Isaiah 63:7-9 / Colossians 3:12-17 / Luke 12:22-31
54 years may not seem like that long a time. Even if a person is 54 years old, he cannot be considered that old, at the same time, not that young either.
Probably the appropriate word to use would be matured. Yes, a 54-year-old person can be considered matured.
A nation celebrating 54 years of independence can also be considered matured. Yes, after 54 years of independence, it can be said that our country has come of age.
The theme for this year's National Day is “Our Singapore” and it is to commemorate our Singapore bicentennial and also to tell Our Singapore story from past to present. “Our” emphasises the collective ownership of Singapore. We are living the hopes and dreams of our pioneers, and we are now the pioneers of our future for our country.
To be matured means that we have a past as well as a future. The lessons of the past had formed our maturity and we look at the future with the lessons learnt from the past.
That also means that we and our country must be firmly grounded in the present. We must be grounded in values and principles, in law and order, so that there will be peace, progress and prosperity for our nation and our country.
The gospel brings us back to this firm grounding as Jesus reminds us to set our hearts on the kingdom of God and then our needs, our hopes and dreams will be a reality.
We are reminded in the 2nd reading that we are God's chosen race, that He loves us, and we should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience.
We are called to be pioneers of those values for our country so that we can look at the future with hopes and dreams that are firmly grounded in love.
With faith in God, let us also invoke His blessings on us and on our nation and our country that the Lord will watch over us and guards from all dangers and grant us His peace.