Homily for Thursday Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 25th August, 2022

 Readings: 1Cor. 1:1-9, Ps.145, Matt.24:42-51

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

STAY AWAKE OR YOU WILL BE ROBBED OF YOUR HEAVENLY GLORY AND EARTHY POSSESSIONS

As a human person, there are two most important events in our life. One is well known prepared and are constantly celebrated, that is, our birthday. The other, which is the ultimate, is not known and less attention and preparation is being made for it, that is, the day of our death. 

So, Jesus knowing how important this day is, instructed his disciples in our Gospel passage saying: “stay awake, because you do not know the day when the Lord is coming. You may be quite sure of this that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house. Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

In this passage we have two commands at the beginning and at the end which are not quite the same. The first command is based on God’s coming at a “day” when we do not know and the second is in an “hour” you do not expect, that is to say that it will be uncertain, unexpected and surprising. Just like the householder’s ignorance of the time when the thief would come is the reason why he does not watch. He cannot keep awake all night, and every night, to be ready for him; so he has to go to sleep, and then he is robbed. 

Thus our ignorance of the day and time is the reason for our watchfulness, because we can keep awake all the night of our life just like the householder watches to prevent being robbed. So the image of the thief is chosen to illustrate the unexpected approach of the second coming of Christ which will be a great surprise to those who are asleep as they will be robbed of Heavenly glory and also deprived of their earthly treasures, but the Lord's coming will be a happy day for those that shall be found awake and ready, while it  will be very dreadful for those that are not prepared. Thus, St. Paul in our first reading today saying never stop thanking God for all the graces you have received through Jesus Christ, especially in our teachers and preachers.

Dear friends, today we are called to be ready, we are called to repentance, we are called to embrace the new life the Lord is offering us. We are called to a life of constant struggle towards perfection in order to embrace the Lord whenever he comes. Therefore, preparation is the key word. Let us not be deceived when the world suggest to us that the day of death is not coming soon and so forget who we are, and then, the day and time will take us by surprise. Rather, let us be like that wise servant who is prepared at all times for the coming of the master. 

LET US PRAY, Lord God, today you ask us to be ready for your coming, increase in us the desire to be prepared and ready for that inevitable event of death, so that whenever it comes, it will not be a shock to us, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. It's a lovely day, may God bless your efforts and grant success to the works of your hands.

Homily for Wednesday Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 24th August, 2022. Feast of St. Bartholomew

 Readings: Rev. 21:9-14, Ps. 145, John 1:45-51 

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

LIVING A LIFE OF INTEGRITY IN A WORLD OF DECEPTION AND CORRUPTION 

In our society today, morals and virtuous acts are no longer valuable and fashionable as the society seems to be living, promoting and celebrating artful deception, dishonesty, corruption and fraudsters. Integrity has become virus to be eliminated as quickly as possible while heroes of deception and fraudsters are honored and celebrated. 

Today we are called to change this ugly attitude and learn from St Bartholomew whose feast we celebrate today. A man of integrity whom Jesus in our Gospel passage gave a great compliment when he met him and said “Behold an Israelite in whom there is no guile.” For there was no deception in him. Jesus could see right away that he was forthright, honest, open, plainspoken, straightforward, innocent and unpretentious.

Bartholomew is commonly known as Nathaniel in the Gospel according to John. A name which means “gift of God” and tradition has it that he preached the Gospel to Armenia, where he embraced martyrdom by being skinned alive before being beheaded. He is now known to be the patron of butchers, plasterers, tanners and he is also invoked to intercede in cases of convulsions. 

Bartholomew thought that nothing good can come out of Nazareth, but when he encountered Jesus, he exclaimed, “Rabbi you are the son of God” and Jesus acknowledge his faith and promised him that he will see the heaven opened angels ascending and descending. Just like the angel revealed in our first reading saying: ‘Come here and I will show you the bride that the Lamb has married.’ In the spirit, he took me to the top of an enormous high mountain and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down from God out of heaven. It had all the radiant glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond. This teaches us that we should not underrate people because of their humbled background. But like Phillip who introduced Jesus to Nathaniel, we are called to share our experience of Jesus with those we encounter in life no matter their background and ideology.

Dear friends, the world needs people of integrity like that of St Bartholomew and today we are called to imitate him, and be that sign of integrity in a world full of corruption and deceit. Let our everyday encounter with Jesus help to transform us, and by so doing we can transform the ugly situation in our societies and the world at large through our witnessing. Therefore, let us like Bartholomew be courageous and exemplary in our actions, so that, living by our faith and doing what the Lord has commanded us to do, we may become great instrument that will win more people and save many more souls for the Lord. 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, today we are reminded of the need to live a life of integrity and witnessing in a world full of deception and corruption. Grant us through the intercession of St Bartholomew, the grace to embrace your word and experience your presence in our lives and so change our ugly and sinful ways of life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you uncommon favour from the Lord this week.

Homily for Tuesday Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 23rd August, 2022.

 Readings: 2 Thes. 2:1-3. 14-17, Ps.96 , Matt.23:23-26

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

ARE YOU A BLIND AND HYPOCRITICAL LEADER?

God created humanity to be managers of all that He created. To carryout this responsibility, He gave us the mantle of leadership as one of the characteristics of the human person, that which makes us unique from every other creatures. Thus leadership is a gift from God by which we serve Him and our neighbour responsibly in this world. 

But this great gift has often been abused by humanity because of greed, love of power, fame and selfishness. This was the attitude of most of the Scribes and the Pharisees in the Gospel today. For they had the responsibility to lead the people to the Kingdom of heaven, but they neither enter nor allow those who want to enter to go in.

Hence, Jesus called them hypocrites, blind guide because, they misuse the gift of leadership entrusted to them. Since many of them multiplies the laws to suit their agenda by enforcing a very strict interpretation and application of the law to the smallest details while neglecting true purpose and meaning of the law. They only focus on the letter while neglecting the spirit of the Law, thereby making the law a mere formality that gives rooms for people to take God’s law for granted. 

And such attitudes towards the Law are meaningless if not accompanied properly with the desire and understanding from the heart and soul that truly love God. Thus, he called us to embrace love, justice, mercy, good faith as good qualities of a leader. Meanwhile, St. Paul in our second reading tell us to stand firm and keep the traditions that we were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter and not be swayed by worldly temptations and false leaders who only wished to achieve their own ambitions and mislead others from the path of truth. He also, asked us not to be  too excited or alarmed by any prediction or rumour or any letter claiming to come from him, implying that the Day of the Lord has already arrived. We should never let anyone deceive us in anyway.

Dear friends, What type of a leader are you? Are you a blind and hypocritical leader or a committed and responsible leader? This is important because the major problem in our societies are caused by bad leadership. So today we are called not to be hypocrite or blind guide but good leaders who are committed and responsible with whatever we are entrusted with. As leaders we are called to serve God and humanity in any capacity we find ourselves. Remember, the first person to lead is your very self from which we can extend it to others in our families, societies and the world at large.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, you have given to all humanity the grace of leadership, but we have often misuse it because of greed and selfishness. As we embrace the gift of leadership today, may we never be tired of doing what is good. And as we struggle it out the remaining days of this month and the rest of the year, may You’re the sole fount of true wisdom and knowledge guide all our decisions in life, through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful day.

Homily for Monday Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 22nd August, 2022. The Memorial of Our Lady, Mother and Queen

 Readings: 2Thess.1:1-5.11-12, Ps. 9, Matt.23:13-22

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

WHY DO WE OFTEN SWEAR WHEN WE DO NOT MEAN WHAT WE SAY?

Oftentimes I hear people say: I swear to say the truth nothing but the truth. This is the words we often hear people say in the courts, in the streets, in the market places and even in the Church to express and affirm what they want to do or what they want to say. But I wonder why we don’t really mean what we say or fulfill what we promised. 

This very ugly attitude is what Jesus is addressing in our Gospel passage today where the Scribes and the Pharisees who had the responsibility to lead people to the Kingdom of heaven, have become an obstacle for they neither enter nor allow those who want to enter to go in. 

Thus, Jesus called them hypocrites, blind guide because, they misuse the gift of leadership entrusted to them. For they say, “If a man swears by the Temple, it has no force; but if a man swears by the gold of the Temple, he is bound.” But Jesus said to them you fools and blind! For which is of greater worth, the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? Therefore, when a man swears by the altar he is swearing by that and by everything on it. And when a man swears by the Temple he is swearing by that and by the One who dwells in it. And when a man swears by heaven he is swearing by the throne of God and by the One who is seated there.’

Here, Jesus is referring to the ceremonious way in which the Pharisees took oaths. It was one of the things in the culture of their time. That is, people swearing oaths with impressive sounding words before the congregations without fulfilling them like our politicians today . But what were the words of these oaths anyway? 

They were forms of words designed to impress people. They were not indications that the person swearing the oath had any power over the things that the oath mentioned. It was just using words to impress and so produce acceptance of things in relation to the oath, when in fact this is completely fraudulent because the persons taking the oath, do not intend to keep the promises or commitments that they were apparently confirming by taking that oath. They were just fooling the people. And Jesus is saying in essence, that we should not let this foolery ever be part of us because it is hypocrisy and Jesus is against hypocrisy in all its forms, especially when it has to do with taking the name God in vain.

 

To take the name of God in vain means to invoke His name unnecessarily or profanely, to use it without humbly acknowledging the holy character of the One whose name we are invoking. To invoke the name of God in an oath or vow when our statement is false, inconsequential or when we do not intend to honor our words is a direct violation of the third commandment of God. Therefore, the issue Jesus is addressing here goes to the very core of our character as Christians, to the heart of what it means to live as a child of God especially in a society like ours, were deception and falsehood are the order of the day.

Dear friends, Jesus calls us today to be sincere in everything we do or say. That is why he commanded us not to swear an oath, rather we should say yes when you mean yes, and no when you mean no, so as not to become hypocrites and liars. So, today we are called not to be hypocrite or blind guide but good leaders who are committed and responsible with whatever we are entrusted with. Little wonder St Paul in our first reading tells us to stand firm, and keep the traditions that were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself strengthen you in everything good that you do or say.

Today we celebrate the memorial of the Queenship of Mary. An event that follows the solemnity of Assumption which we celebrated eight days ago. For without the Assumption, there can be no Queenship of Mary, since we believe that Mary, who was assumed or taken up body and soul into Heavenly glory, is now seated in Heaven at the right hand of her Son Jesus, as the Queen of Heaven.  For by the virtue of our Lord Jesus being the King of heaven, it follows that his mother is honoured as the Queen. And this Queenship of our Lady was established by Pope Pius XII in 1954, at the end of the Marian Year. Let us learn to be faithful like our Mother Mary.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, oftentimes we have been hypocrites, blind guide of the things you entrusted to us. May we never take your name in vain or tired of doing what is good. And through the intercessions of Our Lady Mother and Queen, may we be guided along the path of truth , we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful week ahead.

Homily for Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 21st August, 2022.

 Readings: Is. 66:18-21; Ps.117; Heb. 12:5-7.11-13; Luke 13:22-30

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

DEPART FROM THE WIDE ROAD OF SIN AND DEATH, AND STRIVE TO ENTER BY THE NARROW GATE  OF LOVE THAT LEADS TO ETERNAL LIFE 

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 we heard the Lord in our second reading today saying: My son, when the Lord corrects you, do not treat it lightly; but do not get discouraged when he reprimands you. For the Lord trains the ones that he loves and he punishes all those that he acknowledges as his sons. And he continues: suffering is part of your training; God is treating you as his sons. Has there ever been any son whose father did not train him? Of course, any punishment is most painful at the time, and far from pleasant; but later, in those on whom it has been used, it bears fruit in peace and goodness. 

So hold up your limp arms and steady your trembling knees and smooth out the path you tread; then the injured limb will grow strong again. And also God through prophet Isaiah in our first reading today says: I am coming to gather the nations of every language. They shall come to witness my glory. I will give them a sign and send some of their survivors to the nations

Dear friends, we must learn to depart from the wide road of sin and death, and strive to enter by the narrow gate love, holiness, peace and goodness that leads to of enteral life. For 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 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 roads and gates of destruction against the narrow gate of life. 

Therefore, we are called to embrace the narrow gate of love and road of holiness and peace that leads to eternal life.  There may be some of us who presumed and thought they could enter the kingdom of God because they feel that they are special candidate of heaven. We must be careful about such presumption, because salvation depends on the favour of God and one’s honest struggle to follow Christ the narrow gate of enteral life. Hence, 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 presumption, 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. Happy Sunday

Homily Saturday Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 20th August, 2022. The Memorial of St. Benard

 Readings: Ezek. 43:1-7, PS.85, Matt. 23:1-12

Rev. Fr.  Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

WHY WE NEED TO DO MORE OF WITNESSING THAN PREACHING?</p>

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 life, while present day Christianity are witnessing by preaching the word of God aloud with megaphones and all media channels and platforms, without sufficient practicing of what we preach. 

This unhealthy attitude towards our mission is what Jesus is addressing in our Gospel passage today, when he said to the people: “the scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but will not lift a finger to move them”.

Here, Jesus made it clear that we should listen to what the authorities are saying to us. However, we should not be such people who do not put into practice what we teach. So, as Christians 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 denunciation. These kind of words lack the real meaning of our faith unless they are accompanied by effective action manifested in our way of life. This is what we see in the life of prophet Ezekiel in our first reading today, who having experienced the glory of God bored witness of it  with his life and constantly admonished of the chosen people of God while acknowledging the authority of God.

In a similar way, we need to acknowledge that our authority as Christians come from God, for we are not to pride ourselves as rabbis, teacher, pastors, prophet in our own name. Rather our actions should reflect the paternity of God in the way we live and serve others. Therefore let us imitate St. Bernard whose memorial we celebrate today, for he isa man outstanding in word and deed, who strove to bring order and concord to the Church.

Dear friends, let us strive to follow prophet Ezekiel and St. Bernard’s examples of faithfulness, dedication and total commitment to God, for they put into practice the word of God they heard. Teaching us that, it is not sufficient to speak, we have to practice. We are called not merely to hear God’s word but to daily put it into action. Let our actions reflect what we preach. Though, hearing or reading the Word is important, but that is not the enough. We must let the Word of God touch and shape our lives. For it is empty and useless if our lives do not reflect the Gospel, if we hear the words of Jesus and do not act on them.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, grant us through the intercessions of St Bernard the grace to strive to practice what your word teaches us and so merit to share in your heavenly banquet. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a peaceful weekend

Homily for Friday Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 19th August, 2022.

 Homily for Friday Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 19th August, 2022. 

Readings:  Ezek. 37:1-14, PS.107, Matt. 22:34-40

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

DO WE TRULY LOVE GOD AND NEIGHBOURS?

As human beings, we always desire to know what is required of us in this life. This is even more serious when we are faced with the realities of life, then we wish 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?

This is the deposition of the Pharisees and the Sadducees in our Gospel passage today, who came together and asked Jesus question concerning which commandment is the greatest. In response Jesus reminded them of the 'Shema Israel' - שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל, the prayer that they knew and recite from their earliest years from which they learned 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. 

In other words, loving God with all our heart, with all our understanding and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves is what is required of us and it is the foundation of all the things we have to do. And Jesus set as the standard of love not just by the love he was able to show, but the depth of love which he shows by dying and rising for our salvation. 

An event which prophet Ezekiel prophesied in our first reading talking about the rising of the dried bones, which represents the ugly condition of the great soldiers of the chosen people of God, who are saying, our bones are dried up, our hope has gone; we are as good as dead.” But the Lord says, I am now going to open your graves; I mean to raise you from your graves, my people, and lead you back to the soil of life again. 

Dear friends, the question we really need to ask ourselves today is: do we truly love God and our neighbours? This is important because love is the center of all the teachings of Jesus, for love is a gift from God 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 experienced 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. 

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 community.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, in you we found the fullness of love, for  you made to share in your love. Grant that we may 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.