Homily For Friday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 13th October, 2023

Readings: Joel 1:13:15.2:1-2; Ps.9;  Luke 11:15-26

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

DO NOT DENY SPIRITUAL REALITIES BECAUSE OF ENVY AND JEALOUSY

 

One of the gifts of God to us is the gift of discernment, which enables us to know and distinguish between good and evil spirit. This gift is very important to the office of every leader. But it is sad and unacceptable when a leader decided to misused this gift out of envy and jealousy. This is the attitudes of some of the people in the crowd especially those who belong to the party of the Pharisee as we have it in our Gospel passage today.

 

For  we heard how Jesus had delivered a man possessed by an evil spirit. The spirit had bound his tongue and made him mute. But when Jesus had cast out the demon from the man and the man spoke, some people in the crowd who belonged to the party of the Pharisees watched this great miracle as it happened said that it was through the power of Beelzebul the prince of demons that he was able to cast the devil out.

 

This is because they were adamant in their opposition against Jesus which were propelled by envy and jealousy. That is why they were unable to look beyond their narrow-mindedness and stubbornness in insisting that their way was the true way while others like our Lord Jesus were wrong. But Jesus as usual used this opportunity to correct them by pointing out the mistakes in their argument. Thus, telling us that it does not make sense for the demons to be fighting one another and so be divided among themselves. Because any house that divides within itself can not stand, and as we know the evil ones are always united in their plans to bring about destruction in human activities.

 

Dear friends, we are called today to make proper use of the gift of discernment which the Lord has given us. We must not let envy, jealousy and over ambition make us to deny the truth about the spiritual realities we experience from the Lord. We must not let the devil succeed in sowing the spirit of division among us. We should also ask God to endow us with the spirit of discernment and truth especially this period that we are faced with the ugly and sad attitude of human deception all over the world. Thus, prophet Joel in our first reading today said: sound the trumpet in Zion give the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the country tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, yes, it is near. Therefore, we must not allowed ourselves to be distracted by those who wish to see us fall.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we struggle everyday with the manipulation of the evils ones, give us the grace to overcome them, may we never be misled by the devil and all of his forces, as they often attempted to sow divisions and dissensions among us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.

Homily For Thursday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 12th October, 2023

Readings: Mal. 3:13-4:2; Ps. 1; Luke 11:5-13

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

PRAYER SOMETIMES REQUIRES PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE

 

Have you been truly in need of something from a friend who is capable of giving you what you need but he is so busy to give you what you need now? Or have you been in a situation where you needed something from a friend but could not get it because you could not reach him easily? Such a situation can make one to be under serious pressure. Then the question that comes to mind is, are we going to give up or persevere in our struggles by waiting or reaching out to him? This kind of disposition is what we experience sometimes when we pray and our requests are yet to be granted.

 

And this kind of situation is what Jesus is addressing in the story in our Gospel passage today as he continues his teaching on prayer. Thus, telling us that we should approach God with confidence as a friend, persisting until we obtain what we need. We should keep on asking, seeking, and knocking in prayer until we obtain the answer we need. Just like a boy asking his father for a fish or an egg, knowing that his father would not give him a snake or a scorpion instead of the fish or egg he had requested.

 

With this illustration, Jesus emphasized that if we, who are prone to evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more shall the heavenly Father give to those who ask him? In our first reading, we heard the Lord say: I will make allowances for those who serve the Lord as a man makes allowances for the son who obeys him. Then once again you will see the difference between an upright man and a wicked one, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him

 

Dear friends, there are times when we asked and we received, sought and found, knocked and it was opened to us. But there were also times when we asked but did not receive, sought but did not find, and knocked but the door remained shut. In such moments persistency and perseverance in prayer are what we are called to embrace. For they will help us to understand how to trust God knowing that he does not need to be informed of our needs, thereby encouraging us never to lose heart. This is certainly one of the biggest challenges of our faith today. People are not just patient with God. We want to have everything right now as it is hot. Patience, persistence and perseverance are very difficult virtues for most people today. Therefore, let us learn how to be patient, and persistent and persevere in prayer.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, oftentimes we are not patient with you in our prayers, give us the grace to persevere and be persistent in our prayer life and in every other thing we do in life, especially in our relationship with others. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you

Homily For Wednesday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 11th October, 2023.

Readings: Jonah 4:1-11, Ps. 86, Luke 11:1-4

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

LEARN HOW TO PRAY PROPERLY FROM OUR LORD'S PRAYER

 

Prayer is a means of communication between God and humanity. It is a close link by which we reach God who dwells in our hearts. It is through prayer we discern the will of God for us. Hence, if we have not been able to discern the will of God for our lives or have not had any personal relationship with God in prayers, then perhaps we should consider examining our prayer life to know if we have been praying the right way. Thus we can learn the proper way to pray from the prayer Jesus taught his disciples as the pattern of all prayers as we have it in our Gospel passage today.

 

In this prayer, we have four traditional dimensions of prayer which include: glorification of God, submission, justice and protection. Jesus begins by saying: Father, hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come, thereby teaching us that we begin any of our prayers by glorifying God. Following this is our total submission to God’s providence when we say: give us each day our daily bread. Then, we acknowledge the justice and mercy of God when we say: forgive us our sins as we forgive those we have sinned against us. And finally, we ask for God’s guidance and protection when we say: lead us not into temptation but deliver us from all evil.

 

This is important because it is the means by which we communicate with our God. But often time we treat prayer wrongly when we consider prayer as a means to only achieve what we desire without considering what God desires for us. This is obvious in our first reading today in the prayer of Jonah who wished that God should condemn the people of Nineveh after his preacher. But God out of compassion forgave them and so Jonah was angry and prayed saying: Ah, Lord, is not this just as I said would happen when I was still at home? That was why I went and fled to Tarshish: I knew that you were a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, relenting from evil. So now, Lord, please take away my life. The Lord replied, ‘Are you right to be angry?’ ‘You are only upset about a castor-oil plant which cost you no labour, which you did not make grow, which sprouted in a night and has perished in a night. And am I not to feel sorry for Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people?

 

Dear friends, it is time for us to change our perspective and wrong disposition towards prayers. It is time for us to spend more quality moments in prayer and be connected with God. We must let our prayers also be meaningful and genuine from our hearts. It is time for us to improve the quality of our prayer life by imitating Jesus, who always prayed to his heavenly Father at every possible opportunity. But some of us end up spending lots of time reciting the prayers and yet we do not mean what we say, because we have a wrong disposition born from unforgiving hearts which must be redirected before we can get a positive response from God.

 

LET US PRAY; Lord God, we do not know how to pray properly, as we carry out our daily devotion, teach us once again how to pray properly, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful day.

Homily For Tuesday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 10th October, 2023

Readings: Gal 1: 13-24, Ps. 139, Luke 10:38-42

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

LEARN TO LISTEN EVEN IN YOUR BUSY SCHEDULE

 

Listening is one of the vital aspects of the human person, which is very much lacking in most of our communication these days. This is because, oftentimes, we worry about so many things in life, trying to let people hear us without taking the time to listen to them. Some people are always trying to satisfy everyone without listening to the real thing that matters. I have also come across people who are often worried about how to make others feel more comfortable without minding their discomfort. They are so concerned with pleasing others even when they are not pleased. What a great sacrificial virtue that is not common these days.

 

This sacrificial virtue is the attitude of Martha in our Gospel passage today where we have the story of how Martha was so busy trying to make Jesus comfortable when he visited them at their house in Bethany. But when Martha observed that her sister Mary was not helping out in the preparation, but rather was busy listening to Jesus, she said to Jesus: “Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha, you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her”.

 

Here, Jesus is not condemning this great sacrificial virtue nor condoning laziness. Rather, he is saying that being busy without listening and listening without doing is worthless. Hence, he gently corrects the impression of Martha who was too busy and distracted with so many things that she risks losing sight of what is important, that is, listening to Jesus. This is because Martha gives the impression that Mary is just sitting there doing nothing. But she is listening to Jesus.

 

However, Jesus is not telling us to be content with sitting down and listening to his word, for he always insists that listening to his word means putting it into practice. His objection to Martha's request is because she was too anxious and distracted by many things, so she was not able to listen to him and for Jesus listening is the best option. It is this act of listening that saved the people of Nineveh in our first reading today because when they listened to the preaching of the prophet Jonah, the whole city of Nineveh went into great mourning and repentance before God. For everyone who listened to Jonah beginning from the King, who issued an order that the whole city and its people should repent from their sins, right down to the lowest among the people, all humbled themselves, tore their clothes and wore sackcloth as a sign of penance.

 

Dear friends, in our relationship with Jesus, are we more of the listener or more accommodating and caring? Are we more like Martha or like Mary, for they were both friends of Jesus? Today many of us are so busy and anxious about so many things that we have no time to listen to God speaking to us and addressing the situation we are busy trying to solve. Today we are called like Martha to pause and listen so that we can hear God speaking to us and directing us towards the right path.

 

Thus, Martha who was known as a friend of Jesus, loved to welcome him into her home, let us learn from her, knowing that hospitality is perfected when we have a listening ear. For it is a great virtue to be hospitable and caring especially when we spend quality time listening to God and letting him direct and guide us towards carrying out our daily tasks.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are always so busy with the things of this passing world, that we often do not have time to listen to you. Give us the grace like Mary to choose the better part which is to truly listen to your word and then be well disposed to be caring and hospitable just like Martha, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed day.

Homily For Monday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 9th October, 2023

Readings: Jonah 1:1-17;2:1-10; Ps. Jonah 2:2-7; Luke 10:25-37

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

WHAT MUST WE DO TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE?

 

As humans, we are always desiring to know what life requires of us, especially when we are faced with the realities of life. We often want to know the things that should be our priority. So we always ask questions that will help us in addressing most of the challenges we encounter. These questions are sometimes meant to test our ability towards understanding the realities of life.  

 

This is the deposition of the lawyer in our Gospel passage today, who came to Jesus to test him by asking him questions concerning the requirements for inheriting eternal life. This lawyer backing up his question with his knowledge of the Ten Commandments, referred to the 'Shema Israel’, the prayer that the people of Israel knew and recited 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 and to love their neighbour as well. 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.

 

But this lawyer needed more clarification concerning these requirements, then he asked Jesus a second important question when he said: who is my neighbour? At this point Jesus did not just explain, he illustrated who a true neighbour should be with the famous story of the good Samaritan. In fact, from the story Jesus did not just answer the question: ‘Who is my neighbor?’ He also demonstrates what a true and righteous neighbour should be like, thereby showing us that our neighbours are often those we least expect to be neighbours. For our neighbour can be anyone even the ones we most despise or fear just like the good Samaritan and this tells us that a true neighbour shows compassion, love, and care and makes sacrifices for others.

 

Dear friends, love is the centre 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. 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 loved one another. How I wish we could 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: Almighty God, in you, resides the fullness of 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 week ahead.p

Homily For Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A, 8th October, 2023

Readings: Is. 5:1-7, Ps. 80, Phil 4:6-9. Matt. 21:33-43

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

AS TENANTS IN GOD’S VINEYARD WHAT IS OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE THINGS HE ENTRUSTED TO US?

 

In this world, we are like tenants, who are living in an apartment that is entrusted to us to manage by a generous landlord, who has gone on a long-distance journey. We do not know when he will come back, we do not know his plan for the apartment. But one thing is certain, he wants us to be fruitful and to give a proper account of what he has entrusted to us whenever he comes back.

 

Sadly, because of the comfort and freedom we are enjoying, we have forgotten who we are, we have forgotten that we are nothing but a common tenant. Worst still, some are now claiming to be the landlord maltreating other fellow tenants and acquiring the whole property for themselves at the expense of others. And they are doing everything to ensure that the true landlord does not return.

 

This ugly attitude of humanity is what prophet Isaiah in our first reading is talking about in the song concerning the vineyard of the Lord, which has failed to bear good fruits despite the efforts the Lord has made to ensure that it is fruitful. This same issue is what Jesus is also addressing in our Gospel passage today in the great parable of the vineyard owner, who planted a vineyard, fenced it around, dug a winepress in it and built a tower; then he leased it to tenants and went abroad. When season for fruit drew near he sent his servants to collect his produce from the tenants whom he had entrusted with the care of his vineyard.

 

 But the tenants were now wicked, greedy and selfish, for they 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 son. In the end, the vineyard owner came down himself and dealt with all those wicked tenants, punishing them all for their wickedness and the evil things which they had committed out of greed and ego. They lost everything and were punished justly by the owner.

 

This parable describes the relationship between God and humanity and how humanity has been summoned for a trial. Here, the owner of the vineyard is God, the servants represent the prophets who constantly rebuked the people and reminded them about their being tenants in the Lord’s vineyard. While the son represents Jesus Himself, who is the Son of God sent into the world to save humanity, but was rejected and killed. Also, the vineyard represents the world and all its resources which do not belong to us but to God, while the wicked tenants represent the ugly attitudes of humanity towards these resources entrusted to us by God.

 

Dear friends, our world, our nation, our societies, our families, and our lives as individuals are on a trial before God, for God has presented his case against us today, summoning our blessed land and mountains to act as judge between Him and the people of this generation, by reminding us how He has blessed us with so many resource, skills, good weather and people. But we have failed to be fruitful, we have misused the Lord’s gifts and resources, we have neglected his message, we have committed and are still committing a lot of evil and murder, yet we are still crying, seeking solutions and signs from God.

 

Today as tenants in God’s vineyard, we are called to change our ugly attitudes. We are called to 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 and the kingdom of God being taken away from them and given to those who will be fruitful. Therefore, what God requires from us today is to do justice, to love kindly and to walk humbly with him for our good and the good of others.

 

Little wonder, St. Paul in our second reading tells us not to worry; but if there is anything we need, we should pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving. He also encouraged us to fill our minds with everything true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honour, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise, we should keep doing them. Knowing that, it was the stone rejected by the builders that has become the cornerstone.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, oftentimes we have failed to be good and fruitful tenants in your vineyard despite all you have offered us. Help us today, to make a radical decision that will change our ugly selfish, greedy and corrupt attitudes, in order to embrace more loving and caring attitude that will make us more fruitful in your vineyard. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Happy Sunday, I wish you God's favour and blessings.

Homily For Saturday Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 7th October, 2023. The Memorial of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

Readings:  Bar. 4:5-12.27-29; Ps.69 Luke 10:17-24

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

OUR GREATEST GOAL AS CHRISTIANS IS TO MAKE HEAVEN

 

In the mission of Christ, there are so many things that can make us happy and oftentimes we hope to have more of them. But there is one goal that should be the bases for all our desires. And this is what Jesus is telling us in our Gospel passage today, for when his disciples came back rejoicing with the report of how they were victorious on the mission he sent them.

 

Jesus said to them:  ‘I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Yes, I have given you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.

 

Here, Jesus made it clear that the true joy and goal of our mission as Christians is to make heaven and he warns us to be careful, and make sure our priorities and motivations are found around this one goal of making it to heaven. Little wonder Jesus, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, said, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children.  Thus, if we are ready to open our heart in humility and simplicity, God himself will reveal many things to us about himself.

 

Dear friends, this is what we see in the life of prophet Baruch in our first reading today when he made great revelation to the people of Israel saying:  I suffer loneliness because of the sins of my own children, who turned away from the Law of God. Take courage, my children, call on God: he who brought disaster on you will remember you. As by your will you first strayed away from God, so now turn back and search for him ten times as hard; for as he brought down those disasters on you, so will he rescue you and give you eternal joy.

 

We can link this situation to the memorial of Our Lady of The Holy Rosary which we are celebrating today. An event where we recall the famous victory of the Christian faithful against the enemies of the Church in the battle of Lepanto, where through the prayers and intercessions of Our Blessed Mother Mary the Church became victorious when the situation of the Christian faith was in extreme danger and was bitterly divided by the various heresies and splinter groups appearing at the time due to the Reformation movement.

 

Then, Pope Pius V called all of Christendom to pray the rosary fervently, sorting the intercession of Mary the Mother of God, that her Son Jesus should be with the faithful fighting for the survival of the Christian faith which was under persecution and trials. And through the power of their dedication to praying the Rosary, God granted victory to his faithful people, and this is the root of our October devotion. So today we are called to know that as the militant church our responsibility is to win souls for God and our greatest goal is to make heaven despite the obstacles and distractions of life.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, today we are made to know that the true Joy of our mission is to make heaven, grant that through the intercession of Our Lady Star of the Sea, may we experience the true Joy of your heavenly kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful weekend.