Jesus, the Shepherd, is the Gate to Abundant Life
(Jn 10:1-10)
As we turn the pages of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament), we see that God has an uncontested predilection for shepherds: Abel, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Prophet Amos, and the list can go on. John Bosco, the founder of my religious order also was a shepherd boy! You see, God seems to have a predilection for the shepherds, because shepherds make very dedicated leaders. When it comes to taking care of their flock – their people – they can even put themselves at risk.
Today is the 4th Sunday of Easter. Every year, this Sunday is celebrated as the Good Shepherd Sunday and Vocations Sunday. Each year, for the gospel reading, we hear one part of John 10. This year, being Year A, we listen to the first part of […]
Year A
Year A Sunday Sermons
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 – […]
Sermon for Cycle A – 2nd Sunday of Advent
“As they were baptised they confessed their sins”
A priest went to hear confessions of boys in a boarding school. As the priest went to this place every Saturday to hear confessions, he would find about 10 to 15 boys lining up for confession. On this particular day, he found seven of them already forming the queue for confession. The first boy came and said, “Father, we threw peanut into the pond.” The priest gave his absolution, and off went the boy. The second boy came and said, “Father, during the last week, we threw peanut into the pond near our playground.” The priest gave his absolution. The third boy came and said more or less the same sin. And so did the six boys. Finally, the seventh boy came. By this time the priest was really bored, and the boy could even begin to say anything the priest asked him, […]
Sermon for Cycle A – 3rd Sunday of Advent
Spirituality of Waiting
A few months back, I had to travel across London on a weekday during the morning rush hour to preside at a Eucharistic celebration. The internet estimated that my journey would take about an hour and a half, but I left a little bit late. As I sat anxiously on the London Tube (underground train) wishing somehow that the train should run faster, I began to have a look at the people who sat around me: a few were trying to catch up with their make up, some were catching up with their breakfast, others were catching up with the news, and still others either fidgeting with an electronic toy (like the mobile phone or ipad), or listening to music. And suddenly an insight came to me, as if a voice from heaven. It said, “Why are you rushing all the time trying to catch up with something? […]