The Last Days of Hope
33rd Sunday – Year B (Mk 13:24-32)
Everything comes to an end
We are moving towards the end of the liturgical year. Next Sunday will be the feast of Christ the King. And the following Sunday will be the first Sunday in Advent – the new year in the liturgical calendar. The Liturgy of the Word today takes advantage of this time of the year to remind us of a difficult theme, namely, the end of times!
The theme of ‘the end of times’ or ‘the end of the world’ is indeed a difficult one. So are the readings of today. Similar passages from the Gospels, together with the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelations, are the most misinterpreted texts in the Bible. I personally found the preparation of this reflection quite difficult. For sure, these texts cannot […]
Sunday Sermons
Sunday Sermons and Homilies
Sermon for 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B Homily: The Widow!
She put in everything she possessed
Mark 12:38-44
Two months ago, in the company of 12 others, I did a pilgrimage of 224 kms in Kenya, from the national shrine of Mary Mother of God in Subukia to the Shrine of Mary Help of Christians in Nairobi. In the 8-day journey, we were using Catholic churches as our stop-overs for the night. When we reach our destination after walking an average of 30 kms, we would have mass with the people at 5pm, then have our dinner at 6pm and retire to rest after some reflections of the day. Out of the journey, one of the powerful memories that I carry is the generosity of rural women. On the 2nd day, after our mass with the parish people, one elderly woman came to one member of our group, she gave her about […]
Sermon for 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B Homily: Love!
Three Dimensional Spirituality
31st Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B
I am more and more convinced that when someone gets deep into prayer life, they live a three dimensional spirituality marked by an inward journey towards the self; an upward journey towards God, and an outward journey towards others and the rest of creation.
This, I think, is also the central theme of the gospel text of today. Which is the first of the commandments? There are two firsts, and the second is tied up with the first “You must love the Lord your God… You must love your neighbour… as yourself.”
Which is the first of the commandments?
It is said that at the time of Jesus the rabbis could count up to 613 commandments contained in the Law: 365 were prohibitive or “proscriptive” (don’t do this!) and 248 were prescriptive (do […]
Sermon for 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B Homily: Bartimaeus
The 3 C’s of Bartimaeus: Crowd, Cloak and Conclusion
30th Sunday – Year B (Mk 10:46-52)
I thought I would start my sermon with, “True or False?” Are you ready? The following statements are based on the text of the gospel of today. If you agree to the following statements you simply raise your hands with an open palm, if you disagree with the statement then you show a clenched fist. So, true or false? Here we go…
1. The father of the blind man in today’s gospel was called, Timaeus (v.46).
2. Bartimaeus was not born blind (v.51).
3. Jesus hears our voices even when we pray amidst the noise of the crowd – amidst distractions (v.48).
4. The blind man went to Jesus naked (v.50).
5. The blind man was disobedient to the words of Jesus (v.52).
The gospel of today, the final section […]
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time Sermon – Year B homily
6th Sunday in Ordinary time – Year B
“Of course I want to! Be cured” (Mk 1:40-45):
Effect of Encounter with Jesus – holistic wellbeing
Here is a one-line summary of my reflection: The result of an authentic encounter with Jesus is a holistic wellbeing!
For my PhD work, I sampled some 25 young people in Nairobi, taught them an ancient method of prayer: the Jesus Prayer. They practiced it individually and in groups for 10 weeks. At the end of that period, I interviewed ten of the participants and collected the journal-entries of ten others, while all participants took a battery of psychological tests. One of the findings that emerged from the interviews and journal entries is that the practice of the Jesus Prayer is associated with transformation at three levels: at the level of the individual self in terms of greater […]