Homily for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, 11th October, 2026

Readings: Is.25:6-10, Ps. 23, Phil 4:12-14.19-20. Matt. 22:1-14

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHY HAVE WE BECOME TOO BUSY TO HONOUR THE LORD’S OPEN INVITATION TO HEAVENLY BANQUET

In our hymn book, some hymns are based on some of the parables in the scriptures; one of them entitled 'I can not come to the banquet, composed by Miriam Therese Winter gives us the summary of our Gospel passage today and the first and last stanzas of this hymn say:

1. A certain man had a feast on his fine estate in town,

He laid a festive table and wore a wedding gown

He sent invitations to his neighbours far and wide

But when the meal was ready, each one of them replied!

CHORUS:

I can not come!

I cannot come to the banquet, don't trouble me now,

I have married a wife, I have bought me a cow,

I have fields and commitments that cost a pretty sum,

Pray hold me excused, I cannot come!

2. Now God has written a lesson for the rest of mankind,

If we're slow in responding, He may leave us behind,

He's preparing a banquet for that great and glorious day,

When the Lord and Master call us, be certain not to say.

In this life we are so busy with so many things that, if we do not take care, we will miss out on the essence of our existence. Each day, the streets are full of people struggling and bobbling; the markets are full of people buying and selling, and people rising very early in the morning and coming back late at night.

This shows us how much effort people put in every day just to earn their daily bread; I thought, if we can sincerely put in such an amount of effort in order to catch up with the train of eternal life, which God is inviting us to in today’s Gospel passage.

Today, from the parable of the marriage feast, the Lord offers us again an invitation to the banquet of heaven. An invitation which is God's free act of kindness, as He wishes to dine with us. No one deserves it anyway, and He is not obliged to invite us, nor are we expected to honour his invitation.

Hence in the parable, those who think that they deserve to be invited are too busy to enter the banquet hall. But the poor in spirit and the humble who know that the love God has for them is completely gratuitous accept his invitation with joy.

Thus, today we are called not to be too busy to come to our heavenly banquet. For God’s banquet is his Church; good and bad, saints and sinners are invited, for the Church is made up of saints and sinners. The bad are expected to become good while sinners are expected to repent and put on a new garment of holiness and love.

As Christians, today we are reminded of our wedding garment, the new suit we put-on on the day of baptism. Therefore, we cannot go on wearing the old garments of sins of pride, greed, adultery, fornication, theft, drunkenness, selfishness and unforgiveness, which will throw us into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen.

Dear friends, why have we become too busy to honour the invitation of God to his heavenly banquet? Today we are called to honour his invitation and put on the wedding garment of love, holiness and open the doors of our hearts to the poor, the marginalised, and those rejected by society.

And God, through the prophet Isaiah in our first reading, promised to gather us together from all the foreign countries, and bring us home to his Holy mountain, where the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food.

On this mountain he will remove the mourning veil covering all peoples, and the shroud enwrapping all nations; he will destroy death for ever. The Lord will wipe away the tears from every cheek; he will take away his people’s shame everywhere on earth. And St. Paul in our second reading encouraged us to be disposed to cope with whatever situation we find ourselves now, for God in return knows how to fulfil all our needs according to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus our Lord.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, today we are reminded of the invitation to your heavenly banquet. As we honour this invitation, help us to put on the wedding garment of love, holiness, forgiveness, and mercy which we embraced in our baptism. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a blessed Sunday celebration. 

Homily for Saturday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 10th October, 2026

 

Readings: Gal 3:22-29, Ps. 105, Luke 11:27-28

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHAT JESUS NEEDS ARE THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT

 In our relationship with God, family and neighbours, which one do we think comes first, because all seem to be important? This is very vital when we relate it to the response of Jesus to a woman in our Gospel passage today, who when Jesus was speaking to the crowd, raised her voice and said, ‘Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!’ But Jesus replied, ‘Still happier those who hear the word of God and keep it!’

Here, Jesus highlights that our primary relationship in life is with God, and we obtain it by doing his will. For even the deepest and most natural bonds are created within this primary love of doing the will of God.

Mother and family were important in the life of Jesus and even at his death; but his real family is centred around the new family relationship that is built among those who hear and keep the word of God. Therefore, our relationship with our family and neighbours is actually rooted in our relationship with God, whose word is the light that guides our steps.

But the questions remain: What have we been doing with the word of God we hear every day? What kind of fruit are we bearing in our family and society? How has the word of God changed our life and disposition towards our family? How has the word of God challenged and propelled us to love God and neighbours? The answers to these questions are blowing in the wind.

Therefore, today we are called to be more practical and attentive towards listening to the word of God. We are called to put into action the word we hear every day. And concerning this new family of Jesus made up of those who hear the word of God and keep it, St Paul in our first reading tells us that all of us who belong to this family are baptised in Christ and have all clothed yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of us are one in Christ Jesus.

Dear friends, whatever we feed grows, and whatever we quit feeding dies and fades away. So what are we feeding our soul with? How are we feeding on the word of God? Our society has enough hearers of the word; what we need now is doers of the word of God, men and women who will feed their lives with the word of God and, from the abundance of their hearts, live a life that will influence society positively.

Thus, when we hear the word of God we must apply it to our daily lives, because that's the only way we can feed our soul. And by so doing we become blessed brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we thank you for the gift of your words we hear every day; grant that we may cultivate the habit of hearing and keeping your words, to become living instruments of your words in our families, societies and the world at large. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen Have a blessed and fruitful weekend.

Homily for Friday, Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 9th October, 2026

 
Readings: Gal 3:7-14, Ps. 111, Luke 11:15-26

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

DO NOT LET ENVY AND JEALOUSY MAKE YOU DENY THE GOOD WORKS OF OTHERS

Discernment is one of the gifts of God, which enables us to know and distinguish between good and evil spirits. This gift is essential to every leader's office. But it is sad and unacceptable when a leader misuses this gift out of envy and jealousy. This is the attitude of some of the people in the crowd, especially those who belong to the party of the Pharisees, as we have in our Gospel passage today.

For we heard how Jesus had delivered a man possessed by an evil spirit. The spirit had bound his tongue and made him mute. But when Jesus had cast out the demon from the man and the man spoke, some people in the crowd who belonged to the party of the Pharisees watched this great miracle as it happened and said that it was through the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that he was able to cast the devil out.

This is because they were adamant in their opposition against Jesus, which was propelled by envy and jealousy. That is why they were unable to look beyond their narrow-mindedness and stubbornness in insisting that their way was the true way while others like our Lord Jesus were wrong. But Jesus, as usual, used the opportunity to correct them by pointing out the mistakes in their argument.

Thus, telling us that it does not make sense for the demons to be fighting one another and so be divided among themselves. Because any house that divides within itself can not stand, and as we know the evil ones are always united in their plans to bring about destruction in human activities.

Hence, in our first reading, St. Paul, addressing the ugly divisions sown by the devil in the community of the faithful in Galatia, made us know that they will collapse and fall apart if all of their members continue to divide against each other. Thus they have to make sure that they overcome the divisions among them and seek true unity in Christ, so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might include the pagans, for through faith we all have received the promised Spirit.

Dear friends, we are called today not to be mischievous; rather, we should make proper use of the gift of discernment which the Lord has given us. We must not let envy, jealousy and overambition make us forget the truth about the spiritual realities we experience from the Lord.

We must not let the devil succeed in sowing the spirit of division among us. We should also ask God to endow us with the spirit of discernment and truth, especially in this period when we are faced with the ugly and sad attitude of human deception all over the world.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we struggle every day with the manipulation of the evil ones, give us the grace to overcome them; may we never be misled by the devil and all of his forces, for they often sow divisions and dissensions among us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you

Homily for Thursday, Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year A. 8th October, 2026

Readings: Gal 3:1-5, Ps. Luke 1:69-75, Luke 11:5-13

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

KEEP ASKING, KEEP SEARCHING AND KEEP KNOCKING; THERE WILL SOON BE A POSITIVE RESPONSE

Have you truly needed something from a friend who can give it to you, but is too busy to give it now? Or have you been in a situation where you needed something from a friend but couldn't get it because you couldn't reach him easily?

Such a situation can put one under serious pressure. Then the question that comes to mind is, are we going to give up or persevere in our struggles of waiting or reaching out to him? This kind of disposition is what we experience sometimes when we pray and our requests are yet to be granted.

And this kind of situation is what Jesus is addressing in the story in our Gospel passage today as he continues his teaching on prayer. Thus, telling us that we should approach God with confidence as a friend, persisting until we obtain what we need. We should keep on asking, seeking, and knocking in prayer until we obtain the answer we need.

Just like a boy asking his father for a fish or an egg, knowing that his father would not give him a snake or a scorpion instead of the fish or egg he had requested. With this illustration, Jesus emphasised that if we, who are prone to evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more shall the heavenly Father give to those who ask him.

This is what the people of Galatia were lacking that made them begin to quickly turn away from the faith and St. Paul in our first reading today chastised them for these ugly actions, in embracing the false teachings and ideas promoted by those who did not follow the true teachings of the Church but were quick to follow the ideas of the factions of the Church who taught something different from the true faith. Therefore we should not be like them. Let us learn how to be patient and persevere in our prayers.

Dear friends, prayer requires asking, seeking and knocking at God’s door patiently and persistently. Though one may say I have been praying for God’s intervention in some ugly situations, it seems as if no answer has been given. The fact is that God answers all our prayers if we are patient with him.

For he may not grant us what we want because, as a caring Father, he gives us what we truly need, and not what we want. But are we willing to trust the Lord and be patient with him? Are we willing to seek the Lord and to make the effort to find him and to follow him wherever he leads us? Do we have the courage and the love of God in our hearts?

No doubt we are full of energy, zeal and passion, ready to face the challenges and struggles of yet another day. But the question we need to ask ourselves is, what are we doing concerning the present situation in our lives, our family, societies and country?

It may seem as if all hope is gone, but the Lord is saying to us today, that we should ask, and it will be given to us; search, and we will find; knock, and the door will be opened to us. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. Let us all not be afraid to seek the Lord and ask him for blessings, protection and guidance.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are struggling with so many ugly situations in our lives, families, societies and the world at large. As we pour out our hearts to you in prayer, seeking and knocking, may you grant our hearts' desires according to your will and guide our ways today and always. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful day.

Homily For Wednesday, Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 7th October 2026. The Memorial of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

Readings: Gal 2:1-2.7-14, Ps. 117, Luke 11:1-4

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

HOW TO PRAY THE RIGHT WAY ACCORDING TO THE LORD JESUS

As human beings, communication is part and parcel of our lives, and prayer is one of the important means of communicating between God and humanity. It is a close link by which we reach God who dwells in our hearts. It is through prayer that we discern the will of God for us.

Hence, if we have not been able to discern the will of God for our lives or have not had any personal relationship with God in prayer, then perhaps we should consider examining our prayer life to know if we have been praying the right way. Thus we can learn the proper way to pray from the prayer Jesus taught his disciples as a pattern for all prayers, as we have in our Gospel passage today.

In this prayer, we have four traditional dimensions of prayer, which include: glorification of God, submission, justice and protection. Jesus begins by saying: “Father, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come”, thereby teaching us that we begin any of our prayers by glorifying God. Following this is our total submission to God’s providence when we say: give us each day our daily bread.

Then, we acknowledge the justice and mercy of God when we say: forgive us our sins as we forgive those we have sinned against us. And finally, we ask for God’s guidance and protection when we say: lead us not into temptation but deliver us from all evil.

This is important because it is the means by which we communicate with our God. But oftentimes

 we treat prayer wrongly when we consider prayer as a means to only achieve what we desire without considering what God desires for us. Some of us end up spending lots of time reciting the prayers, and yet we do not mean what we say.

This is because we have a wrong disposition born from an unforgiving heart, which must be redirected before we can get a positive response from God. This is what St. Paul was emphasising in our first reading today when he reminded the Galatians how he stood firm in defence of the Gentiles before Peter and the Jews.

This is what the memorial of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary we are celebrating today represents. An event where we recall the famous victory of the Christian faithful against the enemies of the Church in the Battle of Lepanto, where through the prayers and intercessions of Our Blessed Mother Mary the Church became victorious when the situation of the Christian faith was in extreme danger and was bitterly divided by the various heresies and splinter groups appearing at the time due to the Reformation movement.

Then, Pope Pius V called all of Christendom to pray the rosary fervently, seeking the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God, that her Son Jesus should be with the faithful fighting for the survival of the Christian faith, which was under persecution and trials. And through the power of their love and dedication to praying the Rosary, God granted victory to his faithful people, and this is the root of our October devotion.

Dear friends, as we know, there are times when we asked, and we received; sought and found; knocked, and the door was opened to us. But there were also times when we asked but did not receive, sought but did not find, knocked but the door remained shut. In such moments, persistence and perseverance in prayer are what we are called to embrace. For they will help us to understand how to trust God knowing that he does not need to be informed of our needs, thereby encouraging us never to lose heart.

This is certainly one of the biggest challenges of our faith today. People are not just patient with God. We want to have everything right now as it is hot. Patience, persistence, and perseverance are very difficult virtues for most people today.

Therefore, it is time for us to change our perspective and wrong disposition towards prayer. It is time for us to spend more quality moments in prayer and be connected with God. We must let our prayers also be meaningful and be genuine from our hearts. It is time for us to improve the quality of our prayer life by imitating Jesus, who always prayed to his heavenly Father at every possible opportunity.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, oftentimes we are not patient with you in our prayers, because we don't know how to dialogue with you in prayer. Through the intercession of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, give us the grace to learn how to dialogue with you and to persevere and be persistent in our prayer life and in every other thing we do in life, especially in our relationship with others. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful day.

Homily For Tuesday, Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 6th October 2026

 
Readings: Gal 1: 13-24, Ps. 139, Luke 10:28-24

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF LISTENING AND HOSPITALITY IN OUR FAMILIES

Listening is a vital aspect of the human person, yet it is sorely lacking in most of our communication these days. This is because we often worry about so many things in life, trying to make people hear us without taking time to listen to them.

There are people who are always trying to satisfy everyone without listening to the real thing that matters. I have also come across people who are often worried about how to make others feel more comfortable without minding their own discomfort. They are so concerned with pleasing others even when they are not pleased. What a great sacrificial virtue that is not common these days.

This sacrificial virtue is the attitude of Martha in our Gospel passage today, where we have the story of how Martha was so busy trying to make Jesus comfortable when he visited them at their house in Bethany.

But when Martha observed that her sister Mary was not helping out in the preparation, but was busy listening to Jesus, she said to Jesus: “Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha, you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her”.

Here, Jesus is not condemning this great sacrificial virtue nor condoning laziness. Rather, he is saying that being busy without listening and listening without doing is worthless. Hence, he gently corrects the impression of Martha, who was too busy and distracted with so many things that she risks losing sight of what is really important, that is, listening to Jesus. This is because Martha gives the impression that Mary is just sitting there doing nothing. But, in fact, she was listening to Jesus.

However, Jesus is not telling us to be content with sitting down and listening to his word, for he always insists that listening to his word means putting it into practice. While his objection to Martha request is that she was too anxious and distracted by many things, so that she was not able to really listen to him, Jesus says listening is the best option. So, are you too busy and distracted like Martha? Learn to listen to God like Mary and it shall be well with you.

Dear friends, in our relationship with Jesus, are we more of listeners or more of accommodating and caring? Are we more like Martha or like Mary, for they were both friends of Jesus? Today, many of us are so busy and anxious about so many things that we have no time to listen to God speaking to us and addressing the situation we are actually busy trying to solve. Today we are called, like Martha, to pause and listen, so that we can hear God speaking to us and directing us towards the right path.

Remember, Martha, who was known as a friend of Jesus, loved to welcome him into her home; let us learn from her, knowing that hospitality is perfected when we have a listening ear. For it is a great virtue to be hospitable and caring, especially when we spend quality time listening to God and letting him direct and guide us towards carrying out our daily tasks.

Hence, let us learn how to listen to God just like St. Paul in our first reading, who, through listening to God, changed from a persecutor to a preacher of the faith he had previously tried to destroy.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are always so busy with the things of this passing world that we often do not have time to listen to you. Give us the grace, like Mary, to choose the better part, which is to truly listen to your word and then be well disposed to be caring and hospitable, just like Martha. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a blessed day

Homily For Monday, Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 5th October 2026

Readings: Gal 1:6-12, Ps. 111, Luke 10:25-37

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A GOOD SAMARITAN

As humans, we always desire to know what life requires of us, especially when we are faced with the realities of life. We often want to know what should be our priority. So we always ask questions that will help us in addressing most of the challenges we encounter. These questions are sometimes meant to test our ability towards understanding the realities of life.

This is the deposition of the lawyer in our Gospel passage today, who came to Jesus to test him by asking him questions concerning the requirements for inheriting eternal life. This lawyer referred to the 'Shema Israel' - שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל, the prayer that the people of Israel knew and recited from their earliest years.

From this prayer, they learned that the most important thing in life is to love God with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their mind and to love their neighbour as well. In other words, loving God with all our heart, with all our understanding and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves. These are what the Lord requires of us and it is the foundation of all the things we have to do.

But this lawyer needed more clarification concerning these requirements, so he asked Jesus a second important question when he said: Who is my neighbour? At this point, Jesus did not just explain; he illustrated who a true neighbour should be with the famous story of the good Samaritan. In fact, from the story, Jesus did not just answer the question: ‘Who is my neighbour?’

He also demonstrates what a true and righteous neighbour should be like, thereby showing us that our neighbours are often those we least expect to be neighbours. For our neighbour can be anyone, even the ones we most despise or fear, just like the good Samaritan, and this tells us that a true neighbour shows compassion, love, care and makes sacrifices for others.

And St. Paul, in our first reading, addressing the people of Galatia concerning what it means to be a good neighbour, spoke clearly against all those who misinterpreted the Scriptures and twisted the truth for their own selfish purposes and, by so doing, sowed seeds of division and confusion among the Christian communities.

Thereby, warning us that if anyone should preach a version of the Good News different from the one they have already preached to us, whether it is an angel from heaven, he is to be condemned for committing such sin against God and against his neighbours.

Dear friends, love is the centre of all the teachings of Jesus, for love is a gift from God to humanity. It is like the stream water, so innocent and pure. True love is not hidden; it radiates from the innermost being of a person who has experienced it. If we love God, then, we will see him in others and treat them justly and honourably. We will not hurt our neighbours but do our utmost to live in peace with them.

The truth is that the absence of love is the cause of all the problems in our world today, as most families exist by grace and not by love. Imagine how wonderful the world would be if we all loved one another. How I wish we could invest our time and resources in ensuring love and unity in our dealings with one another. Believe me, we will not only be fulfilling the first and greatest commandments of God, but we will be building a happy community.

LET US PRAY: Almighty God, in you resides the fullness of love; grant that we may truly love you and our neighbours and so conquer the world full of hatred, self-centeredness, greed and corruption. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful week ahead.