Spiritual Capital: Treasures in Heaven
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Lk 12:32-48)
I am intrigued by what one of my former students does for a living. He predicts stock-markets. He appears on TV at breakfast shows forecasting trends in the market and advising investors. He trains people on how to make money sitting at their homes buying and selling shares. I watched a few of his TV-shows. It was all about how to get rich quickly and effortlessly! And his ideas sell.
In this climate of quick money, I asked myself how would people look at religion and spirituality. We are forced to speak a language of economics even in the context of faith: hence my reflection today is on “spiritual capital”. I am aware that this term is already in use in different circles. But the way I use […]
Year C
Year C Sunday Sermons
Sermon for 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C Homily
Ask, Seek, Knock
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Lk 11:1-13)
Let me begin with a story from Tony de Mello – shortened here:
The village priest was a holy man so each time the people were in trouble they had recourse to him. He would then withdraw to a special place in the forest and say a special prayer. God would always hear his prayer and the village would be helped.
When he died and the people were in trouble they had recourse lo his successor who was not a holy man but knew the secret of the special place in the forest and the special prayer. So he said. “Lord, you know I am not a holy man. But surely you are not going to hold that against my people? So listen to my prayer and come to our assistance.” And God would […]
Sermon for 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C Homily
Mary sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak
16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Lk 10:38-42)
One of the realities that we notice in urban life today, across the globe, is speed. Speed. Having spent my recent years in cities like London and Nairobi, I feel sucked into speed. I get into a car every morning and rush to work. Every evening I get back into the car and drive – either cursing the slow driver in front of me or being pushed from behind by a driver who is in a hurry. While in office, I read emails from people who want replies today! Others want a report immediately. Still others let you know of meetings and programmes just now. Meanwhile I want to multitask: producing an article for publication, preparing my lessons, answering phone calls, and […]
Sermon for 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Cycle C Homily
Start off now, I am sending you out…
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Lk 10:1-12, 17-20)
A few years ago, a priest wrote a short reflection in the Diocesan Newsletter of the Archdiocese of Nairobi, Kenya. The reflection was entitled, “Away with Motorcars and Aeroplanes”. The point that he was trying to make in that provocative reflection was that early missionaries had to walk long distances on foot; some others used mules or horses for their journey. They had to use ships to cross oceans. It was much slower in terms of speed, but their message was deeper and far-reaching because of their earnestness and passion. Since many missionaries had to walk they had personal contact with the people; and wherever they stopped over in the course of […]
Sermon for 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C Homily
Follow the Kingdom with a Single-Minded Devotion
There are several films on Jesus. Each movie has its own take on the life and message of Jesus as narrated by the Gospels and, sometimes also, using extra-biblical sources. One of my own favourite films on Jesus is Jesus of Nazareth, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and produced by Rai-Uno, the Italian TV Channel. In fact, it was originally produced as a TV serial in1977, and later distributed in film form in different languages.
There is one particular scene in that film, that is worth recalling here in the context of the gospel text of today. “A picture is worth a thousand words,” they say. Even with the limitation of words in comparison to image, let me attempt to describe the scene: one evening, Jesus and his […]