SundaySermons

The Narrow Door (Lk13:22-30) When you were in school, did you prefer easy-going teachers to demanding ones? In the gospel reading of today, Luke presents Jesus as a demanding teacher. This portrayal of Jesus is very unlike Luke. For instance, Matthew uses the phrase “grinding of teeth” (NJB), or in other translations, “gnash their teeth” […]

Disturb me, Lord…! When I read the gospel reading of today, a phrase kept coming back to me very spontaneously. It was the first line of a prayer that I had heard before. I googled and came across this poem-prayer, written by a famous British sailor of the 16th Century, Sir Francis Drake: Disturb us,

Spiritual Capital: Treasures in Heaven (Lk 12:32-48) During the course of the past week, I happened to chance upon a former student of mine, thanks to the Facebook. We had a brief chat. I was intrigued by what he was doing for a living. He predicts stock-markets. He appears on TV at breakfast shows forecasting

Seek the Things that are in Heaven (Lk 12:13-21) “What stone?” asked the sage. “Last night I was told in a dream that if I went to the outskirts of the village at dusk, a sage would give me a stone that would make me rich forever.” The sage rummaged in his sack and, pulling

Ask, Seek, Knock (Lk 11:1-13 Let me begin with a story from Tony de Mello – shortened here: The village priest was a holy man so each time the people were in trouble they had recourse to him. He would then withdraw to a special place in the forest and say a special prayer. God

Mary sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. (Lk 10:38-42) One of the realities that we notice in urban life today, across the globe, is speed. I feel sucked into speed. I get into a car every morning and rush to work. Every evening I get back into the car and

Moved with pity… he went up and bandaged his wounds (Lk 10:25-37) There are many parables that are unique to the Gospel of Luke. The parable of the lost son (Lk 15:11-32), the parable of Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31), the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Lk 18:10-14) are among those that are unique to

SHARE THE GOOD NEWS Start off now, I am sending you out… A few years ago, a priest wrote a short reflection in the Diocesan Newsletter of the Archdiocese of Nairobi, Kenya. The reflection was entitled, “Away with Motorcars and Aeroplanes”. The point that he was trying to make in that provocative reflection was that

Are we ready to follow Jesus! There are several films on Jesus. Each movie has its own take on the life and message of Jesus as narrated by the Gospels and, sometimes also, using extra-biblical sources. One of my own favourite films on Jesus is Jesus of Nazareth, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and produced by

CORPUS CHRISTI The blood transfusion Shortly after undergoing major surgery, a woman decided to put her thoughts in writing. She wrote: ‘When someone said that when Jesus referred to the Passover wine as his blood, and then shared it with his disciples, he was being cannibalistic, I could not help thinking of the modern practice