Weekdays of Ordinary Time

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Tuesday, 1 November 2022 : Solemnity of All Saints (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today together as the Universal Church we all celebrate with all the glorious saints in Heaven the occasion of the Solemnity of All Saints, as we rejoice on this All Saints’ Day. On this All Saints Day, we rejoice in the glory of all the saints, both the ones whose names and lives are known to us, as well as the many other innumerable holy men and women of God out there who are saints, and yet not known to us. There are also all those other holy men and women who have deserved the glory of Heaven, and yet have not been named and declared saints yet, because of various circumstances. Today, as we rejoice on this All Saints’ Day, we remember all those whom I had mentioned, the ones who have lived their lives worthily of God.

Who are the saints? First of all we have to understand the role that the saints play in the history of our salvation and in the Church. The saints are all those holy men and women of God who have been deemed by the Church after a period of scrutiny and exploration, as worthy of God and as deserving of the glory of Heaven. The process of the declaration of someone as Saint is one that is usually lengthy one, as one went from being a Servant of God, Venerable, and then Blessed or Beatus and finally Saint. All those things are meant to highlight that being a Saint means that the person, his or her life and actions are truly worthy of God and of being exemplary Christians. This is to ensure that the person mentioned as saints are truly worthy of veneration and honour, and being followed by other Christians as good role models and inspirations.

And then, we must understand also that the saints are not divine beings or gods, or divinities, as what some others might and may still misunderstand about this particular practice of the Church. Quite a few people both inside and outside the Church have the misunderstanding and misconception thinking that we worship the saints. Yet, that is a very wrong way of seeing how we Christians venerate the saints and blesseds since the very beginning of the Church. Ever since the earliest days of the Church, the faithful Christians have always venerated important members of the Church who have been martyred for their faith, or have led exemplary lives, venerating them as great role models and inspirations, and beings worthy of Heaven, to inspire them in their own lives.

That is in essence what saints are and how they are significant for us all. The saints are our role models and inspirations, who by their words, actions and deeds have been deemed by the Church and the authorities of the magisterium to be worthy of God’s grace and eternal kingdom, to experience the beatific vision of Heaven prior to the Last Judgment, and are now in Heaven with God and His Angels. Christians and even the Jewish people of the past believed in the life after death, and the existence of the world to come, and the saints are those who have been welcomed to enter into God’s heavenly Presence, to enjoy the fruits of their labour and faithful life. And when we venerate those saints, we honour them for all that they had done out of faith and love for God.

We must understand that veneration does not equal adoration and worship or ‘latria’. Those are reserved for God and God alone. Not even Mary, the Mother of God and the Queen of Heaven by virtue of her Divine Motherhood, is to be worshipped and adored. On the contrary, to her we accord the greatest honour and veneration or also known as ‘hyperdulia’ among all the other saints and beings, as the one who bore the Messiah or Saviour of the world in her, and who is our greatest intercessor, ever being present by her Son’s side in Heaven, pleading for our sake before Him. To Mary we accord the greatest of veneration, but that still does not equate to adoration and worship that we only give to God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Triune God, the one and only True God.

Then to St. Joseph we accord the next greatest honour of ‘protodulia’ which accords him the first of honour among all the saints just after Mary, her spouse. St. Joseph as the foster-father of the Lord and the Protector of the Universal Church has that place of honour and also because of his virtuous life, which are again great inspiration, examples and role models for each one of us as Christians. Then the other saints and blesseds also have their own unique life stories and examples which we can emulate and follow in our own lives. That is why we venerate them, as we are all inspired by their examples, and wanting to follow them, and why we adopt their names as our baptismal names as well. And not only that, as we also believe that the saints are already in the presence of God in Heaven, we also ask the saints for their help and intercession.

Now, what we need to realise is also that the saints although they are no longer physically with us, they are still very much part of the Church. The saints, blesseds and all the other holy men and women of God already in Heaven and have not yet been officially recognised by the Church as saints, are all parts of the same Church of God, as the Church Triumphant. Meanwhile, all of us still living in this world are the Church Militant, those who are still struggling and enduring the challenges and trials of this world daily. Then the Church is completed by all those souls who have departed from this world and yet, they are not yet worthy of Heaven, and are enduring the purifying flames of purgatory, the Church Suffering. Those holy souls in purgatory will be remembered tomorrow in the All Souls’ Day.

Altogether, the Church Triumphant, the Church Militant and the Church Suffering all form a united Church of God, all united through the indivisible link and union through the common Communion in Christ. All of us are united together as one Church, and as such, we are united in prayer for each other. The saints and blesseds have no more need for our prayers, but they are always praying for us in this world, the Church Militant, as well as for the ones who are still suffering in the purgatory, the Church Suffering. We ourselves as those who are in this world can also pray for those in purgatory. We can see how each and every one of us are still united as one Church, and just as we are still connected to each other, we should also be inspired to follow the examples of the saints in our respective lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have been shown the means and the ways for us to follow the Lord faithfully as Christians. As we heard in our first reading today from the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle, the vision of St. John revealed to us the glory of the innumerable saints of God, who in the vision had appeared in their pure white garment, all made white by washing in the Precious Blood of the Lamb of God. The martyrs suffered at the hands of their persecutors and those who oppressed them, but they remained resolute and firm in living their lives faithfully, in standing up to their Christian vocations and missions, and enduring whatever persecutions with grace and faith. Some of them had to shed their blood and some perished, but even those who did not perish, had to endure martyrdom of sorts, as they were persecuted and had to face hardships and challenges.

They practiced what the Lord had told them all to do as we heard in our Gospel passage today on the Beatitudes, or the Eight Beatitudes, in which the Lord listed down all the behaviours and attitudes that are truly worthy of Him, and praised all those who have done according to those ways. Essentially through the Eight Beatitudes, the Lord has called on all of us as Christians to be His true disciples, as those who are poor in spirit, for those who are sorrowful and suffering for their faith, for those who are gentle and kind, and for those who hunger, thirst and desire for justice, for those who show mercy to others, for those who are pure and virtuous at heart, for those who advance and work towards peace and help others to seek peace, and for all those who are persecuted. All of those are essentially what we are expected to do as Christians in our own daily living.

Now, if we are not sure how and where to start in this regard, we must not be disheartened or give up the effort before we even start it. That is precisely why we have the saints to inspire us and to show us the way how we should live our lives. Each and every one of them had distinct and unique circumstances that some may in one way or another inspire us in our respective lives and journey, to be our compass and guidance in how we are to practice our faith in life. Each and every one of us are called and constantly reminded of the many good actions and deeds of our holy predecessors, and we should do the same. The question is, are we all willing to commit ourselves to this cause that the Lord had called us to do? Are we willing to put the effort to transform our lives from one that is based on worldliness and wickedness into one of virtue and adherence to God’s ways?

It is important that as Christians we have to live our lives worthily of the Lord, doing whatever we can to uphold our Christian faith and actions, in each and every possible moments like what the saints had done. But at the same time we must also have the correct understanding of what the saints are and how they can help and lead us on the right path. Sadly, even within the Church there are still many people, among the faithful who misunderstood the meaning of sainthood, and conflating it with idolatry, which resulted in the so-called popular devotions and faith among the people becoming corrupted with the worship and adoration of the saints instead of a proper veneration. Not only that, but those same people end up depending on the saints and hoping that the saints would solve all of their issues and problems, and that by praying to them everything they were troubled with would magically and immediately be solved.

That is why we have to correct our wrong or mistaken understanding and knowledge about the saints, should we have any of them. And we should also encourage ourselves on this Solemnity of All Saints, that each one of us will no longer be idle and be ignorant in the living of our faith. Instead, we should be more active and involved in being true and devout Christians starting this very moment, being inspired by the many examples of our holy predecessors, the saints and blesseds we have among the Church Triumphant. We as the Church Militant are reminded that we are still facing the trials, struggles and challenges that can prevent us and lead us astray from reaching the path towards God and His salvation. We cannot let the temptations of worldly glory and fame to make us abandon these struggles, and as long as we keep our focus on the Lord and strengthened by the courage and examples of His saints, we surely can find a way to live worthily of God.

May the Lord continue to strengthen and guide us in all of our lives, and may He, through His saints, constantly inspire and encourage us that we too may be holy just as those saints had led holy and worthy lives. May God be with us always and may He bless us all in our every good works and endeavours. All the Holy Saints of God, holy men and women who have glorified the Lord by your lives, all of you who are now with God in Heaven, pray for us sinners! Pray for the sake of all your brethren still living and struggling in this world who are in dire need of God’s mercy, love and strength. Amen.

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Tuesday, 1 November 2022 : Solemnity of All Saints (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 5 : 1-12a

At that time, when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up the mountain. He sat down and His disciples gathered around Him. Then He spoke and began to teach them :

“Fortunate are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Fortunate are those who mourn; they shall be comforted. Fortunate are the gentle; they shall possess the land.”

“Fortunate are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied. Fortunate are the merciful, for they shall find mercy. Fortunate are those with pure hearts, for they shall see God.”

“Fortunate are those who work for peace; they shall be called children of God. Fortunate are those who are persecuted for the cause of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”

“Fortunate are you, when people insult you and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you because you are My followers. Be glad and joyful, for a great reward is kept for you in God.”

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Tuesday, 1 November 2022 : Solemnity of All Saints (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 3 : 1-3

See what singular love the Father has for us : we are called children of God, and we really are. This is why the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Beloved, we are God’s children, and what we shall be has not, yet, been shown. Yet, when He appears in His glory, we know, that we shall be like Him, for, then, we shall see Him as He is. All who have such a hope, try to be pure, as He is pure.

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Tuesday, 1 November 2022 : Solemnity of All Saints (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 23 : 1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6

The earth and its fullness belong to YHVH, the world and all that dwell in it. He has founded it upon the ocean and set it firmly upon the waters.

Who will ascend the mountain of YHVH? Who will stand in His holy place? Those with clean hands and pure heart, who desire not what is vain.

They will receive blessings from YHVH, a reward from God, their Saviour. Such are the people who seek Him, who seek the face of Jacob’s God.

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Tuesday, 1 November 2022 : Solemnity of All Saints (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Revelations 7 : 2-4, 9-14

I saw another Angel, ascending from the sunrise, carrying the seal of the living God, and he cried out with a loud voice, to the four Angels empowered to harm the earth and the sea, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.”

Then, I heard the number of those marked with the seal : a hundred and forty-four thousand, from all the tribes of the people of Israel. After this, I saw a great crowd, impossible to count, from every nation, race, people and tongue, standing before the Throne, and the Lamb, clothed in white, with palm branches in their hands, and they cried out with a loud voice, “Who saves, but our God, Who sits on the Throne, and the Lamb?”

All the Angels were around the Throne, the elders and the four living creatures; they, then, bowed before the Throne, with their faces to the ground, to worship God. They said, “Amen, Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honour, power and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen!”

At that moment, one of the elders spoke up, and said to me, “Who are these people clothed in white, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, it is you who know this.” The elder replied, “They, are those who have come out of the great persecution, they have washed, and made their clothes white, in the Blood of the Lamb.”

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Monday, 31 October 2022 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded of the calling for us as Christians to be always filled with love, most importantly the love for God, our faith and trust in Him, and then, equally important is our love for our fellow brothers and sisters. As Christians we are always reminded of the love that we should have for our fellow men and women, and we should not be ignorant of this calling and mission we have in our daily lives as God’s beloved ones. The Lord has always shown us His love, to each one of us, no matter how we have treated Him and how we have been stubborn in rejecting Him and refusing to listen to His voice.

Therefore, just as the Lord has tirelessly and patiently reached out to us with love, and even sending His only Begotten Son to be our Lord and Saviour, each one of us as Christians are also expected to do the same, that is to be filled with genuine and most tender and generous love for our fellow brothers and sisters. We must always put ourselves and our love for ourselves as secondary to our love for God and for our fellow brothers and sisters. Of course we still have to love ourselves and we should not despise who we are, but we must not let our self-love to become a distraction and preoccupation or even obsession which may end up causing us to ignore the needs of others around us, especially those of us who are lacking and in need of love. Each one of us have been called and indeed challenged to bear the love of God to our brethren.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Philippi, in which the Apostle spoke of how all Christians ought to live together harmoniously and in loving relationships as the members of the same one Church of God. The Apostle likely referred to the divisions and disagreements that had inevitably appeared between the members of the Church because of their diverse origins. St. Paul said that the people of God should not be divided and placed one against another. The people of God should put their brethren ahead of themselves, ahead of their own selfish ego and desires, all of which had caused so much suffering and hardships, and which had made the relationships between the faithful to be bitter and uncomfortable.

That is what happened when we mankind allowed our prejudices and desires to get ahead of us. The people of God could be divided by their prejudices and unwillingness to cooperate and live harmoniously with each other, and also by their desires and demands to satisfy their own selfish wants and all the things that caused the rupture in the harmony of the people and the community of the faithful Church of God. When everyone began to prioritise themselves and their selfish wants ahead of the needs of others, that is when we may end up with people who manipulated and mistreated others simply because they wanted to gain more for themselves. And history has proven that we can be very selfish, and many had suffered at the hands of those who sought to enrich themselves with more of worldly riches and grandeur.

This is why in our Gospel passage today the Lord again reminded us that as Christians we cannot be people who are filled with worldly desires and arrogance, ambition and wants. We cannot be greedy and filled with the attachments and the obsession for worldly goods, for glory and fame, for status, power and for human praise and acceptance. Otherwise, sooner or later we will realise that we will end up trying to satisfy our own needs and desires above that of helping others who are in need, and we may end up being distracted and blinded, that we cannot see the plight of all the others around us simply because we have been too busy in seeking to satisfy ourselves, our wants and our greed.

Instead, the Lord has called all of us to look beyond our own selfish needs and ambitions, and turn towards the Lord Himself once again, full of love and desire to serve Him and glorify Him, putting Him at the centre of our lives. We must not let the temptations of worldly pride to distract us in our journey towards God, towards His grace and salvation. And as long as we continue to allow those temptations to be around us and to tempt us, then we are likely going to end up falling deeper and deeper into the path of selfishness, pride and sin. As Christians, and as members of God’s one united Church, each one of us have been given the calling, mission and responsibilities to proclaim the truth and love of God by our lives and examples.

Let us all ask ourselves then, whether we have been truly obedient to God and whether we have walked faithfully in His ways, or whether we have instead walked down the path of selfishness, ambition, pride and greed, as many among our predecessors had done. Let us remember that we are all called to be holy and loving just as our Lord Himself is full of holiness and love. We are all called to model ourselves upon the ever generous love of God, Who has loved us all so greatly all these while despite everything that we had done in resisting and rejecting Him. We are all called to embody God’s love, mercy and compassion in each and every one of us, in our every words, actions and deeds.

Today as we mark All Hallows’ Eve or the Eve of the All Saints’ Day, we are also especially reminded that we should also look upon the examples of the great saints, the innumerable holy men and women of God who have gone before us to the glory of Heaven. Each and every one of them in their unique lives and works have many things to show us and inspire us, in showing us how we should live our lives with faith and dedication. The saints of God, if we read upon their life stories and examples, are people who place others before themselves, and they practiced what the Lord Himself had done and taught us all to do, that is to love generously, God first and foremost, and then also their own fellow brothers and sisters, especially the least unloved and those who were in most need of God’s love.

May the Lord continue to guide us in our journey of faith and may He empower each one of us with the courage and strength to resist the temptations of the world, and so that we may be more loving, compassionate and concerned with the plight and the needs of our fellow brothers and sisters around us. May God be with us, His Church, His flock and people at all times, may His saints be great inspiration for us and intercede for us at all times, and may He bless us in our every efforts and endeavours, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 31 October 2022 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 14 : 12-14

At that time, Jesus also addressed the man who had invited Him, and said, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends, or your brothers and relatives, or your wealthy neighbours. For surely they will also invite you in return, and you will be repaid.”

“When you give a feast, invite instead the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Fortunate are you then, because they cannot repay you; you will be repaid at the resurrection of the upright.”

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Monday, 31 October 2022 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 130 : 1, 2, 3

O Lord, my heart is not proud nor do I have arrogant eyes. I am not engrossed in ambitious matters, nor in things too great for me.

I have quieted and stilled my soul like a weaned child on its mother’s lap; like a contented child is my soul.

Hope in the Lord, o Israel, now and forever.

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Monday, 31 October 2022 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Philippians 2 : 1-4

If I may advise you in the Name of Christ and if you can hear it as the voice of love; if we share the same Spirit and are capable of mercy and compassion, then I beg of you, make me very happy : have one love, one Spirit, one feeling, do nothing through rivalry or vain conceit.

On the contrary let each of you gently consider the others as more important than yourselves. Do not seek your own interest, but rather that of others.

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Sunday, 30 October 2022 : Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are presented with the great love and compassion that the Lord has for each and every one of us, without exception. This Sunday all of us are reminded that God’s love for us is truly generous, and He has always desired to be reconciled and reunited with us. Yet, it was often our own attitudes, stubbornness and wickedness in life which became serious barriers and obstacles preventing us from finding our way back towards the Lord and His salvation. That is why as we recall our readings today, we should spend this time to reflect on what we should do as Christians in embracing the love of God wholeheartedly.

In our first reading this Sunday taken from the Book of Wisdom, we heard the reminder from the author of this Book of Wisdom, of the great mercy and compassion which God has willingly showed all of us His beloved ones. This Book of Wisdom, although also known as the Wisdom of Solomon, was written during a much later time that Solomon’s reign, and was likely composed by several authors throughout the Jewish diaspora which was scattered after the destruction of both of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. The authors of the Book of Wisdom therefore could draw upon the historical facts and examples from how God showed mercy and compassion on His people after they had all faced their just punishment, for their many sins and wickedness.

Back then, the people of God in both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah had not been obedient to God, rebelled against Him and followed their own paths rather than following what God had told them to do through His Law and commandments, and they also persecuted the many prophets, messengers and servants of God sent to them to remind them to return to the Lord. They refused to listen to the reminders from God’s servants and continued to live wickedly, worshipping pagan idols and gods, forsaking the Law and the commandments that their ancestors had kept. They spurned and rejected God’s love, and as a result, they had to face the just punishment, of having their kingdoms, cities and lands destroyed by their enemies, and them being brought into exile in far-off lands.

Yet, God has not forgotten or abandoned His people, although they had first forgotten and abandoned Him first. He did not treat them badly or hated them for what they had done, but He continued to care for them and loved them tenderly and generously as He had always done in the past. That is the proof of just how loving God has been towards us, and truly how ungrateful and unbecoming our attitudes had been, in how we and our ancestors and predecessors often behaved, in disobeying the words and commandments of the Lord. The Lord has always been patient in loving us, and yet, we have only treated Him with contempt and disdain. The Lord forgave His people when they turned back towards Him in regret and sorrow, and brought them all back to their homeland and reestablished them all there.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the classic story of the encounter between the Lord Jesus and Zaccheus the tax collector. In that occasion, just as the Lord was about to enter into Jericho, the man named Zaccheus, a notorious tax collector, wanted to come and see Jesus, and despite his physical challenges, being very short in stature, he climbed up a tree in order to see the Lord. The Lord knew that Zaccheus was looking out for Him, and called him down from the tree, and told him that He would want to come to his house for a meal with him there. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were there unsurprisingly criticised the Lord for this action, for having embraced a tax collector, and a notorious one at that, and even asked to have a meal at the latter’s house.

Back then, during the time of the Lord Jesus, we have to understand that tax collectors were often reviled and hated, simply because they were doing their work in collecting taxes both for the local rulers like king Herod and others, as well as ultimately the taxes for the Roman overlord of the whole region. At that time, the whole region of Judea, Samaria, Galilee and beyond were under the total dominion of the Roman Empire. Many among the people disliked themselves being ruled by the Romans and other local rulers appointed to rule over them, and the taxes which made people’s livelihood difficult did not help to endear those rulers to the people. Hence, by association, the tax collectors were also often hated because of the nature of their work.

They were often treated as collaborators and even traitors to the nation and the people. This was especially true for the case of how the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law treated the tax collectors and all those others whom they often deemed to be unworthy of God and His salvation. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, those people who often took great pride in their knowledge, piety, practices and prestige in the community, and they always looked down on others who they deemed to be inferior to them. The tax collectors in particular were among the lowest in the hierarchy of the people of God in the sight of the Pharisees and the elders, as they were considered as scum and traitors, unworthy of God and His grace.

But they had forgotten that God loved all the people all the same, regardless of their status, background or stature in the eyes of men and the world. Even the worst of sinners are still capable of being saved, just as the Lord Himself had willingly extended His generous offer of mercy and forgiveness even to those who were most despicable and unfaithful in their ways. The Lord still looked kindly upon His beloved people even after they had betrayed Him, abandoned Him and rejected Him, and persecuted those who were sent to them in order to remind them. What matters therefore is not how righteous one is compared to the others, but rather, whether those who have sinned and disobeyed against God were willing to shed off their past existence and embrace God once again with love.

The Lord showed to all of the people, as well as all of us through His interactions with Zaccheus that no one is beyond God’s mercy and love. Zaccheus did not just welcome the Lord but he also publicly announced before everyone assembled, the Lord Himself, the other people, and the same Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were there criticising the Lord for welcoming and embracing him, that he would return all those whom he had once cheated and treated unjustly, not just equal but more than what they have been owed by him. He essentially made a public declaration of faith and repentance from his sins, and made a public commitment to be faithful to God, before all the people.

That is what the key of God’s mercy and compassion, forgiveness and grace is all about. God is always ever merciful and generous with His compassion, and He is always ready to welcome us back to His embrace. Even the worst of sinners and all those whom we might have deemed unworthy or undeserving of salvation and God’s grace, are in fact recipients of His love and mercy. We must not forget that even many among the greatest of the saints were once great sinners themselves, and some of them were murderers, idolaters, adulterers, and tax collectors among others. One of the Lord’s Twelve Apostles and one of the Four Evangelists, St. Matthew, was a tax collector like Zaccheus. St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the four great original Doctors of the Church, was a hedonist and a Manichaean unbeliever in his youth, and who also fathered a son out of wedlock.

There are still many other examples of great sinners and all those perhaps deemed unworthy and undeserving of the Lord who have turned over a new leaf and embraced God wholeheartedly, like Saul, the chief persecutor of early Christians, who encountered and was called by the Lord to be His disciple. He abandoned his past mistakes and wayward life as a misguided young Pharisee, and became one of the Lord’s greatest champion and defender, as St. Paul the Apostle, whose many Epistles are part of our New Testament today, showing his work and concern for many of the faithful throughout his ministry. St. Paul embarked on many missionary journeys and did many evangelising work for the good of those souls that had been lost from God, calling on all of them to repent their sins and return to the Lord, and also for those who did not know God to find out more about Him.

Through these examples of our holy predecessors, of the sinners turned saints, I hope all of us can realise better that the Church and the Body of Christian faithful are not made up of only saints who have been deemed righteous and worthy. Those Pharisees and teachers of the Law wanted salvation and God’s blessings and graces only for themselves, the ‘righteous’ ones, while others whom they did not agree with, were those who were unworthy of God’s salvation and grace. The Church is in fact more like a ‘hospital’ for sinners, as God’s mercy, love and compassion bring about healing for the souls of sinners, and where God called all of them to return to Him with repentance and through His forgiveness by which they are all made whole once again.

In our second reading today, we are reminded by St. Paul in his Epistle and letter to the Church and faithful in Thessalonica, that God is the One Who makes us worthy of Him, and not we who make ourselves worthy of Him instead. Our works and deeds, all reflect the nature of our disposition, our faith and our adherence to God and His ways, and not self-justificatory in nature or making us righteous by themselves. That is why it is important that all of us as Christians we must first of all be humble and put God at the centre of our whole life and existence. We should not let the temptations of pride, ego and worldly desires and ambitions to mislead us down the slippery path towards damnation.

We must not let our pride and ego, our hubris and ambition to make us into a self-enclosed and inward looking Church, where only the righteous and the elites have the right to be saved or to be in the presence of God. Let us not forget that each and every one of us are sinners ourselves, regardless of how serious our sins and mistakes may be. And God is always ever ready to welcome us back to His presence and heal us, and He is always patient with us. But it is we who have always shut the door before Him, ignored Him, and even made it difficult for others to follow Him and be forgiven by Him. That is how we end up falling deeper and deeper into our flawed and misguided ways, and unless we make the conscious efforts to return to the Lord with faith, we may end up getting more distant from Him, as we are full of our pride and ego instead of what should have been love for God and for our fellow brothers and sisters.

Let us all hence commit ourselves to a renewal in our faith and a change in our practices, much as our great and holy predecessors had committed themselves to change their ways, from their past wicked and sinful ways into new, faithful and committed way of life in God’s grace and presence. Each and every one of us should also heed the examples of our predecessors and strive our best to live our lives worthily of the Lord and also helping those around us who are struggling in their journey and life. We should not turn a blind eye to their plight, and we should not ignore them or worse still, acting the way many of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done, in ostracising those whom we deem to be less worthy than we are. Remember, that they are our brothers and sisters and are equally beloved by God.

Each one of us as Christians ought to take care of our fellow brethren, and we should always do our best to reach out to others who are in need of guidance and help in our faith. Let us all do our part to be the faithful witnesses of Our Lord’s truth and resurrection, and be the wonderful beacons of God’s light in our world and community today. Let us make the Church of God a truly living, vibrant and missionary Church, one that is always ready to show God’s love, compassion and mercy to more and more people out there. May all of us as God’s people, as His Church, and as those who are called as Christians, be the genuine followers and disciples of God, in all of our lives and actions. May God be with us all and may He strengthen each one of us to be ever courageous and committed in our journey of faith through life. May all of us remain humble and concerned for our fellow brethren in faith, at all times, so that we may always work together to glorify God through our lives and actions. Amen.