Moved with pity… he went up and bandaged his wounds
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Lk 10:25-37)
After the World Youth Day (WYD) in Cologne in the year 2005, I was at the Frankfurt airport waiting for my flight back to Kenya. After waiting in the long queue, it was really disappointing to be told that I was not on that Egyptian Air flight, because I had not reconfirmed my ticket. The group that I had led had no problem – their ticket was reconfirmed, and mine had been neglected by the host parish because mine was a separate ticket. I was stranded. Next possible flight was only after two days. Was I to stay at the airport for those two days? Going back to the parish in Cologne where we had stayed for the WYD would mean extra […]
Year C
Year C Sunday Sermons
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 the Feast of the Holy Trinity – Cycle C Homily
Feast of the Holy Trinity – Year C
Three Persons in One: The God of relationship
Social scientists these days are pointing out the increase of spirituality in the contemporary world, a spirituality that is not only distinct but often separate from institutional religion. According to one author, spirituality refers to individual and personal experiences that are related to “a search for meaning, for unity, for connectedness, for transcendence, and for the highest of human potential.” This spirituality may or may not include belief in a personal God. Some of the people, who follow this path of spirituality-outside-religion, consider ‘god’ in terms of an energy or a universal soul. What could be lacking in such a position is the belief in God who is a person!
The feast of today, once again reminds […]
Sermon for the 6th Sunday in Eastertide – Cycle C Homily
I am going away, and shall return
Have you ever felt that Jesus was absent in your life? Have you ever felt that God was far away?
Saint Mother Teresa (1910-1997) felt like this for five decades. In 1937, for the first time, she writes to her former confessor back at home:
Do not think that my spiritual life is strewn with roses—that is the flower which I hardly ever find on my way. Quite the contrary, I have more often as my companion “darkness.” And when the night becomes very thick—and it seems to me as if I will end up in hell—then I simply offer myself to Jesus. If He wants me to go there—I am ready—but only under the condition that it really makes Him happy. I need much grace, much of Christ’s strength to persevere in trust, in […]
5th Sunday of Easter Sermon – Cycle C Homily – Love One Another
5th Sunday in Eastertide – Year C
Love one another, just as I have loved you
Allow me to begin on a political note. Politicians use the Scriptures and Catholic theology to support their arguments for political convenience. Therefore, it is also our duty, as pastors, to correct and offer more authentic interpretation of the Scriptures and theology.
Vice President of the United States JD Vance, on 30 January 2025, in an interview, referred to the concept of ordo amoris – misinterpreting St Augustine and St Thomas – in defending the foreign aid policies of the second Trump administration, saying, “We should love our family first, then our neighbors, then love our community, then our country, and only then consider the interests of the rest of the world.” The controversy […]