From Religious Traditions to Religious Spirituality
Some of the recent, popular books in the study of religion include, Why God Won’t Go Away?, God is Back, and A New Religious America. What these books suggest is that secularism as a social phenomenon is on the decline. Perhaps human beings are growing out of their adolescent rebellion against God. On the other hand, what religious people will have to witness is the fast rise of a new type of ‘spirituality’ – a non-aligned spirituality. For instance, a recent cross-cultural study indicates that 40 per cent of American respondents and 20 per cent of German respondents describe themselves as ‘spiritual-but-not-religious.’ In other words, the current development seems to point out that, after all, secularism was not a rebellion against God and the matters of […]
Year B
Year B Sunday Sermons
Passion Sunday/Good Friday Sermon – Homily
The Passion Week: The mystery of suffering and resurrection
Elie Weisel, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a survivor of the concentration camp, in his book, Night, tells a story of a young boy who was hanged by the SS men. The young boy was going to be hanged together with two other adults. This cruel show was to be witnessed by thousands of other prisoners including Elie Weisel. The child had the face of a ‘sad-eyed angel’; he was silent, lividly pale and almost calm as he ascended the gallows. Behind Weisel, one of the other prisoners asked: “Where is God? Where is He?” It took the boy more than half an hour to die, while the other prisoners were forced to look him in the face. The same man asked again: ‘Where is God now?’ And Weisel heard a […]
7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Sermon – Year B Homily
7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Sermon – Year B Homily
Key Text: Mk 2:1-5
Faith is seeing a roof, when the door is closed
There was once a man who believed that he was dead. He put himself on the bed and told people round him, “I am dead.” He stopped eating, drinking and going about his normal life. His people were getting worried. Doctors were called in. But none was able to convince the ‘sick’ man that he was not dead. Finally, there came a psychotherapist. The therapist asked the sick man, ‘So, you are dead’? ‘Yes, I am dead.’ ‘Do dead bodies feel pain? The therapist went on. ‘The sick man knew the right answer, ‘No, they don’t!’ And the therapist said, ‘So we are going to perform a test on you. We will know for […]
Sunday Readings
The readings of the Liturgy of the Word during Sunday liturgy in the Catholic Church (as also is the case in some mainline churches) is arranged in a three year cycle:
Cycle A: From the Gospel of Matthew
Cycle B: From the Gospel of Mark
Cycle C: From the Gospel of Luke
How to find the respective cycle for a given year?
Divide the year (eg.2011) by 3. If the reminder is 1 then we follow the readings of Cycle A. If the reminder is 2 then we use the readings of Cycle B. If the reminder is 0 (that is, it is divisible by 3) then Cycle C.
To get the reminder, there is a short-cut: add all the digits of the numerical year (2+0+1+1=4). Divide the value by 3 (4/3).
In 2011 we are following the Cycle A. Next year (2012) will be Cycle B. And 2013 will be cycle C.