Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that God has revealed His salvation to the nations and called on us all to follow Him and to embrace His path. He wants all of us to return to Him, to put our faith and trust once again in Him, not putting our trust and faith in the means and powers of the world, all of which will eventually fail us and will not be able to provide us in the manner that the Lord can do for us, He Who is the Lord and Master over all things, Who is the only One that can guarantee true and lasting happiness for us.

In our first reading today, we heard of the passage from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which the Lord spoke out against Assyria, the mighty Empire which was then preeminent and powerful in the region. The Assyrian Empire was referred to as the sword of the Lord’s anger as we must understand contextually how the Assyrians were the ones that crushed and conquered the alliance of the forces of the northern kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Aram-Damascus against the southern kingdom of Judah and its rulers, the House of David. The two kingdoms of Israel and Judah had long been locked in bitter struggles and wars with each other for many generations, and the Lord intervened to save and protect those who were faithful to Him.

God showed His love and kindness, His faithfulness and commitment to the Covenant which He had made and established with His people in the kingdom of Judah, and especially with the House of David, the descendants and the rightful rulers over the people and kingdom of Israel. When the enemies of the Lord’s people plotted and sought to destroy those whom God loved and cared for, He sent the forces of the Assyrians and their king to destroy and crush those who plotted against them, and that was how both the kingdoms of Israel in the north and Aram-Damascus were destroyed. The people and the kingdom of Judah were spared from all the plotting of their enemies.

But then, at the same occasion, the Assyrians themselves became proud and haughty, thinking that all their power and greatness, their achievements and glory were due to their own power and might, and at the time of the works and ministry of the prophet Isaiah, it was recorded that the Assyrians and their king, Sennacherib, brought up a vast army to Judah and Jerusalem to besiege the city of the people of God and conquer it, and at that time, King Sennacherib also uttered blasphemous words against God, at the height of his pride and ego, his ambition and haughtiness.

Thus, God proclaimed His sentence and opposition against those Assyrians who had became proud and haughty, and disobeyed God’s will. He would remind them all who was truly in charge, and humiliated them and their King according to Scriptural records and traditions, by striking against King Sennacherib’s massive army with His Angel, and resulting in that army being completely wiped out. This certainly humiliated the king and all of the Assyrian hubris and ego, reminding them and everyone else, the One Who is truly in charge, that is the Lord, God and Master of all the whole Universe.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. Matthew in which the Lord in His prayer to His heavenly Father and in His words to the disciples before Him, told them all how God had revealed great things through His Son, Who had been sent from Heaven into this world, to be the One bearing God’s salvation, His love and truth to all of us. The love of God has indeed been made manifest and real in the flesh, tangible and approachable to each and every one of us through Christ, by which God has revealed His plans for us.

At the same time, it was also a veiled rebuke against the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, those who were wise and learned, the ones who were supposed to be most knowledgeable about the Law of God and the words and teachings of the prophets. Yet, it was they who were the most stubborn in refusing to listen to the Lord Jesus and His teachings, opposing His works and efforts, and even accusing Him of blasphemy and wrongdoing, such as collusion with the prince of demons to smear His efforts and good Name. Therefore, this is why the Lord told His disciples and all of us, of the truth which He has brought with Him into this world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us as Christians are the bearers of God’s truth, His Good News and love. We are reminded that we should always put God as the focus and emphasis of our lives, and we should not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by the temptations of our pride, ego, or by our hubris and ambitions, as all of those would easily sway us all down the wrong path, tempting us away from God’s righteousness, grace and virtues. All of us should instead be good and worthy disciples and followers of the Lord, and be great role models and inspirations for our fellow brothers and sisters in all the things we say and do.

May the Lord, our loving God continue to be with us and guide us all just as He had done with His beloved people in the past. May He empower and strengthen us all so that we may remain strong and courageous in living our lives worthily and continue to persevere despite the many challenges facing our lives in this world. May God bless us all and empower us in all the things that we do, all of our good works and efforts, now and always. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us have heard from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures in which we are reminded that each and every one of us must focus our lives and our whole attention on the Lord, and we must abandon all of our past sins, wickedness and all the things which had kept us away from the path of the Lord. If we allow all those things and the temptations of the world to distract and pull us away from the path of God’s righteousness and virtues, from His loving care and Presence, then in the end we shall regret our choice of siding not with the Lord but with the evil one and all the wickedness of this world. As Christians, each and every one of us are reminded to truly embody our faith and to be truly faithful to God in all things, and not just in formality only.

In our first reading today, we heard the continuation of the account from the Book of the prophet Hosea in which the Lord continued to detail the revelation of the downfall and destruction that would await the kingdom of Israel, referring to the northern half of the once united kingdom of Israel ruled by David and Solomon. The prophet Hosea had been sent to that place in order to reveal all the words of the Lord and the fate of the people, who had disobeyed the Lord and refused to obey Him so many times, that their sins were truly enormous and unimaginable in scale. They had indeed committed many mistakes, in building up idols and worshipping them, making altars to worship those false gods instead of the Lord, their one and only true God.

They had scandalised His Holy Name, spurning the ever generous love, kindness and mercy which He has always shown them from the very beginning. God has sent to His people numerous prophets, messengers and guides with the intention to help them all to realise the errors of their ways and to remind them to return to the path of righteousness and virtue before it was too late for them. They revealed God’s words and told them of the many sins which they had committed time and again before God and mankind alike, and all these were exactly what the prophet Hosea has repeated once again among all of them. Yet, they still refused to listen to God and they continued to walk down the path of rebellion and sin, hardening their hearts against God.

That was why the Lord told them all everything that they would have to suffer for their continued obstinate and wicked attitudes, in their refusal to turn away from their dark path. They persecuted the prophets and messengers of God sent to them, and therefore, in their pride, they would be humiliated and made to face the consequences of their actions just as the Lord had predicted and revealed to them. The Lord wanted them and also all of us to know that while He truly loves each and every one of us greatly and while He wants to forgive us from our many sins and wickedness, as is His nature to be full of love and compassion, mercy and kindness upon us, the most beloved among all of His creations. However, at the same time, sin is truly a grievous error and is something that can harm us all, by separating us from God and His love, and as long as we continue to live in the state of sin, then we may find ourselves locked out of God’s inheritance and grace.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the moment when the Lord called His chief disciples, choosing the twelve among them to be the members of His own inner circle, all of whom except Judas Iscariot the traitor, would become the Twelve Apostles. They were entrusted with the power and authority to do many great signs and wonders, casting out demons and performing many other miracles. They were sent out with the missions and the tasks to prepare the way for the Lord, to proclaim His Good News and truth among the people and to call upon everyone to repent from their sins and wickedness. The Lord entrusted to them the mission and the outreach to His people, revealing His love and salvation to them through these disciples.

From what we have heard in this Gospel passage today, we are all reminded that each and every one of us as Christians are first of all called to live our lives worthily in God’s path, in that we should no longer disobey God’s commandments, His Law and will as what we and our predecessors have often done, like how the Israelites had once disobeyed the Lord and refused to follow His ways, persecuting the prophets and messengers sent to them. Thus, as Christians, we must always centre our lives upon the Lord and put Him as the centre and the attention of our whole existence, so that by our every actions, words and deeds, we may continue to inspire others around us, to lead others towards the Lord, Our God and Saviour. We are the ones who can and should continue the good works that the Lord had begun through His Apostles and entrusted to His Church, that is to all of us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have listened from the words of the Sacred Scriptures and pondered upon them, let us all continue to do our part so that in each and every actions of our lives so that we may be truly evangelising, missionary and active disciples of the Lord. All of us must continue to do our best to proclaim the Lord, His truth and Good News in the midst of our respective communities, that all of us may continue to touch the lives of more and more people around us. It is through all of us and our efforts and contributions to the Church’s missions and works in this world that will help so many lost souls, our fellow brothers and sisters, to find their path towards God, to His love and grace, to be saved by Him and assured the gift of eternal life.

May the Lord our loving God and Father, our most generous and merciful Creator and Master continue to help, protect and guide us in all things. May He bless us in our every actions, our every efforts and works, and our interactions with one another, so that we may truly bear rich fruits of faith, and be good and worthy disciples in proclaiming His truth and salvation to the whole world. Amen.