Homily For Friday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, 13th June 2025. The Memorial of St Anthony of Padua

 

Reading: 2 Cork. 4:7-15; Ps. 116; Matt. 5:27-32

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

THE CONSEQUENCES OF HUMAN SEXUAL IRRESPONSIBILITY

There is no doubt that humanity has lost the dignity of the gift of human sexuality as a result of our sexual irresponsibility at different stages of human development. Human sexuality, as we know, encompasses all the physical and integral attributes of our sexual identity as male or female. It includes all our thinking, feeling, acting and interaction that emanate from our maleness and femaleness.

It is a very important aspect of humanity that must not be neglected. Because it enriches human relationships in ways that are basic to God's nature and plans as it offers humanity the grace to participate in the works of creation in partnership with God. Little wonder, sexuality is one of the first human attributes to be identified when scriptures say in Gen.1:27: God created man in his image… Male and female God created them.

So as a result of this great privilege in relation to human sexuality and procreation, humanity is to be truly responsible with the gift of their sexuality. This responsibility is guided by two fundamental principles that is, love and covenant. Hence, any intimate expression of sexuality, especially in the form of sexual intercourse, which is the most bonding of all human relationships, must be guided by these two fundamental principles of love and covenant in a marital act.

Therefore, to emphasise the importance of this sexual responsibility, the sixth commandment of God states that thou shalt not commit adultery. This reveals to us that God wants us to live chastely, justly and charitably in our relationships with one another, and this is exactly what Jesus is addressing in our Gospel passage today.

Here, Jesus emphasised that this sixth commandment forbids not only the acts of adultery and fornication but all appetites for them, all lusting after sexual objects, for this is the beginning of sin. The lust of conceiving it is a bad step towards the sin, for as far as the heart can do it, there is nothing but a convenient opportunity for the sin itself to be carried out.

So all approaches toward the gratification of this sexual appetite, such as touching and feeding the eye with the sight of it, where further satisfaction can be obtained, are forbidden. Because such looks and behaviour are very dangerous and destructive to the soul Jesus said that it is better to lose the eye or the hand than to give way to this sin and perish eternally for it.

Dear friends, today there are so many things that are leading us into this sin and we are so much attached to them because the world has sexualized almost everything around us. The television, the social media, the internet, the music, movies, cartoons, and even our social and religious activities are corrupted by these sexualization motives.

This, of course, drives or tempts us to commit the sins of adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism and masturbation. Because we have lost control of our responsibility towards our sexuality, which of course is the cause of the increase in rape, incest, divorce and all forms of gender transformation going on in our society today. These and many other activities are the consequences of human sexual irresponsibility.

The main point here is for us not to indulge in sins that will ruin our souls. Rather, we should strive for perfection by living a life of mortification and keeping a constant watch over our hearts against the rising of lust and corruption in and out of our conscience, by avoiding the occasions of sin as much as we can.

We should resist it from the beginning and reject the company of those and things that expose us to this sin. Anything at all that leads us to this sin must be cut off in our lives and environment, if not we will keep on falling into it. It is a radical decision we must make today no matter who is involved and the cost or sacrifice that may be required.

This is what we see in the life of St. Anthony of Padua, whose memorial we celebrate today. For he stood firm and courageously preached the gospel of holiness and sacrificially helped the poor.

LET US PRAY: Almighty God, our human sexuality is your great gift to humanity, give us the grace to be responsible with our sexuality, especially in this time when the world has lost the true meaning and value of human sexuality, and as a result so many lives and families are being destroyed, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily For Thursday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, 12th June, 2025

 

Reading: 2 Cor3:15-4:1.3-6.; Ps. 84; Matt.5:20-26

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

LIVING A LIFE OF DEEPER VIRTUES 

Most of the time, we often find it difficult to understand the way God operates, especially as regards his relationship with humanity. This is because humanity has failed to understand how God’s mercy and justice are applicable in our relationship with him and with one another. 

Hence, Jesus in our Gospel passage today, calls us to a deeper virtue, when he said to his disciples, If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

This is because the Scribes and the Pharisees always enforced a strict interpretation and obedience to the Law, its rules and regulations, and yet, failed to truly practice, understand and appreciate that the Law of God is meant to lead God’s people to him and to teach them to practice love in their lives. 

Thus, we ought to be faithful and to follow the Lord more faithfully than the Scribes and Pharisees, for their religious piety is mainly superficial, because their practice of the laws does not truly come from their heart. Their actions and obedience to the Law are motivated by what they want to gain to sustain their pride and desire for worldly glory and praise. 

So, we should not be like them, we should rather get rid of our pride and excess desires for honorific positions. We should strive to deepen our virtue towards righteous deeds. We must become agents of peace and reconciliation. We must be a symbol of God’s mercy and justice in a world full of corruption and greed. 

Hence, St Paul in our first reading today said: If our gospel does not penetrate the veil, then the veil is on those who are not on the way to salvation; the unbelievers whose minds the god of this world has blinded, to stop them seeing the light shed by the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For it is not ourselves that we are preaching, but Christ Jesus as the Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 

Dear friends, we are calling today to embrace the virtue of humility and readiness to reconcile with those who have offered us, knowing that the mercy and justice of God regulate all things. We have to be vigilant always and strive to be righteous before God and man. 

Today, we must be ready to make a fundamental choice to live a holy life and never return to our sinful ways of life. We must struggle every day to grow in righteousness and never give up, no matter the situation we are passing through now. We should strive every day to remain faithful to God’s commandment of love and peace.  

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we struggle every day towards holiness and perfection, may we be guided by the Holy Spirit and strive to remain towards the path of righteousness and never go back to our sinful and ugly ways of life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a blessed day.

Homily For Wednesday, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, 11th June, 2025. The Memorial of St. Barnabas

 

Reading: Act. 11: 21-26.13:1-3; Ps. 118; Matt.5:17-19

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

HAVING AN ENCOURAGING SPIRIT LIKE ST. BARNABAS

Have you ever been in a difficult and ugly situation where you feel like giving up or quitting and pulling out of a noble project, career or goal in life, and then you hear someone telling you don’t give up, don’t pull out, keeping pushing, keeping going for it will soon be over.

Such words and behaviour give one great confidence and renewed energy to stagger on towards achieving the project or career. This is because there is a great strength and renewed energy in us whenever we know that someone believes in us. It feels right and changes our disposition towards difficult and ugly situations.

This act of giving someone support, confidence, hope and persuasion to do or to continue doing something is known as an act of encouragement, which is a branch of the virtue of courage, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings encouragement where it is needed by giving this gift to someone near a person, whoever he is pleased to encourage.

Thus, the act of encouragement has a great impact on human relationships. For when we are inspired by the Holy Spirit to encourage people, we become instrument through which God is letting them know that He has seen what they have done, and by extension, believe what they will be able to do in the future; and that improves their belief in themselves and their potential towards achieving their goals.

This great and wonderful attitude and gift of the Holy Spirit is what St. Barnabas, whose memorial we celebrate today, is known for among his fellow Apostles. Barnabas is one of the most important figures in the history of the early Church, his real name was Joseph, but the apostles nicknamed him Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement.”

For this is a pure summary of his entire personality, for he was someone who encouraged others, believed in them and helped them to respond to God with enthusiasm, because of his helpful and optimistic nature. Barnabas sold a field he owned and laid the proceeds at the apostles’ feet, an obvious sign of his total commitment to Christ and total trust in the apostles.

Such a gesture, common among the first disciples, would have certainly inspired the other members of the Church to courageously do the same. But we see his encouragement more especially in his interaction with St. Paul in our first reading today ( Acts 11:21b-26;13:1-3) where the Holy Spirit speaks to the young Church in Antioch, where the disciples were first called Christians and says, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Here the Holy Spirit inspired them to go on the first great missionary journey in the Church. In this mission, Barnabas was inspired by the gift of Courage, and he was able to encourage Paul and the entire Church to recognise Paul’s gifts and talents. For without Barnabas’ intervention, Paul would have probably remained silenced in Tarsus by other disciples.

But because of Barnabas’ courageous and encouraging interventions, Paul was able to become the greatest missionary in the history of the Church. It was Barnabas who saw the great potential in Paul and chose to make him his collaborator, vouching for him before the Apostles who did not trust him because of his past life of persecuting Christians.

Dear friends, are you passing through a difficult and ugly situation because of your past mistakes? Are you feeling like giving up the noble project and goal you have begun because of some challenges? Does it seem as if your great potential, dreams and talents are being neglected? Please don’t give up, for today St. Barnabas “the son of encouragement” comes to us as he did to Paul and other disciples to encourage us and to get involved in our struggles. He also wants us to be sons and daughters of encouragement to others just like him.

LET US PRAY: O God, as we struggle daily towards our mission and goal in life, may we be encouraged by the virtues of St. Barnabas so as to be another Barnabas to people we encounter in our journey of Life through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a blessed day

Homily For Tuesday Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 10th June, 2025

 

Reading: 2 Cor. 1:18-22; Ps. 118; Matt.5:13-16

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

LEARN TO BE THE TRUE SALT AND LIGHT IN YOUR FAMILY AND SOCIETY

Salt and light are very familiar words in the scriptures. Oftentimes salt is used metaphorically to signify permanence, loyalty, durability, fidelity, usefulness, value, and purification. Salt, as we know, is used to enhance flavour; it preserves and purifies things. Salt distinguishes Identity and adds value to things. It’s inexpensive but valuable, necessary for life and stands as a basic identity for believers, of which we either use it or lose its effects.

Similarly, light is a symbol used to mean awareness, knowledge, and understanding. Light clarifies, Illuminates, Inspires, defeats darkness, shines fully and freely, it guides, stimulates and motivates, provokes action, it irritates those who like darkness, confirms truth, purifies, exposes sin, warms and assures us of safety and also facilitates progress.

Little wonder that Jesus, in our Gospel passage today, told us the famous parable of the salt of the earth and the light of the world. In this parable, Jesus made it clear that to be salt and light means to be a witness to others concerning the truth of God's Word to humanity, and this is the mission he entrusted to the Church through his disciples.

Thus, we are entrusted with this mission during our baptism, when we were given salt as a sign of God’s life in us and are commanded never to lose the taste or forget the life and joy that God has given us to share with others. Similarly, we were given candlelight which we are to keep brightly burning as a flame of faith in our hearts as we journey with others towards our heavenly kingdom.

Therefore, Jesus clearly defines the role of the Church in the world as that of salt and light. Salt preserves the faith and gives flavour to the life of humanity. Light illuminates darkness and reflects the glory of God in the darkness of the passing world.

So, every Christian is called by God to influence the world positively, by saying yes to God as we heard in our first reading when St Paul said: it is always Yes, and however many the promises God made, the Yes to them all is in him. For it is God himself who assures us all of our standing in Christ, and has anointed us, marking us with his seal and giving us the pledge, the Spirit, that we carry in our hearts.

However, most of us Christians have failed to appropriate the benefits, privileges and responsibilities of being salt and light to humanity. As a result, many people suffer because we have continued to embrace the darkness of the things of this passing world and are spoiled by its destructive ways.

Dear friends, the core message today is that all of us are called to positively influence the lives of humanity by our attitude and character which should be like that of salt and light. Where there is darkness we should let the light of Christ illuminate. Where pride, selfishness, corruption and greed have made life tasteless, let the salt of our good attitude and character make it tasty.

Where sin and immorality have made humanity filthy and ugly, let our light of holiness purify. Remember, if we lose the value and taste of who we are as Christians, the world will trample upon us because we will be good for nothing.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we struggle every day to truly carry out the mission entrusted to us, give us the grace and courage to dedicate ourselves, our time, our energy and effort to becoming true light and salt in our dark and tasteless families, society and the world at large. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a fruitful day.

Homily For Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, The Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church (Mater Ecclesiae), 9th June, 2025

 

Readings: Gen. 3:9-15.20, Ps.87; John 19:25-34

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

CELEBRATING MARY THE MOTHER OF THE CHURCH

As the Holy season of Eastertide comes to an end with the celebration of Pentecost yesterday, the Church continues with the second face of the Ordinary Time of the liturgical calendar. This begins with the memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church 

 Although today’s Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church is new, the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Mother of the Church, is very ancient. It was Pope Francis, who established the celebration of this Memorial in 2018, which is to be celebrated annually on the day following the Solemnity of Pentecost. 

Pope Francis said he wished to establish this Memorial in order to encourage the growth of the maternal sense of the Church in the pastors, religious and faithful, as well as a growth of genuine Marian piety.

Hence, the Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, is established in order to remind us that Mary is indeed the Mother of all of us. For as God’s chosen people, Mary has been entrusted to us to be our own loving Mother, and to whom we have also been entrusted as her own beloved adopted sons and daughters, through Christ, her Son, who shares his divinity with us as he elevates our humanity, as we have it in our Gospel passage today, when Jesus entrusted his mother to John saying: Woman, behold your Son, then to the disciple he said, Behold your mother.

Here, Mary assumes the role of the Mother of the Church, while the disciple represents all of us Christians, who are members of God’s Church and therefore have become children of Mary, God’s own beloved Mother, and she is indeed, the Mother of the Church, the Mother of all Christians. Thus, Mary had always been with the Church as she has always been with the Apostles and the other leaders of the Church, for she is full of grace and has borne Christ, who is the Head of the Church. 

So it is worth honouring her with the title Mater Ecclesiae, the Mother of the Church. For she was the New Eve who resisted the temptations of Satan and remained completely faithful to the Lord as she followed her Son, the New Adam, to the foot of the Cross. Thereby fulfilling the Lord’s prophecy at the very beginning, as we heard in our first reading today.

Dear friends, as we celebrate Mary our Mother as the Mother of the Church, we entrust all our struggles, suffering, persecutions, challenges, trials and difficulties into her maternal care, in order to remain faithful and survive through the turbulent times and challenges of our time. Let us learn to remain faithful like Mary and never take our faith for granted. Let us remain steadfast, knowing that Mary, the Help of all Christians, is our Mother and Consoler. 

LET US PRAY, Lord God, as we celebrate the Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, grant through her intercessions the graces and courage we need in order to conquer all our fears and challenges of life, and so look forward to the coming of Christ our Lord and Saviour. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily For Pentecost Sunday Year C, 8th June, 2025

 

Readings: Acts.2:1-11; Ps.104; Rom. 8:8-17; John 14:15-16.23-26

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

RECEIVE THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of our great Pentecost, where we receive the fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Today the promised Paraclete has come, the Comforter has come, the purifying fire has come. Today all children of God are empowered once more to conquer the world with the Good News of Christ's salvation.

Today the fears, the shame, the weakness of sins, the lukewarmness, the lockdown and all the barriers that hold us captive in the upper room of fear and shame have now been consumed by the power of the Holy Ghost, which we receive afresh today. For we have been set free and empowered to transform the world once again with the truth of the Gospel of Christ.

This is the fulfilment of the promise Jesus made to his disciples in our Gospel passage today, when he said to his disciples: ‘‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever. He will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you

This promise was made when, after the Last Supper and the ugly event of his passion, death and resurrection, a sense of loss and fear had saddened the hearts of the Apostles. But their sadness will not be long, for Jesus will not abandon them, he will not leave them orphans.

He will send the Counsellor, the power of Love, the Spirit of the Father. And this Spirit will enable them to understand that his work is a work of love: love of the One who gave himself, love of the Father who has given him and love for humanity whom he has come to save.

Thus, this is the mystery of the Pentecost we are celebrating today as we have it in our first reading, when on the Pentecost day the disciples were in a room of lockdown and fearfulness, and suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech.

Such is the work of the Holy Spirit, who illuminates the human spirit and reveals in it, the image of Christ Crucified and Risen, in order to become more like him, bearing the image and instrument of the love which flows from Christ. It is in this image of love, that the greatness of the Pentecost event is perceived.

There are seven gifts and twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit; the seven gifts include: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. While the fruits which are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory are as follows: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.

Among all these gifts and fruits, love is the most important of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, just as it is also the most important of all the Christian virtues. Without love, all the good things we have accomplished mean nothing. Love helps us to share in the image of God, which Jesus is offering us, so that we can live the life of the spirit.

Hence, St Paul advised us in our second reading, saying: Unless you possess the Spirit of Christ, you would not belong to him. Though your body may be dead it is because of sin, but if Christ is in you then your spirit is life itself because you have been justified; and if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then he who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you.

However, Paul continued saying: If you live according to the flesh, you are doomed to die; but if by the Spirit you put an end to the misdeeds of the body you will live. But what does he mean by living according to the flesh?

This means giving in to self-indulgence and the results are obvious: gross indecency and sexual irresponsibility; such as fornication and adultery, idolatry and sorcery; enmity and strife, jealousy and unforgiveness, bad temper and selfishness; disagreements and factions, envy and drunkenness, carousing and similar other ugly things we often do.

Meanwhile, living according to the Spirit brings something different, such as: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustworthiness, gentleness and self-control.

Dear friends, today the power of the Holy Spirit of love has been poured upon us, so we are called and empowered to go into the whole world and proclaim the Good News of God’s love to humanity. For there are many people in our world today who have not experienced the true love of God in their hearts, because they are distracted by various worldly concerns and their selfishness, as they keep hurting each other and causing troubles and suffering to one another. These should not be our attitude.

Let our actions and deeds bear the fruit of this love of God not only to such people, but to our fellow brethren by showing genuine care and concern for each other. Let us not close our doors of love because we continually want to feel secure and do not want to be disturbed by others or by God.

Rather let us like the apostles break open the doors of our hearts, for Christ overcomes our enclosure to bring us love and peace and build a bridge between heaven and earth, so that we can climb up on this bridge of love to reach him and together with him, we too can reach all humanity, beginning with our families, societies and to the ends of the Earth.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we lift up our hearts together with Mary our mother in the Spirit of Pentecost, singing the Veni Sancte Spiritus, may the Holy Spirit of love come down upon all your children wherever we may be and fill our hearts with the fire of his love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Wishing you a Spirit-filled Pentecost celebration.

Homily For Saturday Seventh Week of Easter Year C, 7th June 2025

Readings: Acts 28:16-20.30-31; Ps.11; John 21:20-25

Rev Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

HAVE YOU PERSONALLY FELT LOVED BY THE LORD?

One of the greatest mysticists and doctors of the Church, St. John of the Cross, says in the first stanza of his poem entitled: The Living Flame of Love, “O living flame of love that tenderly wounds my soul in its deepest centre! Since now you are not oppressive, consummate now! If it be Your will: tear through the veil of this sweet encounter!”

This flame of love is the Holy Spirit that bathes the soul that encounters it in glory and refreshes it with divine life of love in which the will of the soul is united in the most sublime flame of love for God in Jesus.

This may be the situation in the life of John the beloved, one of the disciples of Jesus in our Gospel passage today, which made the scriptures describe him as ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’. What a great description of anyone’s personality.

This disciple had a peculiar share in the love of Christ and was admitted to great nearness and freedom with him that gives him the liberty which no one has among the disciples. This is evident by his leaning on the breast of Jesus at the suggestion of Peter, to ask him at the Last supper, who was to be the traitor.

The fact is that it is a great thing to love Jesus and be loved by Jesus. Yes, Jesus loved all his disciples, yet within that circle of love, there was an innermost place in which the beloved John was favoured to dwell. For those who display an extraordinary love for one are all the more capable of great affection for many; therefore, because Jesus loved John most, he has a greater estimate of his love than the other disciples. Though John was raised, others were not lowered; rather, they were raised with him.

John was of more intimate communion with Jesus than others. He was always wherever Jesus was. When all the disciples sit at the table, even Peter is not nearest to the Lord like John, for John will lean his head upon the bosom of Jesus with earnest, eager, intense affection.

Jesus loved him not just as a disciple but as a dear friend whose personality as a young individual has the most profitable opportunity of becoming eminent piety. He was the only disciple who was closest to Jesus and his mother at his passion and death.

Hence, Jesus entrusted his mother to him, saying Son, behold your mother, mother, behold your son, because in John, Jesus has found a soul that truly loves. And the more a soul loves God, the more it desires that God be loved and honoured by all, and the greater this desire becomes, the more the soul labours toward that end in all possible means, and this is evident in all the works of John the beloved.

Dear friends, have you ever felt loved by God personally? Have you ever been identified as one whom God loves? Have you personally desired to be an instrument of God’s love for humanity? Have you ever paid the price of sacrificial love? Has your love ever been rejected by those you loved most, or have you rejected those who loved you?

Today we are called to examine our conscience to know if there is any sign of true love of God and neighbours in us. We are called to make ourselves available for God’s love to abide in us. We are called to build a personality that gives room for love to flow in us and through us.

As we anticipate the solemnity of Pentecost tomorrow, we are called to open our hearts for the Holy Spirit to enkindle in us the fire of his love so that our souls will be transformed in love. And may this fire of love be extended to our families, societies, country and the world at large.

LET US PRAY: Loving Father, inflame our hearts once again with the fire of your love. Grant that we may personally and collectively experience your divine love for us and for all humanity through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a lovely weekend.