Sermon for Cycle A – 31st Sunday Homily: Simplicity & Depth

SimplicityTowards Simplicity and Depth
(Mal 1:14-2:2, 8-10; 1The 2:7-9,13; Mt 23:1-12)
 I had a dream.  I insist it was only a dream.
White smoke was spewing out of the chimney of the Sistine chapel of theVatican.   “Habemus Papam,” they announced.  Next thing, I saw was, the new pope at his window.  But he looked just ordinary: there was nothing of scarlet on him; he was dressed in normal clothes, no ring on his finger, no mitre, he just had a simple cross hanging down his neck.  As the spontaneous cheer of the thousands gathered at St Peter’s went quiet, as the scene was beamed to millions in their homes across the globe, and as the cameras zoomed in, the new pope began to speak: “Simplicity and Depth”, he said […]

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Sermon for Cycle A – 33rd Sunday Homily: God the Gambler

God is a gambler! He takes risks with me.
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
(Prov 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; 1The 5:1-6; Mt 25:14-30)
 Not long ago, I was at HeathrowAirport, London, waiting to be called for boarding.  With all the war against terrorism, air-travelling is becoming increasingly annoying these days.  I had to throw away my cherished bottle of water at the point of security check!  I needed another bottle to survive the long flight.  So I went to buy it from one of those kiosks near the boarding gate.  I picked up a one-litre bottle that was priced at £1.20p (one pound and twenty pence).  When I went to pay at the till, the woman there told me with a smile: “We have a special offer today. If you bought The Times newspaper the water is for free. It costs £1 (one pound)!”  Is it a way of forcing […]

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