But you, who do you say I am? (Mt 16:13-20)
21 Sunday – Year A
In my mother tongue, Tamil, while speaking about great people, speakers and writers often refer to: “the Buddha, Jesus and Gandhi”. These three persons are mentioned as a matter of fact in the same breath. We Christians may feel proud that even non-Christians refer to Jesus as a great man. Looking at it at a deeper level, this expression may not reflect the authentic experience of Jesus.
Who then is Jesus for you? Is he merely a great man? The gospel text of today once again invites us to reflect on this question.
This event – of Jesus asking his disciples – “Who do people say the Son of man is?” and “But you, who […]
Year A
Year A Sunday Sermons
Sermon for 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A Homily
Jesus insults a Canaanite Woman (Mt 15:21-28)
Thanks to our easy means of communication and fast means of travel today, many of us enjoy the privilege of constantly coming in contact with people and places that are new to us, that are strange to us, that are different from our own. The Word of God today invites us to examine our attitude towards ‘strangers’ in the light of Jesus’ own mission to the nations. Do we still look at others in terms of in-group and out-group categories?
Jesus, being a man of his culture, also had to refine his own attitude towards the “out-group”. And this ability of Jesus to learn even from a woman of the “out-group”, and his openness to discern the will of His Father through this woman, would determine the future of […]
Sermon for 19th Sunday: Elijah Encounters God
“After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.”
The gospel text of today – the 19th Sunday in Cycle A – narrates to us how the disciples encounter Jesus walking on the water. The first reading narrates to us how Elijah encounters the Lord God in a “whispering sound” or as NRSV has it, “a sound of sheer silence,” on Mt Horeb. What would it mean for us?
The first question to ask is: what state is Elijah in before the encounter? As soon as Elijah reaches the cave on Horeb, before the encounter, Yahweh asks him, “Why are you here, Elijah?” (1Kg 18:9). Why would the all-knowing God ask a mere mortal such a question? Can’t he see where is Elijah, and what he is doing? And why he […]
Sermon for 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A Homily
When you are one with Jesus, you do what he does!
The gospel narrative of the 18th Sunday in Cycle A is about feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fish. The story in the gospel reading of today is what follows immediately after that feeding. To understand the meaning of the reading of today, we need to ask an intriguing question: in whose hands did the miracle of the loaves really take place? What do I mean? Did Jesus take the loaves and the fish, put a veil around them or ask the people to close their eyes, and say the magic words, ‘Abracadabra’ (by the way, this is Aramaic – the mother-tongue of Jesus, the equivalent of the Indian version, ‘zee-boom-bah’), pull away the veil, and behold, an […]
Sermon for 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A Homily: Loaves & Fish
“And they all ate and were satisfied” (Mt 14:20)
One of my academic interests is to examine the psychological impact of Christian contemplative practice on people. A pattern emerges from the formal interviews that I have conducted, and the informal conversation that I have had. The participants speak of what I call, ‘a 3D spirituality,’ there is an upward movement of the heart towards God, there is an inward movement towards the self, and there is an outward movement towards others. This is something I strive for in my own personal life, and I offer opportunity for people to experience through my own ministry. These days I add a fourth dimension to this, inspired by the spirit of the Laudato Si’: the outward journey is also towards the rest of creation!
3D Spirituality. In […]