The Passion Week: The mystery of suffering and resurrection
Elie Weisel, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a survivor of the concentration camp, in his book, Night, tells a story of a young boy who was hanged by the SS men. The young boy was going to be hanged together with two other adults. This cruel show was to be witnessed by thousands of other prisoners including Elie Weisel. The child had the face of a ‘sad-eyed angel’; he was silent, lividly pale and almost calm as he ascended the gallows. Behind Weisel, one of the other prisoners asked: “Where is God? Where is He?” It took the boy more than half an hour to die, while the other prisoners were forced to look him in the face. The same man asked again: ‘Where is God now?’ And Weisel heard a […]
Sunday Sermons
Sunday Sermons and Homilies
Maundy Thursday: Eucharist a Sacrificial Meal
Jesus knew that the hour had come (Jn 13:1)
In the Gospel of John, the concept of the ‘hour’ has a specific significance. At the Wedding at Cana, when the Mother of Jesus draws his attention to the fact that “They have no wine”, Jesus comes up with the very sharp reply, “My hour has not come yet” (Jn 2:4). But the Mother of Jesus continues to act as if the hour has already begun to come. In a sense she ushers in the hour. During the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, Jesus assures her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem” (Jn 4:21). Today’s gospel text introduces the last supper with these words: “knowing that his hour had come to pass from this world […]
Sermon for Palm Sunday – Year A
For homily at the beginning of the liturgy: CLICK HERE.
With today’s liturgy, we have begun the Holy Week, as it is called in English. In other languages, it is referred to as the Great Week. Yes, indeed it is the great week. A week which marks the climax of the incarnation, it marks the celebration of the paschal mystery: passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus – the pillars of our faith.
During this week, we listen to the passion narratives on two occasions. On Palm Sunday, as we have done today, and again on Good Friday. Every year, the Good Friday passion narrative comes from the Gospel of John – Chapters 18 and 19. On Palm Sunday, however, every year we listen to the narrative from one of the synoptic […]
Sermon for 5th Sunday in Lent – Year A Homily
Lazarus, Come Out!
Today, the 5th Sunday in Lent, we conclude the trilogy of instructions taken from the Gospel of John for Catechumens. The gospel readings of the previous two Sundays focused on water (Jn 4) and light (Jn 9). Today our focus is on life (Jn 11). These three narratives, centring on the three primordial elements, are a build up to the Easter vigil which will also revolve around water, light and new life. These three elements simply point to Christ, the source of life.
The gospel narrative of today is a sign performed by Jesus in order to reveal his identity: “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (Jn 11: 25). It is also an invitation to participate in the promise of Jesus: “I came that they may have […]
Sermon for 4th Sunday in Lent – Year A Homily
Coming to see Jesus, the Light of the World
The gospel reading of this Sunday (the 2nd in the sequel) invites us to reflect on the story of the encounter between Jesus, the man born blind, his parents, and the Pharisees, so that we may experience Jesus as the Light of the World. What does light do? It dispels darkness; it makes us recognise possibilities. In the context of the gospel of today, the light helps us recognise God in person of Jesus.
The gospel text of today offers us three possible attitudes: (a) indifference towards Jesus – the position of the parents of the blind man; (b) blatant denial of the true nature of Jesus – the position of the Pharisees because they are caught up in the web of their Sabbath laws; […]