The Homily of Monday in Fourth Week of Lent Year B, 15th March, 2021

 The Homily of Monday in Fourth Week of Lent Year B, 15th March, 2021

Readings: Is. 65:17-21, Ps. 30, John 4:43-54

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

DON’T GIVE UP, HAVE FAITH FOR GOD HAS NOT ABANDONED HIS PEOPLE

The ugly situation in our world today, may seem to most people that God has abandoned his people. It may seem as if the Church is not doing enough for his people. It may seem as if our governments and scientist have failed. But the fact remains that God is ever and always closer to us more than we can ever imagine. He has always desires that we pay attention to his teaching and directives through his Church, the scientists and those of our leaders who are making sincere efforts to ensuring the good of the people. 

But the questions we need to ask ourselves are: do we really listen and hear God speaking to us through the daily activities we experienced? Do we still see the hands of God in what we do? Are we really convinced of what we do with the gift of knowledge, skills and talents God has given us? Do we pay attention to the word of God we hear everyday in the house of God, the streets and through other means of communication? Perhaps we are the one who have abandoned God and now we are confused and afraid as a result of this ugly situation  that is ravaging the world.

Dear friends, no matter how we feel about the situation we are passing through today, we are called not to give up on God or his Church or the human agents through whom his help comes to us, for God has not abandoned his people. We all need to have our ears opened, so that we can hear and understand fully the message God is communicating to humanity through the ugly situations we are passing through today. 

For God is saying to us, fear not, come back to me, have courage for the storms will soon be over. And if you turn back to me with all your heart, I will restore your land, no more will the sound of weeping or the sound of cries be heard, no more will be found the infant living a few days only, or the old man not living to the end of his days as we have it in our first reading today. And in the Gospel Jesus says to the court official: “Go home, your son will live” and the man believed him and went home. By the time he got home his son was healed.

Therefore, we must have faith in God and sing psalms to the Lord, you who love him, give thanks to his Holy name. For his anger lasts a moment; his favour all through life. At night there are tears, but joy comes with dawn. Because with the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption. Our world He will redeem from the ravage of corruption, pride, selfishness, sin and shame. 

LET US PRAY Lord God, you are the source of all that is good, as we listen to your words today, may you grant our hearts desires so that we may obtain the Joy of your presence in order to build our faith strongly firm in your words. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful week ahead.

HOMILY ON FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B, 7TH MARCH, 2021

 HOMILY ON FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR B, 14TH MARCH, 2021

Readings: 2Chron 36:14-16.19-23; Ps. 137; Eph 2:4-10; John 2:14-21

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

LET CHRIST BE OUR LIGHT AND LOVE FOR GOD LOVES US SO MUCH

Every fourth Sunday of Lent the Church celebrates the Laetare ( Rejoice) Sunday, it is a special Sunday when we have a brief pause on the penitential nature of the Lenten season to focus more on the joyful expectation of the glorious coming of Easter. Hence we are called to focus our attention on the joy that is to come in Easter in order to help in keeping our faith focused in the right direction, knowing that we are in God’s good hands despite whatever challenges we may be facing now, knowing that God loves us so much and will never let us be consumed by the ugly situation  we are passing through in our world today.

Thus, in today’s celebration, we are called to have a little bit of relief from our disposition towards lamenting, regretting and being sorrowful over our sins in order to have a joyful disposition of hope towards the salvation and assurance of God’s love for us which will fully manifest at the resurrection of Christ at Easter. This atmosphere of hope and joy is evident in our first reading today, where we heard of the account of what had happened at the end of the southern kingdom of Judah in Israel. 

This kingdom was destroyed by the Babylonians who came and overpowered them, because of their sins and disobedience against God. Who made them to suffer and endure humiliation, as they witnessed the destruction of their city, their temple and the loss of the Ark of the Covenant, as they were taken to exile in Babylon, where they suffered shamefully for many years under the reign of the Babylonians. 

But God did not abandoned them. For he brought light and joy into their heart when he brought them back to their homeland through king Cyrus of Persia, for God still loved them and wanted to be reconciled with them, since they are his chosen people. This no doubt shows how much God loves his chosen people and will always desire to reconcile them with himself.

Little wonder, our Gospel passage today, talks about the relationship between God and the world.  Telling us that God loves the world and the humanity living in it. He loves it so much that he gave his only Son, who died a shameful and terrible death on a Cross for the seek of his love for humanity. God loves the whole world, his love is total and unconditional for every one of his creatures.  This he demonstrated on the cross where he poured out his love for the salvation of all humanity. 

This love is what we are called to bear witness to the whole world. So, as we prepare ourselves in this Holy Season of Lent in repentant and sorrows for our sins, we are also called to be joyful because, we now have hope once again in the everlasting life and eternal joy which Christ  will offer for us on the Cross, through his suffering, death and resurrection. Thus we rejoice because we have seen the light of our salvation rooted in the loving heart of God for all humanity.

Dear friends, we have in one way or another experienced the love of God so greatly and personally in our lives. It’s now time to bear authentic witness of this love to all humanity. We are to tell the world how deep God loves us. We are to demonstrate this love to the world and let this love be felt by those who have lost hope in God especially at this time when humanity is struggling with the ugly situation if corona virus and it effects in our economy. For we are the face of God’s love now, we are the channels of his love and grace now. 

Therefore, let us extend this love in any form, gestures or manner possible to everywhere that it is lacking. A kind word, a single phone call, a text message, an act of forgiveness, a single prayer, sacrifice, patience and any form of generous act shown to anyone around us or as many people we can reach out today, reflect this love of God for humanity through us. Let us make Christ our light and love as we embrace his words today

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we have come to know and experienced your love for humanity in your words today, give us the grace to reciprocate this love in the world by our ways of life using the gifts, talents and resources you have given us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

The Homily of Saturday in Third Week of Lent Year B, 13th March, 2021

 The Homily of Saturday in Third Week of Lent Year B, 13th March, 2021

Readings: Hosea 5:15-6:6, Ps. 51, Luke: 18:9-14

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

THE RIGHT DISPOSTION TO PRAYER BEGINS WITH HUMILITY AND CONTRITION

Prayer is part and parcel of our Christian life. It is the act of raising up our minds and hearts to God. But sometimes we find it difficult to carry out this exercise because we don't understand how or what is demanded of us or the best disposition to prayer.

Today in our Gospel passage, we heard how two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself, “I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like the rest of mankind, and particularly that I am not like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all I get.”  While the tax collector stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but beat his breast and said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Hence, Jesus said, the tax collector, went home at rights with God; the Pharisee did not. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted. 

Dear friends, in prayer, we are not to give God instructions or present our profile of piety, but our disposition should be that of humility and contrition like this tax collector. We are to present ourselves to God just like a good servant will report for duty and wait for instructions from his master. So, we are to respond in obedience to God's instructions in prayer for there we encounter God in the inner most part of our being. 

Thus, we are called in our first reading to return to the Lord in prayers, for he may torn us to pieces, but he will heal us; he may struck us down, but he will bandage our wounds; since what he want is love, not sacrifice, humility and not holocausts. Therefore, we have to cultivate the right disposition and learn how to communicate with God the right way through prayer.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we do not know how to pray as we ought, as we listen to your words today, may we learn how to cultivate the right attitude and disposition towards prayers. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. It’s weekend, wishing you a peaceful and joyful day.

The Homily of Friday in Third Week of Lent Year B, 12th March, 2021

 The Homily of Friday in Third Week of Lent Year B, 12th March, 2021

Readings: Hosea 14:1-9, Ps. 81, Mark 12:28-34

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

ALL THAT GOD REQUIRES FROM US IS TO LOVE HIM IN OUR NEIGHBOURS

Oftentimes, when we are faced with the realities of life, we want to know the things that should be our first priority. What should be the most important thing to focus our energy? What should become the foundation of all the things we need to do? In fact, we are always desire to know what is required of us in this life. This is the deposition of one of the scribes in our Gospel passage today, who came to Jesus and asked him question concerning which commandment is the greatest. 

In response Jesus reminds them of the 'Shema Israel' - שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל, the prayer that they knew and recite from their earliest years from which they learnt that the most important thing in life is to love God with all their heart, and with all thy soul, and with all their mind; that is, with all the powers and the more noble faculties of the soul, the mind, the understanding, judgment, and will. Jesus then added that, to love one’s neigbhour is the second priority. 

This is just very practical because, anyone who loves God will naturally love all God’s children who are, of course, in a very real sense our neighbours. We must love every single person because we are all created in the image and likeness of God. In other words, loving God with all our heart, with all our understanding and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourself is what is required of us and it is the foundation of all the things we have to do.  

Hence, it is not possible to separate the love of God from the love of neighbour, for it is one commandment with two parts which will be the criterion for the final judgement of God. Thus, prophet Hosea in our first reading calls us to come back to the Lord our God, for our iniquity was the cause of your downfall. It is time to come back to the Lord, who loves us so much.

Dear friends, love is the center of all the teachings of Jesus, for love is the purest gift that God has given to humanity. It is like the stream water, so innocent and pure. A true love is not hidden, it radiates from the innermost being of a person who experience it. If we love God, then, we will see him in others and treat them justly and honourably. We will not hurt our neighbours but do our utmost best to live in peace with them. 

I don’t know if you have ever loved someone and you show it, or someone loves you and you know it? The fact is that, it actually feels right and awesome, because love bring healing and wholeness into people’s lives. Love is peace, Joy, strength and passion, love is stronger than death, it is that nature of God which we share.

   

Therefore, it is by loving God in our neighbours that we can share and experience this nature of God in us and by so doing we will conquer the world full of hatred, self-centeredness, greed and sin. The truth is that, the absence of love is the cause of all the problems in our world today as most families exist by grace and not by love. 

Imagine how wonderful the world would be if we all love one another. How I wish we can invest our time and resources in ensuring love and unity in our dealings with one another. Believe me, we will not only be fulfilling the first and greatest commandments of God, but we will be building a happy humanity. Remember, God loves you so much. Do have a lovely day.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, in you is the fullness of love, as we listen to your words today, may we truly love you and our neighbours and so conquer the world full of hatred, self-centeredness, greed and corruption, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful Friday.

The Homily of Thursday in Third Week of Lent Year B, 11th March, 2021

 The Homily of Thursday in Third Week of Lent Year B, 11th March, 2021

Readings: Jer. 7:23-28, Ps. 95, Luke: 11:14-23

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

ARE YOU WITH THE LORD OR AGAINST HIM?

Having journeyed with the Lord in the midst all the ugly situations going on in the world today. It is time to examine our conscience to know if we are still truly with the Lord in this journey of faith. This is the question we need to constantly ask ourselves, because not all those who are journeying with us are really sharing the same faith and destination with us. Thus, how to identify those who are with us in this journey, Jesus made it clear in our Gospel passage today.

In this Gospel Jesus said, that ‘he who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.’ This statement was made when the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law accused Jesus of using the power of Beelzebub to cast out other demons. Hence, Jesus rebuked them saying that the devil and demons would not have divided among themselves if they were to achieve their goal which is the destruction of humanity. 

Dear friends, today as we listened to the words of God, we are called to turn back to God and abandon our sinful ways in order to be and remain with the Lord. Little wonder, in our first reading today, we heard prophet Jeremiah reminding us of the need to be with the Lord as we make our journey, thereby reminding us of the need to repent and to change our ugly ways of life. Therefore, we must make up our minds to follow the Lord. For the world as we know is offering us so many things, good and bad alike. 

But sometimes the options are so confusing and we must make choices. To make right choice, we need to make a fundamental option that will form a solid base for all the choices we will be making in life. To make this fundamental option, we need to understand not just where we are physically but, where we are existentially in terms of our convictions, goals, desires, dreams and the destination of our soul in this journey of life.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we make the examination of conscience, help us to discover who we are and who we are journeying with. May we never be against you and your family the Church as we hope to remain united as one big family of faith, with one Father and one goal which is to be united with you in your heavenly kingdom. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful day.

The Homily of Wednesday in Third Week of Lent Year B, 10th March, 2021

 The Homily of  Wednesday in Third Week of Lent Year B, 10th March, 2021

Readings: Deut. 4:1.5-9, Ps. 147, Matt 5:17-19

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

TRUE GREATNESS IS FOUND IN KEEP AND TEACH THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD

The difference between early Christian community and the present day Christianity is the mode of witnessing. The early Christian community practically preached the word of God by witnessing with their lives, while present Christianity are witnessing by preaching the word of God aloud with megaphones and all kinds of powerful sound systems without practicing what they preach thereby misleading people and deceiving one another. 

Hence today in our Gospel passage, Jesus said to his disciples as he is instructing us, that the man who infringes even one of the least of his commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven. Here, Jesus points out that keeping and teaching the commandments of God is the sure way to achieving greatness not just here on earth but also in heaven. 

So, as Christians our duty is to teach and bear sincere witness to God’s commandments by our ways of life, we need to start practicing what we preach, we need to do more of witnessing then preaching. It is not enough to recall principles, state intentions, point to blatant injustice and utter prophetic declarations and denunciation; these kind of words lack real meaning of our faith unless they are accompanied by effective action manifested by our way of life. Hence we need to acknowledge that our authority as Christians come from God who through Moses commanded us in our first reading not to forget the things our eyes have seen, nor let them slip from our heart all the days of our lives; rather, we should tell them to our children and to our children’s children.’

Dear friends, today Jesus tells us that he has not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to complete them, so we are not called to compromise the teachings and laws of God to suit our wrong motives and parade ourselves as Christians, teachers, pastors, prophets. Rather we are called to live them out so that our actions should reflect the paternity of God in the way we live and serve others, knowing that true greatness is found in keep and teaching the commandments of God, of which Jesus tell us that the greatest of these commandments is to love God and our neighbour. 

Therefore, true greatness is rooted in our love for God and our neighbours, of which Jesus emphasized that it is too bad to break one of these commandments, but to teach someone else to do the same is a terrible evil thing to do. Thus, we should ask ourselves today, am I breaking these commandments and teaching others to do the same through my attitude and way of life? Am I following my own opinions contrary to the commandments and laws of love which Jesus has taught us by his way of life? Or am I keeping and teaching these commandments through my attitude and by way of life? The answer to these questions are not far from us.

  

LET US PRAY: Lord God, all good things come from you, as we struggle to  sincerely witness our faith and keep your commandments, grant us the grace to keep and teach them by our way of life and so obtain the Joy of true greatness in this world and in your heavenly kingdom, through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a favourable day.

The Homily of Tuesday in Third Week of Lent Year B, 9th March, 2021

 The Homily of  Tuesday in Third Week of Lent Year B, 9th March, 2021

Readings: Dan 3:2.11-20, Ps. 25, Matt.18:21-35

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

LEARN TO FORGIVE OTHERS FROM YOUR HEART

In our Lord’s prayer which Jesus gave us as a pattern of all prayers and as a fundamental principle of Christian living, there is a portion that point out something so important. This portion says “forgive us our trespasses as we for give those who trespassed against us” (Matt.6:12). By this pray we are making a covenant and commitment that will be a standard by which we are going to be judged as regards our relationship with others and with God. But often times we are not conscious of this principles especially when we have to face the difficult moment of forgiving a grievous offense.

Thus, Peter one of the disciples of Jesus being conscious of this fact, asked Jesus in our Gospel passage today saying: ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy times seven. And he practicalized his answer with an example of a servant who owed his master a great debt that he and his generation cannot pay. But when he pleads for mercy, the master forgave him all the debts. However, this same servant found a fellow servant who owed him as little as one hundred denarii, he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him and even when he pleaded for mercy, instead of forgiving him, he puts him in prison according to the norms of the law until he had paid his debt. 

This unforgiven servant did to his fellow servant what the master could have done to him, but did not. So, when the master heard how he treated his fellow servant, handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debts.” Jesus then said, this is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’ For God will apply the principle he has given us in our Lord’s Prayer, which will automatically put us where we properly belongs based on how we have related with other.

In this story, we see the extreme estimate of the debt the servant owed his master, ten thousand talents, even if him and his family had to work their whole life, they would never have been able to pay that debt. So, that’s a huge amount compared to hundred denarii his fellow servant owed him, in fact, there was no comparison between the two debtors at all. However, this will exposed to us the ugly attitude of unforgiveness and also help us to understand that our debt before God is so huge and countless for we cannot be able to pay them. Therefore we are bound, then, to have pity on others and forgive them from our hearts just as God had pity on us and forgives us our sons, for this is the only way to salvation. 

Dear friends, there is no doubt that forgiven a grievous offense can be very difficult, but when this is done, it is like recovery a lost treasure that contains: joy, peace, freedom and healing. Hence, are there people we have vowed not to forgive? Have people hurt us so much that we can’t forgive them? Have we offended people and cannot be humble enough to ask for their forgiveness? Do we think that our sins are so huge for God to forgive? Are we finding it difficult to forgive those who have offended us? 

This Holy season of Lent, we need to pray for God’s grace and courage to forgive people who have offered us, knowing that we are rebellious and proud people, we lack the courage and disposition to forgive. So today, Jesus is asking us to learn how to forgive others always and unconditionally from our hearts, so that God will also forgive us always and unconditionally. Therefore, we must never refuse to forgive or reject an offer of reconciliation in our relationship with God and with our fellow human beings and if this becomes difficult, bring it to Jesus in prayer. 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, today you have made us to realize how unlimited you mercy is, as you exposed how huge our debts are in comparison with the little debts of forgiveness others owe us. As we make it a habit to forgive from the debt of our hearts all those who have offended us, may we discover and experience the hidden treasures that forgiveness brings. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a grace filled day.