Homily For Thursday Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 1st February, 2024 (Happy New Month)

Readings: 1 Kings 2:1-4.10-12; Ps. 1Chr. 29; Mark 6:7-13

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

THE CONDITION AND NATURE OF OUR MISSION

 

The rebellious nature of humanity has always kept us away from responding to God's invitation to Life of love, holiness, faithfulness and integrity. Hence, humanity has always failed to understand the true ways of God his creator. However, God has not stopped caring and stretching his hands of love towards us. In every generation, God always sends messengers to remind us of his love and plan for humanity.

 

This is exactly what we have in our readings today. In the first reading, we heard David instructing Solomon his son saying: be strong and show yourself a man. Observe the injunctions of the Lord your God, following his ways and keeping his laws, his commandments, his customs and his decrees, as it stands written in the law. And in our Gospel passage, where Jesus sent his twelve disciples, the foundation of the future Church community, to do exactly the same work of evangelization that he has been doing.

 

 Hence, he gave them authority over unclean spirits and instructed them to preach repentance, that radical conversion towards the vision of the Kingdom, they were to anoint the sick and heal them. These three activities cover the whole nature of the human person: spiritual, mental and physical. Healing and wholeness, health and holiness. In this mission, they were instructed to travel lightly, bringing only what they needed. No food or money or even a change of clothes. They will not need these things because they will be taken care of by the people they serve.

 

So in this Gospel, Jesus is preparing his disciples for a task ahead. He lets them experience the nature of their mission, the challenges, obstacles and dangers which await them. He gave them the guidelines about the mission and sent them out.  So, they succeeded because the power of God was working in them. The message entrusted to the disciples by Jesus is to offer peace and announce the coming of God's kingdom. This same message of peace and justice, forgiveness and healing has been entrusted to the Church down the centuries.

 

Now it is our turn to witness it. The disciples returned with joy. We will experience that same joy when we do what the Lord wants because, our joy is rooted in our identifying with Jesus, not in what we do. So the source of our joy should be our status in heaven as beloved sons and daughters of God, and not on our success over the evil forces or the things of this passing world.

 

Thus, the Lord has entrusted to us an awesome responsibility and privilege to carry the message of God’s love, peace and mercy to the world. Unfortunately, many of the disciples have to face rejection and persecution from the people, who through their rebellious attitude have refused to believe in God even though he has always been so patient, loving, caring and forgiving.

 

Dear friends, today we are reminded about the condition and nature of our mission,  calling humanity to repent from our sinful and rebellious attitudes in order to embrace the compassionate love and care that God is offering us. As disciples of Christ, we have received a lot from God without payment; we should learn to give without expecting a reward. Therefore, we must offer to others these same gifts which we have received.

 

We are to show love to people, forgive, help the needy and share with one another the gifts God has blessed us with and if our love and care are rejected, we should offer it as a sign for the judgement day.  Remember, your kind gestures today can turn someone's life around now or later and by so doing we extend God’s divine compassion to rebellious humanity.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we are reminded about the condition and nature of our mission for which you sacrificed a lot to save us from our rebellious and sinful attitudes, open our hearts once again to repent and embrace your compassionate love and care for us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Happy New Month.

Homily For Wednesday Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 31st January, 2024. The Memorial of St. John Bosco

Readings: 2 Sam 24:2.8-17; Ps. 32, Mark 6:1-6

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOOKING DOWN ON PEOPLE BECAUSE OF THEIR HUMBLED BACKGROUND

 

In life, people are quick to neglect and look down on others, who they believe cannot offer them anything good at the moment. They are quick to forget that everyone, no matter the present condition is a potential instrument for God's blessings. This is the ugly attitude of the people of Nazareth in our Gospel passage today.

 

When Jesus came to his home town he taught the people in the synagogue in such a way that they were astonished, but instead of embracing the message of Jesus, they treated him with contempt and in their pride they said: ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? This is the carpenter’s son, surely? Is not his mother the woman called Mary, and his brothers and sisters here with us? Where did he get all these?’ And they would not accept him. But Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country and his own house’, and he did not work many miracles there because of their lack of faith and he marvelled because of their unbelief.

 

Thus, out of pride and contempt, the people rejected the blessings God had for them. And like the prophets of old, Jesus was not accepted by the very people to whom he had been sent. Because the people showed only little faith, he was only able to cure a few of the sick. But he went on to teach in other villages, while there were few great works done in his hometown. So, if he is not allowed to do good where he would, he must do it some other place.

 

Therefore, he had to move on, he did not insist on convincing those whose minds were closed. Consequently, they miss out on the blessings he is offering them.  So in their pride, they treated him with contempt. Today this kind of ugly attitude is what stops people from doing good because they don’t want to be treated with contempt and as a result, a lot of people have been deprived of their blessings out of human pride and contempt.

 

This is what we see in our first reading where David out of pride carried out a census of the people. Realizing how wrong he was and the consequences on the people said “Lord, ‘It was I who sinned; ‘I who did this wicked thing. But these, this flock, what have they done? Let your hand lie heavy on me then and on my family.’

 

Dear friends, do not treat anyone with contempt, for everyone is a potential instrument of God’s blessings and favour. And if we want to make a difference in life, we should be ready to ignore what people are saying about us now, we have to forget our past failures and our humble beginning. People may not appreciate us now, they may even say all kinds of things about us, just to humiliate and discourage us.

 

Therefore, we should put all our obstacles behind us and work hard for our dreams, give our time to them, sacrifice our sleep and comfort, sweat for them, plan for them, overcome all our terrors of opposition, enduring pains and obstacles, with the help of God we will succeed and become a source of God's blessings. Then we will sing joyfully to God our strength and all the people will gather about us in praise of our God. And they will say: Is not this the Carpenter's sons or daughters? Where then did they get all these? Yes, that's who we are, for Jesus is the Carpenter of our success and salvation.

 

So, let us then learn from St. John Bosco whose memorial we celebrate today for despite the challenges and oppositions he faced in life, he remained committed to his work as a priest and made great impacts in the lives of the youths of his time and even in our time for through many people who sharing in his spirituality, he founded the Order of the Salesians of Don Bosco, one of the great religious orders in our society today.

 

LET US PRAY: Almighty God, oftentimes in our pride we treat people with contempt because of their humble background, through the intercession of St. John Bosco, give us the grace to realize that everyone is a potential instrument of your blessings and favour to humanity, and as we struggle towards our goals, may you crown all our efforts and sacrifices with success. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Homily For Tuesday Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 30th January

Readings: 2 Sam. 18:9-10.15.24-26.30.19:3; Ps.86; Mark 5:21-43

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

THE FAITH THAT YIELDS POSITIVE RESULTS

There is no doubt that people are going through a lot of difficulties. So every day we struggle against these troubles and tribulations, and people are doing everything they can to overcome them. But oftentimes, it seems as if we are not making progress because we don’t have enough faith to subdue our challenges and out of fear we fall victim and are helpless. The fact remains that, we have faith but we have not been able to actively and radically put it into action like the synagogue official whose daughter had died but came to Jesus for help and also the woman with a haemorrhage in our Gospel passage today.

 

In this passage, one of the officials came to Jesus and said, ‘My daughter is desperately sick, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live.’ Jesus then rose and his disciples followed him to the official's house. On their way, a woman who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years came behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, ‘If I can only touch his cloak I shall be well again.’

 

So, when Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her, ‘Courage, my daughter, your faith has restored you to health.’ And from that moment the woman was well again. When Jesus reached the official’s house and saw the crowd making a commotion he said, ‘Get out of here; the little girl is not dead, she is asleep.’ And they laughed at him. But he went inside and took the little girl by the hand, and the girl arose.

 

Here, the father of this little girl had faith and radically put his faith into positive action, for he confessed great faith in the resurrection. He believed that even Jesus’ slightest touch would restore life in his daughter, likewise the woman with a haemorrhage. This story of the little girl and the woman with haemorrhage has interesting similarities: Both were called “daughters”, and both were restored at the demonstration of radical faith in the touch of Jesus. The woman had been ill for twelve years, and the little girl was twelve years old. Both the woman and the little girl have been cut off from normal societal activities.

 

On the other hand, there were also differences between them. First, the official is an influential man in the community, but the woman is unclean and an outcast. The man approaches Jesus boldly, but the woman approaches him timidly. The girl was raised based on the father’s radical faith, the woman was restored through her faith for she was very sure that the very moment she touched the Lord’s cloak all her troubles were ended, for her body was made whole again.

 

This woman and the little girl represent the sinful humanity in need of God’s mercy, salvation and restoration. The faith and intercession of the synagogue official signifies the great intercessions of the saints and the people of God towards the restoration of humanity. The woman’s bleeding signifies the iniquity of all humanity who are defiled by the constant shading of innocent blood through violence, wars and abortions, thereby making humanity unworthy of God’s presence.

 

The woman reaching out to touch Jesus and her restoration signifies the effort each one of us needs to make to reach out to God in order to be restored and finally the willingness of Jesus to heal all of us just as he had healed the woman from all of her troubles and restored the girl to life. But this requires that we radically put our faith into action.

 

Dear friends, we are called to put our faith into positive action. For if we have no faith in the Lord and refuse to put our faith in action, we will suffer and there is no hope for us. I don’t know why we are often stubborn and often hardened our hearts and minds by refusing to trust the Lord who is so generous and compassionate. Today  therefore, we are made to know that, it is not enough to have faith, we must radically put our faith into action no matter the circumstances we find ourselves. For it is through active faith that we can reach out to God in prayers and so obtain what we desire

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of faith, give us the grace and courage to put our gift of faith into positive action that yields positive results. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful day.

Homily For Monday Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 29th January, 2024

Readings: 2 Sam. 15:13-14.30,16:5-13; Ps.3; Mark 5:1-20

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

THE POWER TO OVERCOME THE EVIL IN OUR MIDST RESIDES IN JESUS

 

There is no doubt that there is an active presence of evil in the world, which manifests itself in different forms and occasions. This is really obvious in the time of Jesus, for he seemed to have lived in a world of hostility; political and family divisions as well as the conflict between good and evil just like we have in our world today. Thus, every day is a struggle against the malice of the evil ones, and people are doing everything they can to overcome them.

 

Hence in our Gospel passage today, we heard how the presence of Jesus terrifies the evil ones which have possessed a man for a long time and have been tormenting the community. These unclean spirits were so fierce that no one could pass that way. So when the man saw Jesus, he ran to him and said: ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? Swear by God you will not torture me!’ For Jesus had been saying to him, ‘Come out of the man and they came out from the men and immediately entered the swine and the swine rushed into the lake and perished in the water.

 

Here, we are called to recognize that the presence of Jesus in the world brings about victory over the evil ones, for demons recognize Jesus as the power of God. And his power over demons is a direct defeat of the evil one. While the restoration of the man possessed, signifies the inauguration of God's kingdom in the world and the healing of God’s people, who had sinned and disobeyed God by abandoning his precepts and laws, preferring instead the wicked ways of life and worldly practices which leads to destruction.

 

This is what we heard in our first reading today concerning the crises in the household of King David. For David, a great warrior and a man after God’s own heart had been reduced to an object of mockery by his very subjects, because of his sin against God and his neighbour. And the worst of it is that his very son was the instrument of his destruction. But in all these David still hope in the Lord’s mercy and sees his present situation as a sign of God’s rebuking him for his sins.

 

Dear friends, today every one of us is called to seek good and not evil, to promote justice and integrity, knowing that no matter how great our sins may have been, God alone has the power to heal us and to bring us back to Himself. And Jesus has given us the gift of his presence in the person of the Holy Spirit, which God has bestowed on us in our baptism.

 

In this gift resides the power and authority to confront the evil of this world and overcome it. For Jesus has won the greatest victory for us by setting us free from sickness, evil forces and manipulations of the evil ones. He desires to be with us as we struggle every day to overcome the evils in our lives, our families, our societies and the world at large. Therefore, we should not be afraid to stand firm against the manipulations of the devil, because Jesus will not abandon us in this battle of life.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, the world is full of evil and wickedness, give us the grace to seek what is good and hate what is evil, and as we struggle every day to do your will, may your presence be felt and drive away all evil forces in our midst through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you God’s favour and blessings.

Homily For Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, 28th January 2024

Readings: Deut. 18:15-20, Ps.95, 1Cor.7:32-35, Mark 1:21-28

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

RECOGNISING AND EMBRACING THE DIVINE AUTHORITY OF JESUS

 

In our society today, for anyone to lay claim to anything, we often request that they should make reference to authorities in order to back up their claim to know or possess anything. And when such authority is not available we may not be taking them seriously. Little wonder our readings today talk about having the divine authority to speak and teach the word of God. In our first reading, we heard how Moses addressed the people of Israel and promised them the coming of the great prophet that would come from their midst. Here, he was speaking about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Thus, in our Gospel passage today we heard how the Lord Jesus, his works and preaching, stands as the fulfilment of God’s promises of which Moses and the other prophets had mentioned, for he speaks to them with Divine authority. This is even more evident in the manner in which he was able to rebuke the man possessed by an unclean spirit.

 

These spirits are malicious beings that might be demons or fallen angels who have followed Satan to rebel against God. They may seem mighty and powerful as Satan, but in the end, none of them were able to rise against God. For God alone is the source of all power and authority.

 

So Jesus being the Son of God wants to show us that he has been given all the power and authority over the evil ones. And through him, we have been given all authority and power over these spirits. Thus, when the man possessed by the evil spirits came to Jesus, he was able to recognize him and proclaim him as the Holy One of God, the Son of God and the Saviour of the world. But if these evil spirits recognized and proclaimed the Lord, how come some people to whom the Lord had taught and performed miracles still refused to believe in him and often doubted his power and authority in their lives?

 

Hence, today we are called to recognize the authority of Jesus and to know that his presence in the world brings about victory over the evil ones. The unclean spirit recognized Jesus as the power of God. For his power over demons is a direct defeat of the evil ones while the restoration of the possessed man signifies the inauguration of God's kingdom in the world. Now, Jesus has given us the gift of his presence in the person of the Holy Spirit, which God has bestowed on us in our baptism. In this gift resides the power and authority to evangelize the world and to confront evil and overcome it.

 

Dear friends, it is obvious to everyone that Jesus had authority, his authority does not come from his position in life or from worldly powers. Rather, his authority comes from his relationship with God his Father. He listened to his voice and spoke his words. Therefore, if we want to speak with authority, we must learn to spend time with God, listening to his voice and doing his will. But 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 man with unclean spirit identified the source of Jesus’ authority as divine, have we personally identified the divine authority of Jesus in our lives? If we have not, why not ask him to manifest his power and authority once more in your life? The fact remains that, 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. We need to be more close to God and continue to prepare ourselves physically and spiritually if we want to be victorious in this world.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, in a world full of evil and intimidation, we need your authority once again to speak and stand for what is right and just. As we struggle with our daily tasks, may we be courageous, knowing that the same Jesus who delivered the possessed man can heal our fears, anxieties and worries for his presence sets us free from every evil manipulation, he who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. Remember, the power to overcome resides in you. Do have a blessed day.

Homily For Saturday Third Week in Ordinary Time Year B; 27th January, 2024

Readings: 2 Sam. 12:1-7.10-17;  Ps.51; Mark 4:35-41

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

LORD, LET THERE BE CALM IN OUR HEARTS CHALLENGED BY HEAVY STORMS IN LIFE

 

In these scriptures, we often hear stories of how people struggle with heavy storms as they are assailed through the sea. Today our fisherman and the Marine men who are into sea business can tell us better what it means to be on the sea with heavy storms. A situation where the need to look for a Saviour is highly expected. Such was the case with the disciples of Jesus in our Gospel passage today. It is a story about the disciples' panic and fear of perishing as a result of the heavy storm that is affecting their boat.

 

As this heavy storm is about breaking their boat, the disciples cannot believe that Jesus was asleep while they were afraid and needed help from anywhere. So they went to him and woke him saying, ‘Teacher, do you not care if we perish? And Jesus said: “Peace! Be still!!” And the Storm ceased and there was a great calm. And he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, how is it that you have no faith? The men were astounded and said, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him.’

 

This story signifies God's chosen people on a transit of faith, frightened by the guilt of sin and wounded by the waves of the sea, the abode of evil forces and monsters of this world. The boat can be taken as a symbol of the faith of the Church and the people of God struggling with the world’s principalities and powers, while the storms are symbols of heavy persecution and suffering by the people of God. And Jesus is saying: why are you so afraid, you men of little faith?

 

Dear friends, there is no doubt that there is an active presence of evil in the world which manifests itself in different forms. So every day is a struggle against the malice of the evil ones, and people are doing everything they can to overcome them. Today Jesus is inviting us into his boat of life, thereby calling us to journey on this boat with an unwavering faith and a repented heart, because the world is being tossed around by the waves of evil forces, the enemies of humanity. And it is only God who can subdue it, for he has promised to restore us to himself.

 

This is exactly what we heard about David in our first reading today, for after David had committed grave sins against Uriah and God, prophet Nathan confronted him about this ugly situation. David felt very remorseful about his actions and asked God for mercy. And this the Lord granted him and promised to restore him and calm down the storms of destruction in his household.

 

Therefore, I don't know the great storms of doubt and fear in your soul. I don’t know if you are under the power of the evil forces of this world. All I know is that with great faith in God, the heavy storms in our lives will become calm. So, why not present your challenges of life to Jesus, for he will surely rebuke the violent storms in our hearts so that we can experience once again the calmness of his peace and joy?

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God. As we struggle every day to overcome the ugly situation around us, grant that the violent storms and waves of sin and bondage in our lives, our families and the world, will end in a wonderful calm that brings peace to our souls. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a fruitful and joyful weekend.

Homily For Friday of The Third Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 26th January, 2024 The Memorial of SS. Timothy and Titus. (Today is My Birthday, Do Pray for Me)

Readings: 2Tim 1:1-8; Ps. 96; Mark 4:26-34

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

 

FAN INTO FLAME YOUR SEED OF FAITH AND YOUR LIFE  WILL BECOME A TREE OF HOPE FOR HUMANITY

 

In the scriptures, using a simple story to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson has always been one of the characteristics of Jesus when addressing the people regarding very important things. By couching his teaching in parables, Jesus made certain points much clearer to his audience. This is evident in our Gospel passage today where he told us the parable of the mustard seed, using it to describe the nature of God’s kingdom which he came to establish in the hearts of humanity.

 

Here, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed growing from the Word of God spoken to the hearts of his few disciples which will grow and spread to the hearts of all humanity. This analogy focuses on the size of the seed that grows to become a mighty tree that gives shelter and salvation to all.

 

More so, Jesus is not just speaking of the size of the mustard seed, but also the faith of the people as that of a mustard seed. Telling us that just as the mustard seed responds to the word of God and grows into a mighty tree, so will the faith of the people grow into great vessels through hearing and doing the Word of God and so build up the kingdom of God.

 

Nevertheless, these two analogies of the mustard seed symbolize the humble beginnings of the Christian faith which is well watered by the Holy Spirit to grow and give life and hospitality to all the people of the world. Hence, in building the kingdom of God, we are reminded that we need to fan into flame the gifts God has given us.

 

Little wonder we heard St. Paul in the first reading saying to Timothy: fan into a flame the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power, love, and self-control. So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to the Lord.

 

Dear friends, we need to fan into flame the gifts God has given us. We need to let our knowledge of God’s kingdom grow like that of a mustard seed. For when we fan into flame our seed of faith, then our lives will become the tree of hope not only for our families but for humanity. No doubt that in the world today we have different kinds of seeds. But the question remains, what kind of seeds are we fanning and watering in our lives today?

 

Are we fanning valuable mustard seeds of faith, love, holiness, hospitality, obedience, chastity and charity that will lead us to God’s kingdom? Or are we fanning and watering weeds that are distracting us from attaining heaven? We must stop watering such weeds, rather let us feed ourselves with valuable mustard seeds of virtues and values.

 

For when we feed and water such values, we will grow stronger like the mustard tree where people may find solace and so build up God’s kingdom, just like SS. Timothy and Titus whose memorial we celebrate today. They were servants who truly understood what it meant to belong to the family of Jesus and have the right disposition towards his Word. For they were both close collaborators of St. Paul who entrusted to them the care of God’s faithful, of which they were known to be among the first Bishops of the Church. They were great servants of God with great commitment and dedication to doing the will of the Lord. They both suffered martyrdom for their faith.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as you sow the seeds of your word in our hearts, through the intercessions of SS. Timothy and Titus give us the grace to grow it into the mustard tree of faith, holiness and hospitality and by so doing build up your heavenly kingdom, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful day.