Homily For Saturday Fourth Week of Lent Year C, 5th April, 2025

 
Readings: Jer. 11:18-20, Ps. 7, John:7:40-53

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHY DO WE OFTEN PROMOTE EVIL AND WICKEDNESS OVER GOODWILL

Reflecting on the ugly situation in our families, societies and the world at large, one may ask why there is so much wickedness and hatred around us, and we all seem to be keeping quiet about it. Now, we all have to face the reality before us, both small and great, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, young and old, good and bad, holy and sinful.

It’s time for us to seek the truth, it’s time to return to our roots, it’s time to turn away from evil and pay attention to the signs of the moment just like the prophet Jeremiah who delivered a message of warnings from the Lord, for the coming destruction for both Judah and Jerusalem.

For this, he faced lots of difficulties and persecutions from those who hated and disliked him, especially those who, out of pride, were irritated by the constant words of doom that the prophet delivered to them, as we have it in our first reading today. But as the people of the kingdom of Judah continued to live in sin and refused to change their ways, they were doomed into captivity.

In the same way in the Gospel passage, we heard the same plotting and rejection of the person and message of Jesus by the Pharisees and the members of the Sanhedrin. They refused to believe in the message of Jesus and to accept the fact that Jesus is the Messiah just because they perceived that what Jesus had done was contrary to their way of life and the way they enforced their piety and faith. Hence, out of pride, they wished to persecute and condemn him to death.

Dear friends, we are called to pay attention to the message and signs that God is offering to humanity about the reality of his coming. Telling us that the world as we see it, looking so beautiful, is passing away, and no one knows how and when it will happen. Therefore, we must not let pride lead us to stubbornness and faithlessness so as not to end up acting like the Pharisees, who, in their stubbornness, refused to listen to Jesus. This will likely lead us down the path of sin, and those sins will lead us into damnation unless we repent from them.

Thus, during this Holy Season of Lent, as we pass through the turbulent moments in our daily lives, we are encouraged to be more humble and willing to open ourselves to accept God’s message of truth, to open our ears, our eyes and deepen our senses to feel and know what God wants us to do with our lives. Let us realize the shortness of our mortal lives, and realize how unworthy and corrupt we have been because of our sins. Let us come back to God as our shield, for he alone can deliver and save us from all our troubles and predicaments.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we have often failed to remain faithful to your words; as we listen to you today, may the difficulties of our daily struggles deepen our faith and make us more humble and submissive to your will so as to experience once again your love and comforting grace. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a safe and peaceful weekend.

Homily For Friday Fourth Week of Lent Year C, 4th April, 2025

 

Readings: Wisd. 2:1.12-22; Ps. 34; John 7:1-2.10.25-30

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

OVERCOMING THE TRIALS OF LIFE

There is no doubt that our societies today are full of evil and wickedness of humanity against one another. So, every day, we struggle against the malice of the evil ones, and people are doing everything they can to overcome them.

This is evident in our readings today. In the first reading, we heard how unsound some people can be in their thinking. This no doubt reveals the thoughts of the wicked people who rejected the message of God’s truth and persecuted the prophets saying, “Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us and opposes our way of life, reproaches us for our breaches of the law and accuses us of playing false to our upbringing. He claims to have knowledge of God, and calls himself the son of God”. Such are the ways of the evil ones. 

Similarly, in our Gospel, we heard of the opposition against Jesus and the efforts his enemies made to try to harm him. This happened in fulfilment of the prophecy about the suffering Servant of God. It is at this point that Jesus made one of the most revealing statements at the Temple before everyone who gathered at the temple, not long before the beginning of his Passion. He stood firmly against all those who had doubted, rejected and persecuted him, showing how those who refused to believe in him and his truth were blinded by their pride and arrogance, their unwillingness to listen, and their lack of knowledge and faith in him.  

Dear friends, as we draw closer to the season of Holy Week, the readings begin to speak about the coming of the Lord’s Passion, the suffering servant of God. For out of pride and selfishness the Pharisees turned against the Lord Jesus. Their malice and worldly concerns and also their ugly desires truncated their faith and obedience to God. In the same way, the root of all this evil in our world today is none other than pride, selfishness, arrogance and over-ambition in our hearts. 

Therefore, as we struggle against the evil of our time, we can take consolation from today’s Psalm, which tells us that the Lord is close to the broken-hearted; those whose spirit is crushed he will save. For many are the trials of the just man, but from them, all the Lord will rescue him, for the Lord ransoms the souls of his servants, and those who hide in him shall not be condemned. This is a reminder that God will not forget his faithful ones, but those who have acted with injustice and evil will have to answer for their misdeeds unless they repent from their sins. 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we struggle with the ugly situation in our world today, gift us grace not to give up, may we remain faithful in all trials and temptations. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Remain Blessed. 

Homily For Thursday Fourth Week of Lent Year C, 3rd, 2025

Readings: Ex. 32:7-14, Ps. 106, John 5:31-47

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

DON’T BE STIFF-NECKED AND REBELLIOUS TOWARDS GOD’S LOVE

Humanity has always rebelled against God despite all his love, care and mercy for us. Sometimes, it seems as if the more God cares, loves and blesses us, the more we disobey and separate ourselves from him. This is obvious in our readings today. In our first reading, we heard how the Israelites rebelled against God in a very terrible manner because they made for themselves a golden calf as a god and worshipped it. It was not too long before God delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians and opened the sea for them to pass safely on the dry ground while destroying all the chariots and armies sent after them. 

This happened just because Moses had spent forty days and forty nights on the mountain, trying to receive the commandments for them. So, the people being impatient and weak in faith, chose to take the drastic action of forcing Aaron to make for themselves a golden calf to serve as god over them. Hence, they committed all sorts of atrocities and terrible sinful deeds with the golden idol, and God was very angry with them and about to destroy them. 

But Moses interceded and pleaded on their behalf for him to show mercy and forgive them. Of course, God spared the people but some of those worst offenders and the leaders of the rebellion were indeed not spared by the wrath of God, for it was by their instigation that the whole people of Israel ended up disobeying God and sinned against him. 

This same attitude is what Jesus is addressing in our Gospel passage today, as he rebuked the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who opposed him just like the people who disobeyed God and hardened their hearts by making idols for themselves to be worshipped as their god. While the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law proudly claimed themselves as the sole guardians of the faith, they ended up idolizing their way of observing the laws of Moses to the point that they forgot why they had the Law in the first place since they refused to listen to Jesus. 

Thus, he rebuked and reminded the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, as he did the same to us, that we need to get rid of our pride, corruption and idolatry.

Dear friends, why have we remained stiff-necked and rebellious? Why do we often exchange the God of glory for the image of a bull that eats grass? Why have we let pride, greed and corruption take away our love for God? Why are we quick to forget what the Lord has done for us? Why do we prefer to offend him despite all his love for us? Today we are reminded of how merciful God has been to us, how patient he has been with our stubbornness, our constant disobedience, our sinful ways and our rebelliousness. 

God has continually forgiven us when we seek his forgiveness and mercy. Because he has always loved us so much even when we have disobeyed him and committed so much evil before him. So, it’s time to return to God, not forgetting that he still despises our sins and wickedness, for he loves us, though sinners, but despises our sins. Because sin brings corruption to us, and no corruption and wickedness can remain in God’s presence. 

Therefore, in this turbulent moment in human history, we are called to make good use of the opportunities we have received in this Holy Season of Lent by ensuring that we approach the throne of God’s mercy and love. Let us humble ourselves before God and strive to repent from our mistakes and sins, knowing that God is always ready to forgive us if we are willing to change our ugly and sinful ways of doing things. 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, we are stiffed-neck and rebellious people who have often taken your love and mercy for granted. As we listen to your words today, may we repent of our sinful ways of life and sincerely embrace your words today. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful day.

Homily For Wednesday Fourth Week of Lent Year C, 2nd April, 2025

Readings: Isaiah 49:8-15; Ps.145; John 5:17-30

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

WHY OUR CHERISHED PLANS OFTEN FAIL

The second stanza of one of the beautiful songs in our hymn book titled “By and By”, composed by Charles A. Tindley says:

Oft our cherished plans have failed,

Disappointments have prevailed,

And we've wandered in the darkness,

heavy-hearted and alone;

But we're trusting in the Lord,

And, according to His Word,

We will understand it better by and by.

This song will help us understand why, Oftentimes, when we have good and wonderful intentions, which we feel is the best thing in our life, does not work out the way we want it. This is because our intentions may be good and wonderful, but as long as it does not fall in line with the will of God, we may only struggle with them but will not achieve the desired results.  So for our cherished plans not to fail, we must learn to outline our intentions with the will of God, just like Jesus in our Gospel passage today. 

We heard how Jesus outlined his intentions with that of his Father when he said ‘I tell you most solemnly, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees the Father doing: I can do nothing by myself, because my aim is to do not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.’

Here, we see that Jesus' conviction came from within. That is from the will of God his Father, who sent him for the salvation of humanity and this was the priority of his life. Jesus spoke of God as a loving father with whom he related closely and confidently. The relationship was so great that the work of Jesus was the same as the work of the Father. But those who could not understand this relationship felt threatened. That is why they seek a way to kill him. 

This should not be our attitude; rather, we should seek to outline our intentions with that of God by building a good relationship with him. Though it may be hard to understand and build a relationship between divinity and humanity, through prayers, we can develop the willingness to do and fulfil the will of God. And when this is done we will surely achieve our cherished plans.

Dear friends, I don't know the cherished plans in your heart right now. I don’t know your cherished plans which have failed, and it seems as if disappointments have prevailed, thereby wandering in the darkness of confusion and heavy heart all alone. Today, Jesus is inviting us to outline those plans with the will of God, including all our troubles, all our challenges and disappointments,s, and he will help us to succeed. 

For we heard the Lord saying in our first reading: At the favourable time I will answer you, on the day of salvation I will help you. For a woman does not forget her baby at the breast, or fail to cherish the son of her womb. Yet even if these forget, I will never forget you. Therefore, we have to ensure that all our cherished plans are in line with the will of God; then, we will tell the story of how we overcame our most troublesome and darkest of moments, and then we will understand it better by and by.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we learn to outline our intentions with your will, may you direct our cherished plans to suit your will and so achieve the desired results. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you the best of God's favour.