Homily for Wednesday, Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, Year B, 14th October, 2026

Readings: Gal 5:18-25, Ps. 1: 1-6, Luke 11:42-46

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHY DO WE PREFER TO LOOK GOOD OUTSIDE BUT INSIDE IS SUPER UGLY AND DIRTY?

The condition of our society today calls for deep reflection, as so many things that appear to be good are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful and draw the admiration of people, but within them are full of dead men's bones and all sorts of corruption. They call it packaging, the popular term people use to describe how they make things that aren't very good look extremely good, and it has made us lose focus on how we ought to do things right.

This ugly attitude of the human person is what Jesus is condemning today in our Gospel passage. He continued to challenge the hypocritical attitude of the scribes and Pharisees, which is not different from the attitude of most of us.

He said: Alas for you Pharisees! You who pay your tithe of mint and rue and all sorts of garden herbs and overlook justice and the love of God! These you should have practised, without leaving the others undone. Alas for you Pharisees who like taking the seats of honour in the synagogues and being greeted obsequiously in the market squares! Alas for you, because you are like the unmarked tombs that men walk on without knowing it!

Here, Jesus is challenging us to think differently about how we live our lives. He is challenging us to look at what is going on in our inner being, our interior life, that part of us that we hide from one another. For most people, the things we see around us today are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful and draw the admiration of people, but within us are outright ugliness and all sorts of corruption, like the unmarked tombs that men walk on without knowing it.

This is because, like the scribes and the Pharisees, we are interested mostly in the external beauty of things around us while neglecting their essence. We are self-satisfied, and often think that we are above the law. We often want to look good from the outside but remain ugly and dirty within.

Little wonder St. Paul in our first reading, tells us that, when self-indulgence is at work in us, the results are gross indecency, fornication, and sexual irresponsibility; idolatry and sorcery; feuds and wrangling, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels; disagreements, factions, envy; drunkenness, orgies and similar things.

He then encouraged us to embrace the interior life of the spirit, which brings love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control, for when we are led by the Spirit, no law can touch us.

Dear friends, why do we prefer to look good outside but inside is super ugly and dirty? What is the state of your interior life? Is it like a whitewashed tomb? Today we are called to build our interior life strong and stop living a fake life of packaging. We are challenged to change our ugly ways of life, to change from within us. This may seem very difficult. But, we need to change in so many ways, especially as regards our attitude towards things in this passing world. For God is calling us to repentance; he wants to come into our souls and dwell.

But he cannot dwell in a heart that is like a whitewashed tomb. Thus, Jesus is rebuking all humanity; he wants us to stop living a life of deception, immorality and corruption in the name of packaging. Rather, we should build up our interior being by embracing the things of the heart such as justice, mercy, love and compassion.

LET US PRAY: Loving Father, help us to build our interior life strongly in your love for we are living in a world of whitewashed tombs of deception, immorality and corruption. Give us grace to be wise enough to discern what is right and pleasing to you. And as we struggle with the ugly situation of this life, may you guide and direct our paths. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily For Tuesday, Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 13th October, 2026

Readings: Gal 5:1-6, Ps. 119, Luke 11:37-41

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

LET OUR INTERIOR LIFE BE PURIFIED AND OUR WHOLE LIFE WILL BE PURE

Our society is full of artful deception, dishonesty and fraudsters. Integrity has become a virus to be eliminated. Morals and virtuous acts are no longer valuable. Heroes of deception and fraudsters are honoured, decorated and celebrated. This unhealthy attitude of humanity is what Jesus is addressing in our Gospel passage today. For when a Pharisee invited Jesus to dine at his house, he was surprised that Jesus had not first washed before the meal.

But Jesus said to him, ‘Oh, you Pharisees! You clean the outside of the cup and plate, while inside yourselves you are filled with extortion and wickedness. Fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside too? Instead, give alms from what you have and then indeed everything will be clean for you.

Here, the Pharisees were so much interested in the outward appearance and the ‘letters’ of the Law that they neglected the ‘spirit’ of the Law. However, Jesus made it clear that the purity of the human person is not based on the outward appearance of a person but, on the good fruit of virtue that comes from the human soul, because outwardly we may appear to be good and pious, but in reality, our hearts are full of wickedness, immorality and sin.

Little wonder St. Paul, in our first reading, reminded us that our salvation is due to our faith in God and not just to the Law or obedience to the Law. That is why he rebuked those who forced and demanded that every member of the Christian faithful should embrace circumcision according to the Law of Moses. Therefore, let us know that without faith, all of our good actions, obedience and the observances of the Law will be empty and meaningless.

Dear friends, the true nature and purity of the human person come from within our interior life. So, today we are called to look within ourselves, and purify our inner being and so make our outward appearance reflect our inner being.

We must ensure that our faith in God is pure and genuine by letting our whole lives be inspired by virtuous and truthful actions in our daily activities. Therefore, we must let our attitudes begin to change our society that is full of artful deception, dishonesty and fraudsters. Let our lives bear good fruits of integrity, love, purity and faith.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, our hearts are full of corruption, greediness, wickedness and immorality; give us the grace to purify our lives with virtues of integrity, honesty, purity and love. We ask this through Christ our lord. Amen. Have a fruitful day

Homily for Monday Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 12th October, 2026

 

Readings: Gal 4:22-24.26-27.31-5:1, Ps. 113, Luke 11:29-32

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHY ARE WE STILL SEEKING FOR Signs? 

Often, people want to see signs before they can accept or believe what we present to them. This is what the crowd in our Gospel passage today did: they asked Jesus for signs. He said to them, ‘This is an evil generation that asks for a sign!

But the only sign that will be given is the sign of Jonah, telling us that, on Judgment Day, the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here with us, that is, Jesus himself.

Here, Jesus presents to us the final recommendations of the end time, pointing out that he is the greatest sign of all time just like Jonah was to the people of Nineveh. He insists that we should pay rapt attention to the signs nature is giving us concerning the end-time events, and that these signs will help us have hope founded firmly on the word of God, which drives away fear and despair, knowing that the kingdom of God is very near to us.

He also warns us about following those who claim to know when the end is coming. For we may see many of the signs written in Scripture happening already in our time, and people are terrified, looking for someone to show them the way. We should know that Jesus is the only Way, the Truth and the Life.

And St. Paul in our first reading today reminded us of the sign of God’s promise to Abraham as a result of his faith, by comparing the two sons of Abraham, the one born earlier to the slave Hagar, namely Ishmael, and the one born of his wife, Sarah, the promised son, Isaac, born as promised by God.

Thereby giving us the contrast between the two states of our existence, namely our past, sinful and enslaved life, and our new and purified life which we obtained through our baptism, the greatest sign of our redemption.

Dear friends, what signs are we seeing around us today? How can we interpret the signs of these times, the signs that tell us that this world is passing away? Do these signs make us dread the second coming of the Lord, or do we joyfully embrace it in anticipation? Remember, Jesus warns us not to waste our time seeking signs; rather, we should repent and be prepared. We should remain firm in faith.

He reminds us that he is not just the sign of Jonah, but something far greater than Jonah, and without him in our lives, we will be lost, because the future lies in his hands and nothing can destroy or hurt us as long as we remain faithful to his commands. Nonetheless, what he requires of us in this world is for us to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with our God.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, in a world full of confusion and deception, help us to remain faithful in following our Lord Jesus knowing that he is the greatest sign of all times. And as we carry out our task this week, may your favour be with us now and always. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a blessed week ahead. 

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.