Feast of the Holy Family
They settled in a town called Nazareth (Mt 2:23)
One Christmas, I happened to go to two main churches for the day mass in Nairobi; I was surprised to find these churches that are usually very vibrant on other Sundays, empty during Christmas. What had happened, I asked a priest-friend. Simply, people had travelled to their villages of origin (“up-country”, as they referred to Kenya) to celebrate Christmas with their extended families. How interesting, I thought.
Yes, Christmas is indeed a family feast. Not only in Kenya, but all over the world, people come ‘home’ during Christmas.
Therefore, even as we are in the Christmas Octave – eight days of celebration following Christmas – the Church invites us to pay attention to the family around the little Babe Jesus, the Holy […]
Year A
Year A Sunday Sermons
Sermon for the Feast of Christ the King – 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A Homily
What is your preferred style of leadership?
‘Leadership’ is a much discussed topic today, not only in politics but also in the corporate world. Management trainers at business schools discuss concepts such as Servant Leadership, Transformational Leadership, Visionary Leadership, and Shepherd Leadership. Most of these terminologies have their origins in Christian background.
On the other hand, some research findings have suggested that to be a CEO or an MD in some multinationals of the globe one has to be a heartless go-getter, almost bordering the behaviour of a psychopath. They are merely profit-oriented, and care less for human beings.
The feast of today is an occasion to pause and reflect about our own leadership styles. We may not be CEOs or top-brass politicians, but most of us might have a sort of charge over some […]
Sermon for Cycle A – 32nd Sunday Homily: Lamps Full
Wisdom is keeping the Lamps full
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
(Wis 6:12-16; 1The 4:13-18; Mt 25:1-13)
In October 2011, The Tablet, the Catholic Weekly published from the UK, ran a story entitled, “From Catwalk to the Convent”. In the article, Vicky Mitchell gave a personal account of her experience in producing and directing a documentary on “Young Nuns” that was shown on BBC1 in the same week. First of all, after the lull in vocations in the UK since the 1960’s there seems to be some positive signs that more and more young women are considering the possibility of a religious vocation. As the writer spoke to several novice mistresses, priests, vocation promoters, and to 15 young women who were actively discerning a vocation to religious life, she wonders: “The big […]
Sermon for Cycle A – 31st Sunday Homily: Simplicity & Depth
Towards 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 […]
Sermon for Cycle A – 30th Sunday Homily: Loving
30th Sunday of the Year
Love!
It is said that at the time of Jesus the rabbis could count up to 613 commandments contained in the Law: 365 were prohibitions (don’t do this!) and 248 were prescriptive (do this!). Some of the rabbis considered all these commandments to be equally important, while others continued to debate to identify the most important commandment. That is why the Pharisees and Sadducees had reasons to ask Jesus, “Which is the greatest commandment of the Law?” even if their intention was only to put Jesus to the test. Apparently Jesus gives an answer that is similar to those given by some of the rabbis of his time. For instance, there is a story about one rabbi Hillel, who lived a few years before Jesus. A gentile went to […]