will be fine for us, as long as we continue to put our trust and faith in Him. But if we wander off and detach ourselves from His Wisdom, then we shall end up being lost and cast away from God.

This is an important reminder for us that our lives as Christians will not necessarily be an easy and smooth-sailing one, as there will likely be many obstacles, hardships and challenges facing us in our path. There will be twists and turns in our journey where we may be hard pressed to follow the path of the world, where we need to remember to trust in the Lord and His Wisdom. We must not allow ourselves to be swayed easily by these pressures, and we must always trust in the Wisdom of God guiding us in our path. And as Christians, it is important for us to be the role models for others around us, in showing everyone how our lives and actions are shaped and guided by the Wisdom of God and not by the whim of our own desires or by worldly ambitions.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist in which we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus told His disciples not to stop a man who was performing good works in His Name, even though he did not belong to their group. The context of this exchange is that those disciples witnessed the man who drove out demons from others using the Name of the Lord, invoking Him in the process. And those disciples were likely uncomfortable with the fact that there were those who were working miracles and wonders that were not connected to their group. And the Lord told His disciples that His gifts and wonders were not meant to be exclusive or discriminatory.

It means that there should be no exclusivity in the gifts of the Lord, or that those who do work in the Name of the Lord ought to belong to a certain caste or group, without which they are not authorised to do the works of the Lord. This is also shown in other occasions in how even the Gentiles received the same gifts from the Lord, and the power of the Holy Spirit, both during the time of the Lord’s ministry and the works of the Apostles later on. This shows the Universality of the Church, how the Lord’s calling and the missions He has entrusted to all of us mankind, are truly universal in nature, given to all the whole world, and to all the children of man, without exception. And this was the reminder that the Lord gave to His disciples, that they should not think that they were above the others because of the gifts and the blessings which He has given to them.

Many among the disciples of the Lord at that time thought that the Lord came as the Messiah to liberate the people of God, the Israelites from their enemies and those who have ruled over them, and many among them likely thought that they would receive rich rewards of the world, becoming the important members and parts of the reestablished Kingdom of Israel with Christ as its King, and hence, naturally, they would not suffer any rivals to their position. This was further supported by the evidence of rivalry and bickering among them as frequently recorded in the Gospels, where those disciples bickered with each other on who among them was the most important and better one as compared to the others. All these attitudes are not what the Lord desired from His disciples and followers.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, just as we all have heard from the first reading passage taken from the Book of the prophet Sirach, about the Wisdom of God and how we should put our trust and faith in this Wisdom, instead of in our own power, might and intelligence, therefore, linking to what we have heard from the exchange between the Lord and His disciples in our Gospel passage today, we are reminded that we should distance ourselves from the corruption of worldly desires and glory, all the attachments we may have towards worldly ambitions and pleasures, all the things that can lead us astray from the path of righteousness towards God. That is why we are reminded that we should listen to the Lord and His Wisdom, and not to allow our own ego, pride and desires from leading us astray in life.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Father, continue to be with us, guiding us and strengthening us in our journey throughout life. May He empower all of us with the resolve and the courage to continue walking down this journey of faith, and bless us all with His Wisdom so that we may perceive the right path in life, and that we may continue to remain faithful to Him, doing His will and obeying His Law and commandments at all times. May all of us as Christians be committed and faithful disciples of the Lord, and be the good examples and inspiration for everyone around us, and may all of us continue to do our best to glorify the Lord as always by our exemplary lives. 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 called to remember the love and kindness, the grace and mercy which God has generously given to us all throughout history, by saving us from certain death and sparing the righteous ones amongst us from destruction. He also provided us all with the means to seek Him and His forgiveness, His mercy and compassion above all else. That He has done all these for our sake proved to us beyond any doubt that we are truly beloved and precious to God, and if we come to seek Him and His mercy, God will surely welcome us all most joyfully, leading us away from the precipice of darkness and destruction into a new life filled with His love and grace.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis in which the Lord ended the Great Flood that He had sent into the world at the time of Noah, allowing him and his family, and all the animals taking shelter in his Ark to gain reprieve from the Flood. Noah obeyed God’s commands and built the Ark over a period of many decades, providing the means by which to survive the great catastrophe sent by the Lord to cleanse the whole world from all the wickedness due to the sins which had come about from the children of Cain and other mankind, who had been totally bereft of good conduct and moral, and which had led to the corruption of the whole world. God truly loved all of His people, as He had created us all out of love, and yet, at the same time, He also despised the sins and the corruption of evil that we have allowed ourselves to be corrupted with.

And that was why the Great Flood happened at that time, because in all the whole world, there was no longer any good or virtue among all of mankind, save that which was found in Noah and his family. That was why God chose Noah and his family to save them all from the cleansing Flood that He would send into the world. He did not wish for the righteous to share in the fate of the wicked, those who have consistently and constantly refused to listen to Him and follow His path. He guided and protected them through that storm and flood, which lasted for a whole period of over a year, including the period of rain and when the flood covered the whole world. And we heard in today’s first reading of the account of the time when the Flood finally receded and all the occupants of the Ark could finally walk on the dry land safely once again.

After the Flood, as we heard from the Book of Genesis, Noah made an offering to God on the Altar at Mount Ararat where the Ark landed at, making a Covenant with God between Him and his descendants. God made a solemn vow and promise not to destroy mankind again with the Great Flood, after that Flood had cleansed away the whole world and wiped out all those who were wicked and evil, sparing only Noah and his immediate family. The rainbow, which usually appears after the rain as mentioned, is a reminder of God’s promise to man, that He would remember not to send another world destroying Flood again, a reminder that ultimately, we are all beloved and dear, precious and important to God. Nonetheless, this does not mean that we can then act and live with impunity, disobeying God’s commandments and Law, as it was our wickedness and sins that led to the Great Flood in the first place.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist in which the Lord Jesus performed a miracle at the town of Bethsaida where a blind man was, and we heard how the Lord made the blind man to be able to see again. He healed the man from his affliction, and showed the love that God has always had for each and every one of us, His desire to be reconciled and reunited with all of us. At the same time, He also showed His power and might, His authority over all things, over life and death, diseases and all, in opening the eyes of the blind, something that no one even up to today can truly do, as even there is something that our medicine and technology can do, showing the limit of our human intelligence or power, which were ultimately derived from the power of God.

No one for example could bring anyone back from death into life, as this is something that the Lord alone can do, and He Himself has shown this on several occasions, with the dead daughter of the synagogue official Jairus, with the dead son of the widow of Nain, and with His own deceased good friend Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha. With the Great Flood and the Covenant that God had made with Noah afterwards, the Lord wanted to show and remind us all that He alone is the Lord and Master over all things, over life and death, and over our whole lives, our fates and existence. Therefore, it is important that we remind ourselves of how small, insignificant and weak we are, despite our many achievements, glory, fame and all the other things that we often boasted about in our lives.

At the same time, we are reminded of how fortunate we are that God, Who is our Lord and Master, great beyond our imagination, is also our loving Father, Who is always ever concerned about us, seeking to be reconciled and reunited with us, ever being patient in leading and guiding us all towards His eternal Kingdom and the salvation which He has repeatedly promised and reassured us. He has given us so many opportunities and paths for us to reach Him, and it is indeed sad to see how many people spurned these opportunities and chances that the Lord has generously provided to them, preferring instead to remain in the state of corruption, in wickedness, darkness and sin. Many among us had fallen into the temptations of worldly pleasures and desires, all of which had distracted us from God and His love, and from everything that He had done for us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to do our best in living our lives in each and every moments most faithfully and strive to be righteous, worthy and good in our every words, actions and deeds so that we may truly be worthy to be called as Christians, as God’s own beloved and holy people. May the Lord bless us in our every good works and endeavours, in our every efforts so that by His blessings and guidance, we may continue to grow ever stronger in our love, faith and dedication to God, and be ever closer to the eternal kingdom of glory, everlasting life and true happiness that God Himself has promised us, distancing ourselves from the taint and corruption of sin that can lead us astray into our downfall and destruction. May God be with us always in our respective journeys. Amen.