Peter’s Mentor: The Beloved Disciple
3rd Sunday of Easter – Year C (Jn 21:1-19)
In the liturgy, since the beginning of the Easter Triduum (the three days before Easter), through the Eastertide we hear so much from the Gospel of John. In the passion narrative and in the resurrection accounts of the Gospel of John, suddenly we have a new disciple who is introduced as: “the one whom Jesus loved” (Jn 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20). He is unique to the Gospel of John, and he is unnamed. Being anonymous there is something mysterious about him; there is something mythical about him; and in fact, there is something divine about him. Interpreting this figure within the general style of the Gospel of John – that this Gospel is highly symbolic – I have always […]
Sunday Sermons
Sunday Sermons and Homilies
Sermon for Divine Mercy Sunday – 2nd Sunday of Easter Homily
2nd Sunday of Easter
The Divine Mercy
(FOR ANOTHER SERMON ON ST THOMAS – CLICK HERE)
Happy feast of Easter! Easter is the prototype of all Christian feasts. It is such a great event that one day of celebration does not suffice. We needed eight days of liturgical celebrations. Yes, today we conclude the Octave of Easter.
On this 2nd Sunday of Easter, every year, we have the same gospel reading, though the other two readings vary. The gospel passage of today from John begins with the narration of the first appearance of the Risen Lord to his apostles on the day of Easter, it goes on then to narrate the appearance of the Risen Lord to Thomas who was absent on the day of the Easter. The latter incident takes place on the eighth day of Easter (like today). Thus the gospel text of […]
Reflections for the Holy Week
(First click on “Continue Reading”. Then click on links)
Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday)
Sermon 1: The mystery of suffering and resurrection
Sermon 2: The day of contradictions
Maundy Thursday
1. The Sacrificial Meal
2. The Mystery of the Eucharist
Good Friday
Commentary for the Liturgy of Good Friday
Homily1. Why did Jesus have to die?
Homily 2. The Mystery of Suffering
VIA CRUCIS by Selvam
Easter Sunday
Commentary on the Liturgy of Easter Vigil
1. Easter: an Event or an Experience
2. The Resurrection – a meditation
3. Resurrection – Selvam’s Video Reflection
Via Lucis
Like the Way of the Cross, there is a devotion approved by the Church for use during Eastertide. See the links below for three versions of the Via Lucis.
1. Via Lucis 1 – with hymns and readings
2. Via Lucis 2 – with short reflections
3. Via Lucis 3 – with Scripture Reading
Sermon for the Palm Sunday – Cycle C Homily
The King on a Pony en route to Die
Palm Sunday (Cycle C) – Lk 19:28-40
(Before the Procession)
Today we begin the week of weeks in the liturgical calendar: the Holy Week. Today we begin the commemoration of the high points in the history of salvation: the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus – the Paschal Mystery. Today we accompany Jesus on his solemn entry into Jerusalem where he will suffer, die and rise again. Yet, this day is a day of contradictions.
The King on a Donkey’s Back
In the gospel of Luke Jesus is on this single, long journey that he started from the little village of Nazareth (Lk 4:42-44) to the capital of the Jewish world – Jerusalem. Now he is almost there nearing his destiny. It is going to be a solemn entry, almost as if a King is […]
Sermon for the 5th Sunday of Lent – Cycle C Homily
Grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ
5th Sunday in Lent (Cycle C) – Jn 8:1-11
Sometime back, I was participating in a training in Spiritual Accompaniment. During the days of training we also had ample time for personal prayer and reflection. One of the meaningful discoveries that I made during that week was to pray by just doodling. After every period of prayer, I would make some pencil drawings to relive my moment of prayer. I realised that these ‘childish’ drawings helped me a great deal in deepening the feelings that I had experienced during prayer. I discovered that, perhaps, doodling could be a non-verbal expression of the process of integrating our thoughts and feelings.
In the gospel passage of today we see Jesus writing on the ground, in a manner that could be considered very similar to doodling. I would […]