Homily For Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A, 13th September, 2026

 

Readings: Sirach 27:30-28:7, Ps.103, Rom 14:7-9, Matt. 18:21-35

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF FORGIVENESS AND THE DANGERS OF UNFORGIVENESS

The word forgiveness is often used to express compassionate feelings that support a willingness to let go of mistakes or an offences committed against someone. It is a word we desire to hear from others but very difficult to offer to others.

Little wonder in our Lord’s prayer, there is a portion that points out something so important about the word forgiveness. This portion says “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us” (Matt.6:12).

In this prayer we have a fundamental principle of Christian life, by which we make a covenant and commitment that will be a standard through which we are going to be judged as regards our relationship with others and with God. But often times we are not conscious of these principles especially when we have to face the difficult moment of forgiving a grievous offense.

Thus, St. Peter being conscious of this fact, asked Jesus in our Gospel passage today, ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy times seven. And he practicalized his answer with an example of a servant who owed his master a huge debt that he and his generation cannot pay. But when he pleads for mercy, the master forgave him all the debts.

However, this same servant found a fellow servant who owed him as little as one hundred denarii, he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him and even when he pleaded for mercy, instead of forgiving him, he puts him in prison according to the norms of the law until he had paid his debt.

This unforgiven servant did to his fellow servant what the master could have done to him, but did not. When the master heard how he treated his fellow servant, he said to him: “You wicked servant! I have forgiven you all your debt because you appealed to me. Were you not bound then to have pity on your fellow-servant just as I had pity on you?

And, angry, the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debts.” Jesus then said this is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’ For God will apply the principle he has given us in our Lord’s Prayer, which automatically puts us where we properly belong based on how we have related with others.

In this story, we see the extreme estimate of the debt the servant owed his master, ten thousand talents, even if he and his family had to work their whole life, they would never have been able to pay that debt. This because, a denarius is a day's wage for a common workingman. While a talent is 6,000 denarii, or 20 years of daily wages.

That means he would need to work 6,000 days to earn one talent and we are talking about ten thousand talents. That is 60,000,000 denarii or 200,000years compared to 100days his fellow servant owed him

So, that’s a huge amount, in fact, there was no comparison between the two debtors at all. However, this is meant to expose to us the ugly attitude of unforgiveness and also help us to understand that our debt before God is so huge and countless that we cannot be able to pay them.

And this is why we must forgive others, for we are told in our first reading that resentment and anger are nothing but foul things, and both are found among sinners. For he who exacts vengeance will experience the vengeance of the Lord, who keeps strict account of our sin. Thus we must forgive our neighbour for the wrongs they have done to us so that when we pray, our sins will be forgiven.

We must remember our covenant with the Lord and so overlook the offence of others and live by the commandments in conscious of the events of the last day, the day of judgement after death. For this reason, St. Paul in our second reading tells us that the life and death of each of us have its influence on others; if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord, so that alive or dead we belong to the Lord. So why not forgive others who have wronged us?

Dear friends, the question we need to ask ourselves is: what happens when we fail to forgive other people? What will happen is that we will not be forgiven by God. Also, the negative consequences of not forgiving other people can lead to emotional pain and bust of anger, hatred, hurtful feelings, resentment, bitterness, stress, anxiety, depression and blaming others for our negative feelings which can create health issues, negative effects in our relationships with others and stop us from experiencing the freedom that forgiveness offers.

Friends, there is no doubt that forgiving a grievous offence can be very difficult. But there are many reasons why we must forgive and one of these strong reasons is that forgiveness is like recovering a lost treasure that contains: inner joy, peace, freedom and healing.

So my dear friends, are there people we have vowed not to forgive? Have people hurt us so badly that we can’t forgive them? Have we offended people and cannot be humble enough to ask for their forgiveness? Do we think that our sins are so huge for God to forgive? Are we finding it difficult to forgive those who have offended us?

 Today Jesus is asking us to learn how to forgive others unconditionally from our hearts so that God will also forgive us always and unconditionally. Therefore, we must never refuse to forgive or reject an offer of reconciliation in our relationship with God and with our fellow human beings and if this becomes difficult, we must bring it to Jesus in prayer for our palmist tells us that our Lord is compassionate and loving, slow to anger and rich in mercy.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, our debts are so huge in comparison with the little debts of forgiveness others owe us. As we make it a habit to forgive others from our hearts, may we experience your mercy and discover the hidden treasures that forgiveness brings. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a grace-filled Sunday celebration.

Homily For Saturday Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 12th September 2026.

 

Readings: 1 Corinthians 10:14-22; Ps 116; Luke: 6: 43-49

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

THE DISPOSITION OF OUR HEART IS KNOWN BY THE GOOD OR BAD FRUIT WE BEAR

A tree is known to be either good or bad, healthy or sick by the fruit it produces. In the same way, the human heart is known to be either good or bad, holy or sinful, sincere or corrupt by the fruits of our words and actions rooted in our character.

Little wonder Jesus in our Gospel passage today said: A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart. Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them is like the man who, when he built his house, laid the foundations on a rock. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man who built his house on soil, with no foundations.

Here, as Jesus concludes the sermon on the plain, he tells us that hearing and doing the word of God is building our faith on a rocky foundation, that cornerstone, that solid ground, through the fiercest drought and storms of life, because the fruit of the Word of God in us is seen when tested in the storms of life.

He also reminds us that it is not enough to hear the word of God; we must put it into practice. It is not sufficient to speak about God; we must practice what we speak. We must let the Word of God touch and shape our lives so that we can bear good and healthy fruit.

For it is a waste of time and energy if our lives do not reflect the Gospel we preach, if we do not hear the words of Jesus and act on them. Hence, we must embrace the word of God in our lives and let it unite us together so that we can bear good fruit even in our corrupt society.

And St. Paul in our first reading today said that: The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot take your share at the table of the Lord and at the table of demons.

Dear friends, what kind of fruit are we bearing deep down in our hearts? How has the word of God changed my life and the lives of those around me? How has the word of God challenged and propelled me to love God and my neighbours? Is my attitude towards the word of God like that of the foolish builder who takes shortcuts for quick results? Or that of a wise builder who spends time digging a secure foundation through constant meditation and practice of the word of God?

Therefore, we must know that whenever we hear the word, we must apply it to our daily lives, because that's the only way we can feed our souls and so bear good fruit. This is important because our society today has enough hearers of the word; what we need now are doers of the word, men and women who will feed their lives with the Word of God and from the abundance of their heart live a life that will influence society positively.

Remember, the houses built by the wise and foolish persons may probably look alike. But the difference is the foundations, which can only be revealed when tested by the storms of life.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, through your Word we find life and hope in Christ your Son, who is our all in all, grant us the grace to embrace your Word in our lives and so bear good and healthy fruits rooted in a rocky foundation. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a blessed and peaceful weekend. 

Homily For Friday, Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 11th September 2026

Readings: 1Cor 9:16-19.22-27, Ps.84, Luke: 6: 39-42

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

TAKE AWAY THE LOG OF PRIDE IN YOUR EYES SO THAT YOU CAN SEE CLEARLY

As humans, we are quick to always criticise and condemn other people. We are good at seeing people's faults and mistakes. But has it ever occurred to us that, while we are condemning other persons for their faults, we suddenly realise that our own faults are just as many as theirs?

Jesus addresses this ugly attitude today in the Gospel passage when he asks, "Can one blind man guide another?" Surely both will fall into a pit? Why do you observe the speck in your brother’s eye and never notice the log in your own? Hypocrite! Take the log out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

Here Jesus is referring to the blindness from the truth that the Pharisees and the Scribes and indeed most of our so-called leaders and us today have decided to embrace as we have neglected the spirituality behind the natural human traditions and laws, to follow the many ritual and routine traditions and laws we have created out of our own selfish desires.

Leaders who have the responsibility to lead, guide and teach the people have decided to embrace darkness and falsehood. And the greed, jealousy and wickedness in our hearts have blindfolded us and made us become blind leaders of the blind.

Hence, Jesus told us how we who are leaders have failed to see the log in our eyes while seeking to remove the speck in others'. But what is this log in our eyes? It is the log of pride. Pride makes us forget who we are and claim who we are not. Pride makes us look down on people. Pride makes us blind. It makes us not look into our own lives. Little wonder pride is the first capital sin.

Therefore, we are called to humbly look into our lives and identify all those ugly attitudes of pride in us and get rid of them, so that we can humbly correct and accommodate other people’s speck of faults and weaknesses.

Then we can say, like St. Paul in our first reading, who, though not a slave of any man, made himself the slave of everyone to win as many as he could. For the weak, he made himself weak. He made himself all things to all men to save some at any cost for the sake of the Gospel and to share in its blessings.

Dear friends, do we know people who behave like blind leaders of the blind? Are we one of such leaders? We are called today to constantly examine our conscience to know what kind of leader we are in any capacity we find ourselves.

We are made to know that leadership requires taking away our log of pride in order to humbly remove or accommodate the speck of faults and weaknesses in others. So let us cultivate the right disposition of heart that will make us visionary leaders, leading those entrusted to us safely towards the path of truth and eternal life.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, there are so many blind leaders in our world today who out of pride lead humanity into destruction and death, help us to realise that we need to take away the log of pride that makes us blind to humbly remove and accommodate the faults and weaknesses of others thereby leading them to the path of truth and eternal life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a favourable day. 

Homily for Thursday, Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 10th September, 2026

 

Readings: 1Cor 8:1-7.11-13, Ps.139, Luke: 6: 27-38

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFICULT AND SACRIFICIAL NATURE OF CHRISTIAN LIFE

A critical look at what is happening in our world today shows that the world has lost the true meaning of love. For we have abandoned God, who is the source and power of love and created for ourselves a mirage in the name of love.

 Today love has become a tool for selfishness, deception, greed and emotional satisfaction. Thus, it is extremely difficult to practice the genuine love of neighbours and talk more of the sacrificial love of our enemies.

But that is the demand Jesus makes of all his disciples in our Gospel passage today when he said: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too; to the man who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic.

Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask the man who robs you for your property back. Treat others as you would like them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect?

Even sinners love those who love them. And St Paul, in our first reading, warns us not to do anything that will lead our neighbours into sin, for by sinning in this way, we injure their weak consciences and cause their downfall.

Here, Jesus emphasises that it is natural and universal for human beings to love those who love them. But what makes his disciples different from other people is the ability to love not just everyone but to love their enemies and not take vengeance or bear grudges against one another.

By so doing, they will be imitating God, their heavenly Father, who in his compassionate heart shows equal love to both the good and the bad, not because he is indifferent to morality, but because his love knows no bounds.

Dear friends, today we are called to a life of deeper virtue of sacrificial love; we are called to perfection; we are called to choose love over hatred and forgiveness over vengeance. But when Jesus talks about loving our enemies, he is not telling us to be passive in the face of physical danger or abuse.

Rather, he wants us to realise that hatred is a dangerous thing and must be handled with great care. Because hatred breeds violence and other things that weaken the human soul.

The truth is that our enemies are not necessarily those with whom we are at war, those making life difficult for us or those who hate us, but those whom we hate. And the best way to destroy our enemies is to discover how best we can make them become our friends, not by hating or carrying out vengeance.

How I wish the world would embrace this principle of loving and stretching the hands of friendship and peace to our presumed enemies by investing more resources in things that bring about peace and friendship with one another rather than building a nuclear weapon that breeds more violence and hatred in the world. When this is done, then the world will become more peaceful and loving.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, it is difficult and demanding for us to love our enemies, but this is what you are commanding us to do, give us the grace to bear the sacrificial nature of this demand and so become a true sign of your loving presence to those we encounter in life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily for Wednesday, Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 9th September, 2026

 

Readings: 1Cor 7:25-31, Ps.45, Luke 6:20-26

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

A CALL TO LIVE A LIFE OF THE BLESSED FOR THE WORD AS WE KNOW IT IS PASSING AWAY

Oftentimes, when we reflect on the ups and downs of life, the struggles, the tears and the disappointments that people are passing through every day. We wonder and feel that Life is not fair to some people. But does anyone have it all in this world?

The truth is that we all struggle every day to make a significant impact in our society. This significant impact often brings division and separation based on class, social status, and political affiliation. Hence, we talk about the poor and the rich in relation to what people have and possess.

But this is not the same with Jesus, for today in our Gospel passage Jesus talks about the blessings of the poor and the lots of the rich in relation to the virtue of humility and pride towards the things of this passing world and the things of heaven.

For he said, blessed are you who are poor: yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now: you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now: you shall laugh. But woe to you who are rich: you are having your consolation now. Woe to you who have your fill now: you shall go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now: you shall mourn and weep.

Here Jesus is referring to our disposition towards the things of this passing world and the things of heaven. He wants us to realise that we are not living simply to be happy in this life, but we should be conscious of our heavenly home by constantly examining ourselves on the deeper value of life in the light of what we can bring with us to eternal life.

In this teaching commonly known as the Beatitudes, Jesus gave us the qualities that make for a happy and blessed life. To be blessed means to have inner joy and happiness because of God’s favour upon us. While to be called woe is to have sorrow and pain because we have turned away from God.

However, the poor, the hungry and those weeping in this Gospel passage are not just referring to the regular poor and hungry people around us rather, Jesus is referring to the fundamental character of the virtue of humility that is rooted in the poverty of the spirit, that consciousness of one’s weakness and dependence on God, which can be found in the lives of both regular poor and rich people and can also be lacking in either, depending on one’s disposition. Now we can understand why there is woe to the rich and blessings for the poor

Dear friends, our world needs more virtuous people than rich people. However, blessed are those who are virtuous and rich, but woe to those who are rich and lack virtue, for they shall soon mourn and weep.

And St. Paul, in our first reading, tells us that our time is growing short. Those who have wives should live as though they had none, and those who mourn should live as though they had nothing to mourn for; those who are enjoying life should live as though there were nothing to laugh about; those whose life is buying things should live as though they had nothing of their own; and those who have to deal with the world should not become engrossed in it. The world as we know it is passing away.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are always engrossed in the pride of life, an ugly attitude that often separates us from you. Grant us the grace of humility so that in our poverty, hunger, mourning and hatred in this world, our lives may aim towards our heavenly kingdom and make us a shining splendour in our family, society and the world at large. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you. 

Homily For Tuesday, Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 8th September 2026. The Feast of. The Nativity of The Blessed Virgin Mary

 

Readings: Rom.8:28-30, Ps.13, Matt. 1:1-16.18-23

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

MARY’S BIRTHDAY A REMINDER OF OUR OWN BIRTHDAY AND OUR ROLE IN THE MASTER PLAN OF GOD

God, in his eternal design, made it possible for every human person to have a special role to play in the mystery of this life. Though some seem to have a more significant role than others. However, whether significant or not, the truth still remains that we all have a role to play. But the question is, how are we playing this role? Are we playing according to God’s master plan or against it?

Mother Mary, whose birthday we celebrate today, is a good example of those who played their role according to God’s master plan. For she was chosen in a special way to be the handmaid of the Lord and to play an important part in the history of human salvation and redemption.

A role she played according to God's master plan. As a handmaid of God, she was privileged to be the mother of Jesu,s, our Redeemer. Little wonder our Gospel passage today tells us the history of the genealogy of Jesus from Abraham to Joseph and Mary the parents of Jesus.

From this genealogy, we heard how generations came, generations go, great men and women came and passed on, and new generations continue to spring up. This is our own generation, but the questions remain: our genealogy to what extent can it be traced to that of Christ? The things we are doing now, to what extent have they been influenced by the events of the past generations, and to what extent are they going to influence future generations?

Today, we are reminded that we are playing our own role in the salvation of mankind; our existence means a lot to future generations. And St. Paul in our first reading tells us that God co-operates with all those who love him and all those he has called according to his purpose.

They are the ones he chose specially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest of many brothers. For he called those he intended for this; those he called he justified, and with those he justified he shared his glory.

Dear friends, Mary’s birthday reminds us of our own birth and our role in the master plan of God. For God has plans for every one of us. Our existence is not by chance or providence; rather, it is by the special will of God, who made it possible for us to participate in his mystery at this present age. He could have willed for us to exist in the past or in the future, or not to exist at all.

Hence, never take your existence for granted, because in every moment of our existence, there is a role we are playing. Therefore, let us, like Mary, learn to cooperate with the grace of God and live in accordance with God's plan, for we are all created for a purpose, and that purpose is the role we have to play in this world.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, you created us for a purpose and the birthday of our Mother Mary reminds us of this purpose. Grant that through her intercession we may obtain the grace to live out our purpose in this life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a blessed day.

Homily For Monday, Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 7th September 2026

 

Readings: 1Cor 5:1-8, Ps.5, Luke 6:6-11

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

NOTHING SHOULD STOP US FROM DOING GOOD

From the Scriptures, it seems every encounter the Pharisees had with Jesus was aimed at finding fault with what Jesus was doing. But to their great surprise, Jesus always escaped and used that opportunity to communicate an important message to the people. Such was the occasion in our Gospel passage today.

When on a Sabbath day Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach, a man was there whose right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees were watching him to see if he would cure the man on the Sabbath, hoping to find something to use against him.

But knowing their thoughts he said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up! Come out into the middle.’ Then Jesus said to them, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it? And said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He did so, and his hand was better. But they were furious and began to discuss the best way of dealing with him.

Here we see how Jesus demonstrated his compassionate care for humanity, for the most important thing for God in this world is the human person. That's why he makes every effort to save humanity from damnation. He desires to see us making an effort to become faithful and holy.

His mercy is so deep that he proposes it as the guiding principle for the perfect fulfilment and interpretation of the laws of life. Thus, Jesus, in this passage, has to teach us that humanity’s welfare should not be neglected because of laws and regulations. Nothing should restrict us from doing good to people, not even the laws of the Sabbath.

Therefore, since we desire to honour God’s laws, we must seek the good of people as well. This is what the Pharisees have failed to understand, for they are rather fault-finders and self-righteous people who only wish to mislead the oppressed and suppress the truth and the good works of others just because of their selfish desires to sustain their ego, pride and their worldly ambition. But we should not be like them; rather, we should be compassionate and merciful, for that is what we are called to do.

And St. Paul in our first reading, calls us to examine our lives to see if there is any root of pride and sexual immorality in us. He rebuked the people of Corinth for their immorality and corrupt behaviour, a sinful act which even the pagans condemned. Hence, to overcome this sinful attitude, St. Paul said that we should be handed over to Satan so that our sensual body may be destroyed and our spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

Dear friends, today we are called to constantly do good to everyone, and nothing should stop us from ensuring the well-being of any human being. We are called not to be fault-finders who are blindfolded by pride. We must also renounce all sorts of sinful actions and wickedness that may destroy the purity of our souls. Therefore, let us be compassionate and merciful, for that is what we are called to do in this life, especially in this moment when our societies and families are really in difficult situations.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we often fail to listen to your teaching because of our selfish desires and pride. Help us to always listen to you and be willing to do good, especially in applying and interpreting laws and regulations. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a blessed week.