Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures we are reminded that God is the source of all power and sovereignty in this world and nothing exists in this world that do not have their origin in God, the true Lord and Master over all things, over the whole entire Universe and all of existence. And yet, at the same time, this Lord and Master of all the Universe is so loving and kind, compassionate and merciful towards us that He wants us all to be loved and taken care of by Him, to be healed from whatever afflictions that affected us all which had caused us to endure sufferings, trials and challenges in our respective lives.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Wisdom, we heard of the words of the author regarding the matter of power and authority in this world, and just as mentioned earlier, how God is the ultimate source of all power and authority, and no one, no king, powers, groups or anything in this world have power or sovereignty that did not come from God. God has entrusted this world in our care and He has entrusted to each one of us respective unique responsibilities and opportunities, which He wants us to embrace courageously and willingly, so that we may indeed make good use of all those things and opportunities that we have been provided with by God.

We should not allow ourselves to be deluded into thinking that we owe the Lord nothing, as it is important that we remember what the author of the Book of Wisdom said, that those who have been given greater power, authority and responsibility, more will be expected and required of them. This is a reminder to each and every one of us that we must always take seriously all the opportunities, expectations and responsibilities entrusted to each one of us in the many diverse areas of our lives. We should not take for granted whatever the Lord has given and entrusted to us, as whatever He has blessed us with, we will have to account for later on in the end. Have we made good use of what God has given to us?

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the occasion when the Lord Jesus encountered ten lepers in the wilderness as He and His disciples were on their journey towards their next mission. At that time, leprosy was a disease that was truly feared as it was a contagious disease that was difficult to be cured, and easily spread between people especially in close quarters. That was why in the Law of God that was presented to the Israelites through Moses, those who contracted leprosy had to wander off in the wilderness away from the rest of the community with the practical intention of preventing further spread of the disease among the people. Those who suffered from the disease could only return if they showed themselves to the priest and the latter certified that they no longer had the leprosy.

And as we heard, the Lord did not fear the lepers who were calling on Him to have mercy on them and He did not distance Himself from them, and He healed them all because of their faith, telling all the ten of them to follow the commandments of the Law and showed themselves to the priest. They obeyed and followed the Lord’s instruction, and was healed along the way. But only a Samaritan among the ten lepers returned to the Lord and thanked Him while the other nine lepers, presumably all Jews, kept on going their way with great joy. The Samaritans were then greatly reviled and hated by the Jews, and were often seen as heretical or even outright pagans by the latter, and yet, here we see a truly great faith that eclipsed that of the others.

We are reminded of two important things through this story of the healing of the ten lepers. First of them is obedience, which the ten lepers did, in obeying the Lord’s words and command, and therefore we should also obey the Lord our God in the same way as well. Although we may be perfectly well physically without any diseases of the flesh unlike those lepers, but we must not forget that we are all sinners, and if we understand sin and how it works against us, sin is no different from leprosy, and is arguably far worse. Sin kept us away from God, just as leprosy kept those who suffered from it from the community of God’s people. And only the Lord alone can heal us from our afflictions of sin, through His mercy and forgiveness, which we ought to be truly thankful for. That is the second important lesson that we should learn from the Samaritan leper, that is of gratitude.

Today, we should all be inspired by the examples set by St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, the saint and martyr whose feast we are celebrating. His great examples in being faithful and loving to God, faith in Him, and also his love and care for his flock, those people entrusted to him by God, all should inspire us all to become better and more dedicated disciples and followers of God ourselves. St. Josaphat Kuntsevych was the Archbishop of  Polotsk over the territories in what is now Belarus and parts of northern Ukraine, where back then there were divisions among the faithful people of God between those who were in Communion with the Pope in Rome and those who were in rebellion against the authority of the Vicar of Christ.

St. Josaphat Kuntsevych was one of the bishops who led the faithful who wished to reconcile themselves to the Bishop of Rome, the Pope and restore the unity of the Church, as part of the efforts known as the Union of Lublin. However, that reunification of the churches did not solve all the problems and divisions that existed, as quite a few among the clergy and the people resisted the efforts at reunification, and struggle to maintain their divisions and independence. St. Josaphat Kuntsevych laboured hard to minister to all of his flock and bridge the differences among his flock, including reaching out to those who resisted the efforts of reunification. He continued working hard despite all the opposition he encountered, and which led to his martyrdom as the mob rose up against him and murdered him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have reflected upon the life and examples shown by the faith and courageous dedication of St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, let us all continue to do our own part to serve the Lord ever more courageously and faithfully at all times. Let us all be good role models and inspiration for one another just like how the saints had been great inspiration for us in how we ought to live up to our faith. May God bless us always, and may He continue to strengthen us with the courage and commitment to continue glorifying Him by our lives, now and always. Amen.