Spirituality of the Essential: Christian Responsibility towards the Environment
The message of John the Baptist in the gospel text of last Sunday (2nd Sunday in Advent – year C) was, “Prepare a way for the Lord…” (Lk 3:4). After hearing this message, we see in the gospel text of today people going to him and asking him, “What must we do” (Lk 3:10). How do we prepare for the coming of the messiah? His general message to everyone is ‘Charity’. His message to the tax collectors is, ‘Justice’. And to the soldiers, “Be content!” John the Baptist seems to be well aware of the situations of each group and quite down to earth in his proposals.
So I too went to John the Baptist. “What about me? What must I do?” I asked. He said, “Live simply. Live a spirituality of the essential.” It took some time for me to realise that […]
Month: February 2011
Wellbeing through Mindfulness
Wellbeing through Meditation Techniques:
Will the Catholic Church Market its Hidden Treasure?
Last month, as part of my present doctoral research project in the psychology of religion I attended a workshop on ‘Mindfulness’. The one-day workshop that was held at the Maudsley Hospital, London, was led by a renowned American scholar and practitioner of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Dr. Allan Wallace. The day’s events consisted of practice sessions, and discussions on the possible use of Mindfulness techniques in maintaining and restoring health – physical and mental. The small hall was crowded with Mindfulness-enthusiasts including medical doctors from the Maudsley Hospital and researchers from the psychiatry research department of King’s College. As the only Asian in that hall, given my previous background in Buddhism and training in the Vipassana technique of meditation, I could not help asking myself: why all this enthusiasm about an Oriental tradition among Western scholars? What has become of all […]
Good Friday Homily: Why did Jesus Die?
Good Friday
Why was the Son of God crucified?
Why was Jesus of Nazareth killed?
In an attempt to interpret history we can say that Jesus of Nazareth was a victim of one of the methods of capital punishment in the Roman Empire: crucifixion.
The build-up to this mishandling of justice was marred by the interplay of institutionalised religion and corrupt politics.
Jesus of Nazareth had gone around the land of Palestine stretching from Galilee in the North to Judea in the South, and across Samaria, for a period of three years, proclaiming a new message – the good news of the Kingdom of God! God is here and now! God can be called, ‘Our Father’. This was the core of his message. This carpenter from Nazareth had gathered a band of disciples who called him, ‘rabbi’. Some people thought he was a prophet – […]