30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
HE and I (Lk 18:9-14)
A few years ago, I came up with this definition of prayer: “Prayer is becoming aware of who I am in the presence of God.” I could also consistently explain the different forms of prayers within this definition. When I become aware of my dependence on God, it is the prayer of intercession. When I become aware of my sinfulness, I begin the prayer of repentance. When I become aware of what God has done for me, I express it in prayer of praise and thanksgiving.
I was quite fond of using this definition in my retreats with young people. It was very impressive. But that was until one day. That fine day this beautiful definition was threatened by a question from a young participant. “Father,” she said, “What is God […]
Author: selvam
Secularisation among Lapsed-Christian Youth in Nairobi
Secularisation and Spirituality among Lapsed-Christian Young Adults in Nairobi: An Exploratory Study of the Antecedents, Triggers, and Response
Abstract
African scholars have claimed that African peoples are “notoriously religious”. Is this still the case? Empirical literature on the subject is meagre. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the antecedents, triggers and response of secularisation and spirituality among lapsed-Christian young adults in Nairobi, Kenya, the participants were aged between 18 and 35, who were baptised but have abandoned Christian faith in favour of secularisation or non-affiliated spirituality. Qualitative data, from semi-structured in-depth interviews among the 14 participants, sampled through a snowball process, was recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed by the two authors. Eleven emerging themes were identified from 10 h of data. The first two themes […]
Sermon for 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C Homily
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
(Lk 18:1-8)
‘… a parable about the need to pray continually…’ (Lk 18:1)
Emergency numbers and frequently dialled numbers
Wherever in the world you are, today, you can have access to emergency services just by ‘dialling’ a few numbers on your telephone. Do you know the emergency number(s) in your own country? In the UK, it is 999; in the European Union it is 112, and in some countries it is 911. In some other countries there are separate numbers to call the police, fire services, or medical assistance. I recently read in the internet that the first emergency number system to be deployed, anywhere in the world, was in London. It was on 30 June 1937 that ‘999’ was first dialled and a special red light […]
Pastoral Supervision: Managing Psychosocial Challenges in Priestly Ministry
Pastoral Supervision: Managing Psychosocial Challenges in Priestly Ministry
Selvam, S.G. (2022). Pastoral Supervision: Managing Psychosocial Challenges in Priestly Ministry. In S. Fernando, J. & Jeyaraj, (eds.) Care for the Priests (pp.21-34). Chennai: Don Bosco Publications.
Engagement in pastoral commitments involves intrapersonal and interpersonal experiences of psychosocial nature. These include: dynamics of euphoria and dysphoria following public engagements, emotional overload and affective enmeshment, transference and counter-transference, and power disparity. Priests, especially those young in ministry, might mistake these states for boredom, depression, temptations, and discouragement. Seminary formation does not prepare them adequately to handle these nuanced experiences. Without understanding what is happening to them, they might get into a downward spiral of addictions and unhealthy relationships. What could be a support system that they can rely on. The current chapter proposes pastoral supervision as an […]
Sermon for 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C Homily
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
He threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him (Lk 17:11-19)
During the Ordinary Time of the year, for Sunday liturgy we normally listen to a particular Gospel. This year we are listening to the Gospel of Luke. The first reading is selected from the Old Testament in such a way as to correspond to the gospel text, while the 2nd reading from the Epistles follows its own sequence. Today, the first reading and the gospel text have extraordinary similarities. Both are stories about lepers being healed; in both stories there are expressions of gratitude; and both are about outsiders!
Let us begin by looking at some of the interesting details in the gospel text of today so as to appreciate the context of the story, and then we can reflect a […]