Homily For Friday Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 20th October, 2023

Readings: Romans 4:1-8; Ps. 32; Luke 12:1-7

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

BE A FIRM DISCIPLE OF JESUS WHO HAS CONQUERED FEAR AND INTIMIDATION

 

The word “FEAR” is often defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm. Little wonder, threats, intimidation, torture and fear are some of the powerful ways of silencing people from expressing their views, opinions and faith. Hence, Jesus knowing the difficulties and challenges his disciples will encounter, needed to train and instruct them properly, so that they can stand firm in the midst of threats, opposition and persecution that may bring fear to their midst.

 

Thus, in our Gospel passage today, Jesus continues with his instruction on what it means to be a firm disciple with respect to the mission he is about to entrust to his apostles. He began by saying,  what I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Can you not buy five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God’s sight. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. Fear not: you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.

 

As disciples, these encouraging words of Jesus are very apt especially now that we are passing through difficult moments of intimidation, persecution, brutality, killings, war, genocide, poverty, sickness, greed, immorality and famines in our families, societies, country and the world at large. This ugly condition can make someone to completely lose hope in humanity and also in God. But Jesus does not want us to lose hope, rather he wants us to be that firm and strong disciples that will stand firm and courageously face the ugly situation we encounter every day. For Jesus needs firm disciples who will speak and stand for his Gospel no matter the cost.

 

He says we should not fear the threats, intimidation, torture and brutality of people who claim to be powerful because of the office they occupy. We should not give in to some of these powerful ways of silencing people from expressing their views, opinions and faith. Yes all over the world, there are struggles against injustice, protests against intimidation and brutality of innocent people especially in our country.

 

Hence, we the youths are out seeking for justice, equity and good governance. We must not stop or give up on our struggles. We must continue to speak and condemn evil without fear, but with the assurance that the Lord is with us, despite everything that we may be suffering and enduring because of the sins and wickedness of evil ones. Thus, St. Paul in our first reading says that happy are those whose crimes are forgiven, whose sins are blotted out; happy the man whom the Lord considers sinless

 

 

Dear friends, today we are called to be a firm disciple of Jesus who has conquered fear for our purpose in life is to become Jesus in deeds and character. By so doing we will have confidence that God will enable us to carry out the work that he has entrusted to us even in the midst of persecution, knowing that neither the human person nor the devil can affect our soul. We can be confident of God’s intimate care for us because He knows even the number of hairs on our heads. Thus, as true disciples of Jesus, we must have confidence and remain firm in faith even during persecution, intimidation, brutality, suffering and sickness, because, His love and care for us surpass all our challenges.

 

LET US PRAY: Almighty God, our society is full of threats, intimidation, brutality, torture and fear from people who are entrusted with authority and ought to protect the interest of humanity. Grant us the grace to resist their evil and ugly attitude and to stand firm amid all the oppositions and persecutions we may encounter in our daily lives, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a blessed day.

Homily For Thursday Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 19th October, 2023

Readings:  Romans 3:21-30; Ps. 130; Luke 11:47-54

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

WHY ALL THESE WICKEDNESS AND UGLY ATTITUDES OF HUMANITY?

 

In our Gospel passage today, Jesus continued with his reproach on the Scribes and the Pharisees for hardening their hearts from the teaching of Jesus, and therefore behaving like their ancestors. Little wonder, Jesus in his reproach said: woe to you who build the tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building. But the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him thereby setting traps to catch him out in something he might say.

 

Here, Jesus was speaking to the people on the ugly attitudes and wickedness of humanity well manifested by the Scribes and Pharisees on various occasions when we ought to obey the Lord but preferred to live and act by our own selfish and proud attitudes. Hence by reproaching us, Jesus is reminding us that this is not the right path for us to follow, instead, we should be more faithful and pay more attention to God’s words and teachings which he had repeatedly communicated to us through the prophets, of which we often rejected and killed the prophets. Similarly, Jesus despite all the signs and wonders he had done for humanity we still refused to have faith in him.

 

Hence, St. Paul in our first reading tells us that God’s justice that was made known through the Law and the Prophets has now been revealed outside the Law, since it is the same justice of God that comes through faith to everyone. For a man is justified by faith and not just by doing something the Law tells him to do.

 

Dear friends, today Jesus rebuked the ugly attitude of humanity, calling us not to be like the Scribes and Pharisees, who out of pride and selfishness rejected the words of Jesus and sought to kill him. Rather, we should be more humble and disposed towards the words of God we hear every day. We should make efforts to transform our lives and faith more closer to that of Jesus. We should not be like the Pharisees and Scribes who looks for the downfall of other because they tried to correct us.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as you reproach our ugly attitudes of pride and selfishness today, may we be filled with the longing for true holiness and humility, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed day

Homily For Wednesday Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 18th October, 2023, The Feast of St. Luke The Evangelist

Readings: 2Tim. 4:10-17; Ps. 145; Luke 10: 1-9

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

LEARN TO CONTRIBUTE POSITIVELY TO THE MISSION OF CHRIST LIKE ST. LUKE

 

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Luke, one of the four great Evangelists of our Christian faith. According to traditions St. Luke was probably a Hellenised Jew or a Greek who embraced the Christian faith as one of the earliest converts among the earliest disciples of Jesus Christ. He was known as a physician and highly educated and intelligent, which made it possible for him to able to give us a well-detailed account of the very important events about the life and ministry of Jesus in the Gospel account according to Luke and the life and mission of Christ’s disciples in Act of Apostles as inspired by the Holy Spirit.

 

No doubt St. Luke through his Gospel account has converted many to the Christian faith, turning many people towards the Lord and calling them to embrace his truth and love. Therefore Luke has proved himself to be a great disciple by demonstrating the act of being a good missionary for we heard in our Gospel passage today, how the Lord appointed seventy-two persons and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he was to visit. He said to them, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest. Start now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road. Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!

 

Here, Jesus gave us the nature and requirements for carrying out his missionary mandate successfully. So, to continue this great mission he invites his disciples and sends them out, commanding them to see themselves as someone who gives freely of the good they have received from God. Hence, we should offer to others what we have received from God just like St Luke, knowing that it has cost us nothing. We must live a life of detachment that is, in this mission, we are to depend totally on God's providence. Unfortunately, many of the disciples have to face rejection and persecution from people, who through their rebellious attitude have refused to believe in God even though He has always been so patient, loving, caring and forgiving us.

 

So, as we celebrate this feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, let us be inspired by his faith and commitment. Let us follow his examples as we carry out our missionary mandates no matter how insignificant they may be. We should not underrate our efforts or think that we can't be like St. Luke because of our background or level of exposure. Rather we should know that God has called his disciples from different backgrounds and works of life: the poor, the rich, some educated, some illiterate, some privileged and powerful, while others weak and not insignificant. So our background and level do not matter. What is important is our attitude towards the missionary mandate entrusted to us at any level we find ourselves.

 

But dear friends, what is our attitude today towards the missionary mandate of Christ? How has the Word of God shaped our lives? How are we contributing towards the missionary mandate of Christ?  Today, as we celebrate the feast of St Luke, we recall his great contributions to the Church and the Christian faithful. For just as St Luke gave us the Gospel account and the Act of the Apostles as inspired by the Holy Spirit, we as disciples of Christ, have also received a lot from God and his saints without payment; we should learn to give without expecting reward. Calling us to acknowledge with gratitude all that we have received from God and give freely to others that which we have received. For this act of charity will purify us from pride and self-righteousness, because we are all recipients of God's love, mercy, forgiveness, favour, protection, healing and deliverance. So, we must offer to others these same gifts which we have received.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, today as we celebrate the feast of St. Luke you gave us the requirements and nature of our missionary mandate. Help us to effectively follow these requirements just like St Luke did. We ask this through Christ our Lord Amen. Do have a favourable week.

Homily For Tuesday Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 17th October, 2023. The Memorial of St Ignatius Antioch

Readings: Romans 1:16-25 Ps. 19; Luke 11:37-41

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE INTERIOR OF A PERSON  OVER THE OUTWARD APPEARANCE

 

There is no doubt that our societies today are full of artful deception, dishonesty and fraudsters. Integrity has become a virus to be eliminated. Morals and virtuous actions are no longer valuable. Heroes of deception and fraudsters are honoured and celebrated. The interior life of the human person is no longer regarded as important as the outward appearance. This unhealthy way of life is what Jesus is addressing in our Gospel passage today. For when a Pharisee invited Jesus to dine at his house, he was surprised that Jesus had not first washed before the meal.

 

But Jesus said to him, ‘Oh, you Pharisees! You clean the outside of cup and plate, while inside yourselves you are filled with extortion and wickedness. Fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside too? Instead, give alms from what you have and then indeed everything will be clean for you.

 

Here, the Pharisees were so much interested with the outward appearance and the ‘letters’ of the Law, that they neglected the ‘spirit’ of the Law and the interior life of the human person. However, Jesus made it clear that the interior life and purity of the human person are not based on outward appearance of a person but, from the good fruit of virtues that comes from the human soul, because outwardly we may appear to be good and pious, but in reality, our hearts are full of wickedness, immorality and sin.

 

Little wonder St. Paul in our first reading, reminded us that the anger of God is being revealed from heaven against all the impiety and depravity of men who keep truth imprisoned in their wickedness. For what can be known about God is perfectly plain to them since God himself has made it plain. Therefore, we must learn to take our interior life very seriously knowing that without a sound interior life, all of our good actions, obedience and the observances of the Law will be empty and meaningless.

 

Dear friends, today we are called to look within ourselves, and purify our inner being and so make our outward appearance reflect our inner being. We must ensure that our faith in God is pure and genuine by letting our whole lives be inspired by virtuous and truthful actions of our daily activities. This is what we see in the life of St. Ignatius of Antioch whose memorial we celebrate today. He is one of the most prominent of all the early Church fathers, who helped to establish a solid foundation for the Church in Antioch and also the Universal Church.

 

He wrote extensively to the other Church communities. But was martyred by being thrown to wild beasts in the amphitheatre, where he defended his faith to the very end. Teaching us to be true Christians in our way of life, words and deeds. Let us learn to put our trust in God who has promised to keep us from falling away from the true faith we have found in His Son Jesus. Therefore, let our attitudes begin to change our society that is full of artful deception, dishonesty and fraudsters. Let our lives bear good fruits of integrity, love, purity and faith.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, our hearts are full of corruption, impurity, greediness, wickedness and immorality, through the intercession of St. Ignatius give us the grace to purify our lives with virtues of integrity, honesty, purity and love, we ask this through Christ our lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful day.

Homily For Monday Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 16th October, 2023

Readings:  Romans 1:1-7; Ps. 98; Luke 11:29-32

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

WHAT SIGN ARE YOU SEEKING IN LIFE?

 

Oftentimes people want to see signs before they can accept or believe whatever we have to present to them. This is the case with the crowd in our Gospel passage today, as they asked Jesus for signs. He said to them, ‘this is an evil generation that asks for a sign! But the only sign that will be given is the sign of Jonah, telling us that, on Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here with us, that is, Jesus himself.

 

Here, Jesus presents to us the final recommendations of the end time, pointing out that he is the greatest and only sign we need just like Jonah was to the people of Nineveh. He insists that we should pay rapt attention to the signs nature is giving us concerning the end-time events, that these signs will make us have hope founded firmly on the word of God which drives away fear and despair, knowing that the kingdom of God is very near to us. We should also be careful about following those who claim to know when the end is coming. For we may see many of the signs written in Scripture happening already in our time and people are terrified looking for someone to show them the way. We should know that Jesus is the only Way, the Truth and the Life.

 

Thus, St. Paul in our first reading today reminded us about Christ as the sign of God’s promise when he said: it is about Jesus Christ our Lord who, in the order of the spirit, the spirit of holiness that was in him, was proclaimed Son of God in all his power through his resurrection from the dead. Through him we received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan nations in honour of his name.

 

Dear friends, what signs are we seeing around us today? How can we interpret the signs of this time, the signs that tell us that this world is passing away? Do these signs make us dread the second coming of the Lord or do we joyfully embrace it in anticipation? Remember, Jesus warns us not to waste our time seeking for signs, rather we should be prepared, and we should remain firm in the faith. He reminds us that he is not just the sign of Jonah, but something far greater than Jonah, and without him in our lives, we will be lost, because the future lies in his hands and nothing can destroy or hurt us as long as we remain faithful to his commands. Nonetheless, what he requires of us in this world is for us to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with our God.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, in a world full of confusion and deception, help us to remain faithful in following our Lord Jesus knowing that he is the greatest sign of all times. And as we carry out our task this week, may your favour be with us now and always. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed week ahead.

Homily For Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A, 15th October, 2023

Readings: Is.25:6-10, Ps. 23, Phil 4:12-14.19-20. Matt. 22:1-14

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

DO NOT BE SO BUSY TO HONOUR THE INVITATION TO GOD’S HEAVENLY BANQUET

 

In our hymn book some hymns are based on some of the parables in the scriptures, one of them entitled 'I can not come to the banquet, composed by Miriam Therese Winter gives us the summary of our Gospel passage today and the first and last stanzas of this hymn says:

 

1. A certain man had a feast on his fine estate in town,

He laid a festive table and wore a wedding gown

He sent invitations to his neighbours far and wide

But when the meal was ready, each one of them replied!

CHORUS:

I can not come!

I cannot come to the banquet, don't trouble me now,

I have married a wife, I have bought me a cow,

I have fields and commitments that cost a pretty sum,

Pray hold me excused, I cannot come!

 

2. Now God has written a lesson for the rest of mankind,

If we're slow in responding, He may leave us behind,

He's preparing a banquet for that great and glorious day,

When the Lord and master call us, be certain not to say.

 

In this life, we are so busy with so many things, that if care is not taken we will miss out on the essence of our existence. Each day, the streets are full of people struggling and bobbling, the markets are full of people buying and selling and people rising very early in the morning and coming back late at night. This shows us how much effort people put in every day just to earn their daily bread, I thought if we could sincerely put in such an amount of effort in order to catch up with the train of eternal life which God is inviting us in today’s Gospel passage.

 

Today, from the parable of the marriage feast, the Lord offers us again an invitation to the banquet of heaven. An invitation which is God's free act of kindness, as He wishes to dine with us. No one deserves it anyway, and He is not obliged to invite us nor are we compared to honour his invitation. Hence in the parable, those who think that they deserve to be invited were too busy to enter the banquet hall. But the poor in spirit and the humble who knew that the love God has for them is completely gratuitous accepted his invitation with joy.

 

Thus, today we are called not to be too busy to come to our heavenly banquet. For God’s banquet is his Church, good and bad, saints and sinners are invited, for the Church is made up of saints and sinners. The bad are expected to become good while sinners are expected to repent and put on a new garment of holiness and love. As Christians, today we are reminded of our wedding garment, the new suit we put on on the day of baptism. Therefore, we cannot go on wearing the old garments of sins of pride, greed, adultery, fornication, theft, drunkenness, selfishness and unforgivingness which will throw us into the dark, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen.

 

Dear friends, we are called today to put on the wedding garment of love, and holiness and open the doors of our hearts to the poor, the marginalized and those rejected by society. And  God through prophet Isaiah in our first reading, promised to gather us together from all the foreign countries and bring us home to his Holy mountain, where the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food.

 

On this mountain, he will remove the mourning veil covering all peoples, and the shroud enwrapping all nations, he will destroy death forever. The Lord will wipe away the tears from every cheek; he will take away his people’s shame everywhere on earth. And St. Paul in our second reading encouraged us to be disposed to cope with whatever situation we find ourselves in now, for God in return knows how to fulfil all our needs according to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, today we are reminded of the invitation to your heavenly banquet. As we honour this invitation, help us to put on the wedding garment of love, holiness, forgiveness, and mercy which we embraced in our baptism. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed Sunday celebration.

Homily For Saturday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 14th October, 2023.

Readings: Joel 4:12-21; Ps.97; Luke 11:27-28

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT

 

Reflecting on our relationship with God, family and neighbours, I asked myself which one comes first, because all seem to be important. This is very vital  when we relate it to the response of Jesus to a woman in our Gospel passage today, who when Jesus was speaking to the crowd, raised her voice and said, ‘Blessed the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!’ But Jesus replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’

 

Here, Jesus highlights that our primary relationship in life is with God. Even the deepest and most natural bonds are created within this primary love of doing the will of God. Mother and family were important to Jesus in his life and at his death, but his real family is centred around the new family relationship that is built among those who hear and keep the word of God. Therefore, our relationship with our family and neighbours is actually rooted in our relationship with God whose word is the light that guides our steps.

 

But the questions remain:  What have we been doing with the word of God we hear every day? What kind of fruit are we bearing in our family and society? How has the word of God changed our life and disposition towards our family? How has the word of God challenged and propelled us to love God and our neighbours? The answers to these questions are blowing in the wind.

 

Therefore, today we are called to be more practical and attentive towards listening to the word of God. We are called to put into action the words we hear every day. And concerning this new family of Jesus made up of those who hear the word of God and keep it, Joel in our first reading says: the Lord will be a shelter for his people, a stronghold for the sons of Israel his chosen people.

 

Dear friends, whatever we feed grows and whatever we quit feeding dies and feds away. So what are we feeding our souls with? How are we feeding on the word of God? Our society has enough hearers of the word, what we need now is doers of the word of God, men and women who will fill their lives with the word of God and from the abundance of their hearts live a life that will influence society positively. Thus, when we hear the word of God we must apply it to our daily lives because that's the only way we can feed our soul. And by so doing we become blessed brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we thank you for the gift of your words we hear every day, Grant that we may cultivate the habit of hearing and keeping your words, so as to become living instruments of your words in our families, societies and the world at large. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen Do have a blessed and fruitful weekend.