Homily for Tuesday Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 7th July, 2026

Readings: Hosea 8:4-7.11-13, Ps. 115, Matt 9:32-38

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

AS GOD’S LABOURERS, WHAT ARE WE DOING IN HIS VINEYARD?

Walking through the streets I observed how people are struggling with the things of this passing world. I saw their passion, their determination and willingness to achieve great things in life at the expense of things that prepare us for eternal life. For some people, life has become meaningless. Greed, corruption and selfishness have rendered so many people into perpetual poverty and suffering.

Thus, reflecting on these, my mind turned towards the words of Jesus in our Gospel passage today, when he saw the crowds and had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest’.

Here, Jesus had compassion on humanity who were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. He then tells his disciples that a huge harvest is waiting to be reaped. Calling on us to pray for God to send labourers into his harvest.

Therefore, more labourers are needed, for Jesus sees how humanity is harassed and dejected, wandering aimlessly like sheep without a guiding shepherd. And because the souls of everyone in the world are so precious to Jesus, he needs many more labourers, especially now that it is obvious that the harvest is getting richer while the labourers are getting fewer.

Hence, the harvest is as big as ever, and people are getting lost and clueless as never before. But who are these labourers? They are not just the bishops, priests, or religious men and women. But every baptised person is called in a different capacity as God’s labourers to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those around them.

So each of us has a vocation, a call to save souls and build the Kingdom of God together. Let us not be like the people of Israel in our first reading today, who abandoned their mission and vocation and chose to sacrifice to idols.

Thus we heard the Lord saying through the prophet Hosea: “They love sacrificing; right, let them sacrifice! They love meat; right, let them eat it! The Lord takes no pleasure in these. He is now going to remember their iniquity and punish their sins”.

Dear friends, as God’s labourers, what are we doing in his vineyard, for the Lord desires to have faithful labourers? Are you part of the faithful labourers in God’s vineyard? As labourers of the Lord, how are we carrying out this mission and mandate of Christ? How strong is our compassion towards others?

Do we know people who are harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd? Let us look at them for a moment and imagine Jesus looking at them and saying something to them. Or do we feel harassed and helpless as a result of what we are passing through in life? Do we feel the need for Jesus’ help in some part of our life? Then turn to him for restoration.

Remember, as labourers whether as lawyers, Doctors, teachers, engineers, politicians, military, businessmen and women, each one of us is called today to reach out to people at any particular corner of the field of harvest where we are residing now, for we may be the only person who may have access to reach out to them.

Therefore, let us start from our families, neighbours, colleagues in the office and others whom we encounter in our lives, because we may be the only person who can bring the healing and compassion of Jesus into their lives.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, give us the grace and courage to be faithful labourers in your vineyard, who will labour to bring souls to you. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a blessed day.

Homily for Monday Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 6th July, 2026

Readings: Hosea 2:16,17-18,21-22; Ps 145; Matt 9:18-26

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

EXPRESSING A POSITIVE FAITH THAT LEADS TO RESTORATION

Today we are presented with the story of the faith of a woman with a haemorrhage set inside the story of a little girl who died, and the father in faith came to Jesus for help. However, Mark 5:21-43 and Luke 8:40-56 tell the story in greater detail. 

In Mark and Luke, the woman with the haemorrhage interrupts Jesus’ journey to the home of a child who might die before he arrives, creating an urgency that is not present in Matthew’s account. In Matthew’s account, the girl is already dead, so there is no hurry.

Here, the father confesses a resurrection faith, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” The father believes that even Jesus’ slightest touch will restore life to his daughter, just as it did to the woman with a haemorrhage.

The stories of the little girl and the woman have interesting similarities: Both are called “daughter” (9:18, 22). Both are restored in the presence of people (the woman and the father) who seek Jesus’ help. The woman has been ill for twelve years, and the little girl was twelve years old. Both the woman and the little girl have been cut off from normal society by their physical condition.

 But there are also differences between the stories. The father is a man of high standing in the community, and the woman is unclean and an outcast. The man approaches Jesus boldly, and the woman approaches him timidly. The girl was raised based on the father’s radical faith; the woman was restored through her own faith, for she was very sure that the very moment she touched the Lord’s cloak, all her troubles were ended, for her body was made whole again.

This woman actually represents the sinful humanity in need of God’s mercy, salvation and restoration. Her bleeding signifies the iniquity of all humanity who are defiled by the constant shedding of innocent blood through violent wars and abortions, thereby unworthy of God’s presence.

Her reaching out to touch Jesus and her restoration signify the effort each one of us needs to make to reach out to God to be restored. And finally the willingness of Jesus to heal all of us just as he had healed the woman from all of her troubles. But this requires that we radically put our faith into action.

Thus, this passage simply tells us to have faith in God no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in, for faith is the only way to get to God in prayer. Just as he promised us in our first reading today through the prophet Hosea concerning his chosen people, saying: It is the Lord who speaks; she will call me, ‘My husband’; no longer will she call me, ‘My Baal.’ I will betroth you to myself for ever, betroth you with integrity and justice, with tenderness and love; I will betroth you to myself with faithfulness, and you will come to know the Lord.

Dear friends, today we are made to know that it is not enough to have faith; we must radically put our faith into action no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in. For it is through active faith that we can reach out to God in prayer and so obtain what we desire. Therefore, having faith in the Lord is very necessary to obtain God’s restoration.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we thank you for the gift of faith, give us the grace and courage to put our gift of faith into positive action that yields positive results. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful week ahead. 

Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A, 5th July, 2026

 

Readings: Zechariah 9:9-10, PS. 145, Rom. 8:9.11-13, Matt. 11:25-30

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

THE LORD WANTS TO HELP US CARRY OUR BURDENS OF LIFE

Looking outside my window one morning, behold, I saw an Ant carrying a heavy load through a little hole in the wall. It seemed to have been struggling all night to pass the load through the hole, which seemed impossible.

Then I stretched out my hand and trimmed the load to the size of the hole, and then placed it back for the Ant, who was still running round the hole looking for the load. Immediately, the Ant saw it, grabbed the load and dragged it through the hole.

At this point my mind reflected on the words of Jesus in our Gospel passage today when he said: ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’

Here, Jesus invites us who are burdened by the distresses and various trials of life, especially those who are weary of the slavery of sin, the manipulations of evil ones, the love of the world, and the pursuit of its vanities, but now desire reconciliation and peace with God. Jesus graciously says: take my yoke upon you and learn from me, shoulder your yoke of sin, sorrows and shame, and come to me and you will find rest for your soul.

The yoke here is a metaphorical statement signifying the specific authority of Jesus towards the mission and obligations He gives us to perform. So to ‘take his yoke’ upon us is to submit our wills to his authority in joyful obedience and daily imitation of his teachings.

This is what prophet Zechariah is calling us to do in our first reading today when he says: rejoice heart and soul, daughter of Zion! Shout with gladness, daughter of Jerusalem! See now, your king comes to you; he is victorious, he is triumphant, He will banish the bow of war and will proclaim peace for the nations. Here the Lord spoke of the coming of the good time when the people would no longer be divided, when the veil of shame and humiliation would be lifted from them, and they would be restored and strengthened.

In this same vein, St. Paul reminds us in our second reading that we have all shared in the death of Christ through our baptism, and by His death, all of us have been redeemed. So, there is no need for us to live according to the flesh or engage in unspiritual ways of life. For if we live in that way, you are doomed to die; but if by the Spirit we put an end to the misdeeds of the body we will live with Christ.

Dear friends, the ugly condition in our societies today really places heavy burdens and stress on us, and oftentimes these burdens are so heavy that we don’t know how to carry them. The worst of these burdens is the sorrows we bear in our hearts: sorrows caused by our sins, unhealthy relationships, unforgiveness, family problems and unactualized goals and dreams. Today Jesus invites us to come to him just as we are. For he recognises the sorrows in our lives, how we labour and are overburdened.

This invitation opens a refreshing space in our soul by inspiring hope and drawing us into his loving and gentle presence that brings peace and tranquillity to our soul. Today, we are called to exchange our heavy worldly burdens with the light yoke of Heavenly graces. For Jesus wants to listen to all of our troubles, as he assures us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

So, what is that burden in your heart? What is that sorrow in your soul? What is that pain in your life? What are those unachieved plans, goals and mistakes that have become an injury in your life? What is that weakness of sin, sickness or failure that has made you lose confidence in yourself and in God? The Lord is calling us to come to Him, and He will give us rest. For when we spend time with Jesus, we find rest for our souls because, he speaks to us in the silence of our hearts and gives us inner peace.

Therefore, why carry your burdens, your heavy burdens alone like the Ant I saw that morning? Why kill yourself for things you can not change? Why try to satisfy people who can not be satisfied? Why try to impress people who care less about you or your efforts? Why carry the burden that is not yours?

A lot of us are carrying burdens that are not ours. Burdens that are not necessarily, burdens of greed and selfishness. Burdens of the things of this passing world at the expense of the riches of heavenly things. Why not bring those burdens and challenges before the Lord? For Jesus is willing to help you, for he promised that when we are troubled and turn to him, he will help us.

So let us trust in his word and shoulder the yoke of his authority, learn from him, to find rest for our soul. Let us learn from the Lord, for he said, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children’. So today, God has revealed these things to us; let us learn from him. Remember, this life is very short and is vanity without God. Everything we toil for, including our lives, is vanity vanishing without God.

LET US PRAY: O God, we are so much attached to the heavy burdens of the sinful things of this passing world; give us the grace to let go of their grip on us, so that we can truly and faithfully embrace the heavenly things, through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily for Saturday of Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 4th July, 2026

 

Readings: Amos 9:11-15 ; Ps. 85; Matt 9:14-17

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

WHY ARE YOU MIXING YOUR OLD LIFE OF SIN WITH GOD’S NEW LIFE OF GRACE

Today, our attention is drawn to the gift of new life that Jesus offers to humanity. A gift that differentiates his disciples from other people. This is evident in our Gospel passage today, where we read about the observation made by the disciples of John the Baptist concerning the relationship between Jesus and his disciples and their new ways of doing things.

So they came to Jesus and asked him a question regarding their manner of fasting and feasting. Jesus used this opportunity to educate them about the New Life of grace that He had come to offer humanity.

He said to them: Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

For no one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth onto an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine into fresh skins and both are preserved.

Here Jesus gave two responses to the question. First, people do not fast when they are in the company of the bridegroom which is a time for celebration. For Jesus is the groom and as long as he is around, it would be inappropriate for his disciples to fast.

However, a time will come when the groom will no longer be with them, then they will surely fast, telling us that fasting should be done at the right time for the right reasons. Moreover, being in a relationship with Jesus is more important, because what the bridegroom is to the bride, that is what Jesus is to the souls of all who believe in him.

So, as his bride, he loves us with a deep and everlasting love. He pays all our debts to God; he supplies all our daily needs; he sympathises with us in all our troubles; he bears with all our infirmities, and does not reject us because of our weaknesses. He regards us as part of himself: We share in the glory that he has received from his Father.

These are the privileges of all true Christians who are called to the heavenly kingdom. So Jesus is teaching us that the Kingdom of Heaven is not a matter of ritual or ceremonious fasting or feasting. But is about building a personal relationship with God who loves us personally and unconditionally.

In the second response, Jesus shows that he is bringing something totally new which should not be mixed with the old way of life. This he emphasised with the importance of pouring new wine into fresh wineskins and the need to avoid using a new cloak to patch an old one.

Here the fresh wineskins refer to a new heart that has put off the old cloak of sin and looks forward to the new wine of grace through the process of conversion. This is exactly what the prophet Amos is saying in our first reading today, when he said I mean to restore the fortunes of my people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them, plant vineyards and drink their wine, dig gardens and eat their produce.

Dear friends, what is that old garment in our lives that we are patching with the new? What is that old wine of habitual sin that we are pouring into the new wine skins of our redeemed and purified soul?

Today we are called to a fresh response towards embracing the New Life of grace which Jesus is offering us. We must not mix our old life of sin with the new life of grace Jesus is offering us. As we think about these, let us struggle to avoid our old sinful ways of life and fully embrace the new righteous way of life that God is offering us.

LET US PRAY: Almighty God, You are the source of our new life; grant us the grace of true and total conversion to find such great Joy in Your abundant Life of grace and mercy, through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed and peaceful weekend.

Homily For Friday, Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 3rd July, 2026. The Feast of St Thomas the Apostle

 

Readings: Eph. 2:19-22, PS 117:1.2, John 20:24-29

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

"MY LORD AND MY God!" AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE LORD

In our world today, there are great reasons why people may have doubts about their faith in God and Jesus. Because of the ugly attitude of deception, manipulation, exaggeration, corruption and flamboyant lifestyle of false prophets and preachers in our societies, these can really make it difficult for people to become true and faithful believers in our world today.

Little wonder, people are scandalised by the actions and behaviour of some believers. Some have given up their faith, some are about to give up, some are just confused while a lot of people are just holding on to the little faith they have based on their little personal experience and encounter with the Divine. This disposition can be likened to that of St. Thomas whose feast we are celebrating today.

St. Thomas, one of the great Apostles of Jesus, journeyed with Jesus and experienced his great miracles, listened to his teaching, witnessed his passion and death. But as his faith could not bear it, he doubted the resurrection of Jesus based on other people's testimony. He could not believe it because it was too real to be true, so he sought a personal experience and encounter with Jesus.

As a result of this, Jesus appeared to him on the occasion of our Gospel passage today and said to him: Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him you believe because you can see me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe’. Here Jesus offered the scarred side of his wounds for the disbelieving disciple to touch and so healed the wound of his disbelief.

Through this personal encounter of the risen Lord, he believed; looking at one who was a true man, he cried out that this is God, the God he could not see. So, faith is no longer necessary, all that matters now for Thomas is to share his personal experience with everyone who cares to listen.

Tradition has it that, at the dispersal of the Apostles after Pentecost, Thomas was sent to evangelise the Parthians, Medes, and Persians; he ultimately reached India, sharing his experience and carrying the Faith to the Malabar coast, which still boasts a large native population calling themselves "Christians of St. Thomas.” He shed his blood for what he was convinced of. He was speared to death at a place called Calamine.

But what about you and I, who today have experienced the Lord, having journeyed with Jesus as long as we have come to embrace the Christian faith? What can we say about our personal encounter and experience of the person of Jesus? Are we really convinced about the faith we profess, or are we still at the level of faith based on what we hear or read about Jesus? Or have we really and truly encountered the person of Jesus in such a way that our faith, because of the encounter with the Divine, has no doubt anymore, such that we can truly say like St. Thomas, "My Lord and My God"? The fact remains that we need to personally experience the rising Lord if we are to bear authentic witness.

Dear friends, today we are encouraged to believe without seeing, but this can really be very difficult in a world of empiricism; yet we are still called to truly embrace this faith without doubting, despite all the ugly human attitudes that are kicking against our faith. For Jesus said to Thomas, blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. Therefore, we need to support each other. We need to strengthen our community life especially during this difficult moment in our country and world at large.

This is necessary, because the first Christians supported one another by praying, worshipping and sharing the word of God and their resources together. And St Paul in our first reading encouraged us to remain faithful and strong, for we are no longer aliens or foreign visitors in the affairs of God: rather we are citizens like all the saints, and part of God’s household. For we are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself is the main cornerstone. Thus, let us unite together as believers and bear authentic witness to our faith.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we struggle in this dark and trial moment in our lives, when your presence seems far away from the world, help us through the intercession of St Thomas, never to doubt whatever you have revealed through your Son. May we rather be steadfast in faith, joyful in hope and untiring in loving you and our neighbours, especially in this time when the Gospel is under all kinds of threats by faithless and ignorant people. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful day. 

Homily for Thursday Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 2nd July, 2026

 

Readings: Amos 7:10-17, Ps 18:8-11 , Matt 9:1-8

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

EXPERIENCING THE HEALING POWER OF GOD THROUGH THE INTERCESSION OF PEOPLE

The sin and evil going on in the world today are putting our faith to the test and most people are giving in to the scheme of the devil because they lack the strong will to withstand the suffering, sickness and problems that befall us as a result of this evil. People are running up and down seeking solutions.

While the evil ones are taking advantage of the situation to destroy the faith of the people. In fact, one may begin to wonder if there is still hope for the restoration of humanity from this ugly situation. But the fact remains that God can heal and restore us once again.

This is evident in our Gospel passage today, when some people brought to him a paralytic stretched out on a bed. And seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Courage, my child, your sins are forgiven.’ But some scribes doubted his authority to forgive sins, and Jesus, knowing what was in their minds, said: ‘Why do you have such wicked thoughts in your hearts? Now, which of these is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and walk”? But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,’ he said to the paralytic, ‘get up, and pick up your bed and go off home.’ And the man got up and went home.

Here we see the power and authority of Jesus towards the restoration of the paralytic man carried by his friends. A gesture that signifies the restoration of humanity paralysed by sin. So Jesus began by forgiving our sins. Though sin seems to be the root of the sickness. But sin may be pardoned, yet the sickness not be removed; the sickness may be removed, yet the sin not pardoned.

But for Jesus, healing is holistic for those who have faith in God. And this is what the scribes and the Pharisees failed to understand as they doubted and opposed the power and authority of Jesus, just like the priest Amaziah in our first reading, who opposed the prophet Amos.

Prophet Amos was doing the work of God, by calling people to repentance and to face the consequences of their sins. This is because Amaziah and King Jeroboam had sinned and also led the people of Israel to sin against God as well.

So Amaziah saw Amos as a rival and a threat to his own influence, and that was also why he went up to king Jeroboam complaining about Amos and asking him to get out of Israel and return to the land of Judah, and stop prophesying in Bethel because he doesn’t want to hear the truth just like must of our leaders today who does not like to hear the truth.

Dear friends, today we are called not to be like the priest Amaziah or the scribes who were enslaved by their pride and desire to maintain their prestige in society. They doubted the power and authority of Jesus and rejected the message of truth. But Jesus rebuked them; this shows us that truly he has power and authority not just to heal and forgive us but to restore us and all humanity back to our former glory.

We are also called to imitate the great faith and love of the friends of the paralytic, the love and faith that radiate from the innermost being of those who exercise it. Let us like them, learn to love and help one another. Because the absence of love is the cause of most problems in our world today.

For most families exist only by grace because of the absence of love. How I wish we could invest our time and resources in ensuring love and goodwill in our dealings with one another; believe me, the world will be a temporal home for everyone.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are paralysed by the sins and evil we are committing against you and the world you created. As we come to you in faith, forgive us our sins, heal and restore us once again. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.

Homily for Wednesday Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 1st July, 2026

 

Reading: Amos 5:14-15,21-24; Ps. 50; Matt. 8:28-34

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

HOW CAN WE OVERCOME THE EVIL SITUATION AROUND US

There is no doubt that there is an active presence of evil in the world, which manifests itself in different forms and occasions. This is particularly evident in the time of Jesus, as he seemed to have lived in a world of hostility, marked by political and family divisions, as well as the conflict between good and evil, which is also present in our societies and country today. Thus, every day is a struggle against the malice of the evil ones, and people are doing everything they can to overcome them.

Little wonder, our Gospel passage today presents to us Jesus’ encounter with two demoniacs from the tomb in the countryside of the Gadarenes, who had been tormenting the community. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way.

So when they saw Jesus, they started shouting, ‘What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the time?’ And Jesus said to them, Go, and they came out from the men and immediately entered the pigs and the pigs rushed into the lake and perished in the water.

Here, we are called to recognise that the presence of Jesus in the world brings about victory over the evil ones. Demons recognise Jesus as the power of God. And his power over demons is a direct defeat of the evil ones.

The restoration of the two demoniacs signifies the inauguration of God's kingdom in the world. It also signifies the healing of God’s people who had sinned and disobeyed God by abandoning His precepts and laws, preferring instead the wicked ways of life and worldly practices which lead to destruction.

This is evident in our first reading today, where we heard Prophet Amos saying “Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and that the Lord, God of Hosts, may really be with you as you claim he is. Hate evil, love good, maintain justice at the city gate, and it may be that the Lord, God of Hosts, will take pity”.

Dear friends, today eaevery onef us is called to seek good and not evil, to promote justice and integrity, lest we be enslaved, rejected and possessed by the evil of this world, just like the two demoniacswho livedd in the wilderness away from other people.

We must know that no matter how grievous our sins may have been, God alone has the power to heal us and to bring us back to Himself. And Jesus has given us the gift of his presence in the person of the Holy Spirit, which God has bestowed on us in our baptism.

In this gift resides the power and authority to confront the evil of this world and overcome it. For Jesus wishes to set us free from sickness, forces, power and manipulations of the evil ones. He desires to be with us as we struggle every day to overcome the evil in our lives, our families, our societies, countries and the world at large. Therefore, we should not be afraid to stand firm against the manipulations of the devil, because Jesus will not abandon us in this battle of life.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, the world is full of evil and wickedness, give us the grace to seek what is good and hate what is evil, and as we struggle every day to do your will, may your presence be felt and drive away all evil in our midst through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful Month.