4th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A
Blessed are you…
In October 2000, I had the privilege of visiting the home village of the late Julius Nyerere, the father of the nation of Tanzania. We were visiting the grave of this great Catholic, now a Servant of God and whose process of beatification is still in progress. In this dusty little village – Butiama, not far from Lake Victoria – world’s great leaders had gathered a year earlier to lay to rest the remains of the first president of Tanzania. It was an awesome experience to note that an African president had spent his early days and the final days in this remote simple location: with no drive, no gates, no green lawn, no mansions. As I stood praying at his grave, […]
Author: selvam
Sermon for 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A Homily
3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A
“At once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him” (Mt 4:12-23)
The gospel text of today from Matthew narrates to us the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus in Capernaum. It was one of the principal towns around the lake of Galilee. It was on the trade route between the southern nations (that included even Egypt) and the northern lands of Syria and even Turkey. The Romans had established a customs office at Capernaum and a garrison managed by a centurion. Traders had to give a large rate of tax for unprocessed goods like grain and olives. Therefore, it is possible that besides the fishing industry Capernaum had a lot of processing units where grains were milled into flours and olives pressed […]
Sermon for 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A Homily
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A
The Life Journey of John the Baptist (Jn 1:29-34)
In the liturgical calendar, we are back to the ordinary time. But in our gospel reading there is an attempt to make the liturgy of today special. Perhaps it is just to remind us that every Eucharistic celebration is special! As we are in Year A, we should have been listening to the Gospel of Matthew. But our gospel text for today came from the Gospel of John, as is the case every year on the 2nd Sunday in ordinary time. The liturgy of the 2nd Sunday invites us once again to focus on the figure of John the Baptist as if to bridge the season of Advent and Christmas with the rest of the year. What can we learn from John the Baptist? John invites us […]
Sermon for 4th Sunday in Advent – Year A Homily
“You must name him Jesus” (Mt 1:21)
4th Sunday of Advent – Year A
We are all aware of the annunciation of angel Gabriel to Mary. When we think of annunciation, we only think of the annunciation to Mary (Lk 1:26-38). It is interesting to note that there are at least two other annunciation stories in the gospels, prior to the birth of Jesus. These two stories are actually about annunciation to two men. The first is in the Gospel of Luke that speaks of the annunciation to Zachariah (Lk 1:10-23) of the birth of John. The second story is in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew does not have an annunciation to Mary. Only Luke has it. Matthew, on the other hand, has a story of annunciation to Joseph. It is this story that we heard read in the gospel of […]
Sermon for 3rd Sunday in Advent – Year A Homily
Spirituality of Waiting
3rd Sunday in Advent – Cycle A
While still in London, one day, I had to travel across the city 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 to push that train to 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 […]