31st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
Faithfulness to God seems to be the message of today’s readings. In the first reading from Book of the Prophet Malachi, God condemns the actions of His priests saying, “O priests, this commandment is for you: If you do not listen, if you do not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, says the LORD of hosts, I will send a curse upon you and of your blessing I will make a curse. You have turned aside from the way, and have caused many to falter by your instruction; you have made void the covenant of Levi, says the LORD of hosts. I, therefore, have made you contemptible and base before all the people, since you do not keep my ways, but show partiality in your decisions.”
Saint Paul in his first Letter to the Thessalonians, today’s second reading, reminds them that it was because of his faithfulness to God that he and the other apostles were gentle among them, as a nursing mother cares for her children. With such affection for them, they (St. Paul, the apostles and his disciples) were determined to share with the Thessalonians not only the gospel of God, but their very selves as well. Then in the gospel reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus warns the scribes and the Pharisees of their pride, and urges them to change their ways by serving God faithfully through the virtue of humility.
My dear friends, we, the clergy, the religious and the laity) have turned our Catholic faith into a sham. We have imbibed the life of pride, false piety and hypocrisy like the scribes and pharisees. We do things just to please others and not God. We participate in the life of the church for fame, for our own personal selfish interests, purposes, gains, praises, attention, and applauses from people. This is why today’s message on faithfulness to God is so important and essential. Faithfulness is the quality of being faithful, showing fidelity, being committed and being steadfast in affection or allegiance. It means being firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty. Faithfulness comes from a place of trust and loyalty as explained in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1, which states, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” So, faithfulness to God entails putting God first, being loyal to Him, trusting Him, and being true to Him.
Are you faithful to God? Are you loyal to Him? Do you trust in Him? Are you true to Him as a disciple of Christ?
Brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s readings call us to truly serve God as His children, with humility as Jesus emphasized when He said, “the greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” So let us heed Jesus’s call to serve Him faithfully with humility by being loyal to Him, by trusting in Him, and by being true to Him as His disciples.
