Homily For Friday Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 9th June, 2023

Reading: Tobit 11:5-17; Ps. 146; Mark 12:35-37

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

 

WHY IS THERE CONSTANT PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN THE WORLD?

 

A critical study of the history of Christianity, one will discover that  persecution, sufferings, trails and martyrdom have been a reoccurring event. Jesus, his apostles and their successors met painful sufferings and martyrdoms, and yet, they still continued to give their best to serve the Lord and humanity with their faith. But I wondered why it should be so, given that the teaching and doctrines of Christian faith offers nothing but love, peace and truth to humanity.

 

So what is it about the Christian faith that frightens the world so deep that it seems as if Christianity should be extinguished from the world? The simple reason is because, Christian faith offers truth and light to the darkness, ignorance and sinful humanity who have grown rotten in the darkness of this sinful world.

 

The scourge of truth is so painful and difficult to for humanity to bear, hence, they prefers to avoid or resist it and the only way to escape this, is by persecuting the bearers of truth and this gives birth to unending ugly act of persecution, sufferings and trials we are passing through today especially as Christians. 

 

Thus, in the Gospel passage, we heard how the personality of Jesus was challenged by the people in the temple. Here Jesus taught them that the Messiah, though from the lineage of David was not a mere man, as they supposed, but that he was both God and man, therefore they ought not to wonder or to be offended because he called himself the Son of God.

 

This they heard with great attention and pleasure; for the clear and solid answers with which Jesus responded, gave them a high opinion of his wisdom, and showed them how far he was superior to their most renowned rabbis who still dwell in the darkness of ignorance as they seek means to extinguish the truth by persecuting him the more.

 

Dear friends, we can see why there are  constant persecution of Christians in our world. Should we stop being Christian? How do you think the world will be if there are no Christians to remind humanity about God? So, we must not give up, we must not stop being Christians, for God will always be with his people no matter how much they may have to suffer or be persecuted. This is well illustrated in our first reading today with the story of the restoration of the sights of Tobit and the reunion of his family.

 

Therefore, we must remain faithful in our faith for we are not alone in the sufferings and persecution we encounter as a result of our faith and the mission entrusted to us by Jesus. For through our perseverance many people will be touched by the truth, and come to know more about the truth and with open hearts and minds embrace it.

 

So, friends, as we struggle with our faith and mission, we are encouraged to persevere in the midst of all our fears, sufferings, trials and persecutions. Though it may seem as if our condition is now hopeless and irredeemable, but for those who put their trust in God, all things work out for our good just like that of Tobit and Tobias.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we struggle with the sufferings and persecution of this passing world because of our faith in you, grant that our lives may bear great witness to the truth we have found in Jesus, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Remain blessed.

Homily For Thursday Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 8th June, 2023

Reading: Tobit 6:9-12.7:1.9-12.16.8:1.4-9; Ps. 128; Mark12:28-34

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

 

WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE FROM US

 

In our journey of faith we struggle with so many commitments and responsibilities. Oftentimes, we want to know which one should be our first priority. What should be the most important thing to focus our energy? What should become the foundation of all the things we need to do? In fact, we just want to know what is really required of us?

 

This is the deposition of the Scribe in our Gospel passage today, who came to Jesus and asked the same question. In response to his question which is about the greatest commandment? Jesus reminds him of the 'Shema Israel' - שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל, the prayer that they knew and recite from their earliest years.

 

In this prayer 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 faculties of the soul; as under the influence and guidance of the more noble faculties of the soul, the mind, the understanding, judgment, and will. Jesus then added: to love one’s neigbhour as the second priority.

 

In other words, loving God with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself is what the Lord 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 by the depth of love which he shows by dying for us thereby calling us to do to do the same. This is possible only when we understand the true meaning of love and sacrifice and this is what is really lacking in our relationship with God and neighbours.

 

 

In fact, a critical look at what is happening in our world today, it is obvious that the world has lost the true meaning of love and sacrifice. This present generation has failed to understand the true meaning and source of love and this can be seen in the kind of fruit we bear. The fruit of love in this generation is so complicated: love has become a tool for selfishness, deception, greed, emotional and sexual satisfaction. This is because we have abandoned God who is the source and power of love and create for ourselves a mirage in the name love.

 

Dear friends, today, we are called to come back to the source of love, God himself, who teaches us that love is an attitude that seeks the good of others despite how we feel about them, he teaches us to be merciful, just as he is merciful. That love is an attitude that is sacrificial, an attitude that forgives, an attitude that accommodates, preserves, heals and builds up when every other things fails.

 

This is exactly what we see  in the lives of Tobias and Sarah in our first reading, who through prayers chose to invite God first in their relationship. This is the kind of attitude the world needs now, the attitude that comes from the pure love of God and neighbours, not the kind of selfish and humiliating can of love we see in our society today.

 

But how can humanity recover this power of love and harness it to bear more fruit in our societies where it seems as if true love exist no more? This is possible when we realize that we are products of love and are called to live out our essence, which is to love. Therefore, we can make our choice today to renew our commitment to keeping these two commandments and to reflect on how best we can put them together for our own good and the good of humanity. Remember, in you resides that love that is lacking in others.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, in you is the fullness of love, grant that we may remain steadfast in faith by truly loving 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 day.

Homily For Wednesday Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 7th June, 2023

Reading: Tobit 3:1-11.16-17; Ps. 25; Mark12:18-27

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

 

WHAT IS YOUR DISPOSITION ABOUT RESURRECTION?

 

The question about what becomes of the human person after death has been a contextual topic in every human generation and this has not totally changed in our own generation. However, the answer to this question has been given to us by Jesus in the occasion of our Gospel passage today, when the Sadducees, one of the most powerful and influential group within the Jewish community at time of Jesus asked him question regarding the notion about resurrection.

 

This group are made up of secular and powerful societal elites who were mostly irreligious and worldly in their attitudes. They rejected the spiritual aspects of the Jewish customs and teachings, refusing to believe in the presence of Angels and the Spirit, as well as the concept of the afterlife. They rejected the notion of resurrection and life after death.

 

To them, this life on earth is the only life they have and are living through, for no other things matter more than to enjoy the world as it is, and thus, they tend to live an extravagant lifestyle and selfish attitudes. So they came up to Jesus with a trick question concerning the notion about resurrection using example of seven brothers who shared a woman as their wife and died without a child, for according to the Jewish laws and customs, when a man died without having any descendant to continue his name and lineage, it was his brother’s responsibility and obligation to take the widow of the deceased man to be his own wife, and the firstborn child of the union would be considered as the child of the deceased brother.

 

Thus, they asked Jesus, who’s wife will she be at the resurrection? Here, Jesus rebuked them for their ignorant of the scriptures and the power of God. Then he goes on to explain how people will relate to each other in the afterlife. For after death and resurrection, men and women do not marry, for they will be like the angels in heaven.

 

He reminds them of the scene where the voice from the burning bush identifies itself to Moses. “I AM the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6). He is the God of the living and not of the dead. After this reply of Jesus, they no longer dared to ask him any questions, because, he has given them a mind-blowing answer to their ignorance and unbelief.

 

Dear friends, it is natural for us to ask questions about the resurrection of life, but we should not expect to understand it fully while we are still alive. But we have to believe in the resurrection not so much because of Jesus’ arguments with the Sadducees, but because of his own resurrection and his promise to share his life with us forever. This will help us to understand what God did in the family of Tobit as we have it in our first reading today especially with the presence of angel Raphael.

 

For Jesus tells and showed us that we are children of the resurrection and children of God who neither marries nor given in marriage in the heavenly kingdom. For all that matters is our relationship with our God and neighbour, as for what we shall be after death is known by God alone.

 

Therefore, as Christians we are challenged to overcome our excessive attachments to the things of this passing world and to be more closer to God and allow him to guide us in our path of life. We also are called to remain faithful in our faith, even in the midst of all the difficulties, challenges and doubt.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, there are may things that challenge our faith everyday, as we listen to your words today addressing the questions about the resurrection, may we remain steadfast in faith even in the midst of all false teachings that bring about doubt in our minds. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily For Tuesday Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 6th June, 2023

Reading: Tobit 2:9-14; Ps. 112; Mark12:13-17

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

 

THE COIN OF LIFE: WHOSE IMAGE AND INSCRIPTION IS IN THE COIN YOU POSSESS

 

At the time of Jesus, one of the great means of exchange is the use of coin, A coin as we know is a small, flat, round piece of metal used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender use in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by the government with particular images, numerals and inscriptions. It is a very important commodity use in payment of taxes and other important goods, this gives great value to anyone who has enough for it in his possession.

 

So in the occasion of our Gospel passage today, when the Pharisees and Herodians attempted to trap Jesus using the mandatory law of paying tax to Caesar. It was a serious trap for Jesus because a negative response from him would make him a serious enemy of Rome; a positive response would make him lose the trust of his own people, who generally detest paying this tax.

 

Thus, Jesus said to them: “why do you set this trap for me? Bring me a coin and let me see it.’ They handed him one and he said, ‘Whose image and inscriptions is it?’ Caesar’s they told him. Jesus said to them, ‘Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.’ This reply took them completely by surprise.

 

But what do this reply means? Here Jesus requested for a coin; he secures the coin; he inquires about the image and inscription in the coin; and they responded by identifying the coin with Caesar. In the context of these actions Jesus is probably holding the coin this implies that the true image of the coin is in his possession but the empirical image and inscription of the coin are the sum total of the things that belong to Caesar. In order words the true image and inscriptions of anything comes and belongs to God.

 

However the empirical image of corruption, greediness, pride, operation and deception that are found in this coin belongs to Caesar and should be rendered back to him. Thus, Jesus affirms, that one’s obligation to the government is necessary as long as it is for the good of all, while insisting that one’s obligation to God is always greater and this should be done by rendering the true image of the coin to God which ultimately belongs to Him.

 

Dear friends, in one way or the other we all possess the coins of this life, but whose image and inscription is in the coin we possess. Are we possessing the coin with the true image and inscription of God or the coin with the empirical image of Caesar which signifies sin, corruption, greed, selfishness and deception? Today Jesus is telling us to render back to the Caesars of this world all the ugly and sinful coins in our possession for they belong to them. While rendering to God the true image of the coin with the inscription of holiness, love, mercy, forgiveness, charity for they truly belongs to God.

 

When this is done we will hear the consoling words of the Lord like that of Tobit's wife as we heard her consoling Tobit in our first reading today saying: ‘What about your own charitable deeds? What about your own good works? Everyone knows what return you have had for them.’ For in the life of Tobit, we see that it is indeed possible to be fully faithful and committed to God, while living in harmony as law-abiding citizens of the community even in the midst of persecutions and operations as we experience in our societies today.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, whose providence never fails in its design, grant that we may always render to you what really belongs to you, as we do away with all that offends you and our fellow neighbours and so live in harmony with the authority of the state. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Homily For Monday Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 5th June, 2023. The Memorial of St. Boniface

Readings: Tob. 1:3:2:1-8; Ps.112; Mark 12:1-12

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

WHY ALL THIS WICKEDNESS, GREED AND CORRUPTION IN OUR SOCIETY?

 

Oftentimes, I wonder why there are so many evil, greediness and wickedness in the world, despite how God has blessed us with good things. This is evident in our Gospel passage today, marked by a growing conflict between Jesus and the religious and political leaders of his time. And Jesus illustrates this ugly event with an allegory of the Vineyard Owner which was directed towards the ugly attitudes of humanity.

 

In this allegory Jesus tells the story of a man who planted a vineyard, fitted it out with all that was necessary and then leased it out to tenants to cultivate. Now vineyard owner sent his servants to collect the dues and rents from the tenants whom he had entrusted with the care of his vineyard which he leased out to them. Those tenants were wicked and desired to keep everything they gained to themselves, hence they persecuted and killed the servants sent to them. The tenants also killed the son of the vineyard owner, whom the owner sent to them thinking that the tenants would respect his own son.

 

This allegory describes the relationship between God and humanity and how humanity has been summoned for a trial. Here, the owner of the vineyard is God, while the son represents Jesus Himself, the Son of God sent into the world to save humanity. Also the vineyard represents the world itself while the wicked tenants represent the ugly attitudes of humanity towards the resources entrusted to us by God.

 

Dear friends, why all this wickedness, greed and corruption in our society? Today our nation is on a trial before God, for God has presented his case against us, summoning our blessed land and mountains to act as judge between Him and the people of this country, by reminding us how He has blessed us with so many resources, skills, good weather and people. But we have misused them, neglected his message, committed a lot of evil and murder,  yet we are still crying, seeking for solutions and signs from God.

 

Today as tenants in God’s vineyard, we are called to change our attitude positively, we should turn away from greed, corruption, pride and ego. If not, we will likely end up like those wicked tenants who acted with such evil against their fellow men and even against the son of their master and were justly punished.

 

Therefore, what God requires from us today is for us to do justice, to love kindly and to walk humbly with him for our own good and the good of others. So, just like Tobit in our first reading today, we are called to care for one another. For Tobit never stop from sacrificing for the poor, the weak, the loyal-hearted, those in exiled, the sick and also burying the dead.

 

This is what we are called to do especially as we celebrate the memorial of St. Boniface today, we recall the humble way in which he spread the Good News as a renowned Bishop and Martyr of the Church. For he is being remembered for his many works of mission among the pagan peoples living in Germania, what is now known as the modern day Germany, where in early days of the Church, he established the foundation of Christian faith and there he suffered martyrdom in the hands of the pagans.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we celebrate the memorial of St Boniface, grant that through his intercession we may turn away from pride, greed and the corruptions of the this passing world and become steadfast in faith and in care for one another. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you the best of God's favour and blessings.

Homily For Sunday of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Year A, 4th June, 2023

Reading: Ex. 34:4-6.8-9; Ps. Dn. 3:29-34; 2Cor.13:11-13; John 3:16-18

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

 

CELEBRATING GOD'S REVELATION OF HIS MYSTICAL NATURE TO HUMANITY

 

No doubt that humanity perceive God as a mystery and in need he is a great mystery. But when we perceive something as a mystery, it does not really mean that we cannot know anything about that thing. It simply means that we cannot know everything about that thing. We only know to the extent our reasoning faculty can perceive. This means that perceiving God as a mystery shows that we can know something about him, but we cannot known everything about him.

 

Now the questions are: what do we know about God? How has God revealed himself to us? How have we perceived and understand this revelation? What impact has this revelation and understanding made in our lives as human beings living in the world he created? The answer to these questions are found in the  solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity which we celebrate today.

 

Little wonder, every first Sunday after the great event of Pentecost, that marks the end of Easter season and the Church haven filled with the Holy Spirit, our attention are turned to the mysteries of heaven, where we gaze with an eye of faith into the mystery of God’s revelation of his mystical nature as Trinitarian form of Love.  

 

That is, in a form of three Persons, Father, Son and Spirit who are ONE GOD in substance and essence. Here, the Father is love, the Son is love made Flesh, and the Spirit is love in Action. For there is wholly ONE purest, infinite and eternal LOVE which is God, and Love Personified which is God himself in the person of Jesus and Love in Action which is the Holy Spirit. This of course is the mystery of the Trinity, a reality that surpasses human reason.

 

So, the Church through revelation has come to know, understand and perceived that the Holy Trinity works in one unity and essence. For the invisible Father and invisible Son sent the visible son in the person of Jesus, so as to be visible in the world in order to save humanity. And the actions of the invisible Father through the visible Son are made presence in the world by the Person of the Holy Spirit. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are of the same substance and essence that manifest in three persons of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This is the mystery of God's nature we celebrate today as revealed.

 

For today’s solemnity  reveals to us that “God is love not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance”, as we have it in the Preface of today’s celebration. Telling us that God who is Love is the creator and merciful Father; he is the Only-Begotten Son, the eternal Word of Wisdom incarnate, who died and rose for us; he is also the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, who moves all things in history, toward their final and full recapitulation.

 

This is a special feast that gives us the opportunity to gaze into the communitarian life of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who live in a communion of love and calls us to participate in this love. Thereby reminding us of the marvelous plan of our salvation, that finds its origin in this Trinitarian love of the Father, who sent the Son and the Holy Spirit for the redemption of humanity. For we have been called to share in this family of love. This family of love is God’s nature that he shares with humanity through the Son Jesus, the Word Made Flesh and the Holy Spirit the Paraclete.

 

Thus, in this Sunday’s solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, we celebrate the summary of God’s revelation of Himself to humanity which was brought about through the paschal mysteries of Christ’s Death, Resurrection and Ascension to the right hand of the Father, and the gracious outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This great mystical revelation of the Triune God can not be totally comprehended by human mind and language, hence the Church has called us to live it with deep faith and apply it in our daily lives.

 

Little wonder, our readings today tell us about this Trinitarian nature of God in human history, In the First Reading, we heard about the revelation of God’s Name and His active participation in the life of His people, as He proclaims before Moses in the cloud on Mount Sinai saying: “The Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” a God who pardon our sins and iniquities and take us as His inheritance.

 

This is a great act of love of which our Gospel passage today testifies to this in the famous John’s Gospel telling us that: “God so loved the world that he gave his Only Begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ” This clearly shows us love in action, illustrating that God is not closed or satisfied with his own self-sufficiency, but he is that life of love that wants to communicate itself with His fragile creatures in an open and deep relationship.

 

Hence St Paul in our second reading encouraged us to rejoice, mend our ugly ways of life, heed his appeal, agree with one another, live in peace, so that the God of love and peace will be with us. He then, introduced and commended us into the grace and life of the Triune God saying: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

 

Therefore inviting us to share and participate in the communitarian family of love in the Trinity, that is now open for all humanity. That is why we are Baptize in the name of the Trinity, we are blessed in the name of the Trinity, we are consecrated to the life and family of God through the Trinitarian formula.

 

Dear friends, today’s solemnity invites us to embrace the new life we have found in the Trinity, that new life that calls us to the reality of love that is contained in the mystery of our faith. The One love of the Father, that is made Flesh in the Person of the Son Jesus, and in action in the Person of Holy Spirit, in a purely physical unity of which humanity are called to participate.

 

Hence Jesus has revealed to us that we are essentially “God’s children”, creatures who live in relationship with the Creator God the Father, and are called to share this relationship with one another. Thereby reaching out to God and to our fellow mankind, in whose life we discovers the image of our common love in the Father.

 

Thus, in this love comes the model of the human community, originating from the Triune Family to our individual human families down to the society and the world at large, pointing to us that humanity are one, related in the one love of God our common Father, through His Son Jesus in the active power of the Holy Spirit.

 

This is the faith we have embraced and are called to share with all humility. Therefore, we are called to grow in this mission, knowing that, the Trinity is at the same time unity in love and in mission, the more deep this love dwells in us, the stronger the urge to pour it out and spread it to all, beginning from our family, down to the society and to the ends of the Earth.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as you reveal the mystery of your nature which is love and calls us to share and participate in it, grant that humanity may come to embrace this loving kindness, and so be united as one family sharing one common Father in love and truth, we ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen. Do have a fruitful Sunday celebration.

Homily For Saturday of the Eight Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 3rd June, 2023. The Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions

Readings: Sir. 51:12-20, Ps.19; Mark 11:27-33

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

CAN THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OF JESUS BE TRACED IN YOU?

 

In our dealings with people, we are often requested to make reference to authorities in order to backup our claim to know or possess anything. And when such authority is not available we may not be taking seriously. Little wonder our Gospel passage today, presents to us the fundamental question concerning the source of Jesus’ authority, namely whether it is divine or human.

 

Here, after Jesus drove away the traders from the courts of the Temple, the chief priests and elders questioned the source of his authority, for they were more concerned to learn whether Jesus had received the proper human authorization by questioning the source of his authority.

 

In response, Jesus draws their attention to John the Baptist and his authority and by so doing he implies that the source of John's authority is the source of his as well. Thus, anyone who correctly identifies the source of John's authority will definitely identify the source of Jesus’ own as well.

 

Therefore the questions we need to ask ourselves are: What is our notion about the authority of Jesus? Do we have any doubt about the authority of Jesus? How much of this authority dwells in you? The crowds identified the source of John and Jesus’ authority as divine, can we personally identified the Divine Authority of Jesus in our lives? Why not ask him to manifest his power and authority once more in your life?

 

Dear friends, we need to open up our hearts to truly embrace the authority of our Lord Jesus. We need to build up our interior lives around his authority, so as to be more close to God and continue to prepare ourselves physically and spiritually for his coming in our hearts and in our souls. For there he awaits our response to his invitation to the life of faith, holiness and love.

 

So let us learn to ask God for his grace and wisdom to be faithful and holy just as we heard in our first reading today. Let us also be encouraged by the lives of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, the Holy Martyrs of Uganda whose memorial we celebrate today, they hold on to their faith in the midst of brutal persecutions and death. We also are called to remain faithful in our faith, even in the midst of all the difficulties and challenges of life as we experience in our country today.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, in your divine authority we build our confidence and hope. Through the intercession of St. Charles Lwanga, may you continue to direct and guide our ways and bring our plans and purposes to a successful end. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a happy and fruitful weekend.