Homily for Thursday Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Year B; 28th October, 2021. The Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles

 Homily for Thursday Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Year B; 28th October, 2021. The Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles

Readings: Eph.2:19-22, Ps  19, Luke 6:12-19

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

EMBRACING THE LIFE OF DISCIPLESHIP

As disciples of our Lord Jesus, Will you leave? We you care? Will you risk? Will you let  the Lord to lead you through the  sacrificial nature of our discipleship? These are questions of great demands which every true disciple must constantly reflect through in life, in order to be aware of the seriousness of the commitment required of everyone of us as a disciple of Jesus. This great demand is presented to us in our liturgy today as we celebrate the feast day of two great apostles St. Simon and St. Jude and our readings propel us to reflect on our call to discipleship. 

In the Gospel we heard how Jesus after deep prayers called from among his disciples twelve apostles of which Simon and Jude were part of the twelve. Simon also known as the Zealot, was a member of the Zealots, the extremists who fought for the freedom of the Israelites against the Romans at the time of Jesus. While, St. Jude often referred as St. Jude Thaddeus, was a member of the extended family of Jesus.

These  two apostles along with others followed the Lord faithfully throughout his ministry. Simon though a member of the Zealot, abandoned his previous life as a freedom fighter to a great missionary along with St. Jude Thaddeus who was the probable author of the Epistle of St. Jude. These two apostles together served the Lord and reach out to many peoples and evangelized may nations. That is why both of them are celebrated together today, because of their missionary zeal and commitment to God even to the very end of their lives.

 

Tradition has it that Simon spread the Gospel to places like Persia and Armenia, Egypt and Ethiopia and along with Jude, they evangelized throughout Judea, Samaria, Persia, Armenia and other places. Sadly, after many decade of their missionary activities, these two great apostles were martyred in Lebanon. They committed themselves wholeheartedly to the mission of Christ and his Church, they converted many, established firm foundations of the Christian faith in many places. Little wonder St Paul in our first reading tells us that we are fellow citizens of God’s household that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its main cornerstone.

Dear friends, reflecting on the nature of our mission activities in the world today, will you leave? We you care? Will you risk? Will you let the Lord to lead you in the struggle to be effective missionary and disciples? No doubt that evangelization an integral aspect of the life of the Church. Thus, Jesus gives us the mandate and the commission to evangelize, that is, to announce the Good News to all the nations and to spread the Gospel to every creature. This commission is shared by all those who are baptized both priests and lay faithful. Everyone has a particular responsibility to share in the work of proclamation of the Gospel. Today, we should ask ourselves, how have we proclaimed the Gospel to the world? What efforts are we making to ensure that the mandate Christ entrusted to us is carried out effectively in our generation? 

Therefore, at this moment when the world is confused, because we have removed God out of our daily lives, at this time when we have placed our hope in the activities of the human person who seems to have taken the place of God, at this time when our governments, scientists, doctors, lawyers, professors and even pastors assumed the place of God, which of course have brought about the ugly situation we are facing in our societies today. We and reminded once again about our very mission, for it is time to take this mandate very seriously, because it is our responsibility to fulfil our promises to God and ensure that the Christian faith is preached and sustained in the world and by so doing save humanity once again from sin, death and destruction.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are lost in this world, we are confused because we have cut ourselves off from You our cornerstone, as we come back to you once again, please give us the grace to preach the Gospel following the examples of saints Simon and Jude, may we learn from their teaching and walk faithfully in the footsteps of Christ and by so doing draw humanity back to You once again.  We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily for Wednesday Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 27th October, 2021

 Homily for Wednesday  Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 27th October, 2021

Readings: Romans 8:26-30; Ps 13; Luke 13:22-30

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

WHAT IF AFTER ALL THE PLEASURABLE THINGS OF THIS WORLD YOU HEAR THE LORD SAYING: I DO NOT KNOW WHERE YOU COME FROM?

Life is nothing but 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 before me the teachings of Jesus in our Gospel passage today when he said:  try your best to enter by the narrow door, because, I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed. For once the master of the house has got up and locked the door, you may find yourself knocking on the door, saying, “Lord, open to us” but he will answer, “I do not know where you come from.

Here, Jesus calls our attention to the reality of life which we must not take for granted, that is the need for us to follow the teachings of the Lord, for humanity have failed to embrace the life of truth, holiness and love for God and for one another that 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, as things of this passing world are so captivating and many people have been captured by its seductive power and are greatly following it.  We must not be victims of this ugly situation. Rather, we must learn to submit ourselves to the directives of the Holy Spirit for he is always ready to guide us along the narrow ways of life.

Little wonder St. Paul in our first reading today says that: the Spirit comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words, and God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what he means, because the Spirit intercedes for us according to the mind of God.

For those he predestined, he called and those whom he called he justified, and with those he justified he shared his glory.

Dear friends, the worst thing that can happen to us at the last moment of our life is to hear the Lord say: I do not know where you come from. The fact remains that life is indeed very short and the road that leads to death and destruction is truly wide and very captivating, of which may 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 roads and gates of destruction against the narrow gate of life. 

Therefore, we are called 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. So, 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 but 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 Tuesday Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 26th October, 2021

 Homily for Tuesday  Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 26th October, 2021. 

Readings: Romans 8:18-25; Ps 126; Luke 13:18-21

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

NURTURING THE MUSTARD SEED AND YEAST OF GOD’S KINGDOM

Oftentimes when addressing the people regarding things that are very important, it has always been one of the characteristics of Jesus to use a simple story to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. So, 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 Yeast, using them to describe the nature of God’s kingdom which he came to establish in the hearts of humanity. 

In these parables, Jesus compared 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 might tree that gives shelter and salvation to all. Here also, Jesus is not just 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 might tree, so will the faith of the people grow into 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. 

More so, this analogy of the mustard seed symbolizes the humble beginnings of the Christian faith which is well watered by the Holy Spirit to grow and give life and hospitality to all the people of the world. However, we need to know that there are good for nothing seeds present in this world to deceive people from listening to God’s word, seeds such as: fear, regrets, doubt, jealousy, hatred, disrespect, greediness, lying, gossip, impurity, wickedness and all sorts of sinful acts. 

Those who embrace these good for nothing seeds follow the dictates of their own hardened hearts and will soon be thrown away as good for nothing, because they have not listened to God’s words. And St. Paul in our first reading tells us that what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory, as yet unrevealed, which is waiting for us. So we are encouraged us to embrace the good seeds of God’s words in our life struggles. 

Dear friends, in the world today, we have different kinds 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 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, we 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 in our hearts, give us the grace to water and grow it into the mustard tree of faith, holiness and hospitality that will usher us into your kingdom, through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful day.

Homily For Monday Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 25th October, 2021

 Homily For Monday Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 25th October, 2021. 

Readings:  Roman 8:12-17; Ps 68;  Luke 13:10-17

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

NO LAWS OR REGULATIONS SHOULD MAKE US TO NEGLECT THE WELFARE OF THE HUMAN PERSON

From the scriptures, it seems like every encounter that the Pharisees had with Jesus were always aimed at finding faults with what Jesus is doing. But to their greatness surprise, Jesus will always escape and used that opportunity to communicate an important message to the people. Such was the occasion of our Gospel passage today. When on a Sabbath day Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach, and a woman was there who for eighteen years had been possessed by a spirit that left her enfeebled; she was bent double and quite unable to stand upright. 

When Jesus saw her he called her over and said, ‘Woman, you are rid of your infirmity’ and he laid his hands on her. And at once she straightened up, and she glorified God. But the synagogue official was indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, and they addressed the people present saying: There are six days when work is to be done. Come and be healed on one of those days and not on the Sabbath. Then Jesus said, this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has held bound these eighteen years was it not right to untie her bonds on the Sabbath day? 

Here the synagogue official affirms that the Sabbath is not an appropriate time for God to manifest his compassion and mercy.  But Jesus on the other hand made us know that God’s actions cannot be dictated or restricted by humans. Because God’s mercy and healing know no limits of time or place, if we sincerely turn to him.  Hence, we see how Jesus demonstrated his compassionate care for humanity, for the most important thing for God in this world is the human person. That's why he makes all efforts to save humanity from damnation. He desires to see us making effort to becoming faithful and holy. His mercy is so deep that he propose it as the guiding principle for the perfect fulfillment of the laws of life. 

Thus, Jesus in this passage have to teach us that humanity’s welfare should not be neglected because of laws and regulations. That nothing should restrict us from doing good to people not even the laws of Sabbath. Therefore, in as much as we desire to honour God’s laws we must seek the good of people as well. This is what the Pharisees have failed to understand, for they are rather fault- finders and self- righteous people, who only wish to mislead the oppress and suppress the truth and the good works of others, just because of their selfish desires to sustain their ego, pride and their worldly ambition. But we should not be like them, rather we should be compassionate and merciful like our Lord Jesus Christ for that is what we are called to do. 

Little wonder St. Paul in our first reading, tells us that everyone moved by the Spirit is a son of God. The spirit we received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear into our lives again; it is the spirit of sons, and it makes us cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of God.

Dear friends, no law or regulations should stop us from ensuring and caring for the well-being of people around us. So today, we are called to constantly do good to everyone. We are called not to be faults-finders who are blindfolded by pride. We must also renounce all sorts of immoral actions and wickedness that may destroy the purity of our souls. Therefore, let us be compassionate and merciful for that is what we are called to do in this life.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we often failed to listen to your teaching because of our selfish desires and pride, help us to always listen to you and be willing to do good always as we resolve to live a life of purity and humility. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed week ahead.

Homily for Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, 24th October, 2021. World Mission Sunday

 Homily for Thirtieth  Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, 24th October, 2021. World Mission Sunday

Readings: Jer. 31:7-9; Ps. 126; Heb.5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHAT OBSTACLE DO YOU WANT THE LORD TO TAKE WAY IN YOUR LIFE SO THAT WE CAN BE EFFECTIVE MISSIONARIES

The true sign of a healthy Church is seen and established from the missionary activities carried out by the people of God. This is the fact that we all must understand because going on mission is an important aspect of our Christian faith. So, today as we celebrate the World Mission Sunday which began in 1926 by the degree of Pope Pius X, we are called to reflect on the missionary mandate that Jesus gave us, thereby reminding us that we are called to be missionaries, professing our faith to the whole world, telling them about the truth and love of God which we have found in Jesus Christ our Lord.

 As Christians, all of us by the virtue of our baptism have received this mission from Jesus. It is not reserved for any group of persons such  as the clergy, religious or missionary societies. No every baptized person is obligated to be part of the missionary activities of the Church by witnessing with our lives and by supporting the missionary activities which we are called to do today and always.

But why must we go on mission? The reason why we must go on mission and also support the missionary activities is because we are beneficiaries of missionary sacrifices of others who had experienced the awesome gift of God’s love and goodness and made them known to us. Secondly,  we ourselves have in so many ways experienced the love of God and his benevolence, the we must extend to others. But the most important reason why we must go on mission is to establish and constantly renew the knowledge of God’s Kingdom in the hearts of humanity as Jesus commanded us to do. We need to let humanity know about the salvation our Lord Jesus has won for us by revealing the awesome love of God for all humanity.

Little wonder we heard the Lord through prophet Jeremiah in our first reading today saying: Shout with joy for Jacob! Hail the chief of nations! Proclaim! Praise! Shout: ‘The Lord has saved his people, the remnant of Israel!’ See, I will bring them back from the land of the North and gather them from the far ends of earth; all of them: the blind and the lame, women with child, women in labour: a great company returning home. They had left in tears, I will comfort them as I lead them back; I will guide them to streams of water, by a smooth path where they will not stumble. Yes, the Lord cares and loves his people. He wishes to gather us together from where we are scattered, humiliated and lost in the world in order to share in his heavenly kingdom which our Lord Jesus came to establish in the hearts of humanity. 

Thus, in our second reading we heard that our Lord Jesus Christ is the saviour of all humanity and the High Priest of all, appointed to act for men in their relations with God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins; and so he can sympathize with those who are ignorant or uncertain. Here, we see the power and mandate of Christ to all towards the missionary activities of the redemption of humanity. So, from the Priestly function of Christ, we all share in the Priestly missionary mandate of Christ which requires sacrifice of all we have: our time, talents, resources and even our lives. Therefore, what is stopping us from being part of these missionary activities?

Today, as well celebrate the World Mission Sunday, the Lord is asking us as he asked Bartimaeus in our Gospel passage saying: what do you want me to do for you so that you can be effective missionary? For Bartimaeus, he only wants to see again and so this was granted to him and immediately his sight returned, he followed Jesus along the road and so became an object of evangelization and hope to the people.

Here, we see a man whose faith led him to put off his former identity as a blind man and now cried in the identity of hope and restoration. Bartimaeus’s faith involves proclamation, prayer, liberation, personal encounter and following of Jesus, which is the most important requirements for our missionary activities. More so, Jesus in this healing reveals his compassion towards human sufferings and wants us to imitate Bartimaeus’s faith in our struggles and challenges of life. 

Dear friends, what is that obstacle in your life that distract and limits your missionary zeal and passion? What is that one thing you need in your life? Have we ever felt helpless? Do we feel the need of Jesus’ help in some part of our lives? Do we know people who are helpless and in need of some help? How strong is our compassion towards them? Let us look at them for a moment and imagine Jesus looking at them. How does he see them? Why not in faith present our needs before Jesus who is willing and ready to help us.

Therefore, in the light of celebrating the World Mission Sunday, let us, like Jesus, reach out to people around us who are really in need of our assistance. This includes our family members, our neighbours, our colleagues and others who we encounter in life. The truth is that, you may be the only person who can brings the healing and compassion of Jesus into their lives. 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we celebrate the World Mission Sunday, help us to overcome the obstacle in our lives. May we experience once again your compassionate love and grant our hearts desire according to your Holy will, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Happy Mission Sunday to you all.

Homily for Saturday Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 23rd October, 2021

 Homily for Saturday Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 23rd October, 2021. 

Readings: Romans 8:1-11; Ps 24; Luke 13:1-9

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

THE BEST TIME TO REPENT IS NOW, LESS WE WILL ALL PERISH

Reflecting on the ugly situations in our country today  and in the world at large, there is no doubt that both the poor and the rich are testifying to it. For we can fill the struggles, the killings, the tears, the disappointments that people are passing through everyday. In fact, some people are losing hope in themselves and even in everything they do, as they run up and down seeking for solutions. The poor are searching for daily bread, upliftment and favour, the rich are seeking for protection and good health, while the evil ones are taking advantage of the situation to destroy the little hope and faith of the people. All these are signs from God who gives us the opportunity to repent from our sinful ways of life.

This is what Jesus is telling us in our Gospel passage today when he said: “Do you suppose the Galileans who suffered like this were greater sinners than any other Galileans? They were not, I tell you. No; but unless you repent you will all perish as they did. Then with a parable of the barren fig tree, Jesus demonstrated how God has made every moment of our lives an opportunity for us to repent and be fruitful. This is clear when he said in the parable, “Look, for three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?” “Sir,” the vinedresser replied “leave it one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.”  

Such is God’s patience with us for he gives us the opportunity to turn away from our sinful and ugly ways of life. Repentance is the key message of this Gospel, for Jesus makes it clear that those who suffered and were killed were not worse offenders than others, rather he uses the opportunity to call us to repentance. Note that, the purpose of this message is not for condemnation rather for redemption. 

This is why St. Paul in our first reading says: that God has done what the Law, because of the nature of our flesh, was unable to do. For God dealt with sin by sending his own Son in a body as physical as any sinful body, and in that body God condemned sin. He did this in order that the Law’s just demands might be satisfied in us, who behave not as our flesh required but as the spirit dictates. So those who live by the flesh are interested only in what is flesh, but the spiritual are interested in spiritual things.

Dear friends, this call for repentance shows us that it is not too late for us to repent, for this may be the last opportunity. Because we can never tell what will happen in the next moment. We can never tell who is the next to die, we can never know the form it will take or where it will occur, all that matters is for us to repent now that we still have the opportunity. For none of those who die yesterday knew that it going to happen that way. Therefore, let us repent now, for repentance helps us to be well disposed for life and for death. It helps us to live right and at peace with God and with one another. It gives us the courage and confidence to face any situation without fear of death.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, You are the author of our lives, freedom and salvation, all we have are yours, thank you for being with us in our daily troubles, struggles, fears, tears, hope and joy, may you provide for the poor, console the troubled, heal the sick, protect and put simile on the faces of your children today and always as we make effort to repent from our sinful ways. May you grant eternal rest to the souls of the depart, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed and safe weekend.

Homily for Friday Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 22nd October, 2021, The Memorial of St. John Paul II.

 Homily for Friday Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 22nd October, 2021, The Memorial of St. John Paul II. 

Readings:  Romans.7:18-25; Ps 119; Luke 12: 54-59

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

WHY HAVE WE FAILED TO READ THE SIGNS THAT TELL US THAT THIS WORLD IS PASSING BY

As human person, we are good at discerning the event happening around us in order to predict what can be the outcome of such event in the future. We often read the signs of nature in order to make prediction of what will happen in the future. Little wonder Jesus while rebuking the crowd in our Gospel reading today said: when you see a cloud looming up in the west you say at once that rain is coming, and so it does. And when the wind is from the south you say it will be hot, and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the face of the earth and the sky. How is it you do not know how to interpret these times the events of this passing world.

Here, Jesus condemned the ugly attitudes of the crowds for they can read the signs of nature and so predict the future, but now out of jealousy and selfishness they have failed to recognize the truth by refusing to acknowledge in Jesus one who comes from God, one who speaks God’s word and acts in the power of God. So Jesus rebuked them for such hypocritical attitude. While in the second aspect of the Gospel, Jesus is asking us to put things right while there is still time if not we will should be willing to duly face the punished for all our wrong doings.

Thus St. Paul in our first reading says: I know that nothing  good is living in me, that is, in my flesh, for though the will to do what is good is in me, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, because instead of doing the good things I want to do, I carry out the sinful things I do not want.

Dear friends, there are so many signs around us today. What is our disposition towards this signs? Can we identify the signs of our time? How can we understand and interpret them? Are we reading the hand of God in what is going on around us especially in our country? Now we are called to respond to this signs? What do we think Jesus would do if he is living with us now? Today, Jesus is calling us to discern our actions towards the signs we see in the world we are living in now.  

Though, it is very easy to condemn the ugly situation going on in our world today, but are we learning anything from it. Are we having any sense of guilt and repentance. Why allow this evil to linger in us by getting into endless arguments and deception when we already know what is right? Why wasting so much time arguing about unnecessary things while missing out the main points that are more basic and challenging. I think is time we come back to the real issues which are justice, honesty, transparency, equity, equal respect for human life and properties. These are the things we all need to put right at all levels and sectors we find ourselves as we wait on the awesome day of the Lord.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, in every event that happens to us you said, has your mark on it. Through the intercessions of St. John Paul II help us to discern the signs of our time, in order to embrace your will for us and to follow you wherever you may lead us as we struggle to overcome the ugly situation in our country. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. May God protect and keep us