“In three days I will raise it up”
3rd Sunday in Lent – Year B (Jn 2:13-25).
To watch my video reflection on the Temple of Jerusalem on Youtube, CLICK HERE.
As we may well be aware, the Liturgy of the Word for Sundays in the Catholic liturgy is laid out in a three-year cycle. During Lent, the Year A cycle uses the Gospel of John, with passages particularly relevant for those who are preparing for baptism during Easter. This year, we are using the Year B cycle, basically reading from the Gospel of Mark. Previous two Sundays of Lent we read from the Gospel according to Mark. But today we switch over to John and continue listening to John until the 5th Sunday in Lent. The Gospel of John is often considered the most difficult of the Gospels – highly symbolic […]
Sunday Sermons
Sunday Sermons and Homilies
2nd Sunday in Lent Sermon – Cycle B Homily – Learning to Pray
Going up the mountain: Learning to pray
Second Sunday of Lent – Year B – Mk 9: 2-10
The liturgy of the word of God for Sundays in Lent is very well thought-out and appropriately laid out. On the first Sunday of Lent, in all the three cycles, the central theme is temptations of Jesus. On the second Sunday of Lent, like today, the liturgy of the word invites us to focus on the transfiguration of the Lord. The meditation on the transfiguration during lent becomes for us a prediction of what lies at the end of Lent – the resurrection of the Lord. This is what perhaps it meant for the three apostles who were taken up the mountain only six days after (Mk 9:2) Jesus had told them about his impending suffering and death (Mk 8:31). This was important particularly […]
1st Sunday in Lent Sermon – Year B Homily: Roadmap and Compass
“God does not provide us with a roadmap, but only a compass.”
1st Sunday in Lent – Year B (Mark 1:12-15).
Often as I wake up in the morning I get an inspiration. Usually it is in the form of a well-framed sentence. If I am fresh enough to pick it up, it stays with me for the rest of the day. I keep exploring it during the day, and sometimes I jot it down in my diary and use it for my talks and sermons. I call this phenomenon, ‘Twilight Wisdom’. A few days ago I woke up with this sentence: “God does not provide us with a roadmap, but only a compass.” I thought I would develop my Lenten reflections this year around this theme, and every Sunday try also to introduce […]
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Sermon – Year B homily
5th Sunday in Ordinary time – Year B
“Everybody is looking for you” (Mk 1:29-39):
Being busy – restless or engaged?
The contemporary culture forces us to be busy. The more you are urbanised, the more you are likely to be busy. We keep inventing machines to save time, and yet we keep complaining all the time: there is no time! Whether our time is spent productively or not, we are simply busy. We are busy checking emails. We are busy talking on the phone. We are busy tweeting and chatting. When we are not busy, actually we are busy planning how to be busy. Are you a busy person? How do you feel about your busy-ness? Do you feel restless? Or, do you feel engaged?
The gospel passage of today describes the busy schedule of […]
4th Sunday of Advent Sermon – Year B Homily: Mary Contemplates
She “asked herself what this greeting could mean” (Lk 1:29)
Mary, a woman of contemplation
4th Sunday of Advent – Year B
As a priest it is not easy to separate your academic interests, your faith-life, and your ministry. At least I don’t find it that easy. In my current academic research for a PhD, I am studying the effect of Christian contemplative practice on recovery from addictive behaviour. Past few weeks I have been analysing the journal entries and interviews of some of the participants in the intervention-study that I conducted a few months back. The method of contemplation that I used is called ‘Jesus Prayer’ – it originated among the desert fathers and mothers in the 4th centuryEgypt, and is still very popular in the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches. It simply consists of repeating the prayer from the gospels: “Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me […]