Cycle C 21st Sunday in the Ordinary Time

Isaiah 66:18-21; Hebrews 12:5-7,11-13; Luke 13:22-30

In ancient times, towns were surrounded by walls and had one or more gates to which one reached through a narrow wooden passage. The great palace of the Chinese emperors, popularly called, “The Forbidden City” is also characterized by narrow gates. When there was any sign of danger, the narrow gates were easy to close, and easy

Cycle C 20th Sunday in the Ordinary Time

In today's Gospel Jesus said to his disciples: "I came to  bring fire to the earth." It is a very strong statement  for the listeners of Jesus. The contemporaries of Jesus expected that the Messiah would bring peace to the troubled nation, that the Messiah would   establish political stability in the nation,

Cycle C: The Assumption of Mary

Revelation 11:19, 12:1-6, 10; I Corinthians 15:20-26. Luke 1:39-56

There is a beautiful story about a fruit seller. He supplied fruits to the Royal court. One day the King had a special guest. He ordered mangoes to be supplied for the dinner. Since the season of Mangoes was over there was none to be picked from anywhere. After a long struggle he managed to get hold of a few. But, they could not be presented to the royal court as they were partially damaged. Fear of punishment had overtaken him.

Cycle C 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wisdom 18: 6–9; Hebrews 11: 1–2; 8–19; Luke 12: 32–48

22 May 2010, The Air India Express took off from Dubai and headed towards Mangalore (India), with 160 passengers and 6 crew members. The original reservation chart had the names of 169 people. In that nine people cancelled the trip. One of the passengers had just returned from India on 20^th, but was called back by her ailing husband. So she boarded the next available flight. Out of 166, 158 died when the plane overshot the runway

Cycle C 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Eccl 1:2,2:21-23; Col 3:1-5,9-11; Lk 12:13-21

 

Charles Dickens in his play “The Christmas Carol” gives the picture of a selfish man, Mr Scrooge, whose sole aim in life was acquiring as much wealth as possible at any cost. He considered Christmas celebrations as humbug, and hated charity. He weighed human relationship against material wealth.  He never bothered to care for his nephew or his employees.

 

One day night, he saw an unusual figure in his

Cycle C 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gen. 18:20-1, 23-32; Col. 2:6-14; Lk. 11:1-13

Leo Tolstoy’s “God Sees the Truth, But Waits” is a parable of forgiveness.

Ivan Demetrievich Aksenov was a merchant living in the town of Vladimir. One day he planned to go to a fair as a business venture, but his wife pleaded for him not to go because of a nightmare she had the previous night. She said that all his hair had gone gray when he returned from the fair. Aksenov ignored his wife's dream and left for the fair.

Cycle C 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gen 18:1-10; Col 1:24-28; Lk 10:38-42

Hospitality is a great virtue hailed in all the world civilizations. To the ancient Greeks and Romans, hospitality was a divine right. In the Biblical tradition hospitality is an obligation. The most extreme example is provided in Genesis (19:8), Lot provided hospitality to a group of men. When a mob tried to attack them, he offered his daughter as substitute and pleaded to spare his guests.

Cycle C 15th Sunday in the Ordinary Time

Deut 30:10-14; Colo 1:15-20; Lk 10:25-37

The Epic poem   “Paradise Lost “of John Milton gives a vivid description of the fall of Angels from “Heaven”. The Satan decided that he was equal to God, and he was powerful enough to challenge God. So, a war broke out in heaven. Satan and his followers rallied on the one side; and Archangel, Michael and others on the other side. Satan was defeated and expelled from heaven. Satan and the other rebel angels are described as lying on a lake of fire,

Cycle C: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Is. 66:10-4; Gal. 6:14-18; Lk. 10:1-12, 17-20

John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” is one the greatest works that describe the journey of human soul towards its destination.

Christian begins his journey from his home town the “City of Destruction” to the “Celestial City.” On his way he had to face numerous challenges. Finally he reached the “wicked Gate” which would lead him to the “King’s Highway”. At the end of his journey he reaches the “Place of Deliverance”. When he steps on to the “Place of Deliverance”, the burden on his back falls down and he is relieved. There he is given the greeting of peace and he is welcomed into the “Celestial City”.