Sermon for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A Homily

June 28, 2023June 30, 2023 selvam Year A

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A
Discipleship (Mt 10: 37-42)

We continue to listen to the “Missionary Instructions” of Jesus (Mt 10) addressed to his apostles as he sends them out on their mission to the Jewish villages. These instructions also capture elements of discipleship that feature more explicitly in the Gospels of Mark and Luke. There are two important themes, that are related to each other, that emerge in the gospel of text of today. The first part is an invitation to surrender, and the second part is a promise of reward. Let us reflect on these two themes.
An Invitation to Surrender

Discipleship is marked by a sense of clinging to something beyond ourselves. To be able to cling to the master, the disciple has to go through a process of self-emptying. That […]

Sermon for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A Homily

June 22, 2023June 24, 2023 selvam Year A

12th Sunday – Cycle A
Do not be Afraid! (Mt 10:26-33)
This is the 2nd Sunday after the celebrations of the Easter festivals and the follow on. This being Year A in liturgy, we continue with the Gospel of Matthew. One of the explicit characteristics of Matthew is that it was written in and for a Jewish community. Hence to understand that Gospel we need to be conscious of the Jewish background. Flowing from this setting, an interesting detail in the Gospel is that Matthew collects various sayings of Jesus delivered at different contexts into a compendium, breaks them into five parts, and places them at five locations, demarking the Gospel into “five-books” symbolically representing the five books of the Torah! Have a look at this:
Part 1 – Sermon on the […]

The Role of University President in Institutionalisation of Service Learning

May 12, 2023May 12, 2023 selvam Articles/Chapters

The Role of University President in Institutionalisation of Service Learning in Higher Education
Citation: Selvam, S.G. (2023). The Role of University President in Institutionalisation of Service Learning in Higher Education. In Chantal J., et al. Institutionalization of Service-Learning in Higher Education, (pp.199-219). Buenos Aires: CLAYSS.
Abstract
Service Learning (SL) is understood as a reciprocal relationship between the learners and the beneficiaries of a social engagement initiative run by the learners, in which the learners are accompanied by the lecturer to integrate the encounter into their mainstream learning by means of systematic reflection. This method of teaching and learning is becoming a common phenomenon in institutions of higher education across the globe. In order to make it sustainable, the initiatives and processes around SL need to be institutionalised. The aim of this book-chapter is to reflect on the role of the University President in […]

Sermon for 5th Sunday of Easter – Year A Homily

May 4, 2023May 6, 2023 selvam Year A

open-bible-man-walking1sm 5th Sunday of Easter – Year A
Service at Table and Service of the Word (Acts 6:1-7)
In the first reading of today we have an interesting story of conflict resolution in the early church. Earlier in the Acts of the Apostles we read (Acts 4:32-35): “The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul; no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, as everything they owned was held in common.”
Soon, this ideal communal life was threatened by selfishness of individuals and clannish mentality among groups (see Acts 5). In Chapter 6, as we heard in the first reading of today, we have a story of neglect of the minority group in the access to the resources of the community. Hebrews, of course, being the majority in the community in Jerusalem, and […]

Sermon for 2nd Sunday of Easter – Homily

April 14, 2023April 15, 2023 selvam Year A

From a Communitarian faith to a Personal Experience of Jesus
Today, as we conclude the octave of Easter – eight day celebration of this great feast – the Gospel passage of today concludes the series of events that we heard read on the morning of Easter, eight days ago. John 20: 1-10 was the Gospel of the liturgy of the Easter morning. It narrated to us how Mary Magdalene went to the tomb, found it empty and came to tell the apostles. On hearing this Peter and the Beloved disciple ran to the tomb, they saw the empty tomb and the linen; and the Beloved Disciple believed in the resurrection. The following section of the gospel of John (20:11-18), the one about Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene was read during liturgy on Tuesday. Today we heard read the remaining sections […]