Homily For Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 18 February, 2022

 Homily For Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 18 February, 2022

Readings: James 2:14-24.26; Ps. 112; Mark: 8:27-33

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

GAINING THE WHOLE WORLD AND RUINING YOUR LIFE IS THE WORST THING THAT CAN HAPPEN TO US

There is no doubt that the material things of this world are so captivating and attractive and people are so much engrossed with acquiring them at the detriment of things that edifies the  human soul. People are ready to do anything just to acquire material things of this world. People are ready to kill, blackmail, kidnap and even sacrifice parts of their bodies just to gain power, acquire properties and belong to a particular class or level that they feel is influential in the society, thereby causing more hostility, persecutions and evil in the society. 

This really makes me to wonder if we are actually learning anything from the lives of those who have passed away from this world. Have we really taken time to reflect on where all of us and the beautiful things of this world will be in the nearest future. In fact, I think is time for us to really think twice about our faith as Christians, whether we are actually ready to live out our faith in the midst of these ugly situations in our societies, which are not stopping soon, for it is getting tougher everyday. 

Little wonder Jesus after telling his disciples about his passion and the coming persecution says in our Gospel passage today:  ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?”

Here Jesus knowing what awaits us in this world, takes his discourse on discipleship to a radical and difficult level, especially in a situation where our faith and Christian values have been thrown out of caution as a result of secularism, individualism and excess desires for worldly pleasures, thereby neglecting the things that lead us to God. Hence, if we are really willing to live out our Christian faith and obligations, then we need to make a radical decision towards our discipleship in a personal and radical way, just like St James made us to know that faith goes with good work. For a body dies when it is separated from the spirit, and in the same way faith is dead if it is separated from good deeds.

However, these hard words of Jesus can only be understood in the light of our experience in life. For here comes the moment when we have to make radical and difficult choice as disciples of Jesus. It’s time for us to take up our cross in a sacrificial way and follow the Lord. But what is this cross we are called to take up. Taking up our cross could mean to faithfully face our daily challenges with all its difficulties. It could mean accepting who we are and what we have and using them to the glory of God.

 

The way of the cross is a way of sacrifice, commitment, love, forgiveness, mercy and compassion, which aim towards the good of the other person. It can be a costly service to a loved one who is ill; it can be embracing illness, even terminal illness or other personal weaknesses, but these make no sense except when we relate it with the sufferings of Christ through faith in God. We must let our struggles of life lead us to God’s purpose for us. We must not let the captivating and influential power of things of this passing world make us loose focus of our heavenly kingdom.

Dear friends, we are called today to deny ourselves the pleasurable things of this passing world in order to take up our Cross and follow the Lord. Yes the material things of this world is captivating and pleasurable, but it is complete foolishness for us to gain the whole world and ruin our lives. Hence, it’s time to make a radical decision to sincerely and faithfully follow Jesus. But how much are we willing to let go for the sake of following him? Why are we finding it difficult to let go of our excess attachment to worldly things? What are those habitual desires and possessions that are holding us from making this radical decision today? It is time to come to God with all our hearts, for tomorrow maybe too late.

LET US PRAY: Gracious God, it is indeed foolishness trying to gain the pleasurable things of this passing world and ruin our lives, give us courage and grace to let go of our excess worldly desires so as to embrace the Cross of Christ. And as we do this, may the Cross of Christ be for us a shining example in our daily struggles, so as to hold firm in our faith despite all the sufferings and persecutions we may encounter. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a lovely day.

Homily For Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 17 February, 2022

 Homily For Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 17 February, 2022

Readings: James 2:1+9; Ps. 34; Mark: 8:27-33

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHO IS JESUS IN MY LIFE? 

Following the ugly events of division, manipulation and multiplication of Churches going on in Christianity today, one can not but repeat this fundamental question of Jesus to Christians all over the world: who do you say I am? Jesus addresses this question to all his disciples. The people are free to believe whatever they want about Jesus, for Jesus has been carefully preparing his disciples to carry on his  work so they ought to know better. They have heard His teachings and witnessed his miracles. What they think of Him should be more critical. 

Thus, St. Peter spoke up and said to him, ‘You are the Christ.’ And he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be put to death, and after three days to rise again.

Here, we see how Peter expressed his personal conviction about the personality of Jesus. He did not have to quote any authority, because his response was a clear and sincere knowledge of who he professed Jesus to be. For Peter’s gift of faith comes from his personal response about who Jesus is, even though he does not want to associate with the suffering aspect of the life of Jesus, and that was why Jesus rebuked that spirit of fear in him. 

Thus, our faith requires that we give a personal answer to the question: who do you say I am? For it is not enough to quote the teachings and Catechism of the Church about our faith or the teachings of other theologians and preachers or to respond only from the head but from the heart that is convinced of what it believes on and is really ready to embrace the will of God. 

The fact is that, Jesus wants us to develop a divine way of looking at things, he wants us to know him deep down our soul, so that we can truly profess our faith with deeper meaning and conviction. Little wonder St James in our first reading tells us not to try to combine faith in Jesus Christ with the making of distinctions between classes of people, for this brings division and  confusion among the people of God.

Dear friends, having heard the teachings and works of Jesus in the scriptures and traditions of the Church, the question remains: who is Jesus to you? What is your personal experience of Jesus? When was you spiritual turning point? Do we have a personal conviction about God that does not based on what people told us of him? How has your knowledge of Jesus help other people to come to faith in Jesus. In case you have not personally experience him, all you need to do is to sincerely seek God in those common events in your life and you will realize how much God is willing to reveal himself to you.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, you revealed to St. Peter the true identity of Jesus your Son, help us to profess our faith with deeper meaning and conviction. And as we experience the power of your presence, may we embrace more deeply your sacred mysteries. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful day.

Homily For Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 16 February, 2022

 Homily For Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 16 February, 2022

Readings: James 1:19-27; Ps. 15; Mark: 8:22-26

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

 THE TOUCH OF THE LORD HEALS COMPLETELY

Blindness is one of the most difficult human deformities, that deprives one the ability to exercise some of the characteristics of human person. So anyone suffering from such deformity constantly look forward on a day when he or she will be restored. This the case with the blind man in our Gospel passage today who some people brought to Jesus and begged him to touch him. 

Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Then putting spittle on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked, ‘Can you see anything?’ The man, who was beginning to see, replied, ‘I can see people; they look like trees to me, but they are walking about.’ Then he laid his hands on the man’s eyes again and he saw clearly; he was cured, and he could see everything plainly and distinctly.

Here we see the compassionate love of Jesus in it’s historical and physical solidarity with human suffering, which springs from the love of God the Father and constitutes the basis of the Church’s liberating activity which is rooted in our faith in God. In this miracle Jesus did something quite different from his usual ways of healing, he began by separating him from his present environment and then put spittle on his eyes and the healing took place gradually. After the healing was completed, Jesus asked him not to return to the village from which he separated.

This is very significant because Oftentimes our problem and cause and compounded by our present environment. So, for significant change to occur we need to be separated from our present environment. So Jesus is using this opportunity to teach us in order to lead us out of our present environment that makes us blind to the spiritual realities of our lives. For it is important for us to know that the physical activity of the human person can be linked to the present nature of his environment, because the physical is being controlled by the interior being of the person. And when the interior being of a person is engrossed in a wrong environment, then, the ugly fruit of this environment is manifested in the physical activity of the person.

Dear friends, are we in anyway suffering as a result of the ugly nature of our present environment? Do we know people who are suffering and in need of God’s intervention? Are we spiritually blind by the present activities going on in our environment? We need to be separated from this ugly situation and environment so that we can be restored completely like the blind man in our Gospel passage today. Let us therefore present ourselves and our Loved one to Jesus, who is always ready and willing to heal us and set us free from the ugly situation we are passing through, because the touch of Jesus heals and restores us completely.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, our environment has made us to be blind both physically and spiritually, as we present our needs before you today, may we experience once again your compassionate love and healing, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you God’s favour and blessings.

Homily For Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 15 February, 2022

 Homily For Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 15 February, 2022

Readings: James 1:12-18; Ps. 94; Mark: 8:14-21

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WE ALL NEED TO OBTAIN THE GIFT OF UNDERSTANDING

One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is understand, which is the ability to perceive an idea or situation mentally, to know and comprehend the nature or meaning of things. Hence, understanding is seen as a gift of God and it is to be prayed and desired by all. Understanding has a moral character which one has to sought and learned. Understanding, then, involves the cognitive, the spiritual, and the moral. While human efforts are required, the ability to understand comes from God and the true test of understanding is obedience to God. 

However, Jesus in our Gospel passage today was disappointed at his disciples’ inability to grasp what he was saying to them or who he really is. They failed to understand what he is capable of doing in their midst. Hence he asked them over nine questions which they failed to understand. We can imagine them asking what is it that we do not yet understand? 

But they had been witnesses to two extraordinary events done by Jesus: the feeding of five thousand people with five loaves and four thousand with seven Loaves. Yet they do not seem to have grasped the implication of the miracle they had witnessed nor the divine identity of Jesus who had made it possible.

Thus, Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand?” This question, reveals that the disciples are really in need of the gift of understanding, which is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that is given to us to make sense of what is happening around us all the time. 

Dear friends, the fact remains that we all need the gift of understanding just like the disciples in our Gospel today.  For often times, we are confused about so many things going on in our lives even concerning our faith, our families, our work, our vocation and every other things around us. Little wonder St. James in our first reading today says: make no mistake about this, my dear brothers: all that is good, everything that is perfect, which is given us from above; it comes down from the Father of all light; with him there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow of a change. By his own choice he made us his children by the message of the truth so that we should be a sort of first fruits of all that he had created. Therefore, let us ask God the Father to send the Holy Spirit for an increase in the gift of understanding.

LET US PRAY:  Lord God, you are the source of all understanding, help us to understand you better and as we struggle with our daily activities endow us with an understanding heart, so as to break down the walls of confusion that press on in our heart. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Do have a blessed day.

Homily For Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 14 February, 2022, The Memorial of SS. Cyril and Methodius, and St. Valentine’s Day

 Homily For Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 14 February, 2022, The Memorial of SS. Cyril and Methodius, and St. Valentine’s Day

Readings: James 1:1-11; Ps. 119; Mark: 8:11-13

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

VALENTINE’S DAY, A DAY WE CELEBRATE LOVE I A SACRIFICIAL WAY

Today all over the world people are celebrating especially young people, we are celebrating what they called the valentine’s day. A day we celebrate love. But today we are celebrating not just love, but the power and victory of love over human selfishness. The seed of this celebration comes as a result of the ugly event that happened on February 14, around the year 270 A.D.,  when Valentine, a holy Roman Catholic priest, who lived in Rome in the days of Emperor Claudius II, was executed. 

But the questions that comes to mind are: why was he executed and how does this ugly event related to what we are celebrating today? According to history, what happened was that under the rule of  Emperor Claudius II, Rome was involved in many unpopular and bloody campaigns and the emperor had to maintain a strong army, but was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. So the emperor discovered that men of Rome were unwilling to join the army because of their strong attachment to their wives and families.

Thus, to deal with this problem, Claudius banned all marriages and engagements in Rome. But Valentine a priest of Rome, realizing the injustice of this declaration by the emperor, defied this order and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, the emperor ordered that he be put to death. Valentine was arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. This ugly event was carried out on February 14, around the year 270.

However, in 496 A.D., Pope Gelasius, in honour of this St. decided to put an end to the Feast of Lupercalia, which was a pagan celebrate of the god of fertility in the name of love, though in an immoral way that is not acceptable to Christian faith. So in order to replace this feast with something more acceptable, the Pope declared that February 14 be celebrated as St. Valentine's Day in memory of his sacrificial passion for love among the people. And gradually, February 14 became a date for the celebration of love which is often expressed in different ways such as exchanging love messages, poems and simple gifts such as flowers to our loved ones.

Thus, Valentine celebration reminds us of the gift of God's love to humanity. For God loves unconditionally and sacrificially, he loves us till the very end. So, we have to also love one another the way God loves us. We must know that Valentine day is not a carnal celebration of love. But more of sacrificial and spiritual celebration. That is why as Christians we do not celebrate Valentine in a carnal or selfish manner or the sinful way the world celebrates it in the name of boyfriend and girlfriend, committing immorality, fornication and adultery in the name of love, which of course is not love, but lust.

Therefore, Valentine’s day for us should be a day we protect and promote true love for one another. It is a day we remember how much we care for one another and what we are to one another. It is a day  we  build up and nurture long-lasting love, friendships and good relationships with one another.

This is what was lacking in lives of the Pharisees in our Gospel passage today, who were asking Jesus for sign in order to test him. But Jesus with a sigh that came straight from the heart said, ‘Why does this generation demand a sign? I tell you solemnly, no sign shall be given to this generation.’ This response was as a result of pride which has blindfolded the Pharisees who refused to accept Jesus as the Messiah that very sign that they seek.  And this same pride is what is destroying humanity today.

Dear friends, pride can make us blind in such a manner that we will continue to seek for signs even when things are clear and obvious in our lives. And Jesus is saying that in the midst of proud people no sign will be given. But, what signs are we seeing around us today? How can we interpret the signs of this times, the signs that tell us that this world is passing away? Do these signs make us to dread the second coming of the Lord or do we joyfully embrace it in anticipation? Let us learn to embrace true love for that is the only way we can conquer the ugly attitude of pride in us. Let us learn from SS. Cyril and Methodius and also St. Valentine whose memorials we celebrate today. For they are good example of what it means to embrace love in a sacrificial way.

LET US PRAY: Lord Jesus, you are the sign that we seek, as we embrace your word today calling us to embrace love in a sacrificial way, give us through the intercessions of SS. Cyril, Methodius and valentine the grace to be humble and to love in order to follow you our Lord and Saviour who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen. As we carryout our task this week, may God’s  favour be with us now and always.

Homily For Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 13th February, 2022

 Homily For Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 13th February, 2022

Readings: Jer. 17:5-8;  Ps. 1:1-6; 1Cor.15:12.16-20; Luke 6:17.20-26

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

BLESSED ARE YOU WHO ARE POOR AND HUNGRY FOR VIRTUAL DEEDS, BUT WOE TO YOU WHO ARE RICH IN VICES AND SINFUL DEEDS

Oftentimes when we reflect on the ups and downs of life, the struggles, the tears and the disappointments that people are passing through everyday. We wonder and feel that Life is not fair to some people. But is there anybody who has it all in this world? The truth is that, we all struggle everyday to make significant impact in our society. And this significant impact often brings division and separation based on class, social and political affiliation. Hence we talk about the poor and the rich in relation to what people have and possessed. 

But this is not the same with Jesus, for today in our Gospel passage, Jesus talks about the blessings of the poor and the lots of the rich in relation to the virtue of humility and pride towards the things of this passing world and the things of heaven. For he said, blessed are you who are poor: yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now: you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now: you shall laugh. But woe to you who are rich: you are having your consolation now. Woe to you who have your fill now: you shall go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now: you shall mourn and weep.

Here Jesus is referring to our disposition towards the things of this passing world and the things of heaven. He wants us to realize that we are not living simply to be happy in this life, but we should be conscious of our heavenly home by constantly examining ourselves on the deeper value of our ways of life in the light of what we can bring with us to eternal life. In this teaching commonly known as the Beatitudes, Jesus gave us the qualities that make for a happy and blessed life. To be blessed means to have inner joy and happiness because of God’s favour upon us. While to be called woe is to have sorrow and pain because we have turned away from God.

However, the poor, the hungry and those weeping in this Gospel passage are not just referring to the regular poor and hungry people around us. Rather, Jesus is referring to the fundamental character of the virtue of humility that is rooted in the poverty of the spirit, that consciousness of one’s own weakness and total dependent on God, which can be found in the lives of both regular poor or rich people and can also be lacking in neither depending on one’s disposition. 

In all these things, what God wants is for us to be excellent in good virtues, for we  heard through prophet Jeremiah in our first reading today, that  curse be on the man who puts his trust in man, who relies on things of flesh, whose heart turns from the Lord. He is like dry scrub in the wastelands: but blessing on the man who puts his trust in the Lord, He is like a tree by the waterside that never ceases to bear fruit.’

Dear friends, our world is in need of more virtuous  people rather than rich people. However, blessed are those who are virtuous and rich, but woe to those that are rich and lack virtue for they shall soon mourn and weep. And St. Paul in our second reading tells us to remind faithful in doing good in accordance with the will of the Lord whose death and resurrection has purchased for us the price of eternal life.  For if our hope in Christ has been for this life only, we are the most unfortunate of all people. 

But we are most privilege people for as long as we remain faithful in doing Good according to the will of the Lord, we will be rewarded. Hence the psalmist says: blessed the man who has placed his trust in the Lord. For he shall be like a tree that is planted beside the flowing waters, that yields its fruit in due season and all that he does shall prosper

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are always engrossed with the pride of life, an ugly attitude that often separate us from you. Grant us the grace of humility so that in our poverty, hungry, mourning and hatred in this world, our lives may aim towards our heavenly kingdom and make us a shining splendour in our families, society and in the world at large. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.

Homily For Saturday of The Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 12th February, 2022

 Homily For Saturday of The Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 12th February, 2022

Readings: 1Kings 12:26-32.13:33-34; Ps.106; Mark 8:1-10

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 GOD’S COMPASSION TOWARDS HUMAN SUFFERING

When God created humanity, he entrusted all his creation to us and gave us regulations to follow in order to ensure successful fulfilment of this responsibility. But out of pride and selfishness we disobeyed God’s instructions and regulations. Hence, we separated ourselves from God, where we should have remained and enjoying the bliss of God’s presence, just as we heard in our first reading today. 

For we heard  how Jeroboam out of greed and selfishness separated himself and the people entrusted to him from God by creating for himself a golden image in replacement of the living God.  Such conduct made the House of Jeroboam a sinful House, and caused its ruin and extinction from the face of the earth.

This is how we often behave and separate ourselves from God and are heading towards destruction and suffering. Nonetheless, God has not abandoned us in our downfall. He is still compassionate, caring and loves us even in our imperfections and our disobedience, for his compassion for the sufferings of humanity is so great. This is evident in our Gospel reading today, where Jesus reveals his compassion towards humanity. This compassionate love of Jesus in it’s historical and physical solidarity with human suffering, springs from the love of God the Father for his creatures.. 

Here, Jesus had compassion on the people who had been with him for days listening to his words. He then says to his disciples that there is need for him to give them something to eat before sending them away less they may faint on the way since some of them have come a long distance. This compassion of Jesus is meant for us to spread it throughout the world in a practical way by our ways of life.

Dear friends, God has not abandoned us even in our imperfections, he still cares about us. All he wants from us is to be faithful to him and be compassionate to one another. But how strong is our compassion towards others? Do we know people who are helpless and need some help? Let us look at them for a moment and imagine Jesus looking at them. How does he sees them? Have I ever felt helpless? Do I feel the need of Jesus’ help in some part of my life? 

Today, like Jesus, each one of us are called to 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: Lord God, our fragile and contingent nature propelled by pride and sins have always bring about our downfall, but you have never abandoned us. As we embrace your compassion, give us the grace to look at people around us with the compassionate eyes of Jesus and be of help to them the best we could. Amen. Do have a peaceful weekend.