Sermon for 6th Sunday in Eastertide – Year B Homily

May 6, 2021May 7, 2021 selvam Year B

6th Sunday in Eastertide – Year B
Love one another, as I have loved you (Jn 15:12)
From the Golden Rule to a Programme of Life
Many Diocesan Catechisms, after listing the Ten Commandments would immediately add, “And these can be summarised in two Commandments:

‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’ (from Deuteronomy 6:5), and
‘You must love your neighbour as yourself’” (from Leviticus 19:18).

The official Catechism of the Catholic Church (1993) does not add this appendage, but it groups the Ten Commandments in two sections using the two quotations (from Deuteronomy and Leviticus) referring to the Love of God and the Love of Neighbour as titles for the two groups. For the purposes of teaching it is useful to group the Ten Commandments in the two tablets of Moses: the […]

Sermon for Cycle A – 30th Sunday Homily: Love

October 24, 2014November 20, 2014 selvam Year A

Love!
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
(Ex 22:20-26; 1The 1:5c-10; Mt 22:34-40)
I write this reflection fromKigali,Rwanda. It has not been that easy to write this for several reasons. TodayKigalilooks very beautiful – perhaps the most beautiful African city I have ever visited. People are all smiles – very friendly and cordial. But in 1994, this was the epicentre of the grotesque story where neighbours and friends turned against each other. In a matter of three months almost one million people were killed, just because they belonged to two different social groups. As much as 20% of the population was wiped out in a nation that boasts of perhaps the highest Christian population in the African continent: with almost 95% Christians, and 56% Catholic!
It is easy to raise questions about how these Christians lived the commandment or love, or failed to practise it! Doing a soul-searching myself, I know, I […]

Lecture 8: Character Strengths of Altruism: Kindness, Love, Forgiveness

December 23, 2013January 5, 2014 selvam Uncategorized

Kindness
Kindness, generosity, nurturance, care, compassion, altruistic love, and “niceness” are closely related terms that indicate “a common orientation of the self toward the other” (Peterson & Seligman, 2004, p.326). Kindness consists in doing favours or good deeds to others, while compassion is more related to the emotion evoked at the sufferings of others. Compassion becomes significant when the troubles of the other person are serious, not self-inflicted, and the agent of compassion is able to picture oneself in the same predicament as the one in trouble (Cassell, 2005, p.435). Assessing kindness involves very practical indicators as in:

I have voluntarily helped a neighbour in the last month.
I always call my friends when they are sick

Love
Peterson and Seligman attempt to define love in terms of psychology:
Love represents a cognitive, behavioural, and emotional stance toward others that takes three prototypical forms. One is love for the individuals who are our primary sources […]

Faith, Hope and Love as expressions of human transcendence: Insights from Positive Psychology

December 14, 2010December 14, 2011 selvam Uncategorized

Faith, Hope and Love as expressions of human transcendence: Insights from Positive Psychology
How to cite this article: Selvam, S.G. (2010). Faith, Hope and Love as expressions of human transcendence: Insights from Positive Psychology. A paper presentation at the postgraduate interdisciplinary conference on Faith, Hope and Love. London: Heythrop College.
Abstract
The aim of this conceptual paper is to explore the meaning of faith, hope and love from the perspective of positive psychology. Within this theoretical framework, faith, hope and love can be seen as human expressions of transcendence. Faith is the acceptance of, and a response to, a greater power. Hope is the expression of ultimate concerns, and flows from an adequate grasp of the meaning of life and existence. Love, or altruism, is the choice to enter into relationships with others that enhance the humanity of those in the relationship. All these presuppose an attitude of breaking the boundaries of selfhood […]