Homily For Wednesday Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 22nd November, 2023. The Memorial of St. Cecilia V. M

Readings: 2Macc.7:1.20-31; Ps.17; Luke:19:11-28

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

HOW ARE YOU USING THE GIFTS AND OPPORTUNITIES GOD HAS GIVEN YOU

 

In this life, God has given special gifts and opportunities to everyone. If we use these gifts and the opportunities wisely for our benefit and the benefit of others, we will grow and blossom. But on the other hand, if we fail to use them, we will remain dormant and unsuccessful. This is what the parable in our Gospel passage today is addressing. In this parable, we heard how a king summoned ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds to do business until he came back. Some of them utilized these gifts and opportunities and so became successful and for that, they were entrusted with more gifts. While some decided to neglect and abandoned their gifts and so remained dormant and unsuccessful.

 

This parable teaches us that we all have been given gifts by God which we must give account of. Because our gifts are meant to be put to use in the service of God and humanity. And our service to God should not be done grudgingly or fearfully but generously with the willingness to take risks in responding to God's mandate. We must be ready to lose our life in order to find it. God wants us to use the individual gifts and opportunities given to us to make a difference in the world. We are not to relax into a comfort zone doing nothing with them. God wants the best from us and when we have given our best, we receive more from him.

 

Dear friends, we all are special, unique and a masterpiece and God has given us a very unique gift. These gifts may represent different physical and spiritual gifts of God, but their basic foundation is the love of God towards us.  This love is what God has given to us which needs to be reciprocated through an active love for our neighbours. However, we often find it difficult to discover our other gifts or to accept the one God has given to us because we have failed to embrace love. So, we are called today to search and discover our gifts. Love is the greatest gift God has given to humanity, let us discover love and invest in it for in it comes other gifts that will help us to achieve the purpose by which we are created.

 

This gift of love is what made the woman and her children sacrifice their lives for the sake of their belief in God’s instructions and ordinances as we have it in our first reading today. And also in the life of Cecilia whose memorial we celebrate today for she developed the love of God in her heart. Though she came from an extremely rich family and was given in marriage to a young man named Valerian. She wore sackcloth next to her skin, fasted, and invoked the saints, angels, and virgins, beseeching them to guard her virginity.

 

During her wedding ceremony she was said to have sung in her heart to God and before the consummation of her marriage, she told Valerian her husband she had taken a vow of virginity and had an angel protecting her. Valerian asked to see the angel as proof, and Cecilia told him he would have eyes to see once he travelled to the third milestone on the Via Appia (Appian Way). There he was baptized by Pope Urbanus. Following his baptism, Valerian returned to his wife and found an angel at her side. The angel then crowned Cecilia with a chaplet of rose and lily.

 

Cecilia was later arrested and condemned to be suffocated in the baths. Later an executioner was sent to cut off her head in the baths, who struck her three times but was unable to decapitate her so he left her bleeding and she lived for three days. Crowds came to her and collected her blood while she preached to them or prayed. On the third day, she died and was buried by Pope Urban and his deacons. Today St. Cecilia is regarded as the patroness of music because she heard heavenly music in her heart when she was married and is represented in art with an organ or organ pipes in her hand.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, you have endowed us with special and unique gifts and opportunities. Help us to discover these gifts and utilize them for the purpose for which they were given to us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful day.

Homily For Tuesday Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 21st November, 2023. The Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Readings: 2Macc. 6:18-31; Ps.15; Luke:19:1-10

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

WHEN A SINNER CLIMBS THE SYCAMORE TREE OF GRACE, SALVATION COMES TO HIS SOUL

 

Oftentimes we are quick to criticize, condemn and label people as sinners, outcasts and good for nothing. But this is not the attitude of Jesus who is always compassionate especially to sinners and those rejected in the society and wants us to do the same. This is evident in our Gospel passage today, where we were told the story of Zacchaeus. A man who was regarded as a public sinner. Wanting to see Jesus, but being small in size, he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree and waited for Jesus to come by. He really had a great desire to see Jesus.

 

Thus, the attitude of Jesus upon seeing Zacchaeus on the tree was very touching. Jesus does not ask, nor does he demand anything. He only responded to the inner desire of a sinful man who seeks to see him and he said to him, “Zacchaeus come down. Hurry, because I am to stay at your home today” Zacchaeus gets down and received Jesus, in his house with great joy, for sometimes in our lives when we struggle with our inner desires and weaknesses all we need is to sacrifice our pride and humbly climb the sycamore tree of grace for on it we find the satisfaction and peace.

 

No doubt, people complained and criticized Jesus saying “He has gone to stay at a sinner’s house”. But Jesus does not care about the criticism. He went to the house of Zacchaeus and defended him from the criticism. And rather than calling him a sinner, he called him “son of Abraham”. Here we see how Jesus accepts those who were not accepted. He offers a place to those who do not have one. He receives as brothers and sisters people whom the society and religion rejected.

 

Similarly, we heard in our first reading how Eleazar demonstrated a life of nobility by resisting to live a life of pretence and defilement, for he resolved to die with honour rather than to live disgraced. Such pretence he said, “does not square with our time of life; many young people would suppose that Eleazar at the age of ninety had conformed to the foreigners’ way of life, and so be led astray on my account; This will only bring defilement and disgrace on my old age. For even though for the moment I avoid execution by man, I can never, living or dead, elude the grasp of the Almighty”.

 

Dear friends, when we climb the sycamore tree of grace salvation comes to our souls. This is what we must learn from Zacchaeus and Eleazar who remained faithful and did not live a life of pretence. We must learn to be a good example to other people and try to accommodate people’s differences and weaknesses. But how do we accept people who are despised and marginalized in our society? Can we, like Jesus, perceive people’s inner desire for compassion and give them attention? Remember, the compassion and tenderness of Jesus brought about a total change in the life of Zacchaeus. Why not show some compassion to those we meet today, for it may be the only opportunity to embrace the salvation they will ever have in their life?

 

It is in the light of this salvation we will understand the importance of the memorial of the presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary we celebrate today.  That great moment when St. Joachim and St. Anne offered their firstborn child to the Lord at the Temple as prescribed by the Law. A gratuitous action in appreciation of God’s grace for choosing Mary to be the mother of our Lord and her total availability to God’s plan. Let us all be inspired by the example of Mary who the Lord has set before us, that we shall also be righteous, virtuous and great in faith as she has shown us in her lifetime in thanksgiving to God.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are sinners in need of your mercy. As we climb the sycamore tree of grace with contrite hearts, may you find in us the inner desire for mercies and in your compassion purify us and welcome us back to your kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed day.

Homily For Monday Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 20th November, 2023

Readings: 1Macc. 1:10-15.41-43.54-57.62-64; Ps.119; Luke:18:35-43

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

KNOWING YOUR NEEDS AND HOW TO PRESENT THEM TO GOD

 

The compassionate love of Jesus in its historical and physical solidarity with human suffering, springs from the love of God the Father and constitutes the basis of the Church’s liberating activity which is rooted in our faith in God. Little wonder in today’s Gospel passage, the blind beggar gives us a complete lesson about faith, expressed with total simplicity in front of Christ Jesus. He had faith enough to call out to Jesus as he passed by, even when he was scolded by the people close to him, his need for Jesus was so great that he cried all the louder, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!

 

Then Jesus asks an unusual question “What do you want me to do for you?” So even though his need was obvious, Jesus wanted him to ask. In the same way today, Jesus is asking us: my child what do you want me to do for you? Why not like this blind beggar tell Jesus you need? Even though he knows your needs, you still need to present them before him. This blind man needed his eyesight restored, so he asked Jesus aloud, “Lord, that I may see!” And Jesus said receive your sight. Your faith has saved you.’

 

Here Jesus reveals his compassion towards human sufferings and wants us to imitate him in trying to overcome these suffering though caused by our sins and disobedience to God’s command as we heard in our first reading today where the king proclaimed his whole kingdom that all were to become a single people, each renouncing his particular customs to accept his religion, sacrificing to idols and profaning the Sabbath. The king erected the abomination of desolation above the altar, and any books of the Law that came to light were torn up and burned. Whenever anyone was discovered possessing a copy of the covenant or practising the Law, the king’s decree sentenced him to death. But God never abandoned his people, for those who hoped in him were protected.

 

Dear friends, what is the one thing you really need in your life? Have we ever felt helpless? Do we feel the need for Jesus’s help in some part of our lives? Why not in faith present it before him who is willing to help us? Also, do we know people who are helpless and need some help? How strong is our compassion towards them? Let us look at them for a moment and imagine Jesus looking at them. How does he see them?

 

Therefore, like Jesus, each one of us is called to reach out to people around us who are really in need of our assistance. This includes our family members, our neighbours, our colleagues and others who we encounter in life. The truth is that you may be the only person who can bring the healing and compassion of Jesus into their lives.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we present our needs before you today, may we experience once again your compassionate love and grant our hearts' desire according to your Holy will, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. It’s another week, and I wish you God’s favour and blessings.

Homily For Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A, 19th November, 2023

Readings: Prov.31:10-13.19-20.30-31, Ps.128, 1Thess 5:1-6, Matt. 25:14-30

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

HOW ARE YOU USING YOUR GOD-GIVEN TALENT?

 

In 2017 the year of Our Lord, Pope Francis dedicated every last Sunday before the Solemnity of Christ the King, as the World Day for the Poor. An occasion where we are all reminded of the poor, those people in our community who are lacking basic needs of life as they depend on others to survive. Therefore we are called to be of help the best we could knowing that God has a plan for every one of us. For each person has been given a special talent according to his/her ability in order to fulfil that plan. So everyone no matter your present condition is special, unique and a masterpiece. This is evident in our Gospel passage today, where Jesus told us the parable of the talents.

 

In this parable, a man who was going on a journey summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to a third one; each in proportion to his ability to utilize it until he comes back. Here, Jesus is telling us that we have all been given gifts by God which we must account for. If we use these gifts wisely for our benefit and the benefit of others, we will grow and blossom. If on the other hand, we fail to use them just like the third servant, we will remain dormant and unsuccessful.

 

But what is this talent all about? The talent may represent different physical and spiritual gifts of God, but its basic foundation is the love of God towards us, the love that God has shown to us which needs to be reciprocated through an active love for our neighbours. So, this parable teaches us that our gifts are meant to be put to use, in service of God and humanity especially the poor. Our service to God should not be done grudgingly or fearfully but generously and with the willingness to take risks in responding to God's mandate.

 

We must be ready to lose our life in order to find it. God wants us to use the individual talents given to us to make a difference in the world, not to relax in our comfort zones doing nothing with them. God wants the best from us and when we have given our best, we receive more from him. However, we often find it difficult to discover our talents or to accept the one God has given to us because we have failed to embrace love.

 

Dear friends, what is your talent? How are you using your God-given talents? Have you put them to full use? Or have you buried it out of fear, ignorance and shame? For we are called today to search and discover our talent, to discover love and invest in it in order to achieve the purpose by which we are created just like the first two servants in the parable of the talents who utilized the talents given to them.

 

Little wonder our first reading today gives us an example of a very industrious and virtuous woman who utilized her talent in helping her husband and the poor knowing that the day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night, just as we heard in our second reading today. Therefore, we are reminded that we are going to give an account before God and the real tragedy of life is not in being limited to one talent but the failure to use that one talent properly.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, you have given us a special talent according to our ability in order to fulfil your plans for us. Help us to discover our talents and utilize them in such a way that it will lead us to love you and our neighbours, especially the poor and so attain eternal life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a glorious Sunday celebration.

Homily For Saturday Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 18th November, 2023

Readings: Wis. 18:14-16.19:6-9; Ps.105; Luke:18:1-8

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

NEVER GIVE UP IN PRAYER FOR PRAYER DRIVES AND DIRECTS US TO THE WILL OF GOD

 

Have you been truly in need of something from a friend who is capable of giving you what you need but will not? Or have you been in a situation where you needed something from a friend but cannot get it because you can 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 of 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.

 

Little wonder Jesus in our Gospel passage today, using the parable of the widow and the unjust judge addresses the issues of faith in difficult times and the need to persevere in prayer. Here Jesus reassures us that God hears our prayers. He tells us that we need to pray continually and never lose heart. In this parable, Jesus is not comparing God to an unjust judge, but he is saying that if through perseverance one obtains justice from an unjust judge, how much more will we receive from a good and loving Father? For persevering in prayer teaches us that God does not need to be informed of our needs.

 

The parable also serves to encourage those suffering injustice to continue with their struggles and the call for justice. We should persist in our complaints, and prayerfully confront unjust authorities to effect the change needed for justice to reign. Thus, Jesus is encouraging us never to lose heart, rather, we should approach God with confidence, persisting until we obtain what we need. We should keep on asking, seeking, and knocking in prayer until we obtain the answer we need. For we are told in our first reading that God keeps his children from all harm, for the whole creation in obedience to his commands was once more newly fashioned in its nature.

 

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 never give up for prayer drives and directs us to the will of God. So, persistence 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. The fact remains that patience, persistence and perseverance help us to conform our will to God’s will, but these are very difficult virtue for most people today.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, 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 things we do in life, especially in our relationship with others. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a delightful weekend.

Homily For Friday Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 17th November 2023. The Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary

Readings: Wis. 13:1-9; Ps.19; Luke:17:26-37

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

ONE WILL BE TAKEN, THE OTHER LEFT: BE PREPARED

 

Every day of our lives we are so busy preparing, acquiring and safeguarding the things of this passing world. Every day the streets are full of people struggling and bobbling, the markets are full of people buying, selling, cheating and chatting, the Churches are full of people praying, singing and celebrating. Noise everywhere, no one wants to be patient with the other, no one wants to give way to the other. We are so busy with everything except the very essence of our existence that is, the salvation of our souls.

 

Little wonder, Jesus speaking of the 'end times event' in our Gospel passage today, wants his listeners to notice how life was going on normally in the days of Noah and Lot when flood and fire consumed them. The people were engaged in their everyday activities when the disaster struck. No extraordinary warning, no premonition, no time to plan an escape. So too the Son of Man will come suddenly and unexpectedly. Our times certainly sound very much like Noah’s days, where everyone seems so busy and distracted, unable to concentrate on what is really important.

 

But Jesus is warning us today that the time for a decision can catch us unawares. He insists that with a real sense of urgency, we need to take our lives seriously especially those who do not pay attention to the Words of God. Thus in our first reading, we heard that naturally stupid are all men who have not known God and who, from the good things that are seen, have not been able to discover Him-who-is, or, by studying the works, have failed to recognize the Artificer.

 

Dear friends, If we have not yet trusted in Christ Jesus as our Saviour, we should do so now for tomorrow may be too late. If there are ugly behaviours and sins we are yet to give up, the time to do that is now. Jesus tells us that we will not have any warning signs of the coming day of judgment any more than the preaching of the Gospel. For there will be no time to repent when that day comes.

 

Therefore, if we believe and obey, if we acknowledge our sins and trust in the mercy of God, we have to do it right now for the day of judgment draws very near. Let us not be unaware or apathetic about its coming. Let us not be too busy with the things of this passing world. Know that the only way to be prepared is to live a good and holy life, a life that is based on love.

 

This is what we see in the life of St. Elizabeth Hungary whose memorial we celebrate today for she was known for her constant visit to the sick and those who were particularly repulsive; to some, she gave food, to others clothing; some she carried on her shoulders, and performed many other kindly services. For when we live this way, then the coming of the Son of Man will not be a disaster but a day of our final salvation.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, we have become so busy with the things of this passing world while neglecting to prepare our souls for your coming. As we listened to your words today, may we through the intercessions of St Elizabeth of Hungary realise the need to prepare our souls for your coming more than any other thing in the world. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily For Thursday Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 16th November, 2023

Readings: Wis. 7:22-8:1; Ps.119; Luke:17:20-25

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

KNOW THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AMONG YOU

 

Oftentimes whenever we hear about the kingdom of God, two questions come to mind, the first question is when is it coming? And the second question is what will it look like? This disposition is not different from the disposition of the Pharisees in our Gospel passage today who after hearing Jesus talking about the kingdom of God, asked him when the kingdom would come. This is because they presume that the kingdom of God is yet to come, and will be visible like an earthly kingdom.

 

But, Jesus replied that the kingdom is already present though invisible, for the kingdom of God is within us. The kingdom is essentially God's reign in the soul of humanity through his Son Jesus. For with the presence of Jesus, the kingdom of God is already here among us. And within our hearts, God’s reign has already begun. So through our union with Jesus, we already have a foretaste of eternal life.

However, Jesus said to his disciples, a time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man and will not see it. They will say to you, “Look there!” or, “Look here!” Make no move; do not set off in pursuit; for as the lightning flashing from one part of heaven lights up the other, so will be the Son of Man when his day comes.

 

Dear friends, today Jesus encourages his disciples not to get worked up, or even overly curious, about the end times and the second coming of the Son of Man. Instead let us concentrate on the here and now, especially on our relationship with him as we ponder constantly on his teaching. Jesus also warns us not to be distracted by fake prophets and preachers who claim private revelations about the end of the world. Rather, wisdom demands that we should focus on how to shape our life to attain the demands of God’s kingdom.

 

Little wonder in our first reading we are called to choose wisdom for she is a breath of the power of God, pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; nothing impure can find a way into her. She is a reflection of the eternal light, an untarnished mirror of God’s active power, an image of his goodness. For in each generation she passes into holy souls, she makes them friends of God and prophets; for God loves only the man who lives with Wisdom.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we await your Kingdom, help us to be well prepared for it whenever it comes. And give us the grace to be faithful and dedicated servants, we ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen. Do have a faithful day.