Homily For Monday in the Sixth Week of Eastertide Year B, 6th May 2024

 

Readings: Acts 16:11-15; Ps.149;  John 15:26-16:4

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

 

THE LORD WILL SEND US THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

 

In our societies today many false influential powers have great effects on our lives coming from various sources under the guise of good but are in fact leading us astray. So, there is a need for us to examine these influences and today in our Gospel passage, Jesus said to his disciples: when the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will be my witness. And you too will be witnesses, because you have been with me from the outset. ‘I have told you all this that your faith may not be shaken.

 

Thus, the Holy Spirit will lead us to learn how to distinguish clearly where and in whom dwells the Spirit of truth from the Spirit of falsehood. As long as we are of God and in Christ, we have nothing to fear for we do not belong any more to this present world, full of sin, hatred, greed, corruption, deceit and violence. Every day many false prophets and teachers are increasing and are deceiving the people. May God guide us against embracing, too readily, any doctrine proposed to us without due consideration from any teacher who may pretend to have a divine inspiration but does not.

 

Dear friends, we must be very wise for many false prophets are operating under the power of the devil. Today Jesus is promising us the Spirit of truth that will give us a special sign for distinguishing true doctrine and true teachers from the false ones. Therefore, let us constantly ask the Holy Spirit to give us the grace of discernment in order to distinguish between good and false prophets and teachers. Let us also 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.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, you promised to send us the Spirit of truth, grant we pray that we will always stand and witness to the truth we have found in Jesus against all the false influential prophets and teachers in our society today, he who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. Do have a fruitful week.

Homily For Sixth Sunday of Eastertide Year B, 5th May 2024

 
Readings: Acts.10:25-26.34-35.44-48; Ps.98; 1 John 4:7-10;  John 15:9-17

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

 

LOVING ONE ANOTHER IS WHAT GOD COMMANDS US TO DO

 

As we celebrate the sixth Sunday of the holy season of Eastertide, our attention is being drawn more to the departure of Jesus who has been with his disciples. With the Solemnity of the Ascension coming up on Thursday within the week, in anticipation of the Solemnity of the Pentecost coming very soon, the readings of today draw our attention to the last and very important words of Jesus to his disciples before his departure. These departing words are summarized in one word which is Love.

 

Thus, our readings today have love as its central theme. In our Gospel passage, Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy be complete. This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you.”

 

Similarly, we heard St. John in our second reading saying: my dear people, let us love one another since love comes from God and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. But anyone who fails to love can never have known God, because God is love.

 

Here, our attention is focused on love.  But what kind of love are they talking about? Is it the type of love we have in our world today, the love that is based on feelings for selfish gain and lustful desires? I don’t think so, for Jesus didn’t say, I love you as a mother loves her baby or I love you the way a husband loves his wife or wife to her husband, or I love you the way the children love their parents or even I love you the way a girlfriend loves her boyfriend, nor the way people love their worldly possessions.

 

No, the love Jesus is talking about is the sacrificial love that comes from the heart and soul of one who is rooted in the life of the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus is talking about the love of the Father towards the Son, and of the Son towards his disciples, and his disciples toward God and our neighbour. This love is joined together with an inseparable seal of the heavenly joy. That is why Jesus said: my joy may be in you and your joy be complete

 

Thus, Jesus is speaking of the power of love, that life-giving passion that transforms and unites the disciples with the master in a relationship that portrays their new status. For they are no longer to be seen as “servants” but as “friends.” It was by the effects of the cross and resurrection of Jesus that they have come to know what this sacrificial love has accomplished in them through their unity and abiding relationship with Jesus in God the Father.

 

Hence, this action now makes it further clear that the power to respond to his command to love one another comes from his choice for them when he said: “You did not choose me, I chose you, I have called you; I have chosen you; I have commissioned you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. Little wonder we heard St. Peter saying in our first reading: ‘The truth I have now come to realize is that God does not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.’

 

Dear friends, what is God demanding from us?  What does he expect from us as his disciples? The answer is love, sacrificial love, for love is what he requires from us. Love is all he has offered us, love is all he is demanding from us. He is not asking us to offer what he has not given us. He is rather asking us to offer that which he has offered us in abundance. I know that it is not easy to bear the sacrificial nature of love in our world today, but that is what the world needs now. Loving one another requires sacrifice, sacrifice of our comfort, resources, talent, gifts and pride. Loving one another requires forgiveness, mercy, care and humility and not the life of I, I, I, Me, Me, Me that we practice these days.

 

So. Let us not just think about ourselves and our selfish desires, but consider the needs of others and bear that sacrificial aspect of love. How I wish that humanity can embrace this command of our Lord Jesus, by investing more in the things that ensure love and unity in our societies rather than spending our energy, time and resources in producing heavy ammunitions of war that breed more hatred and division in our world.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, love is what you have offered us, love is all you demand from us. As we listened to your words today, may we embrace your love in our hearts and share it with one another even in the midst of persecution and hatred in our world. Let your love reign supreme in our lives, our families, societies, countries and the world at large. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a spirit-filled Sunday.

Homily For Saturday Fifth Week of Eastertide Year B, 4th May, 2024

 

Readings: Acts 16:1-10; Ps.100;  John 15:18-21

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

 

THE WORLD HATE YOU BECAUSE YOU DO NOT BELONG TO THE WORLD

 

There is no doubt that threat breeds fear, insecurity and anger which brings about the negative feeling we call hatred. Little wonder the word ‘Hate’ is often used to express a negative feeling towards something or someone who we presumed to have some threat over us or something related to us. Meanwhile, hatred as we know is the direct opposite of love. This definition is very important in order to understand the teaching of Jesus in our Gospel passage today when he said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me before you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you do not belong to the world, because my choice withdrew you from the world, therefore the world hates you.”

 

Here, Jesus who has been talking to his disciples about love and commanding them to love one another is today warning and telling them that, there is no guarantee that they will be loved in return by the people of the world. He used himself as an example of how they may be treated, that if the world hated and persecuted him so badly, his disciples should expect to be treated the same way. But why would the worldly-minded people hate and persecute Jesus and his disciples?

 

This is because the presence and words of Jesus bring great light and judgment to the darkness of this world, and the people of the world love darkness rather than the Light since their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. So the presence of Jesus the light of the world threatens the people of the world and this breeds fear, insecurity and anger which brings about the negative feeling of hatred for Jesus and those who associate with him.

 

More so, it is important to note that, when Jesus talks about the “world” as we have it in the Gospel passage, he is not referring to the physical world but the people who are so attached to the things of this world. People who have made the things of this passing world their God and have come to trust in their ability to exploit others and acquire the earth as their own. They try very hard to cover their sin and silence the voice of conscience, accusing them of their sins. But here are Christians constantly reminding them of their sins as they strive to live a life of holiness which of course stirs up again all those thoughts and feelings of guilt which they wished to silenced. Hence, this threat breeds fear, insecurity and anger that gives birth to hatred of Christians by worldly-minded people.

 

Dear friends, today we are called to bear witness even in the face of hatred and hostility. Despite the world’s hatred, we should never respond with retaliation or hatred. Yes, there may be times to ask God to judge the wicked. There may be times to shake the dust off our feet and move on, of course, we have to, knowing that we can do so through the Spirit of truth dwelling in us. For through our Baptism, we have received the Holy Spirit in us, which helps us strive to live a life of love and righteousness even in the midst of persecutions and hatred.

 

LET US PRAY: Almighty and eternal God, who through the regenerating power of Baptism has been pleased to confer on us the heavenly life, grant us, we pray, the grace to bear authentic witness of your love and peace in the world full of hatred and strife. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a lovely and peaceful weekend.

Homily For Friday Fifth Week of Easter Year B, The Feast of SS Philip and James, 3rd May 2024

 

Readings: 1Cor 15:1-8; Ps.19;  John 14:6-14

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

 

DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE FATHER? THEN FOLLOW JESUS THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE

 

The main goal of discipleship is acquiring the mind of the master and the price to pay is obedience and the ability to learn from the Master. This is clear with the use of the imagery of Father and Son by Jesus to explain his relationship with God the Father. But oftentimes, the people and even his disciples find it difficult to understand the systematic fashion of this relationship.

 

So in our Gospel passage today, Jesus tried to explain this relationship to his disciples when he said to them: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, If you know me, you know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him. Curiously, Philip said, ‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied'. But Jesus said: you must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; I tell you most solemnly, whoever believes in me will perform even greater works because I am going to the Father and whatever you ask for in my name I will do it.

 

Here Jesus is saying that if we want to know God and understand his ways in relation to humanity, all we need to do is to look at him (Jesus) as the Son of the Father who has come to reveal the true image of God to humanity. We are to observe what he does, listen to what he teaches, watch how he behaves, what and who he loves, and what he rejects or defends for by so doing we will discover God in him because as the Son, he is the true human image of God. He is one with the Father in unity of existence and life and this is evidenced in the Words he spoke and the works he performed.

 

Consequently, those who believe in him are endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit and will do greater works than he has done, for he has gone to the Father and whatever they ask in his name he will do it because they will be asking in accordance with the Holy Spirit in union with the name of the very person of Jesus whose request the Father will always granted.

 

So today we celebrate the feast of SS Philip and James, two great Apostles of our Lord Jesus, who laboured and worked hard to serve the Lord and brought his Good News to different corners of the world. Tradition has it that, Philip evangelized and preached in places like Greece, Asia Minor and Syria. It was during one of his ministries, according to tradition, that he was martyred when along with Bartholomew, tried to convince the wife of the local ruler to convert to the Christian faith and the furious ruler ordered Philip and Bartholomew to be crucified upside-down.

 

But Philip asked his persecutors to release Bartholomew, which they did, but he remained on the cross, and there he died a martyr. Similarly, St. James the Lesser as he was called, was also a devoted disciple of the Lord, who was credited with the evangelization and conversion of many peoples just like Philip and the other Apostles. He was also martyred in Egypt, where he worked greatly in spreading the Gospel and defending the faith he had found in Jesus.

 

Dear friends, the questions we need to ask ourselves today are:   Do we believe in God as our Father? Do we personally and truly know and believe in Jesus as the way, the truth and the life? Have we any personal experience of the power of the Holy Spirit? The truth is that we can only do great work in his name when we have a personal experience and encounter with the risen Lord, just like the disciples Philip and James who after experiencing the risen Lord, sacrificed their lives for the sake of his Gospel.

 

Therefore, I don’t what your experience of the Lord has been. I don’t know what you want God to do for you, I don’t know the prayer points you recite every day, I don’t know how deep your requests are, all I know is that if we truly have a personal relationship with Jesus and believe in him as the way, the truth and the life, we are going to be endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit and will do greater works then he has done, for he has gone to the Father and has promised us that whatever we ask in his name he will do it.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we follow Jesus the way, the truth and the life, help us to carry out our responsibilities effectively, may we through the intercession of SS. Philip and James, have a personal experience of your presence in our lives, so by presenting our needs before you, we may find favour in your presence. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a fruitful day.

Homily For Thursday Fifth Week of Eastertide Year B, 2nd May, 2024. The Memorial of St. Athanasius

 

Readings: Acts 15:7-21; Ps.95;  John 15:9-11

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

 

AS THE FATHER HAS LOVED ME SO I HAVE LOVED YOU SAYS THE LORD

 

The word “love” means a lot of things to different people. For some, love is one of the common words we use to express our deep feeling of affection for someone or something. But the fact remains that love is much more than that. Why? Because it is something greater than the nature of the human person. For me Love is God’s nature which he shares with His creatures. It is that nature of God which we share with one another. Love is beyond human nature. When we love, we are actually acting out that very nature of God in us and this can be overwhelming and mysterious because it is the nature of God that we share.

 

Therefore, love is God's greatest gift to humanity. A gift that shows how much He loves us by sending His Son whose life giving sacrifice means salvation for the world. So, the love that Jesus has for us is nothing less than the Divine love that unites the Persons of the Trinity, and Jesus presented this love as life that must continue among his disciples. That is why in our Gospel passage today he said to his disciples: ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.

 

Dear friends, let us keep the Lord’s commandments, let us embrace Jesus and the love he is offering us. Let us serve the Lord and his Church faithfully by spreading his love everywhere we find ourselves. The truth is that, it actually feels right and awesome to experience and share the love of God. I don’t know if you have ever loved someone and you show it, or someone loves you and shows it? Or somebody loves you and you know it, it is something great and awesome, because love bring life, healing and wholeness into people’s lives.

 

 

Thus, it is by loving God in our neighbours that we can share and experience this nature of God in us and by so doing, we will conquer the world full of hatred, self-centeredness, greed and sin. This is what we see in the life of St. Athanasius whose memorial we celebrate today. For his life inspires us to bear witness to the faith we have found in Jesus, by identifying ourselves with Christ who is the bread of life full of love and goodness. St. Athanasius also thought us to live a life of holiness and to build a good relationship with other people.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we listened to your words today, may we resolve to keep your commandments and remain in your love. Help us through the intercession of St. Athanasius to spread your love to the world and by so doing conquer the hatred, self-centeredness, greed and sin rooted in our families, societies and the world at large. Amen  Do have a favorable day.

Homily For Wednesday Fifth Week of Easter Year B, The Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker, 1st May 2024

 

Readings: Gen. 1:26-2:3; Ps. 89; Col. 3:14-15,17,23-24; Matt. 13:54-58

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

 

THE WORLD IS IN NEED OF FAITHFUL MANAGERS LIKE ST. JOSEPH

 

Today the Holy Mother Church celebrates the memorial of St. Joseph the worker, the great Patron of all workers. This celebration occurs every 1st of May of which the world also celebrates World Labour Day and May Day.  On this day also we begin our May Devotion.

 

Taking about St. Joseph whose memorial we celebrate, Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter entitled Patris Corde (“With a Father’s Heart”) describes Saint Joseph as a beloved father, a tender and loving father, an obedient father, an accepting father; a creatively courageous father, a working father, a father in the shadows.

 

Thus in our first reading today, we read that God created man in His image and likeness, and said: let them be masters of all that He created. God blessed them, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. With this mandate, God made man the master and manager of all that He has created. Hence, from Adam till the birth of Jesus God has entrusted to humanity everything he created but humanity in one way or another has failed to properly manage the things entrusted to them. Now when God wishes to fulfill his promise of redeeming the failed humanity, He needed a true manager to entrust not just His creatures but also His only begotten Son. Thus, God finds in St. Joseph that true manager who will be truly and faithful guardian of His son.

 

So, St. Joseph the Worker ( carpenter) as he is called was upright, virtuous and good in all the things he had done, a hardworking servant of God in all things. He was the one who accepted Mary and her baby and brought the Holy Family safely to Bethlehem, where Mary gave birth to the Lord Jesus in a stable, during persecution he took Jesus and Mary to Egypt because of King Herod and his agents who were trying to kill the baby Jesus. It was he who also brought them back to Nazareth, he protected the holy family and raised Jesus properly.

 

Today, due to the important roles and tireless efforts made by St. Joseph to protect the family entrusted to him, he has proved to be a perfect image of God’s faithful manager and has taken up the task of being the Protector of the Universal Church and the Patron of all workers and managers. He was full of virtues and faith, and he dedicated his life to the service of God and managing the task of raising Jesus as his own foster Son, with great dedication, not minding his reputation or his own personal ambitions or desires.

 

Dear friends, all humanity is called to be God’s manager, we are called to manage all the things He created beginning with our lives, but humanity has failed to manage properly God’s creative works and because we mismanaged God’s creatures, humanity has turned the world against herself and today we are all suffering as a result of our mismanagement. Therefore, it is time for all humanity to imitate the example of St Joseph, the faithful manager of God. It is time for us to change our ugly and evil ways of life and begin to take proper care of all the Lord has entrusted to us. It is time for all humanity to assume the role of a faithful manager which we are called to be.

 

Hence, I don't know how faithful you have been in managing your life and other things the Lord has entrusted to you, I don’t know what your experience of the world has been. I don't know how you woke up today, I don't know what troubles your mind. But all I know is that today is another gift of God to us, a new month. I am excited, and hopeful and am going to live it with all joy and strong will to be a true manager of God’s creatures not trying to change things that I could not change or try to fix things that do not want to be fixed.

 

I will not let ugly events of the past distract me today or steal my joy. Rather, I will focus on the blessings that come with the gift of this new month. Like St. Joseph, I will be that true and faithful manager of the Lord. I will constantly follow the directives of the Lord, for his ways are right and the upright walk in them and are safe, but the transgressors stumble in them and perish.

 

LET US PRAY. Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of this new month, through the intercession of St. Joseph the worker, make us true managers of the things You created and help us to correct the things we have mismanaged as You heal and restore the world from its ugly situation which was caused by our failure to manage properly the thing you entrusted to us. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. Happy New Month.

Homily For Tuesday Fifth Week of Easter Year B, The Feast of Our Lady Mother of Africa, 30th April 2024

 

Readings: AActs.1:12-14; Ps. Luke 1:46-55; John 2:1-11

Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

MOTHER, HELP US TO DO WHATEVER JESUS TELLS  US

In a special way today, we celebrate the feast of Our Lady, Mother of Africa, a celebration that encourages we Africans to turn to Mary for her maternal intercession and assistance in our daily struggles in life as Africans. Little wonder our gospel passage today presents to us the story of an event that portrays what ought to be our relationship with Jesus and his mother Mary in every event of our daily lives.

Here, we see how the wedding couple invited Jesus and his disciples on the most important day of their lives. When an embarrassing moment came up during the celebration, Mary in her usual way of helping people asked Jesus to save the couple from social embarrassment and even when her request was not granted by her son, she had strong faith that he would not refuse her request. So she said to the servants: “ Do whatever he tells you”. 

By this request, Mary who represents the Church reveals to us the key to a successful and happy Christian Life. That is to say that, the secret key that opens the treasure of a successful and happy Christian life is to do whatever he (Jesus) tells us. But what did Jesus say we should do? He told the servants: Fill, Draw and Serve. Telling us to fill our lives with the water of salvation which he offers us every day through His words and Eucharist and when we have filled our lives with the fountain of his presence, then we should draw from the joy it offers and serve the world which is really in need and thirsty for peace, unity love and the word of God to guide us especially at this moment in our world when humanity really hope and seek for God’s intervention. 

Dear friends, we really need to fill our lives with the words of Jesus, which we hear every day. We need to learn from our mother Mary who never ceases to ponder God’s words in her heart. We need to learn how to serve others from the abundance we have received from God. We need to draw from the fountain of grace and gifts that God has given to us in order to build up our families, societies, countries and continents. We need to learn how to sacrifice for the good of others. We need to learn how to intercede for others who are going through difficult moments. But this is possible only when we have filled our empty souls with love, peace, joy and happiness that comes from knowing that Jesus cares so much about us personally and collectively.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, the situation of human life in our world today is really frightening, your children in the African continent pray that through the intercession of our Lady Mother of Africa, may we find the strength to do your will always especially in our daily struggle in Africa, as we ask you to protect us from the evil manipulations and agenda of the world’s powers. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful day.