Sunday Homilies

Theme:  " Love one another"

"Love one another as I have loved you " of all the commandments Jesus gave us, this is the most important. It sums up all the others. In a sense, the only failure in the life of a Christian is the failure to love.

Let us think about the people we don't love, the people we don't speak to, the people we haven't forgiven, the people we don't associate with.

1st reading ( Acts 14:21-27). Paul and Barnabas retraced their steps encouraging the little communities of Christians that they had founded.

2nd reading ( Rev. 21: 1-5). 

This is taken from the final part of Apocalypse and opens with the vision of a new world and the manifestation of a new Jerusalem. This new order of things has been inaugurated by Christ.

Gospel ( John 13: 31-35)

During the last supper with His Apostles,  Christ left them a new commandment - to love one another as he had loved them.

We all like to think that we love unconditionally but we deceive ourselves because most of the time our love for people is conditional.

It is difficult to have unselfish love.

True love is difficult.

It is easy to love people who are far away. 

It is not always easy to love those who are close to us, even our family members, community members, our fellow workers...

It is easier to give some money to the poor than to relieve the loneliness of someone living next door

In other words, it is easy to love at a far distance but not easy to love at a close distance.

BUT does Christ expect me to love that woman next door who never stops gossiping about me, that stupid person I have to work with every day, that unfriendly taxi conductor who never smiles, that short-tempered person, etc

The answer is YES

These are the people Christ asks us to love. We must begin by loving the people near us. 

That is where our love for each other must start. But of course, it doesn't have to end there.

May God give us the grace to love our brothers and sisters unconditionally.

Fr. Mubangizi JohnBosco

Readings, Acts 5: 27-32, 40-41, Ps 30:2,4,5-6,11-12,13, Rev 5:11-14, John 21: 1-19

Christ encounters us in our past and present

The appearances of the risen Christ to his disciples happened in a gradual way. Seemingly, the disciples could not instantly comprehend the meaning of this event and they actually thought after the death of Christ that perhaps it as the end of it all. No wonder they withdraw to their old ways to their former occupations, because of practically two reasons; they had lost hope, and they had wanted to find something to occupy themselves with now that their master was no more.

Safe in the Shepherd’s hand

Readings: Acts 13,14.43-52; Ps 100,1-2.3.5; Rev 7,9.14b-17; Jn 10,27-30

The 4th Sunday of Easter is celebrated as the „Sunday of the Good Shepherd“. The word of God invites us to contemplate Jesus as the Shepherd and see ourselves as the sheep of His flock. He knows where safety, pasture and fresh waters are and He leads us there. As His sheep we follow His footsteps. Nothing can snatch us from His hand.

Easter is a time to probe and heal wounds

Readings: Acts 5, 12-16; Ps 118, 2-4.22-24.25-27; Rev 1, 9-11a.12-13.17-19; Jn 20,19-31

The word of God for us on the second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) invites us to encounter the Risen Lord in our communities. A community that is animated by the word of God is proof that Christ is alive. The pierced heart of the risen Lord is the font of divine mercy. The invitation has been spoken out: “Come and be embraced by the unfathomable mercy of God and experience healing!”