Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures we are all reminded of God’s love and providence which He has constantly provided to us throughout our lives, the patience with which He has called us all to follow Him and to embrace His path once again, and to be loved by Him again, despite our many and frequent disobedience and rebellions against Him. He wants us all to be humble and to realise our shortcomings and sins, to atone for them and to be forgiven from all those stumbling blocks that prevented us from truly being able to come towards Him, while reassuring us always of His loving Presence and guidance, which He has always provided for us, at all times.
In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Exodus in which God reassured His people, the Israelites during the time of their Exodus and journey from the land of Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan, the land which He has promised to them and their ancestors, as a blessed land rich in milk and honey, full of His bounty and blessings. He provided them all with food and sustenance throughout their whole journey, and as we heard in our passage today, He also reassured them that He sent them His Angels to stand before them and protect them from their many enemies, all those people in the desert which were hostile to the Israelites and attacked them, much as how He had shown His power during their time and liberation from the hands of the Pharaoh and the Egyptians beforehand.
Then, we heard of the passage from our Gospel reading today according to St. Matthew in which we heard how the disciples were asking the Lord who among them presumably would be considered as the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Many among the disciples of the Lord were likely under the impression that the Lord Jesus as the Messiah or the Saviour had come to liberate the Israelites and to lead them to victory and triumph against their oppressors like the Romans and other rulers, and that He would reestablish the Kingdom of Israel much as how it was during the glorious days of the reigns of King David and King Solomon. As such, not few among them would likely have desired for power and prestige by following the Lord, and thought of gaining those things for themselves.
But the Lord rebuked them gently and told them that this was not how they ought to follow Him or believe in Him, as to be His followers and disciples, they all should focus their attention on the Lord, be humble and committed to His cause, and not to be distracted by the many worldly desires and ambitions being present all around them. That was why He told them all that He would want them to have the faith like the faith of the little children, because all those children truly and joyfully had great faith, trust and love in Him, and not being tainted, corrupted or tempted by the various desires, ambitions and all the other worldly things all around us which may often distract us from our path towards the Lord, towards His salvation and grace.
The Lord essentially reminded us all that we must truly be sincere in our faith in Him, and we should reflect upon our lives if we have truly lived our lives faithfully in His path or whether we have been swayed and tempted by the various temptations, coercions and pressures from the world and from the evil ones, all of those who seek our destruction and downfall as they all desire our defeat. We must not be afraid of all these, and we must not allow ourselves to be easily pulled by the various currents of worldly matters and pursuits. Instead, we should continue to deepen our faith in God and grow in our loving relationship towards Him at all times, helping one another to come ever closer to Him and His salvation.
Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, the day when we remember and commemorate all of our Guardian Angels, the ones whom God had placed around us and in our midst, His own Holy Angels sent to us to guard and protect us. These Guardian Angels protect us against the attacks from the evil spirits, demons and all the forces of those who sought our destruction and damnation with them. As we heard the Scripture passages earlier, the Lord is always by our side, guarding and protecting us all at each and every moments in life, and one of these ways is through the Guardian Angels He has placed around us, always ever ready to protect us and guide us in the right path.
Today, we remember every time our Guardian Angels laboured to protect and guide us in the right path, as they were always ever at the forefront of the ever raging spiritual battlefield that exist all around us, the devil and his forces on one side, and the Lord our God with His Angels on the other, with the price being the state and salvation of our souls. Every time we struggle with sin and the temptations to sin, our Guardian Angels are always there to help us and to guide us, to lead us in our conscience to follow the right path in God and not to be easily swayed by the temptations to disobey and sin against God. Whenever the devil and all the tempters, the evil spirits all around us are always active, striking at us and tempting us to go down the path of sin, our Guardian Angels are always there to guide and protect us.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all today thank the Lord for His kindness and love, in His patient love for us and for providing us with His Guardian Angels and all the other Angels and spiritual forces and protection to help and protect us against the evil ones, and let us also thank our Guardian Angels for the constant vigil and efforts all around us. Let us all pray the Guardian Angel prayer together, ‘Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.’
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 