Homily For Friday, Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, 26th September, 2025

 

Readings: Readings: Hag. 2:1-9; Ps 43 Luke 9:18-22

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

HOW HAVE I UNDERSTOOD AND EXPRESSED THE PERSONALITY OF JESUS? 

In life, there is always a moment when we will want to examine and know if our friends can really be trusted, if they truly know and understand who we are and what we represent. This is because, as social beings, we often make friends with whom we can confide and entrust our innermost thoughts and plans. But this friendship does not come automatically, it is developed gradually.

This is the situation between Jesus and his disciples in our Gospel passage today, when Jesus asked them, saying: Who do people say I am?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he said ‘who do you say I am?’ Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ. But he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone anything about this. For the Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.

 

Here, we see how Peter expressed his personal conviction about who Jesus is. He did not have to quote any authority, because his response was a clear and sincere knowledge of who he professed Jesus to be. This is because Peter’s gift of faith comes from his personal encounter with the person of Jesus. 

Thus, our faith requires that we give a personal answer to the question: Who is Jesus to me personally? For it is not enough to quote the teachings and Catechism of the Church about our faith or the teachings of other theologians and preachers or to respond only from the head, but from the heart that is convinced of what it believes in. 

Today most people are following Jesus without knowing who Jesus truly represents. Some people find it very difficult to embrace the teaching of Jesus because they lack the faith and conviction about his personality, even when Jesus had revealed himself to us through his great miracles and teachings. 

The fact is that, Jesus wants us to develop a divine way of looking at things. He wants us to know him deep down in our souls, so that we can profess our faith with deeper meaning and conviction. This faith is necessary in order to accommodate and overcome the ugly event of persecutions, condemnation and blackmail that we encounter every day in our societies.

Little wonder, we heard the Lord in our first reading saying: A little while now, and I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all the nations and the treasures of all the nations shall flow in, and I will fill this Temple with glory. Mine is the silver, mine the gold! It is the Lord of Hosts who speaks. The new glory of this Temple is going to surpass the old and in this place I will give peace. 

Dear friends, having heard the teachings and great works of Jesus in the scriptures and traditions of the Church, the question remains: what can I say is my personal experience of Jesus? Have I personally encountered and identified our Lord Jesus in my life? How have I understood and expressed the personality of Jesus? How has my knowledge of Jesus helped other people to come to faith in Jesus? 

Today, we are called to really examine our conscience to know where we are as regards our faith as Christians. We are called today to develop a divine way of understanding the mysteries of God, but not rejecting them because we do not understand them. Therefore, let us turn towards God once again with all our hearts and devote our whole lives to seeking to know Him more and more.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, you revealed to Peter the true identity of Jesus, your Son. Help us to personally identify the personality of Jesus in our lives and so profess our faith with deeper meaning and conviction. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily For Thursday, Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, 25th September, 2025

Readings: Haggai 1:1-8; Ps. 149; Luke 9:7-9

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

DEALING WITH A GUILTY CONSCIENCE

Oftentimes, we hear people expressing the phrase: guilty conscience, which is used to express the ugly condition of human conscience which is that part of our life that tells us whether what we are doing is right or wrong. For if you have a guilty conscience, you feel guilty about something because you know it was wrong. But if you have a clear conscience, you do not feel guilty because you know you have done nothing wrong.

This is the situation Herod finds himself in our Gospel passage today who out of pride and selfishness had killed John the Baptist thinking that by that he could silence the voice of truth, but when he heard of the great works of Jesus and could not comprehend it, he perceived that John the Baptist, the voice of truth had returned to life again, when he said: John? I beheaded him. So who is this I hear such reports about?’ And he was anxious to see Jesus. A situation that shows the behaviour and character of a guilty conscience.

Here, we see how the guilty conscience of Herod made him shiver concerning the personality of Jesus in relation to John the Baptist. This is what happens to us whenever we try to take the role of God in our relationship with others or treat other people badly. And this ugly attitude is what a lot of people are practising today, and as a result, many people are suffering the consequences of a guilty conscience.

This is because most of us are so attached to worldly things. We have let our pride, our ego and our selfish desires blind us from the true realities of life. Little wonder, the Lord in our first reading said: Reflect carefully how things have gone for you. You have sown much and harvested little; you eat but never have enough, drink but never have your fill, and put on clothes but do not feel warm.

Dear friends, have you offended God or other people, and do you have a guilty conscience about it? What are the things that make us have a guilty conscience? What is the essence of our existence in this world at the expense of injustice to other people? What does God really require from us in this life? Do you know that without God everything in life is vanity vanishing?

Therefore, let us not be carried away by the beauty of the things of this passing world by hurting other people, for nothing lasts forever. Hence we should remain steadfast in our faith in God, who has called us to love him and to love one another. Let us remain faithful to Christ’s mission and be committed wholeheartedly to what God has called us to do.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we have come to you with our guilty conscience, for we are so much attached to things of this passing world, with little or no attention to your teachings. Help us to realise that without you life and all we have is nothing but vanity. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful day.

Homily For Wednesday, Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, 24th September, 2025

Kindly Keep Me In Your Prayers As I Celebrate My Priestly Anniversary Today 

Readings: Ezra 9:5-9; Ps.Tobit 13; Luke 9:1-6

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

“TAKE NOTHING FOR THE JOURNEY”

The way things are going in our world today, we really need to think twice about our faith as Christians, whether we are actually ready to live out our faith in the midst hostile environment. Because the hostility, persecution and the influential power of things of this world are not stopping soon rather, it will be getting tougher. 

Therefore, if we are really willing to live out our Christian faith and obligations towards the mission of Christ, then we need to make a radical decision towards our discipleship in a personal and radical way.

This is what Jesus is teaching his disciples in our Gospel passage today, when he called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. 

He said to them, ‘Take nothing for the journey: neither staff, nor haversack, nor bread, nor money; and let none of you take a spare tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there; and when you leave, let it be from there. As for those who do not welcome you, when you leave their town shake the dust from your feet as a sign to them.’

Here, Jesus does not directly intend to cause tensions and divisions but he wants to expose the sacrificial nature of our mission. Hence, Jesus demands a total commitment towards the journey of discipleship once begun or not beginning it at all. Because, following Jesus demands the sacrifice of all that we have. 

For none of us can become his disciple if we do not give up our excess desire for worldly pleasures and possessions, and pay our unreserved loyalty and allegiance to God over all other competing loyalties in our lives, including family, self-interest, and possessions. 

This is the situation Ezra in our first reading was addressing when he said: My God, I am ashamed, I blush to lift my face to you, my God. For our crimes have increased, until they are higher than our heads, and our sin has piled up to heaven. But now, suddenly, the Lord our God by his favour has left us a remnant and granted us a refuge in his holy place.

Dear friends, we are called today to make a radical decision to sincerely and faithfully carry out the mission of Christ entrusted to us. But how much are we willing to let go for the sake of the mission of Christ? Why are we finding it difficult to follow Jesus?  

What are those habitual desires and possessions that are holding us back from making this radical decision today? It is time for us to let them go in order to focus more on the mission  Christ has entrusted to us. Therefore, let us follow the examples of all those who had given their time, effort and even lives for the salvation of many souls.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, today we are called to a sacrificial journey of Christ's mission. Because our excess desire for the pleasurable things of this passing world has weakened our hearts towards our mission, give us courage and grace to let go of our ugly desires, so as to hold firm in our faith despite losing people and things that are dear to us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful day.

Homily For Tuesday Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 23rd September, 2025. The Memorial of St. Pio of Pietrelcina

 

Readings: Ezra 6:7-8.12.14-20; Ps.122; Luke 8:19-21

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

DOING THE WILL OF GOD IS THE ONLY WAY TO BELONG TO THE TRUE FAMILY OF JESUS

One of the psychological and spiritual needs of the human person is the sense of belonging, this need is just like the need for food, clothes and shelter. The feeling of belonging is fundamental to our sense of happiness and well-being, for it gives value to life and helps us in coping with some painful emotions as it improves our motivation. Hence, we often want to belong and identify with one another, with our friends and families, with our culture and from one association and group to another.

However, one of the common and safest place to belong is our families, especially when it is rooted in the family of God. So today in our Gospel passage, Jesus speaks about belonging to his family and his relationship with members of his family. When he was told that his mother and brothers were standing outside and wanted to see him. He said: My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice.’

Here, Jesus speaks of two ways the people around him could be identified as members of his family. Firstly, he talks about those who belong to the family of his birth, that is, his mother, father and relations. Then his other family which is made up of those who do the will of God.

This family, he says, is his true family, where doing the will of God is the only way of belonging to this family. This is not to say that Jesus is rejecting his biological family; to do so would contradict his own teaching about loving one's parents and loving one's neighbours. However, Jesus is using this opportunity to emphasise that our relationship with God is more important and should be based on our total commitment to doing the will of God through him.

Surprisingly, Mary the mother of Jesus belongs to both sides of the family, for she gave birth to Jesus and also was the first to do the will of God when she said, “Let it be done unto me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). For this reason she is the first disciple of Jesus and a model for all Christians.

Thus, to be a Christian or a disciple is to enter into the family of Jesus and embrace a new relationship with God and with one another and this is the most important place to belong. All other bonds, including those of blood, should be considered secondary. Because, belonging to God is fundamental to our basic relationships, before all human relations.

For we belong first to God before belonging to our families, after which we all go back to God where we ultimately belong, which will be determined by how we have done the will of God here on earth. And our first reading we heard how the chosen people of God through the help of King Cyrus and Darius. Rebuild the Temple that was destroyed out of disobedience. And now they came back as one family to joyfully dedicate this Temple of God.

Dear friends, where do we ultimately and truly belong? Do you belong to the true family of Jesus? As Christians, we claim to belong to God, do our attitudes and decisions show that we truly belong to God? Do we not often commit ourselves to things contrary to the faith we professed in God?

So, today we are made to know that doing the will of God is the ultimate way of belonging to the true family of Jesus. Therefore, we are called to do the will of God always in order to truly belong to that true family of Jesus where love of God and love of neighbour unite us together.

This is what we see in the life of St. Pio, whose memorial we celebrate today. He is a good example of a disciple who belongs to the family of God. For he understood the sacrificial nature of doing the will of God through the mission of Christ and lived by it. Many came to believe in God through him and many were strengthened in their faith through his works and piety.

Though St. Pio experienced great difficulties in the course of his mission, this was so serious that they almost had his faculty of hearing confessions taken from him because of his spiritual experiences and grace.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we truly belong to you. Give us the grace to always do your will, and as we carry out your activities today, grant success to the works of our hands, through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily For Monday, Twenty-Fifth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, 22nd September 2025

 

Reading: Ezra 1:1-6; Ps. 126; Luke 8:16-18

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

YOU ARE A LIGHT THAT ILLUMINATE THE DARKNESS OF THIS WORLD

Light is a very familiar word in the scriptures; light is a symbol that represents awareness, knowledge, and understanding. Light clarifies, Illuminates, Inspires, defeats darkness, shines fully and freely, it guides, stimulates and motivates, provokes action, irritates those who like darkness, confirms truth, purifies, exposes sin, warms and assures us of safety and also facilitates progress. 

Little wonder, Jesus in our Gospel passage today said: No one lights a lamp to cover it with a bowl or to put it under a bed. No, he puts it on a lamp-stand so that people may see the light when they come in. For nothing is hidden but it will be made clear, nothing secret but it will be known and brought to light.

So, as people who have been purified by the light of Christ through our baptism, we are entrusted with the mission of illuminating the darkness around us. During our baptism, we were given candlelight which we are to keep brightly burning as a flame of faith in our hearts as we journey with others towards our heavenly kingdom. This, therefore, clearly defines our role in the mission of Christ, which is to illuminate darkness and reflect the glory of God in the darkness of the passing world. 

Hence, every Christian is called by God to influence the world positively through the light of our faith, just like Cyrus, king of Persia, in our first reading, who was the light that illuminated the darkness in the midst of the people of Israel who were in exile. 

For he ordered the people to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple of God, and so free them from the darkness of exile and slavery, and brought the light of hope to the people.

Dear friends, the focus of today’s message is that all of us are called to positively influence the lives of humanity by our attitude and character which should be like that of purifying light. Where there is darkness we should let the light of Christ illuminate. Where pride, selfishness, corruption and greed have brought darkness, let the light of our good attitude and character illuminate it once again. 

Where sin and immorality have made humanity filthy and ugly, let our light of holiness purify. Therefore, we must not let our lights be hidden under the darkness of this passing world; rather, we must let them shine wherever we find ourselves.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we struggle every day to truly carry out the mission entrusted to us, give us the grace and courage to dedicate ourselves, our time, our energy and effort to becoming true light that illuminates our families, society and the world filled with darkness of sin and evil. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a fruitful week.

Homily For Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 21st September, 2025

 

Readings: Amos 8:4-7; Ps.113; 1Tim.2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

LEARN TO PRUDENTLY USE THE THINGS OF THIS PASSING WORLD TO GAIN YOUR SALVATION

The elements of good and bad seem inherent in the human person, which is why the world is made up of both good and bad people mixed together. This will help us to understand the reason for corruption, greediness, immoral and social decadence in our world today. 

For walking through the streets, I observed how people are struggling with the things of this passing world. I can feel their passion, their determination and willingness even in the midst of corruption and challenges of life. 

How I wish we could put such energy into working towards the things that edify our souls. But the questions we need to ask ourselves are: what is my attitude towards the things of this passing world? Can I be trusted with the things of this passing world no matter how little? As managers of God’s resources, how are we using the things of this passing world, knowing that we are expected to be wise and smart in managing them?

Little wonder, in the Gospel passage today, Jesus tells us the parable of the dishonest steward who, having acted unjustly and having been exposed by his master, went to great lengths to make friends of his master’s debtors to secure his future. In this parable, Jesus is not telling us to be dishonest, but he wants us to learn a lesson about the danger of worldly cunning and the grace of Christian cleverness. 

We can learn even from this dishonest servant how to prudently use the things of this passing world to gain our salvation. Thus, Jesus points out that we too should be smart but not exactly like the dishonest steward, using dishonest wealth to exploit others as most people do today in our society. No, instead we, his disciples, are to use our wealth to win souls for the kingdom and safeguard our own souls. 

Hence, in this parable, the Lord speaks to us again about the spirit of worldliness: how this worldliness works and how dangerous it can be. And as we know, worldliness is an enemy to human souls, and that is why the devil derives great pleasure in seeing us dwell in worldliness, just like the dishonest steward. 

Though some of us may see nothing wrong with the attitude of this dishonest steward because he has only done what most people, if not everyone, does, especially in our country today, where we condone bribery and corruption as a way of survival and success. This ugly attitude is extremely sinful and dehumanising.

Little wonder Pope Francis,  while addressing this ugly kind of attitude, says that God commands us to live an honest life and bring home bread for our children through honest means. But most of us, like this dishonest steward, have chosen to bring back dirty bread of dishonesty for our children and even train and bring them up through dishonest means. 

Perhaps, today we should pray for many children and adults who receive dirty bread of dishonesty from their parents, especially those who are now hungry for the dignity of honesty.  This is what St. Paul advice us to do in our second reading today when he said: first of all, there should be prayers offered for everyone, petitions, intercessions and thanksgiving and especially for kings and others in authority, so that we may be able to live religious and reverent lives in peace and quiet. 

To do this is right, and will please God our saviour: for he wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth. This is important because bribery and corruption are obvious in our society today and they are serious sins because they are against our human dignity. The dignity by which we are united to God and to one another through our honest labour and not through bribery and corruption. 

Little wonder God, through prophet Amos in our first reading today, said: Listen to this, you who trample on the needy and try to suppress the poor people of the country, who can buy up the poor for money, and the needy for a pair of sandals. Never will I forget a single thing you have done. So, we should be careful not to fall into the temptations of money and other worldly pleasures which are trying to lead us away from God and the salvation he has given us.

The fact remains that these corrupt and cunning ways of life dehumanize us, even though it seems to be common in our society today, it doesn’t really make it right. Though, we are not called to be foolish, rather we are meant to know that there is another road, an alternative route to worldly cunning. It is the path of “Christian cleverness”. 

This path, Pope Francis says, “allows us to be cunning but not according to the spirit of the world but the smartness of God’s wisdom and grace. For Jesus himself said: be wise as serpents, innocent as doves”. Uniting these two realities is the grace that the Lord gives to us when we ask for it.

Dear friends, today,  we are called to live a life of integrity, to let go of worldly cunning and embrace Christian cleverness. For each and every one of us is called to be a good manager and custodian of whatever blessings and resources God has given us. We are all reminded that we have been called to follow the Lord and to devote ourselves to Him wholeheartedly. We must learn to be trusted and ensure that we manage whatever is entrusted to us.

So, we are called to really examine our conscience to know where we are with regard to our vocation as Christians. How can we best harness the things entrusted to us so that they can be sources and means of safeguarding our souls, surrounded by corruption and greediness? 

Therefore, we are called today to be wise and smart, for if the worldly-minded people can be smart in their dealings, we too should be smarter in our struggles for the salvation of our souls and that of humanity at large. We should utilise the resources available to us and use them to secure our salvation. 

This is possible if we understand the principle that says that everything we own is a gift from God; then we will realise that God is the owner of everything and that we are His stewards. As such, we are to use the Master’s resources to further the Master’s work and not the contrary. In this contest, we are told to be generous with our resources and use them for the safety of our souls and the growth of God’s kingdom.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we listened to your words today, may we not be carried away by the things of this passing world. Rather than give us the grace to live a life of integrity and the skills to manage the resources entrusted to us and use them properly for the salvation of humanity and the development of our societies, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a grace-filled Sunday celebration.

Homily For Saturday Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 20th September, 2025. The Memorial of St Andrew Kim Taegon and Companions

 

Readings: 1 Tm 6:13-16; Ps. 100; Luke 8:4-15

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

MAKE YOUR HEART A FERTILE GROUND FOR THE WORD OF GOD TO BEAR FRUIT

Our disposition towards whatever we do in life determines how successful we can be. And experience has shown that people’s disposition varies depending on where their interests are based. Therefore, to be fruitful in whatever we do, we must develop the right disposition towards it. Knowing how important this is in understanding his mission, Jesus, in our Gospel reading today, used the parable of the sower to describe different kinds of human disposition and response towards the Word of God.

He said, A sower went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell on the edge of the path and were trampled on; and the birds of the air ate it up. Some seed fell on rock, and when it came up it withered away, having no moisture. Some seed fell amongst thorns and the thorns grew with it and choked it. And some seed fell into rich soil and grew and produced its crop a hundredfold.’ Saying this he cried, ‘Listen, anyone who has ears to hear!’

In this parable, Jesus categorised our different dispositions towards the Word of God in relation to our interior life. Thereby giving us the guidelines that will help us to examine our attitudes towards the seed of God’s Word, whether our soul is like dry rocky ground, whether our soul is full of the thorns of the things of this passage world or do we regularly seek to nourish our soul and prepare it to receive the Holy Word of God? So we are called to create a fertile disposition within our hearts to do the will of God.

This is important because today and even in the scriptures, many hear the words of Jesus and do not understand it because of wrong disposition, for instance in the scriptures we have the religious leaders who are against the teachings of Jesus, the crowds that responded positively to Jesus, especially to his miracles of healing, yet turned against him at the end and demanded his crucifixion.

Some disciples, such as Judas, might also be included among those who fell away when trouble or persecution came on account of the Word. The rich young man, who was unable to part with his possessions, provides a clear example of one who hears the word, but the love for the passing things of this world and the lure of wealth choked the word, and it yielded nothing.

Also, what about the good soil? These are those who hear the Word, understand and internalise it, who indeed bear fruit and yield an abundant harvest. Our mother Mary and the apostles, excluding Judas, are good examples of such people. Therefore, the different kinds of ground on which the seed falls represent different ways by which we receive the Word of God. And St. Paul in our first readings today says: I charge you to keep the commandment unstained with no faults or failures, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Here, St Paul reminds us of our basic Christian faith, which teaches that, for us to rise with Christ, we must first die to ourselves. That is, those things which lead us to the ways of this world must die, and we must be reborn to the life of faith. Then we will rise with Christ and share his glory, just as we read in the parable of the Sower.

For the Sower being Christ himself, teaches us how to manage the challenges of life in order to yield a rich harvest of faith and attain eternal joy of heaven, just like St. Andrew Kim Taegon and Companions whose memorial we celebrate today. For they gave up their lives during the persecution of Christians in Korea as a light of faith for the people and so illuminated the darkness of sin and wickedness.

Dear friends, today, our hearts are the fields in which the Word of God is scattered, to which do our hearts belong? The pathway, the rocky ground, the thorns or the good soil? Whichever one, we are called to pay attention and take some time to appreciate God’s Word in our lives by allowing it to bear solid roots in us and germinate to bear great fruits

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, we are often distracted from hearing and assimilating your Word we hear every day, give us grace to remain open to receiving your Word, so as to bear fruit abundantly. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a blessed and peaceful weekend.