Homily for Saturday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 26th June, 2021

 Homily for Saturday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time  Year B,  26th June, 2021

Reading: Gen. 18:1-5; Ps. Lk.1:46-55 ; Matt. 8:5-7

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

THE ROMAN CENTURION: A MODEL OF FAITH AND GENUINE HUMILITY IN PRAYER

In our Catechism class, we were taught that faith is a gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused in us by God. Little wonder our level of faith are not the same. However, our gift of faith grows depending on our disposition and utilization of the gift. That is why, when Jesus invites people to faith and conversion, he does not coerced them, rather they come to faith through their good disposition and utilization of their experience with him. 

This is exactly the case with the Roman centurion in our Gospel passage today, who sorts help for his sick servant, he approached Jesus for healing, but when Jesus accepted to come to his home, the centurion hesitates, feeling unworthy of Jesus’ presence in his home, said to him “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed”.  

Here the centurion believes that Jesus can speak a word of healing, and that will be enough to cure his servant. He has total faith and trust in the power of Jesus’ word. For him, the servant did not even have to hear Jesus speak the word: it was enough that the word was spoken. Jesus praised his faith and genuine humility. Today, these words of the centurion has become a pattern of prayer for us, that before Holy Communion we say it passionately because, his faith and compassion are inspiring example for us to follow. 

This is exactly the kind of faith that all of us must have as well. The faith that leads us to seek God wholeheartedly, to be humble before Him and to love Him above all and not to allow our pride, ego and desires lead us into faithlessness, disobedience and sin against God. We are also called to trust God at all times for He is always ready and able to help us just as He did to Abraham and Sarah in our first reading today. When he visited them childless in their old age and said: “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the same time next year I shall visit you again and Sarah will have a son”.

Dear friends, what is our disposition towards the gift of faith that God has given us? Do we have total faith and trust in God just like the Centurion and Abraham and his wife Sarah? The fact remains that our experiences of evil, injustice, suffering and death can shake or shape the gift of faith in us depending on our disposition. Remember, the Centurion interceded for his sick servant, do we intercede for others who are in need of God’s healing and mercy? Do we know that we can speak God’s word in prayer and someone, somewhere, will find healing? Do we often like this Centurion, recognize in all humility our unworthiness before God?  We are called today to learn from this man’s act of humility and faith.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, we are weak and oftentimes we display an act of faithlessness due to the pressure and challenges of life. Through the intercessions of our Mother Mary, may the Lord increase our faith and make us humble and patience in doing His will. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a peaceful weekend.

Homily for Friday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 25th June, 2021

 Homily for Friday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time  Year B,  25th June, 2021

Reading: Gen. 17:1.9-10.15-22; Ps.128; Matt. 8:1-4

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

HAVE FAITH IN THE LORD FOR HE IS ALWAYS WILLING AND READY TO HEAL AND RESTORE US

The compassionate love of Jesus in solidarity with human suffering is evident in the scriptures and even in our daily lives.  Little wonder, we have great events in the scriptures that illustrates the compassionate concern of God in the struggles of humanity and wishes to set us free from the shackles of all our troubles. 

This is evident in our readings today. In the first reading, we heard about God’s promise to bless Abraham and Sarah with a child even in their old age. For God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah. I will bless her and moreover give you a son by her. Abraham bowed to the ground and laughed, thinking to himself, ‘Is a child to be born to a man one hundred years old, and will Sarah have a child at the age of ninety?’ But God replied, your wife Sarah shall bear you a son whom you are to name Isaac”. This shows that what seems impossible becomes possible when God is involved.

In a similar way in our Gospel passage today, we heard how a leper having listened to Jesus speaking on the mountain, came up and bowed low in front of him and said ‘Sir, if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And his leprosy was cured at once. 

Here the touching of Jesus is very significant. No ordinary person would dare to touch a leper. We can think of the inner healing that must have resulted from the touch of Jesus, that moment of physical contact, which the leper had not experienced for a long time due to rejection. Touch is something we all need, but are so often lacking in our relationship with God and one another, and it is even becoming worst with the ugly situation of corona virus and the need for social and physical distancing. But this cannot stop Jesus from reaching out to his children who call on him for healing and restoration. 

Thus, the leper was despised, feared, shunned and rejected, but when he approached Jesus in humility, he became the object of divine attention. We too just like the leper, are in need of healing, including the healing that comes from the touch of Jesus, all we need is to approach Jesus in humility and we will become a person of divine attention. 

More so, the story of this leper is a good example of how we sinners can and should appeal to Jesus for cleansing especially from our sins. We should come in faith knowing that God is always willing to cleanse every sinner who comes to Him. So, let us sincerely turn to God once again with all of our hearts and with all of our strength, just like the leper who came to Jesus with faith, knowing that he could heal him and make him better. This is what all of us must have as well, a strong and genuine faith. Today may be my great opportunity to be restored and what is needed is to put my faith in action and say Lord if you will you can restore me.

Dear friends, I don’t know what type of leprocious problems you are passing through? Are you weigh down by sin or sickness? Are you feeling helpless and rejected?  Or do I know people who are helpless and need some help? Do I feel the need of Jesus’s help in some part of my life? Let us pause for a moment and imagine Jesus looking at us. How does he sees us? What are you saying to him and what is he saying to you. Jesus wishes to set us free from sickness, troubles challenges and manipulations from the evil ones. He desires to be with us as we struggle everyday to overcome the challenges in our families, society and the world at large. Therefore, we should not be afraid to approach Jesus for healing and restoration, all we need is an active faith like the leper in our Gospel passage today.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, you know our inner most being and challenges we are facing today, come to our aid we pray and cleanse us from all our physical, emotional and spiritual leprosy. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.

Homily for Thursday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 24th June, 2021. The Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist

 Homily for Thursday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time  Year B,  24th June, 2021. The Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist

Reading: Is.49:1-6; Ps.139; Acts 13:22-26; Luke: 1:57-66.80

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

CELEBRATING THE BIRTH AND NAMING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

One of the most significant day in our lives is our birthday, this day often comes with joy and praise. And in the mood of joy that a life has been born, one of the things that comes to mind is giving a name to the baby as an identity. This event is very important and necessary. In fact the naming of objects and persons is an important ritual found in scripture. 

We can recall in the book of Genesis (Gen.2:19-20), when God created Adam and gave him the responsibility of giving names to all creation. So the act of giving a name to people has been a traditional event not only in the scriptures but in every human culture. Thus, today we celebrate the great Solemnity of the birth of St. John the Baptist, the only person, who’s birthday is celebrated in the Church’s liturgical calendar, besides that of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary, because of his role in the history of the salvation of humanity. 

On account of this, our Gospel passage today, gives us the record of the events of the birth and naming of John the Baptist. From the passage, great significant and surprising things happened on the birth and naming of John the Baptist, of which we can identify three unusual features: first the old have given birth. Secondly, the child has a strange name “John” derived from the Hebrew name Yochanan meaning " YAHWEH is gracious", a name which no one bears in the family and thirdly, Zechariah's dumbness is taken away on account of giving this name, which brought great joy to the people and they praised God. However, such remarkable events caused the crowd to fear and perceived that something different and surprising is happening, things worth remembering. Showing us that, when God names a child, that child is significant in his plan. 

John who’s birth was prophesied by the prophets as we have in our first reading today, to be the last among the prophets, for his role was to prepare the people and to finally proclaim the coming of the Messiah who will fulfill the long awaiting plan of God for the salvation of humanity. And in our second reading, St. Paul gave us an account of how John in humility carried out his mission as he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel. And before John ended his career he said, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal. 

No doubt the mission of John the Baptist was quite challenging as he encountered many obstacles just like other prophets before him. He faced strong opposition and rejection from the Pharisees who doubted and challenged his teaching and works for baptism of repentance of which many people believed in him. But John fearlessly confronted them calling them wicked, brood of vipers and hypocrites. He also courageously confronted king Herod with the truth for his illegal and sinful relationship with Herodias his brother’s wife, and this led to his martyrdom and so ends his mission of decreasing while Jesus increases.

Dear friends, we all have a significant place in the plan of God. Our names are not just a common ceremony. It is a testimony of God’s plan for us. Why not take out time today to reflect on the meaning and circumstances surrounding our births and our names. For by God’s grace we will understand better who we are and what our mission and purpose on earth are. And by so doing, we will faithfully stand for the truth of what we represent and fulfill our plans and purposes, just like John the Baptist who stood for the truth of his mission and offered it to everyone, whoever, whenever and however it will best bring conversion to sinner even at the cost of his head. 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, you created each one of us to fulfill your plan on earth and in our names we bear the mystery of our mission and purpose, grant us the grace to faithfully and courageously fulfill our mission and purpose in this world. We ask thisthrough Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed and joyful day.

Homily for Wednesday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 23rd June, 2021

 Homily for Wednesday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time  Year B,  23rd June, 2021

Reading: Gen. 15:1-12.17-18; Ps.105; Matt. 7:6.15-20

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

BEWARE OF FALSE PROPHETS FOR BY THEIR FRUIT WE SHALL KNOW THEM

 A tree is known to be either good or bad, healthy or sick by the fruit it produces. In the same way the human heart is known to be either good or bad, holy or sinful, sincere or corrupt by the fruit of our words and actions rooted in our character. Thus, in our societies today there are many false influential powers that have great effect in our lives coming from various sources under the guise of good but are in fact leading us astray. Everyday many false prophets and teachers are increasing and are deceiving the people. So, there is need for us to examine these influences.

Little wonder Jesus in our Gospel passage today said: “Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. You will be able to tell them by their fruits. For a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.”

Here, Jesus is calling our attention to ugly situation in our societies today, where false prophets and teachers are  deceiving people. He tells us to be careful and discern to know false prophets from true ones. He made us to know that by the fruits they bear we shall know them. For a true prophet draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; while a false prophet draws what is bad from the store of  his bad thoughts. Because a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart. So it is not sufficient to speak about God, we must practice what we speak. We must let the Word of God touch and shape our lives so that we can bear good and healthy fruit. 

Dear friends, the ugly attitude of deception, manipulation, exaggeration, corruption and flamboyant life style of false prophets and preachers in our societies today can really make it difficult for people to become true and faithful believers in our world today. Little wonder, people are scandalized by the actions and behaviour of some preachers and teachers. 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.

Therefore, we must be very wise for there are many false prophets operating under the power of the devil. Let us come to Jesus who has promised us the Spirit of truth that will give us a special sign for distinguishing true doctrine and true teachers from the false ones. Therefore, let us constantly ask the Holy Spirit to give us the grace of discernment in order to distinguish between good and false prophets and teachers. Let us also be true Christians in our way of life, words and deeds. Let us learn to put our trust in God who has promised to keep us from falling away from the true faith we have found in His Son Jesus.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, our societies are full of deception, false prophets and teachers, send us the Spirit of truth to discern the truth from the false. Grant we pray that we may always stand and witness to the truth we have found in Jesus against all the false influential prophets and teachers in our society today. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful day.

Homily for Tuesday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 22nd June, 2021

 Homily for Tuesday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time  Year B,  22nd June, 2021

Reading: Gen. 13:2.5-18; Ps.14; Matt. 7:6.12-14

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

ARE WE FOLLOWING THE NARROW GATE THAT LEADS TO ETERNAL LIFE?

Life is a temporal assignment, a journey which begins in the morning so beautiful, full of expectations and hope, but the sojourner have no knowledge of his/her destination, purpose and end. The only guide is his/ her willingness to constantly following the directives of the Sender who communicates his plans and purposes to those who care and willing to listen. 

Thus, the emptiness and shortness of life makes me to reflect on my future as a human person and the question that comes to my mind is: "where will you and I, and the beautiful things of this world be in the next one, ten, twenty, forty, eighty and hundred years for those who are strong? The deep silence in my soul could not offer me any answer to this question rather, it exposed me to the foolishness of human greediness, corruption and selfishness. Hence, I asked myself what does God really requires from us in this world? And how can we really identify the path we are called to follow? 

I found a consoling answer to this question in our Gospel passage today, where Jesus said “always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.” And he added “Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many are following it; but narrow is the gate and hard is the road that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” 

Here, Jesus described how humanity have failed to embrace the life of truth, holiness and love for God and for one another because it seems difficult and narrow to them, but prefers to follow the destructive ways of life that is born out of pride, greed and uncontrollable desire for worldly things, for things of this passing world are so captivating and many people are captured by its seductive power and are greatly following it. 

This is exactly what was causing problem between Abram and Lot in our first reading today. For we heard how dispute broke out between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and those of Lot’s.  Accordingly Abram said to Lot, ‘Let there be no dispute between me and you, nor between my herdsmen and yours, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land open before you? Part company with me: if you take the left, I will go right; if you take the right, I will go left. This shows us how pride, greed and sins leads to division and our downfall.

Dear friends, life is indeed very short and the road that leads to death and destruction is truly wide and very captivating, of which many are captives of its seductive power. But the road to life are becoming narrow more and more because humanity are working so hard to expand the seductive road and gates of destruction against the narrow gate of life. 

Therefore, to embrace the narrow gate and road that leads to eternal life, we must work harder by resisting all the temptations and sinful things of this passing world and embrace the life of love and sacrifice which Jesus has offered us. Let us turn towards God with all our hearts by removing from our hearts all forms of pride, greed and unhealthy desires that lead us astray down the path of destruction.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, our journey of life depends on you and today you have called us to follow the narrow gate of love and sacrifice. But the seductive road of this passing world is really captivating and many are victim of its power. Grant us the grace to resist it and journey through the path and gate that leads to eternal life, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. May God bless your little efforts in life and guide you always.

Homily for Monday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 21st June, 2021. The Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga

 Homily for Monday Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time  Year B,  21st June, 2021. The Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga

Reading: Gen. 12:1-9; Ps.33; Matt. 7:1-5

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

TAKE AWAY THE LOG OF PRIDE IN YOU, SO AS TO ACCOMMODATE THE SPECK OF WEAKNESS IN OTHERS

One of the ugly attitudes of the human person is the urge to often criticize, judge and condemn others without looking into our own faults. Have we ever experienced a situation where it happened that, while we are condemning other people for their faults and suddenly we realized that our own faults are just as many as theirs, for this do happen often in our relationship with one another. This ugly attitude is what Jesus is addressing today in the Gospel passage, when he said “ Do not judge, and you will not be judged; because the judgements you give are the judgements you will get, and the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given. Why do you observe the speck in your brother’s eye and never notice the log in your own?

Here, Jesus is referring to the improper and prideful attitudes of many of the Pharisees, the scribes and teachers of the Law and many others like them who self acclaimed righteousness has led to criticism and condemnation of other people, as they have failed to see the log in their eye while seeking to remove the speck in other's. But what is this log in our eyes? It is the log of pride, greed and self-righteousness. These log of pride, greed and self-righteousness make us to forget who we are and claim who we are not. Pride as we know is the first capital sin, it makes us to look down on people, pride makes us blind. It makes us not to look into our own lives to see and accept how wrong we can be, because we are people often controlled by our ego and pride, our human ambitions and desires, as we like to always be in control and superior to others. 

But this is not the same with Abram in our first reading today, who because of his humility was called by the Lord for a special mission. For the Lord said to him, ‘Leave your country, your family and your father’s house, for the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing. Such is God’s grace for those who are humble and accommodative of other peoples weakness. This is exactly what we see in the life of St. Aloysius Gonzaga whose memorial we celebrate today. Though born into a wealthy family, he renounced the world’s riches and honour in order to live a life of service, simplicity, holiness and piety.

Therefore, today we are called to humbly look into our lives and identify all those ugly attitudes of pride in us and get rid of them, so that we can humbly correct and accommodate other peoples weakness. So instead of pointing out what is lacking in others, we must look into ourselves, and find ways or how we can make good use of the opportunities that God has given us to show good examples to others. We are to discard all our prideful, wicked and sinful ways of life and replace them with genuine love for one another, with new zeal and sincere commitment to telling one another the truth in all humility.

Dear friends, we are called not to judge, because, often that which we judge in others, we ourselves are doing worst.  Hence, Jesus is challenging us today to think differently about how we live our lives. Calling us to look into our inner being, our interior life, that part of us that we hide from one another. Let us purify them in humility, so that we can be pure and free to help others in the struggles with their weakness. Therefore, it’s time to look into ourselves and take away our prideful ways of life, so as to humbly accommodate the weakness and faults of others especially in our families, societies and the world at large, knowing that no one is perfect without the other.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, give us the grace of humility and capacity to always look within us in other to be more aware of our inadequacies, and through the intercessions of St. Aloysius of Gonzaga may we become more gentle in dealing with others, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed and graceful week.

Homily for Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, 20th June, 2021

 Homily for Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time  Year B, 20th June, 2021.

Reading: Job 38:1.8-11; Ps.107; 2Cor 5:14-17; Mark 4:35-41

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

LORD, DO NOT LET THE BOAT OF OUR FAITH SINK IN THE HEAVY STORMS OF LIFE 

In the scriptures, we often hear stories of how people struggles with heavy storms as they assailed through the sea. And even our fisherman and the Marine men who are into sea business can tell us better what it means to be on the sea with heavy storms, a situation where the need to look for a Saviour is highly expected. Such was the case with the disciples of Jesus in our Gospel passage today. It is a story about the disciples' panic and fear of perishing as a result of the heavy storm that is affecting their boat. 

As this heavy storm is about breaking their boat, the disciples cannot believe that Jesus was asleep while they were afraid and needed help from anywhere. So they went to him and woke him saying, ‘Teacher, do you not care if we perish? And Jesus said: “Peace! Be still!!” And the Storm ceased and there was a great calm. And he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, how is it that you have no faith. The men were astounded and said, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him.’

Here, this story signifies God's chosen people on a transit of faith, frightened by the guilt of sin and wounded by the waves of the sea, the abode of evil forces and monsters of this world. The boat can be taken as a symbol of the faith of the Church and the people of God struggling with the world’s principalities and powers, while the storms are symbols of heavy persecutions and sufferings by the people of God. These great waves and the wind facing the boat, which threatened to sink it also represent the difficulties and challenges that we are facing in this world on account of our faith, which seems as if Jesus is no more with us. The fact remains that Jesus is still with us more than we can ever imagine. And he is saying: why are you so afraid, you men of little faith. 

Little wonder we heard St. Paul saying in our second reading that the love of Christ should overwhelm us when we reflect that if one man has died for all, and the reason he died for all was so that living men should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised to life for them. Thus, anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; the old creation has gone, and now the new one has come. This is well affirmed In our first reading today, where we are made to reflect on the life of Job, who in heavy storms of life, remained firm in his faith despite the efforts of the devil to sink the boat of his faith through misfortunes and sufferings in order to make him abandon the Lord. But Job remained firm, he did not blame God, though he did blamed himself and wonder why the Lord had to let him suffer such great misfortune just like most of us who often worry and wonder about our own daily storms and struggles. 

Dear friends, there is no doubt that there is an active presence of evil in the world which manifest itself in different forms. So everyday is a struggle against the malice of the evil ones, and we are doing everything we can to overcome them. Today Jesus is inviting us into his boat of life, thereby calling us to journey on this boat with an unwavering faith and a repented heart, because the world is being tossed around by the waves of the evil forces, the enemies of humanity. And it is only God who can subdue it, for he has promised to restore us back to himself. 

Therefore, I don't know the great storms of doubt and fear in your soul? I don’t know if you are under the power of the evil forces of this world. I don’t know how fragile the boat of your faith are or how deep the storms of life have tried to sink your faith?  All I will say is that we should let the words of Jesus sound once again in our hearts saying “Peace! Be still!” For with great faith in God, the heavy storms in our lives will become calm, for Jesus will surely rebuke the violent storms in our hearts so that we can experience once again the calmness of his peace and joy.

LET US PRAY: Lord God. As we struggle everyday to overcome the ugly situation around us, do not let the boat of our faith sink in the heavy storms of life. Grant that the violent storms and waves of bondage in our lives, our families and the world, will end in a wonderful calm that brings peace in our souls. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Happy Sunday to you all.