In Sermons: showing 1-15 of 15

The Journey To Emmaus

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 16, 2024

The risen Christ is with us always. He walks with us on every road. He is with us at the heights of joy and celebration and in the pits of terror and despair. He is always with us, but we do not recognise him. Nevertheless, he journeys with us to the end of our lives.

The gospel reading we just read about Jesus' journey to Emmaus with two persons is one of my favourite resurrection stories and possibly my favourite from the Gospel of Luke. Over the twenty-six years of my ministry, among many other texts in the Gospels, this is one of the most-loved stories I ...read more

Scripture: Luke 24:13-35

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

The Spirit Of Truth And The Advocate

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 16, 2024

Jesus said the Spirit of truth abides and will be with us, the believers. But the rest of the world, Jesus said, cannot receive the Spirit of truth because they cannot see or understand it.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced our lives into isolation. However, one blessing this isolation has brought me is having some spare time. Last week, I used some of this extra time to open a medium-sized box that had not been opened for many years. The box contains some of my personal belongings ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:13-22, John 14:15-21

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

The Risen Jesus And Doubting Thomas

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 16, 2024

Jesus knows our struggles, wounds, hurts, and pains and He carries them even in his resurrection body!

(Please note the names mentioned in this sermon are pseudonyms) Today, we have this story of Jesus physically appearing to his disciples after his resurrection. On Jesus’ first appearance, Thomas was absent, and we just read in the story that he had insisted on seeing Jesus’ wounds if he were to ...read more

Scripture: John 20:19-31

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Forgiving Seventy-Times-Seven

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 16, 2024

Forgiveness heals, forgiveness restores, and forgiveness brings lost souls home.

While I was on the faculty at Trinity College Theological School, I had the privilege of being invited to serve on the Human Ethics Committee of the Royal Melbourne Hospital. As we know, the Royal Melbourne Hospital is the teaching hospital of Melbourne University. It is directly attached to the ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Jesus Loves Children

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 14, 2024

Jesus loves children

One thing you may not have heard me say is that I have enjoyed a love affair with children, especially newborns, infants, and toddlers. This love affair started in 1991 when my wife was pregnant with our first child. Let me share with you how this love affair began. In 1990, I was in my second ...read more

Scripture: Mark 9:30-37

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Fathers, Mothers And Grand And Great Grandparents

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 14, 2024

Joachim and Anne - Jesus' Grandparents

In Western Christianity, this day (July 26th) is celebrated as the “feast of grandparents.” This feast began with the earliest church traditions, which marked the maternal grandparents of Jesus, Joachim, and Anne. A little bit later, in about the third and fourth centuries, the universal church ...read more

Scripture: Luke 11:14-28

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

St. Michael And All Angels

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 14, 2024

Angels of God

This year, the official feast day of St Michael and All Angels fell on 29 September. It was the Tuesday which preceded the feast of St. Francis last Sunday; we did not get to celebrate God’s angels and talk about them. There are about six hundred references to angels in the Bible, but we seldom ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:1-14, Revelation 12:7-12

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Transfiguration Of Jesus

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 14, 2024

Transfiguration of Jesus

The church tradition tells us that Jesus's transfiguration took place on Mount Tabor. The mountain rises like a sugarloaf in a vast plain in the middle of Galilee. The mountain is exceedingly high and beautiful and was anciently covered with green trees and shrubs. Therewith Jesus was Peter ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 17:1-17

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

The Trinity

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 14, 2024

The Holy Trinity

I wonder whether you could recall your experiences during the first few months or years when you started working and were a junior employee. Among those experiences, could you remember a few extra things you were expected to do outside your job description that people who had been around for some ...read more

Scripture: John 3:1-17, Romans 8:12-17

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

The Parable Of The Five Wise And Five Foolish Bridesmaids

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 14, 2024

Five Wise and Five Foolish Bridesmaids

Today, as we read in the Gospel Jesus’ parable about the Ten Bridesmaids, I couldn’t but reminisce two memorable experiences I had in September 2013. First, my experience of visiting the Holy Land during the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah is one of Judaism’s holiest days. It ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:1-13, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

St. Luke, Lord's Apostle And Physician

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 14, 2024

St. Luke

Since COVID-19 gripped the world, the first responders such as paramedics, doctors, nurses, law enforcement officers and emergency department personnel have been hailed as heroes and heroines. Indeed, they are. Last Tuesday, I also became somewhat of a first responder when I was called out to ...read more

Scripture: Luke 1:1-4, 2 Timothy 4:5-18

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Halloween, All Saints & All Saints

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 14, 2024

All Saints and All Souls

To my understanding, there are three Church festivals that we celebrate grandly, far from knowing what is being genuinely celebrated. They are Christmas, Easter, and Halloween. Out of these three festivals, the most misunderstood and distorted feast is Halloween. We are still fortunate that the ...read more

Scripture: Revelation 7:9-17, Psalm 34:1-22, 1 John 3:1-3, Matthew 5:1-12

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Easter Sunday

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 14, 2024

Jesus' triumph over death on Easter wasn't just his triumph — it is ours, too.

Today's Easter celebration marks the end of Holy Week, in which we commemorate the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Jesus is the linchpin of the Christian faith. In his first epistle to the Corinthians – written about twenty years after Jesus' ...read more

Scripture: John 20:1-18, Psalm 118:1-2

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

The Good Shepherd

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 14, 2024

Walking through the Valley of Death with Jesus the Good Shephard

The readings you/we have just read are among my most loved passages from God's Word. I know that you love them the most, too. Psalm 23, which we love so much, is, without any doubt, the song of our souls as we live this life as Christians. Even if only we were made to recite and memorise ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:19-25

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican

Our Home In Heaven & Hope Beyond Death, Series

Contributed by Revd Dr Ruwan Palapathwala on Dec 14, 2024

A sermon about our Home in Heaven

The English poet and playwright William Shakespeare is hailed as the most excellent writer of the English language and the world’s greatest dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet. His influence over the last six centuries is immense and continues to influence new authors. He is ...read more

Denomination: Episcopal/Anglican