Homily For Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 2nd August, 2025.

 

Readings: Lev. 25:1.8-17; Ps. 67; Matt. 14:1-12

WHY DO WE FIND IT DIFFICULT TO ACCEPT THE TRUTH

One thing that the world hates to hear is the sound of the word "truth". Why! Because it makes the world tremble, as most things in the world are built on falsehood and deceit, and people are becoming comfortable with falsehood as a way of life. This is obvious, especially with the ugly situation of society today, where humanity is placed in perpetual darkness and confusion as the voices that speak the truth are silenced by all means.

Today, people want to be "free" to do whatever they like; they don't want anybody to remind them of the hard truth about the realities of life. Hence, they can do anything just to silence the truth. Thus, the cost of speaking the truth has become so expensive that sometimes it costs the life of an individual or even a whole community. It is even more demanding when the truth to be told has to do with the conversion of one in authority.

This is the case with John the Baptist in our Gospel passage today, whose head was the prize he paid for the truth he told to Herod and Herodias. For Herod had arrested John and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. For John had told him, ‘It is against the Law for you to have her.’ Herod had wanted to kill him but was afraid of the people, who regarded John as a prophet.

But, on the occasion of Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company, and so delighted Herod that he promised on oath to give her anything she asked. She conspired with the mother and demanded the head of John the Baptist. The king was distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he ordered John to be beheaded and the head be given to the girl, who took it to her mother.

These ugly attitudes towards John the Baptist point to what is done to Jesus in his Passion, demonstrating how good people, especially when they struggle for truth and justice, are often condemned to suffer in the hands of greed and powerful people, as we have it in our country today. But should we stop speaking the truth because of fear of losing our lives?

I don't think so, because truth saves life, it brings freedom, it releases tension, it brings peace, it settles quarrels and disputes. Truth is freedom which must be offered to everyone, whoever, whenever and however it will best bring conversion to its enemies, just like John the Baptist did to Herod and Herodias even at the expense of his life.

Herod made a bad decision, which, out of pride, he found it difficult to change his mind and admit that he was wrong. He did not plan to execute John that night. He was persuaded by Herodias to do so, because he was a weak man. He is a slave to the opinion of others; he fears the people who revered John; he also fears the reaction of his guests if he should retract his oath.

Dear friends, like Herod, how often do we make decisions out of pride? When we make bad decisions, how quickly are we able to change our minds, to admit that we are wrong? Are we like Herodias, who is waiting for an opportunity to silence the innocents who confront us with the truth?  If today we happen to be one of the guests of Herod, what would have been our reaction? Will I have protested or stayed silent?

Thus, what do we do when we see others suffering injustice? Do we have the courage to protest, even at the cost of losing our jobs and lives? Today we called to speak the truth no matter the cost, for the world needs to hear the truth at all costs. This is the evidence in our first reading today, where the Lord gave the people instructions on how to coordinate themselves in their promised land, for he said Let none of you wrong his neighbour, but fear your God.

LET US PRAY:  Lord God, it is difficult to speak and stand for truth in our world today, give us the grace and courage to become instruments of your word in truth and in deeds, just like St. John the Baptist. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you God’s favour.  

Homily For Friday Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 1st August, 2025. The Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori. HAPPY NEW MONTH

 

Readings: Lev. 23:1.4-11.15-16.27.34-37; Ps. 81; Matt. 13:54-58

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

DO NOT GIVE UP WHEN PEOPLE LOOK DOWN ON YOU  

In life, people are quick to neglect and look down on others, who they believe cannot offer them anything good at the moment. They are quick to forget that everyone, no matter the present condition is a potential instrument for God's blessings. This is the ugly attitude of the people of Nazareth in our Gospel passage today. 

For when Jesus came to his home town and taught the people in the synagogue in such a way that they were astonished, but instead of embracing the message of Jesus, they treated him with contempt and in their pride they said: ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? 

This is the carpenter’s son, surely? Is not his mother the woman called Mary, and his brothers and sisters here with us? Where did he get all these?’ And they would not accept him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country and in his own house’, and he did not work many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Thus, out of pride and contempt, the people rejected the blessings God had for them. Today, this kind of ugly attitude is what stops people from doing good, because they don’t want to be treated with contempt, and as a result, a lot of people have been deprived of their blessings out of human pride and contempt.

This is what the Lord is addressing through Moses in our first reading today. For he said when you enter the land that I give you, and gather in the harvest there, you must bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest, and he is to present it to the Lord with the gesture of offering, so that you may be acceptable.

This is what we see in the life of St. Alphonsus Liguori, whose memorial we celebrate today. He was the founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, also known as the Redemptorists. He was truly a holy man and a role model that we can emulate in our own lives. St. Alphonsus Liguori was remembered for his great piety and dedication to serving the people of God, just like Moses. He was known for his simple and yet effective homilies, his courageous and loving outreach to those under his care and in touch with the plight and troubles of the people in his community.

Dear friends, do not treat anyone with contempt, for everyone is a potential instrument of God’s blessings and favour. And if you want to make a difference in life, be ready to ignore what people are saying about you now, forget your past failures and your humble beginning. People may not appreciate you now, they may even say all kinds of things about you, just to humiliate and discourage you.

Put all of them behind you, work hard for your dreams, give your time to it, sacrifice your sleep and comfort, sweat for it, plan for it, overcome all your terrors of opposition, enduring pains and obstacles, with the help of God you will succeed and become a source of God's blessings. 

Then you will sing joyfully to God, your strength, and all the people will gather about you in praise of your God. And they will say: Is not this the Carpenter's son or daughter? Where then did he get all this? Yes, that's who we are, for Jesus is the Carpenter of our success and salvation. 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, oftentimes in our pride, we treat people with contempt because of their humble background, give us the grace to realise that everyone is a potential instrument of your blessings and favour to humanity. And as we struggle towards our goals, may you, through the intercession of Alphonsus, crown all our efforts and sacrifices with success this new month. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.  Happy New Month. 

Homily For Thursday Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 31st July, 2025. The Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola

 

Readings: Ex. 40:16-21.34-38; Ps. 84; Matt 13:47-53

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

THE LORD IS OUR POTTER WE ARE RAW CLAY IN HIS HAND 

A story was told of a beautiful clay pot used to decorate a garden. The clay pot was the point of attraction to all, including its fellow ordinary clay. So one day the ordinary clay approached the beautiful clay pot and said, We have no doubt that you are clay just like us. But how come you have become so beautiful and special that everyone admires you? 

The clay pot smiled and said: There was a time when I was nothing but a dumb lump of red clay. Then one day a Potter came with a digger and a hoe, dug me out of the dumb lump, and painfully separated me from my fellow clay and brought me to his house. I cried out, but he ignored me. 

He rolled and pounded me on a wooden table several times without mercy. I cried out, Don’t do that! Leave me alone!’ But the Potter suddenly placed me on a spinning wheel and spun around and around and around until I lost all consciousness. Just when I thought it was over, he placed me carefully into an oven which is hotter than hellfire. 

Why me! I cried out in anguish! But the potter only smiled and gently said: Because you are special! I struggled, I yelled, knocked and broke several times, but the Potter was patient and meticulous in ensuring that I adjusted to his will. Realising that I cannot win, I surrender completely to the will of the Potter, and he only nodded in understanding and quietly said: “It's not over yet! 

Then he pulled me out of the oven, when the heat had cooled, he carefully picked me up, dusted away some dirt, and behold, I was totally transformed, looking so beautiful and special. And the potter smiled and said: This is what you are meant to be. For God has made you into a special vessel for a special purpose. 

This story reflects our relationship with God, who is our Potter. For God has created humanity as beautiful clay in his hands to be moulded into a beautiful and special vessel for the heavenly kingdom. But humanity has sinned and rebelled against God and his plan for us, just like the people of Israel in our first reading today. 

For knowing how stiff-necked they were, God sent Moses to build a tabernacle of his presence from where he guided and moulded his people along their journey according to his plan after they had repented and turned away from their sinful ways of life.

Hence, we are called to repentance and cooperate with God's grace,  for there will be a day of judgement, of which Jesus,s, in our Gospel passage, used a parable to describe that the kingdom of heaven will be like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in fish of all kinds. 

When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use. Here Jesus is telling us that the kingdom is open for all but not all can be suitable to dwell in it, only those who on the judgement day are found suitable can be admitted into the kingdom, just like St. Ignatius of Loyola, whose memorial we celebrate today. 

Dear friends, God is our potter; we are nothing but raw clay, hoping to be moulded into heavenly vessels. So, all God requires from us is for us to let him mould us to become his heavenly vessels. No doubt that sin has destroyed our original nature, but just like when a potter was shaping spoils in his hands and he formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. So will God re-mould us into a new vessel for his heavenly kingdom if we repent from our pride and sinful ways of life. 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, sin and pride have separated humanity from your plans for us. Today, we come to you like a lump of clay in a dump, be our Potter once again and remould us into the heavenly vessels which you planned for us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily For Wednesday Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 30th July, 2025

 

Readings: Ex. 34:29-35; Ps. 99; Matt 13:44-46

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

SEARCHING FOR THE ULTIMATE TREASURE OF LIFE

From the day we were born till the day we die, our lives can be likened to one who is searching for something so precious, like a treasure. And at the point of death, it appears as if one has found all he or she has been searching and looking for, and then sells all he or she has in order to abandon all they have in this world in order to buy that which they have found. Thus, today we are called to reflect on what should be that precious and ultimate treasure. 

So, in the Gospel passage today, Jesus used two parables to describe to the people that the kingdom of God is the greatest and ultimate treasure anyone can and should acquire. He said to them: the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field. Again, he said, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; when he finds one of great value, he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.

Here, the parables describe the kingdom of God as the ultimate treasure that cannot be compared to anything whatsoever we have in this world. Though the kingdom is open for all, not all can be suitable to dwell in it; only those who on the judgement day are found suitable can be admitted into the kingdom. 

Using these parables Jesus explains what the kingdom of heaven is like and what we need to do in order to acquire it. The essence of these parables is to remind us that the kingdom of heaven is so precious and great, that it is worth more than our entire life and our worldly possessions and treasures. 

Therefore, we must do all that it takes to ensure that we acquire it, losing it over the temporal worldly pleasure, fame, power and influence of the things of this passing world will be complete foolishness. For none of them last forever, and what good is it for us to gain the whole world but lose our souls out of God’s kingdom. For it is the glory of this kingdom that made the skin on the face of Moses in our first reading shine so much that the people of Israel would not dare to come near him.

Dear friends, what are you searching for in this passing world? What is your ultimate treasure in this life? How many of us are paying attention to this ultimate heavenly treasure? How many of us think and search for this ultimate treasure of our souls? 

One thing brought us into this world, and there is only one thing we can leave in this world, and there is only one thing we can take away from this world as our ultimate treasure, that is Love. Yes, Love is our ultimate treasure and as we know God is Love.

So,  how many of us desire to personally discover God in our lives? How I wish we would understand the shortness of this life, the emptiness of this passing world and the danger of losing our souls out of greed for the things of this passing world. 

Then, we will sincerely desire to experience God personally, because in him lies the greatest and ultimate treasure of life. And discovering God personally in our lives is the greatest treasure anyone can ever have. Remember, God is Love, have you discovered Love? Then you have discovered God and His Kingdom.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, the world is full of distractions from false treasures, give us a wise and discerning heart in order to give up all our attachments to worldly possessions in pursuit of True Love, the heavenly and ultimate treasure of your kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.

Homily For Tuesday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, 29th July, 2025. The Memorial of SS. Martha, Mary and Lazarus

Readings: Ex. 33:7-11.34:5-9.28; Ps. 103, Luke 10:38-42

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

DON’T BE TOO BUSY AND ANXIOUS ABOUT THE THINGS OF THIS PASSING WORLD. LEARN TO LISTEN TO GOD 

Today we celebrate the memorial of Saints, Martha, Mary and Lazarus very close family friends of Jesus. In this family, we see what should be a good example of our attitude towards Jesus in our families. In our relationship with Jesus, we often do not know what Jesus requires from us.  Oftentimes, we worry about so many things in life, and this often distracts us from relating to Jesus properly. But Jesus will always have a way of teaching us how to relate to him despite our different charisms and dispositions. 

This is what is playing out in our Gospel passage today, where we heard the story of how Martha was so busy trying to make Jesus comfortable as he visited them at their house in Bethany. But when Martha observed that her sister Mary was not helping out in the preparation, rather was busy listening to Jesus, she said to Jesus: “Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha,’ ‘you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her”.

 

Here, Jesus is not condemning this great sacrificial virtue nor condoning laziness. Rather, he is saying that being busy without listening and listening without doing is completely worthless. Because in our relationship with him, Jesus wants us to learn how to listen to him even in our busy schedules. 

Hence, he gently corrected the impression of Martha who was too busy and distracted with so many things that she risks losing sight of what is really important, that is, listening to Jesus. This is because Martha gives the impression that Mary is just sitting there doing nothing. But, in fact, she was listening to Jesus. 

However, Jesus is not telling us to be content with sitting down to listen to his word, for he always insists that the best way of listening to his word is by putting it into practice. His objection to Martha is that she was too anxious and distracted by many things, so she was not able to really listen to him, and for Jesus, listening is the best option. 

This act of listening to God is what the people in the first reading today failed to do. That is why in our first reading, Moses, while praying for the people of Israel who have failed to listen to God, said: ‘If I have indeed won your favour, Lord,’ I beg. True, they are stiff-necked people, but forgive us our faults and our sins, and adopt us as your heritage. 

Dear friends, in our relationship with Jesus, are we more of a listener or more of an accommodating and caring person? Are we more like Martha, Mary or Lazarus for they were all close family friends of Jesus? Today, many of us are so busy and anxious about so many things that we have no time to listen to God speaking to us and addressing the situation we are actually busy trying to solve. 

Today we are called like Martha to pause and listen, so that we can hear God speaking to us and directing us towards the right path. Remember, Martha who was known as a friend of Jesus, loved to welcome him into her home, let us also learn from her, for it is a great virtue to be hospitable and caring especially when we spend quality time to listen to God and letting him direct and guide us towards carrying out our daily tasks without being distracted by the things of this passing world. 

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are anxious and worried about so many things, but indeed only one thing is needed, give us the grace to truly listen to your word and so have a caring and hospitable family just like St. Martha, Mary and Lazarus. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful weekend.

Homily For Monday Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 28th July, 2025

 

Readings: Ex . 32:15-24.30-34; Ps. 106; Matt. 13:31-35

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

WHAT KIND OF SEED ARE YOU NURTURING  IN YOUR HEART? 

Using a simple story to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson has always been one of the characteristics of Jesus when addressing the people regarding very important things. By couching his teaching in parables, Jesus made certain points much clearer to his audience. 

This is evident in our Gospel passage today, where he told us two parables: the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the Leaven,

using them to describe the nature of God’s kingdom, which he came to establish in the hearts of humanity. 

In the scriptures especially in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus used the mustard seed in two different analogies. First, in today’s Gospel passage, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed growing from the Word of God spoken to the hearts of his few disciples, which will grow and spread to the hearts of all humanity. This analogy focuses on the size of the seed that grows to become a mighty tree that gives shelter and salvation to all.

The second analogy of the mustard seed is found in Matt. 17:20. In this analogy, Jesus is not speaking of the size of the mustard seed, but the faith of the people as that of a mustard seed. Telling us that just as the mustard seed responds to the word of God and grows into a mighty tree, so will the faith of the people grow into a great vessel through hearing and doing the word of God. However, God has given humanity the freedom to choose whether to hear his word and embrace the faith so as to bear fruits of the kingdom or to reject it and perish. 

Nevertheless, these two analogies of the mustard seed symbolise the humble beginnings of the Christian faith, which is well nurtured and watered by the Holy Spirit to grow and give life and hospitality to all the people of the world. However, we know that there are good-for-nothing seeds present in this world to deceive people from listening to God’s word. 

Such seeds include: fear, regrets, doubt, jealousy, hatred, disrespect, greediness, lying, gossip, impurity, wickedness and all sorts of sinful acts. For those who embrace these good-for-nothing seeds follow the dictates of their own hard hearts and will soon be thrown away as good-for-nothing, because they have not listened to God’s words.

Therefore, let us not embrace such good-for-nothing seeds; rather, we should learn to embrace the mustard seed of faith entrusted to us and nurture it. We must let the word of God dwell in his heart and bear great fruit that will become a great instrument for God’s salvation for humanity. We are also entrusted with different seeds of responsibilities that seem very little as a mustard seed, but are we nurturing them to grow into great trees for God’s Kingdom?

Dear friends, in the world today, we have different kinds of responsibilities in the form of seeds. But the question remains, what kind of seeds are we embracing and watering in our lives today? Are we watering valuable mustard seeds of faith and love or weeds of fear, regrets, doubt, jealousy, hatred, disrespect, greediness, lying, gossip, impurity, wickedness and all kinds of sinful deeds that will destroy us? 

Today, we are called to quit watering these weeds because that's what the enemies want, and we must not fall into their traps. Rather we are called to nurture and water those valuable mustard seeds of faith, love, holiness, hospitality, obedience, charity and make them our values of life. For when we feed and water such values, they will grow stronger like the mustard tree where people may find solace and so build up God’s kingdom.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as you sow the seeds of your word and faith in our hearts, give us the grace to grow it into the mustard tree of love, holiness and hospitality. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful week ahead.

Homily For Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 27th July, 2025. The World Day For Grandparents and the Elderly

 

Reading: Gen. 18:20-32; Ps. 138; Col. 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

PRAYER REQUIRES PATIENCE, PERSEVERANCE AND PERSISTENCE DIALOGUE WITH GOD

As contingent beings, it is common for human beings to reach out to other people when we need something. And oftentimes we seek the intervention of God, especially in some difficult needs and situations.  No doubt that a good number of us have in one way or the other looked up to God or people for help. 

I don’t know if you have ever been truly in need of something from a friend who is capable of giving you what you need, but you have not found a way to ask him to give you what you need now? Or have you been in a situation where you needed something from a friend but couldn't get it because you didn’t know how to reach them 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 on 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 because we don’t really know how to dialogue with God in prayer.

Hence, the disciples of Jesus, knowing how important prayer is, and having watched Jesus pray, asked him to teach them how to pray, as we have it in our Gospel passage today, where Jesus taught them our Lord’s Prayer. As we know prayer is a means of communication between God and humanity. It is a close link by which we reach God who dwells in our hearts. It is through prayer that we discern the will of God for us.  Thus we can learn how to dialogue with God in prayer from this prayer Jesus taught his disciples the pattern of all prayers 

In this prayer, we have four traditional dimensions of prayer, which include: glorification of God, submission, justice and protection. Jesus begins by saying: Father, hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come, thereby teaching us that we begin any of our prayers by glorifying God. 

Following this is our total submission to God’s providence when we say: Give us each day our daily bread. Then, we acknowledge the justice and mercy of God when we say: Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us. And finally, we ask for God’s guidance and protection when we say: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from all evil.

This tells us that we should approach God with confidence as a friend, persisting until we obtain what we need as Jesus illustrated with the story of a father and his son and a man who had a visitor and needed the help of his neighbours. 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. 

So, we should learn how to 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. 

This is what Abraham demonstrated in our first reading when he kept asking for God’s mercy on behalf of the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. But more than Abraham interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord Jesus sacrificed his life for the redemption of humanity. 

This is what St. Paul in our second reading today made us know when he said: The Lord has brought you to life with him, he has forgiven us all our sins. He has overridden the Law, and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross. This of course, shows us how God is willing to hear us whenever we call on him in prayer.

 Dear friends, as contingent beings, there are times when we ask and we receive, seek and find, knock and it is opened to us. But there were also times when we asked but did not receive, sought but did not find, knocked but the door remained shut. In such moments, persistence and perseverance in prayer are what we are called to embrace. 

These will help us to understand how to trust God knowing that he does not need to be informed of our needs, thereby encouraging us never to lose heart. This is certainly one of the biggest challenges of our faith today. People are not just patient with God. We want to have everything right now as it is hot. Patient, persistence and perseverance are very difficult virtues for most people today. Let us learn from our elderly people whom we celebrate today. For their lives teach us patience and perseverance. 

Therefore, it is time for us to change our perspective and wrong disposition towards prayers. It is time for us to spend more quality moments in prayer and be connected with God. We must let our prayers also be meaningful and genuine from our hearts. It is time for us to improve the quality of our prayer life by imitating Jesus, who always prayed to his heavenly Father at every possible opportunity. 

But some of us end up spending lots of time reciting the prayers, and yet we do not mean what we say, because we have not learnt how to dialogue with God in prayer, especially when we have a wrong disposition born from an unforgiving heart, which must be redirected before we can get a positive response from God. 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, oftentimes we are not patient with you in our prayers, because we don't know how to dialogue with you in prayers. Give us the grace to learn how to dialogue with you and to persevere and be persistent in our prayer life and in every other thing we do in life, especially in our relationship with others. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Happy Sunday.