I am the Way, the Truth and the Life (Jn 14:1-12)
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. The apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with great power, and they were all accorded great respect. None of their members was ever in want, as all those who owned land or houses would sell them, and bring the money from the sale of them, to present it to the apostles; it was then […]
Year A
Year A Sunday Sermons
Sermon for Palm Sunday – Year A Homily
The King on a Donkey en route to Die
Today we begin the week of weeks in the liturgical calendar: the Holy Week. Today we begin the commemoration of the high points in the history of salvation: the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus – the Paschal Mystery. Today we accompany Jesus on his solemn entry into Jerusalem where he will suffer, die and rise again. And this day is a day of contradictions.
The King on a Donkey’s Back: Jesus is on his final journey to Jerusalem. It is going to be a solemn entry, almost as a King is about to enter to take possession of his capital. And the procession begins at the Mount of Olives – the mount that is be the stage for the ultimate Day of the Lord (according to Zechariah 14:3-4), the day of judgement. […]
Sermon for Cycle A – 2nd Sunday Homily
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A
Finding our space in the Universe:
The Life Journey of John the Baptist (Jn 1:29-34)
Christmastide is now over and retailers have special Sales. Because, retailers hate ordinary time. They try to make even ordinary time into something special. Hence the reduced prices!
In the liturgical calendar, we are back to the ordinary time. But even in our gospel reading there is an attempt to make the liturgy of today special too. Perhaps it is just to remind us that every Eucharistic celebration is special! As we are in Year A, we should have been listening to the Gospel of Matthew. But our gospel text for today came from the Gospel of John, as is the case every year on the 2nd […]
Sermon for Cycle A – 28th Sunday Homily: C’mon and Celebrate
“My banquet is all prepared”: Come on and Celebrate!
Speaking about food and cultures: an African lady, who used to work for an ethnic Indian family in East Africa, once told me: “You Indians take so much time to cook, but you eat it all so quickly.” As an Indian, I had never thought of that! Come to think of it, it seems so true. Our women spend most of their day cooking – despite the grinding machines and ‘mixies’ these days! Traditionally and even now in most Indian families people squatted on the floor while eating, and used their fingers. Both these factors could be accelerating the speed of eating. Yet, in the Indian culture, people sit and talk for long before and after the actual hurried eating. In most cultures a […]
Sermon for 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A Homily
LOVE
It is said that at the time of Jesus the rabbis could count up to 613 commandments contained in the Law: 365 were prohibitions (don’t do this!) and 248 were prescriptive (do this!). Some of the rabbis considered all these commandments to be equally important, while others continued to debate to identify the most important commandment. That is why the Pharisees and Sadducees had reasons to ask Jesus, “Which is the greatest commandment of the Law?” even if their intention was only to put Jesus to the test. Apparently Jesus gives an answer that is similar to those given by some of the rabbis. For instance, there is a story about one rabbi Hillel, who lived a few years before Jesus. A ‘pagan’ went to rabbi Hillel and challenged him, “I will believe in the value of Torah, if you […]