C’mon and Celebrate!
(Is 25:6-10; Phil 4:12-14,19-20; Mt 22:1-14)
Speaking about food and cultures: an African lady, who used to work for an ethnic Indian family in East Africa, once told me: “You Indians take so much time to cook, but you eat it all so quickly.” As an Indian, I had never thought of that! Come to think of it, it seems so true. Our women spend most of their day cooking – despite the grinding machines and ‘mixies’ these days! Traditionally and even now, in most Indian families, people squatted on the floor while eating, and used their fingers. Both these factors could be accelerating the speed of eating. In a sense, while eating Indians don’t ‘sit at table’, which is the expression used in most Western cultures, implying the connotation that […]
Author: selvam
Sermon for Cycle A – 27th Sunday Homily: Avoiding Spiritual Redundancy
Are you protected against Spiritual Redundancy?
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
(Isaiah 5: 1-7; Psalm 79; Philippians 4: 6-9; Matthew 21: 33-43)
Down-sizing, Redundancy, and laying off are common in the capitalistic world. Often, it is a painful experience for individuals. One danger is for people to take it too personally when they are laid off. In most cases redundancy is not a statement on our self-worth as individuals. Redundancy might have nothing to do with an individual’s talents and skills. Simply, the game of Monopoly that is being played by the corporate world should not make us feel that we are worthless. To the people who have been made redundant, it might seem insensitive to repeat the words of the 2nd reading of today: “There is no need to worry…” […]
Sermon for Cycle A – 26th Sunday Homily: First Impression
First Impression is not good enough in the Kingdom of God
In your social interactions, have you come across individuals who make a very good first impression on you? After a few minutes of conversation with you, they address you by your first name; they talk as if you have known each other for years; and they look at you as if you are the only one who matters to them. And then, after a few months you come across this person and you approach them with the same spirit of familiarity that they exhibited to you in your last meeting, but alas, they don’t know you from Adam! And to add to your disappointment, they are embarrassed, or even show some annoyance that you want a favour from them!
On the other hand, there are others who might look grumpy, aloof […]
Sermon for 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A Homily
God’s ways may not be fair, but they are full of love
It is not fair: At the Nairobi airport, I was once in the company of a large European family – the parents with seven children of varying ages – waiting to board a plane. At one point, the mother began to distribute chocolates to her restless children. Everyone was given a chocolate bar each. Finally, there was one left over. The mum gave it to the eldest girl. One of the other children, who might have been about four years old, blurted out in a spontaneous cry for justice, in a tone that was also uniquely childish, “Mom, that is not fair!” They all had a hearty laughter. While they admired the four-year old for her strong sense of justice, I […]
Sermon for Cycle A – 24th Sunday Sermon: Experiencing Forgiveness
The need to experience forgiveness (Mt 18:21-35)
24th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
When people (especially the young) ask me, why we Catholics have to go to a priest for confession, and why can’t we confess our sins directly to God, I try to offer them several reasons as to why I myself go for confession. One of the more meaningful answers that I give is: I want to hear through a human voice that God has forgiven me. This reason is consistent with the theology of sacraments – visible signs of internal grace.
When I was making the 30-day Ignatian Spiritual Exercises, one of the high points during that retreat was the celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation. After the first eight days of silence and prayer, memories of hurt and guilt […]