“A greater than John the Baptist has never been seen” (Mt 11:11)

Some years back, a young lady walked into my office.  She had arrived in a big car; she was well dressed. She said, she had a good job. She was in a steady relationship. She must have been in her late twenties. Everything was set for a happy life.  But as she settled down, she said, she was not happy in her life.  What was wrong, I wondered. Our continued conversation revealed that she was not in the right place.  That “good job” was not what her heart was wanting.  She was dealing with papers in her office, but her heart wanted a context where she could directly interact with people.  The lesson for me out of that conversation was: our happiness […]

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“As they were baptised they confessed their sins”
2nd Sunday of Advent – Year A 
A priest went to hear confessions of boys in a boarding school.  As the priest went to this place every Saturday to hear confessions, he would find about 10 to 15 boys lining up for confession.  On this particular day, he found seven of them already forming the queue for confession.  The first boy came and said, “Father, we threw peanut into the pond.”  The priest gave his absolution, and off went the boy. The second boy came and said, “Father, during the last week, we threw peanut into the pond near our playground.” The priest gave his absolution. The third boy came and said more or less the same sin.  And so did the six boys.  Finally, the seventh boy came.  By this time the priest […]

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1st Sunday in Advent
The Son of Man is Coming (Mt 24:44)
 
One of the advent hymns that I like most is:
We long to see thee so!
To see Thee newly-born.
We long for Christmas morn.
The sands of time run slow.
I like this hymn particularly because it arouses in me the nostalgia for homecoming.  As a young boy studying in boarding schools this song reminded me of the joyful time of going back home for Christmas. I remember how the sands of time would run so slow, especially just before Christmas.  However, in the past years, especially as a priest being busy during Christmas, unwrapping Christmas of its nostalgic feelings I have also begun to appreciate its spiritual depth.  I am not in anyway playing down the importance of the sentimental aspects of Christmas – we have a reason to celebrate it […]

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Eucharist: Mystery of Incarnation Enacted
 Why did Jesus use bread and wine – mere objects of food – to institute the Eucharist?  I offer two possible reflections on this mystery.
The enactment of the Mystery of Incarnation: In the gospel of today, in the discourse that follows the multiplication of loaves Jesus would say,
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51).
As we know, this passage has clear allusion to the Eucharist.  Earlier in the same passage Jesus compares the Eucharist to the manna that the people of Israel ate in the desert (Jn 6:49-50).  Though Jesus says analogically, Eucharist is bread that came down from heaven we know that the Eucharist does not fall from the skies as […]

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