Homily For Friday, Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 17th October, 2025. The Memorial of St Ignatius Antioch

  

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

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHOM TO FEAR IN THIS LIFE
 

The word “FEAR” is often defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm. Little wonder, threats, intimidation, torture and fear are some of the powerful ways of silencing people from expressing their views, opinions and faith. 

Hence, Jesus, knowing the difficulties and challenges his disciples would encounter, needed to train and instruct them properly, so that they could stand firm in the midst of threats, opposition and persecution that might bring fear to their midst.

 

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

 

As disciples, these encouraging words of Jesus are very apt especially now that we are passing through difficult moments of intimidation, persecution, brutality, killings, war, genocide, poverty, sickness, greed, immorality and famines in our families, societies, country and the world at large. 

This ugly condition can make someone completely lose hope in humanity and also in God. But Jesus does not want us to lose hope; rather, he wants us to be firm and strong disciples who will stand firm and courageously face the ugly situations we encounter every day. For Jesus needs firm disciples who will speak and stand for his Gospel no matter the cost.

 

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

 

Hence, we, the youths, are out seeking justice, equity and good governance. We must not stop or give up on our struggles. We must continue to speak and condemn evil without fear, but with the assurance that the Lord is with us, despite everything that we may be suffering and enduring because of the sins and wickedness of the evil ones. 

Thus, St. Paul in our first reading says that happy are those whose crimes are forgiven, whose sins are blotted out; happy the man whom the Lord considers sinless. This is what we see in the life of Ignatus of Antioch, whose memorial we celebrate today. He was the second bishop of Antioch after St Peter. 

He was arrested condemned to death, and transported to Rome to be thrown to the wild beasts in the arena. In the course of his journey, he wrote seven letters to various churches, in which he dealt wisely and deeply with Christ, the organisation of the Church, and the Christian life.

Dear friends, today we are called to be firm disciples of Jesus who has conquered fear, for our purpose in life is to become Jesus in deeds and character. By so doing, we will have confidence that God will enable us to carry out the work that he has entrusted to us, even amid persecution, knowing that neither the human person nor the devil can affect our souls. 

We can be confident of God’s ultimate care for us because He knows even the number of hairs on our heads. Thus, as true disciples of Jesus, we must have confidence and remain firm in faith even during persecution, intimidation, brutality, suffering and sickness, because, His love and care for us surpass all our challenges.

 

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

Homily For Thursday, Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, 16th October 2025

 

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

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

DON’T SET TRAPS AGAINST THE INNOCENT

 

In our Gospel passage today, Jesus continued with his reproach of the Scribes and the Pharisees for hardening their hearts from his teaching, therefore behaving like their ancestors. Little wonder, Jesus in his reproach said: Woe to you who build the tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! 

In this way you both witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building. But the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him thereby setting traps to catch him out in something he might say.

 

Here, Jesus was speaking to the people on the ugly attitudes and wickedness of humanity, well manifested by the Scribes and Pharisees on various occasions, when we ought to obey the Lord, but preferred to live and act by our own selfish and proud attitudes. 

Hence, by reproaching us, Jesus is reminding us that this is not the right path for us to follow; instead, we should be more faithful and pay more attention to God’s words and teachings, which he had repeatedly communicated to us through the prophets, of which we often rejected and killed the prophets. Similarly, Jesus, despite all the signs and wonders he had done for humanity, we still refused to have faith in him.

 

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

 

Dear friends, today Jesus rebuked the ugly attitude of humanity, calling us not to be like the Scribes and Pharisees, who, out of pride and selfishness, rejected the words of Jesus and sought to kill him. 

Rather, we should be more humble and disposed towards the words of God we hear every day. We should make efforts to transform our lives and faith more closely to that of Jesus. We should not be like the Pharisees and Scribes who look for the downfall of others because they tried to correct us.

 

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

Homily For Wednesday, Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, 15th October, 2025. The Memorial of St Therese of Avila.

Readings: Rom. 2:1-11; Ps. 62; Luke 11:42-46

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

DON’T BE LIKE UNMARKED TOMB

The condition of our society today calls for deep reflection, as so many things that appear to be good are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful and draw the admiration of people, but within them are full of dead men's bones and all sorts of corruption.

They call it packaging, the popular terminology used by people to describe how they make things that are not too good to look extremely good, and this has made us lose focus on how we ought to do things right.

This ugly attitude of the human person is what Jesus is condemning today in our Gospel passage. As he continued to challenge the hypocritical attitude of the scribes and Pharisees which is not different from the attitude of most of us.

He said: Alas for you Pharisees! You who pay your tithe of mint and rue and all sorts of garden herbs and overlook justice and the love of God! These you should have practised, without leaving the others undone. Alas for you Pharisees who like taking the seats of honour in the synagogues and being greeted obsequiously in the market squares! Alas for you, because you are like the unmarked tombs that men walk on without knowing it!

Here, Jesus is challenging us to think differently about how we live our lives. He is challenging us to look at what is going on in our inner being, our interior life, that part of us that we hide from one another.

For most people, the things we see around us today are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful and draw the admiration of people, but within us are outright ugliness and all sorts of corruption, like the unmarked tombs that men walk on without knowing it.

This is because, like the scribes and the Pharisees, we are interested mostly in the external beauty of things around us while neglecting their essence. We are self-satisfied and often think that we are above the law. We often want to look good from the outside but remain ugly and dirty within.

Little wonder St. Paul in our first reading says that we often abuse God’s abundant goodness, patience and toleration, not realising that this goodness of God is meant to lead us to repentance. This is what we see in the life of St. Theresa of Avila whose memorial we celebrate today.

She was one of the few female Doctors of the Church and the most prominent members of the early Church, who helped to establish a solid foundation for the Church. A life she embraced so deeply and became a renowned mystic and holy woman. And through her writings and way of life, she sought to return the Christian faith to its purer state.

Dear friends, what is the state of your interior life? Is it like an unmarked tomb? Today we are called to build our interior life strong and stop living a fake life of packaging. We are challenged to change our ugly ways of life, to change from within ourselves. This may seem very difficult. But, we need to change in so many ways, especially as regards our attitude towards things in this passing world. For God is calling us to repentance; he wants to come into our souls and dwell.

But he cannot dwell in a heart that is like a whitewashed tomb. Thus, Jesus is rebuking all humanity, he wants us to stop living a life of deception, immorality and corruption in the name of packaging. Rather, we should build up our interior being by embracing the things of the heart such as justice, mercy, love and compassion.

LET US PRAY: Loving Father, help us to build our interior life strongly in your love for we are living in a world of unmarked tombs of deception, immorality and corruption. Give us grace to be wise enough to discern what is right and pleasing to you. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily For Tuesday, Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, 14th October, 2025

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

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

BUILDING A STRONG INTERIOR LIFE

There is no doubt that our societies today are full of artful deception, dishonesty and fraudsters. Integrity has become a virus to be eliminated. Morals and virtuous actions are no longer valuable. Heroes of deception and fraudsters are honoured and celebrated.

The interior life of the human person is no longer regarded as important as the outward appearance. This unhealthy way of life is what Jesus is addressing in our Gospel passage today. When a Pharisee invited Jesus to dine at his house, he was surprised that Jesus had not first washed before the meal.

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

Here, the Pharisees were so much interested in the outward appearance and the ‘letters’ of the Law, that they neglected the ‘spirit’ of the Law and the interior life of the human person.

However, Jesus made it clear that the interior life and purity of the human person are not based on the outward appearance of a person but, from the good fruit of virtues that comes from the human soul, because outwardly we may appear to be good and pious, but in reality, our hearts are full of wickedness, immorality and sin.

Little wonder St. Paul in our first reading, reminded us that the anger of God is being revealed from heaven against all the impiety and depravity of men who keep truth imprisoned in their wickedness. For what can be known about God is perfectly plain to them since God himself has made it plain.

Therefore, we must learn to take our interior life very seriously knowing that without a sound interior life, all of our good actions, obedience and the observances of the Law will be empty and meaningless.

Dear friends, today we are called to look within ourselves, and purify our inner being and so make our outward appearance reflect our inner being. We must ensure that our faith in God is pure and genuine by letting our whole lives be inspired by the virtuous and truthful actions of our daily activities. Therefore, let our attitudes begin to change our society that is full of artful deception, dishonesty and fraudsters. Let our lives bear good fruits of integrity, love, purity and faith.

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

Homily For Monday Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 13th October, 2025

 

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

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

UNDERSTANDING THE SIGN OF JONAH

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

Here, Jesus presents to us the final recommendations of the end time, pointing out that he is the greatest and only sign we need just like Jonah was to the people of Nineveh. He insists that we should pay rapt attention to the signs nature is giving us concerning the end-time events, that these signs will make us have hope founded firmly on the word of God, which drives away fear and despair, knowing that the kingdom of God is very near to us.

We should also be careful about following those who claim to know when the end is coming. For we may see many of the signs written in Scripture happening already in our time, and people are terrified, looking for someone to show them the way. We should know that Jesus is the only Way, the Truth and the Life.

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

Dear friends, what signs are we seeing around us today? How can we interpret the signs of these times, the signs that tell us that this world is passing away? Do these signs make us dread the second coming of the Lord, or do we joyfully embrace it in anticipation?

Remember, Jesus warns us not to waste our time seeking signs; rather, we should be prepared, we should remain firm in faith. He reminds us that he is not just the sign of Jonah, but something far greater than Jonah, and without him in our lives, we will be lost, because the future lies in his hands and nothing can destroy or hurt us as long as we remain faithful to his commands. Nonetheless, what he requires of us in this world is for us to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with our God.

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

Homily For Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 12th October, 2025

 

Readings: 2Kings 5:14-17; Ps.98; 2Tim.2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

CULTIVATE THE INNER ATTITUDE OF SHOWING GRATITUDE TO GOD 

There is no doubt that the compassionate love of Jesus in solidarity with human suffering is evident in the scriptures and even in our daily lives. Little wonder, we have great events in the scriptures that illustrate the compassionate concern of Jesus in our daily struggles and how he wishes to set us free from the shackles of our troubles. 

But how often do we show gratitude for such great love? How often do we say thank you, Lord, for all you have done for us? For we often take this for granted.

This is evident in our Gospel passage today, where we heard the story of Jesus’ encounter with the ten lepers. Ten of them were cured, but only one, who was a foreigner among them, came back to thank Jesus. From this man’s gratitude, Jesus made a comment on human ingratitude when he asked “Was there no one to return and give thanks to God except this foreigner?”

The problem is that we don’t always remember that the ultimate source of our graces and gifts is God. That is what makes the Samaritan leper so special and distinguishes him from the other nine, because he realised that God is the source of his healing. 

Unfortunately, God’s greatest gifts, which are our life and health, our ability to think and achieve great things, are often taken for granted by most of us, because we see no reason to show gratitude to God for them.

More so, the story of these lepers is a good example of how we sinners can and should appeal to Jesus for cleansing especially from our sins. We should come in faith knowing that God is always willing to cleanse every sinner who comes to Him, just like Naaman in our first reading today.

But we must know that the devil does not want us to be saved, and he would tempt us to be arrogant and prideful, as we heard in the story of Naaman, who went to the land of Israel seeking healing from leprosy. And when he visited prophet Elisha, he was told to wash himself at the River Jordan seven times, and he would be healed. But he initially refused out of pride. 

This was exactly how the devil tried to prevent Naaman from receiving healing, not just from leprosy but also from his sinfulness and lack of faith, by placing pride and ego in his heart. Thank God for Naaman’s servant who reminded him to be humble and do what the prophet said in order to be healed. In the end, Naaman obeyed, humbling himself in obedience to the advice of the servant, and he was healed, and we heard how he came to thank God and his prophet. 

This is also what we have in our second reading today, where we heard St. Paul appreciating what God has done for him by linking all his success and challenges to that of Christ, saying: if we have died with him, then we shall live with him. If we hold firm, then we shall reign with him. If we disown him, then he will disown us. We may be unfaithful, but he is always faithful.

Dear friends, I don’t know what type of leprosy problems you are going through. Are you weighed down by sin or sickness? Are you feeling helpless and rejected?  Or do I know people who are helpless and need some help? Do I feel the need for Jesus’s help in some aspect of my life? We must know that Jesus wishes to set us free from sickness, troubles, challenges and manipulations of the evil ones. 

The Lord desires to be with us as we struggle every day to overcome the challenges in our families, society and the world at large. Therefore, we should not be afraid to approach Jesus for healing and restoration, all we need is an active faith and a heart of gratitude just like the foreign leper and Naaman

So, let us sincerely turn to God today and say thank you, Lord, for all the things he has done for us. The fact remains that God has blessed us, it’s time to come back and thank him. We have been saved from sin, is time to thank God. It is time to say I'm sorry, Lord, I'm sorry for having deviated from you, and now is the time to come back and say thank you, Lord. 

Yes, it’s time to thank God and all those who he has used to bless us. It’s time to thank our father and mother, our husband and wife. It’s time to thank our siblings, our uncles, aunties, teachers, workers,  employees and employers. It’s time to thank our maids, neighbours, colleagues, classmates, friends,  pastors, doctors and nurses. It’s time to thank those good people in government, civil servants, lawyers, police officers, military men and women who are faithful in their humanitarian services.

Yes, it’s time to thank anyone who has been of help to us. In fact, it will be a great thing if we can figure out one or more persons who have helped us, but we have never thought it necessary to say thanks. Today may be the right day to search, visit and call them and say thank you for all you have been to me. 

If they are dead, pray for them and extend this appreciation to their families. Don't miss this golden opportunity; don't let it pass you by. I will not miss it, I don’t know about you. So today, let us learn to show gratitude to God and to one another, for this is what God requires of us. Let us learn to say thank you, Lord, for that is the right and wise thing to do 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, you know our innermost being and the challenges we are struggling with, come to our aid, we pray and cleanse us from all our physical, emotional and spiritual leprosies as we thank you for all you have done for us, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.

Homily For Saturday, Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Year C, 11th October 2025

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

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

LEARN TO HEAR AND KEEP THE WORD OF GOD

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

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

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

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

Dear friends, whatever we feed grows, and whatever we quit feeding dies and feeds away. So what are we feeding our souls with? How are we feeding on the word of God? Our society has enough hearers of the word; what we need now are doers of the word of God, men and women who will fill their lives with the word of God and, from the abundance of their hearts, live a life that will influence society positively.

Thus, when we hear the word of God, we must apply it to our daily lives because that's the only way we can feed our souls. And by so doing we become blessed brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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