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 led […]
Sunday Sermons
Sunday Sermons and Homilies
4th Sunday of Easter Sermon – Cycle C Homily: Good Shepherd Sunday
4th Sunday of Easter – Year C
I am known to the Shepherd (Jn 10:27-30)
With the increasing urban life, young people of today might think, oranges are just churned out of factories. The only fruits that they may be familiar with are: Apple products, Black-berries and Orange-mobile phone! And with new techniques of farming and animal husbandry, the image of the shepherd may become a by-gone figure.
Today, the 4th Sunday of Easter is celebrated as the Good Shepherd Sunday. We think of the ‘pastoral’ love of God, as we also pray for vocations to priesthood; priests are the ‘pastors’ of the church. Each year, for the gospel reading, we hear one part of John 10. This year, being Year C, we listen to the third part of that chapter. Today, Jesus says, “I know them and they know me; and I […]
Sermon for 3rd Sunday of Eastertide – Cycle C Homily
Peter’s Mentor: The Beloved Disciple
3rd Sunday of Easter – Year C (Jn 21:1-19)
In the liturgy, since the beginning of the Easter Triduum (the three days before Easter), through the Eastertide we hear so much from the Gospel of John. In the passion narrative and in the resurrection accounts of the Gospel of John, suddenly we have a new disciple who is introduced as: “the one whom Jesus loved” (Jn 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20). He is unique to the Gospel of John, and he is unnamed. Being anonymous there is something mysterious about him; there is something mythical about him; and in fact, there is something divine about him. Interpreting this figure within the general style of the Gospel of John – that this Gospel is highly symbolic – I have always […]
Sermon for Divine Mercy Sunday – 2nd Sunday of Easter Homily
2nd Sunday of Easter
The Divine Mercy
(FOR ANOTHER SERMON ON ST THOMAS – CLICK HERE)
Happy feast of Easter! Easter is the prototype of all Christian feasts. It is such a great event that one day of celebration does not suffice. We needed eight days of liturgical celebrations. Yes, today we conclude the Octave of Easter.
On this 2nd Sunday of Easter, every year, we have the same gospel reading, though the other two readings vary. The gospel passage of today from John begins with the narration of the first appearance of the Risen Lord to his apostles on the day of Easter, it goes on then to narrate the appearance of the Risen Lord to Thomas who was absent on the day of the Easter. The latter incident takes place on the eighth day of Easter (like today). Thus the gospel text […]
Easter Homily: an Event or an Experience
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia!
‘Alleluia’ is one expression that we hear so often during Easter. And when we hear a Catholic shouting out ‘Alleluia’ we think, they have become a Pentacostal. What does ‘alleluia’ mean? It simply means, ‘Praise the Lord’! But this praise is also filled with thanksgiving, joy and triumph. Several psalms begin and end with this expression. This is one of those expressions that has come to be used in Christian tradition in its original Hebrew expression, like ‘Amen’ and ‘Hosanna’. ‘Alleluia’ is an apt expression in the context of what we celebrate during Easter – it is simply to praise the lord for his triumph over death.
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia!
The celebration of Resurrection is the first feast that early Christians ever celebrated. In fact it was such a powerful event that […]