Homily for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, 27th September 2026

Readings: Ezek.18:25-28, PS. 25, Phil 2:1-11. Matt. 21:28-32

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

YOU CAN STILL REPENT AND DO THE RIGHT THING NO MATTER HOW GRIEVOUS YOUR SINS ARE

One of the gifts God gave humanity is freedom. This freedom, though, comes with great responsibility, since we are responsible for what comes out of how we manage it. We are free to choose whatever we like, but we are also responsible for the consequences of our choice.

However, because of our fragile nature, we often make grievous mistakes in our choices even when God has given us all the necessary guidelines towards making the right decision, but out of disobedience, we frequently fail to follow these guidelines. Today we are meant to know that we can still repent and do the right thing no matter how grievous our sins are. For repentance and obedience are necessary dispositions towards attaining our ultimate goal in life, which is eternal life.

This is exactly what our Gospel passage this Sunday is addressing, when Jesus, in the parable of the Two Sons, said to the chief priests and elders of the people, ‘What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, “My Son, you go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not go,” but afterwards thought better of it and went. The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, “Certainly, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will?’ ‘The first’ they said. Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you.

Here, we see how repentance and obedience helped this first son to make the right decision about his father’s request while the second son failed because of negligence, irresponsibility and disobedience.

The second son represents those of us Christians who promised to work for God’s kingdom but have failed, thereby excluding ourselves from the kingdom. While the first son represents those ‘sinners’ who first chose to go their own way but now have repented and begin to follow the way of the Lord, by so doing, they have gained access to God’s kingdom. So in the first son we see someone who reflected on his decision, realised that he was wrong, and decided to make it right by taking full responsibility for his decision.

This very disposition is related to what the prophet Ezekiel is addressing in our first reading today, when he said: if the upright man renounces his integrity to commit sin and dies because of this, he dies because of the evil that he himself has committed. But if the sinner renounces sin to become law-abiding and honest, he deserves to live. He has chosen to renounce all his previous sins; he shall certainly live; he shall not die.

This is because the righteous would perish for their sins of disobedience, while sinners would be saved by their repentance and obedience. This tells us the importance of repentance and obedience, which are rooted in humility, for they are necessary dispositions towards attaining eternal life.

This disposition is also exactly what St. Paul tells us to imitate in the person of our Lord Jesus as we have in our second reading where he said: in your minds, you must be the same as Christ Jesus: who though his state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are; and being as all men are, he was obedient yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. But God raised him high and gave him the name which is above all other names.

This shows us the humble obedience and the great love that the Lord Jesus has for humanity. For he willingly humbled himself and bore the most painful and shameful burden of our sins on the Cross. Thereby teaching us the kind of selfless love that we all have been called to show in our daily lives especially in our relationship with others

Dear friends, in our journey of life, have we made wrong decisions but found it difficult to change our minds and put things right? Are we thinking of leaving the right path to follow the sinful paths because of the ugly condition we are passing through now? Are we thinking that our righteous ways of life have not been fruitful because sinners are gaining more ground than we do? Are we living in sin now thinking that God will not punish us? Or are we thinking that it is not possible to repent now because of the gravity of our sins?

The truth remains that God is watching and waiting for us to change our minds. He is waiting for us to decide to make things right and take responsibility for our actions. He is watching and waiting for us to repent and make the right decision, but his waiting can not be for eternity. All we need is the right disposition that is rooted in humble obeisance and repentance of our sinful and ugly ways of life.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we have often abused the gift of freedom which you have given us and have strayed from the path you have made for us as a result of our sinfulness. Give us the grace of true repentance and humble obedience as you guide us through the right path of life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Happy Sunday and God bless.

Homily For Saturday, Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 24th September 2026

 

Readings: Eccl. 11:9-12:8, Ps.90, Luke 9:43-45

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

UNDERSTANDING THE EMPTINESS OF HUMAN LIFE WITHOUT GOD

Reflecting on my personal experience of the emptiness of human life. This happened once as a seminarian, when I was privileged to be among the people visiting a cemetery at Oke Are in Ibadan.

On our way to the cemetery, which is located on a hill in the heart of Ibadan, passing through the market and streets, all I could see were people struggling, buying and selling, fighting and cursing each other. I also saw a lot of beggars, sick and poor people; among these people were the rich, the educated, as well as their leaders, both traditional and political. It was indeed an interesting community.

But getting to the cemetery, I saw on a wall the names and dates of so many men and women who had passed on from this interesting community. Then I asked myself, in deep reflection, where are all these people whose names are listed on this wall? Were they like us before? Are we going to be like them later? Where will all of us in this beautiful community be in the next hundred years?

With this in mind, I realised that there is a time for everything in this world, a time to be born, and a time to die. Then, the dust returns to the earth as it once came from it, and the spirit to God who gave it. For vanity of vanities, the Preacher says.

All is vanity. Just as the Book of Ecclesiastes in our first reading today tells us, saying: Rejoice in your youth, you who are young; let your heart give you joy in your young days. Follow the promptings of your heart and the desires of your eyes. But this you must know: for all these things God will bring you to judgement.

This is not different from what Jesus is reminding his disciples in our Gospel passage today where after his great miracles, when everyone was full of admiration for all he did, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘For your part, you must have these words constantly in your mind: that the Son of Man is going to be handed over into the power of men.’ But they did not understand him. They did not remember that there is a time for everything.

Dear friends, human life is vanity vanishing without God. So, today we are reminded of the true reality of life: that we all are going to die one day, and the dust of our flesh and bones will return to the earth while our spirit returns to God, knowing that we will be accounted for in how we lived this life. We are going to give back to God the gift of life he has given us, because our life is a temporal assignment.

So, why not start living this life according to the present reality, since we do not know how and when we are going to be accounted for? Why not accept joyfully who we are now as we work hard to be better tomorrow? Remember, everything is in the hands of God; we brought nothing into this world, and we are taking nothing out of it.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, our life is meaningless without you. Grant that we may realise the shortness of this life and so prepare to give account of how we have lived our lives in this passing world. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a fruitful use of today's graces.

Homily For Friday, Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 25th September 2026

Readings: Eccl. 3:1-11, Ps.144, Luke 9:18-22

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

UNDERSTANDING THE TRUE PERSONALITY OF THE LORD JESUS

In life, there is always a moment when we will want to examine and know if our friends can really be trusted, if they truly know and understand who we are and what we represent. This is because, as social beings, we often make friends whom we can confide in and entrust with our innermost thoughts and plans. But this friendship does not come automatically; it develops gradually.

This is the situation between Jesus and his disciples in our Gospel passage today, when Jesus asked them, saying: Who do people say I am?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’

Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ. But he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone anything about this. For the Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.

Here, we see how Peter expressed his personal conviction about who Jesus is. He did not have to quote any authority, because his response was a clear and sincere knowledge of who he professed Jesus to be. This is because Peter’s gift of faith comes from his personal encounter with the person of Jesus.

Thus, our faith requires that we give a personal answer to the question: who is Jesus to me personally? For it is not enough to quote the teachings and Catechism of the Church about our faith or the teachings of other theologians and preachers or to respond only from the head, but from the heart that is convinced of what it believes in.

Today most people are following Jesus without knowing who Jesus truly represents. Some people find it very difficult to embrace the teaching of Jesus because they lack the faith and conviction about his personality, even when Jesus had revealed himself to us through his great miracles and teachings.

The fact is that, Jesus wants us to develop a divine way of looking at things. He wants us to know him deep down in our souls, so that we can profess our faith with deeper meaning and conviction. This faith is necessary in order to accommodate and overcome the ugly events of persecution, condemnation and blackmail that we encounter every day.

Little wonder, the book of Ecclesiastes in our first reading today tells us that there is a time for everything, for every purpose, and everything will indeed happen as God wills it, and not up to us to decide what will happen to us, as there are indeed many things out there beyond our control and understanding.

For what does a man gain for the efforts that he makes? All that he does is apt for its time; but though he has permitted man to consider time in its wholeness, man on his own cannot comprehend the work of God from beginning to end.

Dear friends, having heard the teachings and great works of Jesus in the scriptures and traditions of the Church, the question remains: what can I say is my personal experience of Jesus? Have I personally encountered and identified our Lord Jesus in my life? How has my knowledge of Jesus helped other people to come to faith in Jesus?

Today we are called to really examine our conscience to know where we are as regards to our faith as Christians. We are called today to develop a divine way of understanding the mysteries of God, but not rejecting them because we do not understand them. Therefore, let us turn towards God once again with all our hearts and devote our whole lives to seeking to know Him more and more.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, you revealed to Peter the true identity of Jesus your Son, help us to personally identify the personality of Jesus in our lives and so profess our faith with deeper meaning and conviction. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily For Thursday, Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 24th September 2026. Today Is My Priestly Anniversary (Please Keep Me In Your Prayers)

Readings: Eccl. 1:2-11, Ps.90, Luke 9:7-9

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

UNDERSTANDING THAT LIFE IS VANITY VANISHING WITH GOD. THE GUILTY CONSCIENCE OF HEROD

Oftentimes, we hear people express the phrase guilty conscience, which is used to express the ugly condition of the human conscience- that part of our life that tells us whether what we are doing is right or wrong. For if you have a guilty conscience, you feel guilty about something because you know it was wrong. But if you have a clear conscience, you do not feel guilty because you know you have done nothing wrong.

This is the situation Herod finds himself in in our Gospel passage today, who, out of pride and selfishness, had killed John the Baptist, thinking that by that he could silence the voice of truth. Still, when he heard of the great works of Jesus and could not comprehend it, he perceived that John the Baptist, the voice of truth had returned to life again, when he said: John? I beheaded him. So who is this I hear such reports about?’ And he was anxious to see Jesus.

Here, we see the guilty conscience of a man who is anxious to see Jesus because of his ugly role in the death of John the Baptist. This is what happens to us whenever we try to take the role of God in our relationship with others. And this ugly attitude is what a lot of people are practising today, and as a result, many people are suffering the consequences of a guilty conscience.

This is because most of us are so attached to worldly things that we have not realised the emptiness of this passing world. We have let our pride, our ego and our selfish desires blindfold us from the true realities of life.

 Little wonder our first reading today taken from the book of Ecclesiastes, tells us that vanity of vanities. All is vanity! For what does a man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? Today we are alive; tomorrow we are no more. Generation goes, and generation comes, but the earth remains forever. Acquiring wealth later to realise at deathbed that all is vanity, vanishing.

Thus, we are meant to know that there are many things in this world that are beyond human comprehension and understanding, because God’s ways of doing things are beyond human capacity to understand His plan fully. All we need to do is to remain docile and faithfully follow his plans for us and not be like Herod and his guilty conscience.

Dear friends, what is the essence of our existence in this world? What does God really require from us in this life? Do you have a guilty conscience of any kind? What are the things that make us have a guilty conscience?

Do you know that without God, everything in life is vanity, vanishing? Therefore, let us not be carried away by the beauty of the things of this passing world, for nothing lasts forever. So, we should remain steadfast in our faith in God, who has called us to love him and to love one another.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we have come to you with our guilty conscience, for we are so much attached to things of this passing world, with little or no attention to your teachings. Help us to realise that without you, life and all we have is nothing but vanity. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful day.

Homily For Wednesday, Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 23rd September 2026. The Memorial of St Pio of Pietrelcina

 

Readings: Prov. 30:5-9, Ps.119, Luke 9:1-6

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

“TAKE NOTING FOR THE JOURNEY” UNDERSTANDING THE SACRIFICIAL NATURE OF OUR MISSION

With the hostility, persecution and the influential power of things in this passing world, we really need to think twice about our faith as Christians, whether we are actually ready to live out our faith in the midst of a hostile environment. So, if we are willing to live out our Christian faith and obligations to the mission of Christ, we need to make a radical decision about our discipleship in a personal and radical way.

This is what Jesus is teaching his disciples in our Gospel passage today, when he called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases. He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

He said to them, ‘Take nothing for the journey: neither staff, nor haversack, nor bread, nor money; and let none of you takes a spare tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there; and when you leave, let it be from there. As for those who do not welcome you, when you leave their town shake the dust from your feet as a sign to them.’

Here, Jesus does not directly intend to cause tensions and divisions, but he wants to expose the sacrificial nature of our mission. Hence, Jesus demands a total commitment towards the journey of discipleship once begun or not beginning it at all.

Because, following Jesus demands the sacrifice of all that we have. For none of us can become his disciple if we do not give up our excess desire for worldly pleasures and possessions, and pay our unreserved loyalty and allegiance to Jesus over all other competing loyalties in our lives, including family, self-interest, and possessions.

Dear friends, we are called today to make a radical decision to sincerely and faithfully carry out the mission of Christ entrusted to us. But how much are we willing to let go for the sake of the mission of Christ? Why are we finding it difficult to follow Jesus? What are those habitual desires and possessions that are holding us back from making this radical decision today?

 It is time for us to let them go in order to focus more on the mission Christ has entrusted to us. Therefore, let us learn to follow the examples of all the other great disciples who had given their time, energy, and even lives for the salvation of many souls. Just like St. Pio Pietrelcina whose memorial we celebrate today.

He was born in the small village of Pietrelcina in southern Italy, and joined the Capuchin friars at the age of 16. He became a priest seven years later, and spent fifty years at the monastery of San Giovanni Rotondo, where he was very much sought after as a spiritual advisor, confessor, and intercessor. Many miracles were popularly ascribed to him during his lifetime

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, today we are called to a sacrificial journey of Christ's mission. Because our excessive desire for the pleasurable things of this passing world has weakened our hearts towards our mission, give us courage and grace to let go of our ugly desires, to hold firm in our faith despite losing people and things that are dear to us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful day.

Homily for Tuesday Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 22nd September, 2026

Readings: Prov. 21:1-6.10-13, Ps.119, Luke 8:19-21

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT MEANS TO BELONG TO THE ULTIMATE FAMILY OF JESUS

One of the psychological and spiritual needs of the human person is the sense of belonging, this need is just like the need for food, clothes and shelter. The feeling of belonging is fundamental to our sense of happiness and well-being.

It gives value to life and helps us cope with some pain and emotions, as it improves our motivation. Hence, we often want to belong and identify with one another, with our friends and families, with our culture and from one association and group to another.

However, one of the most common and safest places to belong is our families, especially when it is rooted in the family of God. So today in our Gospel passage, Jesus speaks about belonging to his family and his relationship with members of his family. For when he was told that his mother and brothers were standing outside and wanted to see him. He said: ' My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice.’

Here, Jesus speaks of two ways the people around him could be identified as members of his family. First, he talked about those who belong to the family of his birth that is, his mother, father and relations. Then his other family which is made up of those who do the will of God.

This family, he says, is his true and ultimate family, where doing the will of God is the only way of belonging to this family. This is not to say that Jesus is rejecting his biological family; to do so would be contradicting his own teaching about loving one's parents and loving one's neighbours. However, Jesus is using this opportunity to emphasise that our relationship with God is more important and should be based on our total commitment to doing the will of God through him.

Surprisingly, Mary the mother of Jesus belongs to both sides of the family, for she gave birth to Jesus and also was the first to do the will of God when she said, “let it be done unto me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). For this reason she is the first disciple of Jesus and a model for all Christians.

Thus, to be a Christian or a disciple is to enter into the family of Jesus and embrace a new relationship with God and with one another and this is the most important place to belong. All other bonds, including those of blood should be considered secondary. Because, belonging to God is fundamental to our basic relationships, before all human relations.

For we belong first to God before belonging to our families, after which we all go back to God where we ultimately belong, which will be determined by how we have done the will of God here on earth. And our first reading, taken from the book of Proverbs, tells us that a man’s conduct may strike him as upright, but the Lord, however, weighs the heart.

Dear friends, where do we ultimately and truly belong? Do you belong to the true family of Jesus? As Christians, we claim to belong to God; do our attitudes and decisions show that we truly belong to God? Do we not often commit ourselves to things contrary to the faith we professed in God?

 So, today we are called to understand what it means to belong to the ultimate family of Jesus. In this ultimate family we are to do the will of God always. This makes us truly belong to that true family of Jesus, where the love of God and the love of neighbour unite us together.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we truly belong to you; give us the grace to always do your will, and as we carry out our activities today, grant success to the works of our hands, through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily For Monday, the Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 21st September 2026. The Feast of St. Matthew Apostle and Evangelist

Readings: Eph 4:1:-7.11-13, Ps.19, Matt. 9:9-13

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

RESPONDING POSITIVELY TO GOD’S CALL LIKE ST MATTHEW

In life, we make choices, and the choices we make every day communicate our innermost desire, which also determines how meaningful, valuable, healthy and fruitful our lives and mission are going to be. This is no different in the life of Jesus, who, on account of his mission to save humanity, had to make choices about people who would be his instruments of evangelising in the world.

Though Jesus had been calling people from different walks of life to be part of his mission, today’s call and choice of Matthew, a man identified with sinners because of his work as a tax collector, was quite strange to some people.

Little wonder, in our Gospel passage today, after Jesus had called Matthew to follow him, he had a dinner in his house and while at the dinner, it happened that some tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples.

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard this he replied, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’

Here we hear the innermost desire of Jesus for sinful humanity in need of salvation. The call of Matthew is like the call of each of us, a choice that demonstrates Jesus' desire for sinners to repent. For all he desires is mercy and not sacrifices, repentance and not pride.

Jesus is calling us to repentance; he is inviting us to make a fundamental choice for God, just like St. Matthew, who, though a sinner, rose up and followed Jesus at his call for repentance. We too are to respond to this invitation without delay.

Let St. Matthew be an inspiration and hope for every one of us. Let him be an example that will remind us that there is no one beyond the reach of God’s mercy and love. For he is capable of transforming our ugly ways of life into a glorious instrument for human salvation.

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Matthew, we are called to imitate him. For tradition has it that after his conversion, Matthew became a great evangelizer, who went about preaching the Good News to many people. It was told that he went to Ethiopia, where he had a growing community of Christ's faithful.

And according to tradition, he was martyred while celebrating the Holy Mass on the Altar, after he rebuked the local king in Ethiopia, who lusted and desired to have his own niece, who had dedicated herself in holy virginity to God. Here we see how Matthew, who was once a sinner, was called and transformed into a great saint and a great instrument of evangelisation.

Dear friends, St Paul in our first reading tells us that each one of us has been given our own share of grace in Christ's mission. For some are called to be apostles and evangelists like Matthew; some prophets; some pastors and teachers; so that together we are united in the work of service, building up the body of Christ. But how are we contributing to this mission? What is our disposition towards the call of Jesus? Is our choice in life reflecting our faith in the mission of Christ?

LET US PRAY: Lord God, despite our sinfulness, you called and chose us to be instruments of your salvation to all humanity. Through the intercession of St. Matthew, give us the grace to make good choices that will help us to respond positively to your call for repentance and evangelisation. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a blessed week ahead.