Homily For Saturday Third Week of Lent Year C, 29th March 2025

Readings: Hosea 6:1-6, Ps. 51, Luke: 18:9-14

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE AND DISPOSITION TOWARDS PRAYER

Prayer is part and parcel of our Christian life. It is the act of raising up our minds and hearts to God. But sometimes we find it difficult to carry out this exercise because we don't understand how or what is demanded of us or the best disposition to prayer.

Today in our Gospel passage, we heard how two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself, “I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like the rest of mankind, and particularly that I am not like this tax collector here. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes on all I get.”

While the tax collector stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but beat his breast and said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Hence, Jesus said, the tax collector went home at rights with God; the Pharisees did not. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted.

Dear friends, we are called to cultivate the right attitude and disposition towards prayers. For in prayer, we are not to give God instructions or present our profile of piety, but our disposition should be that of humility and contrition like this tax collector. We are to present ourselves to God just like a good servant will report for duty and wait for instructions from his master. So, we are to respond in obedience to God's instructions in prayer, for there we encounter God in the innermost part of our being.

Thus, we are called in our first reading to return to the Lord in prayers, for he may tear us to pieces, but he will heal us; he may strike us down, but he will bandage our wounds since what he wants is love, not sacrifice, humility and not holocausts. Therefore, we have to cultivate the right disposition and learn how to communicate with God the right way through prayer.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we do not know how to pray as we ought, as we listen to your words today, may we learn how to cultivate the right attitude and disposition towards prayers. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. It’s the weekend, wishing you a peaceful and joyful day.

Homily For Friday Third Week of Lent Year C, 28th March, 2025

 

Readings: Hosea 14:1-9, Ps. 81, Mark 12:28-34

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

LOVING GOD AND OUR NEIGHBOURS IS ALL THAT IS REQUIRED OF US 

 

Oftentimes, when we are faced with the realities of life, we want to know the things that should be our priority. What should be the most important thing to focus our energy on? What should become the foundation of all the things we need to do? In fact, we always desire to know what is required of us in this life. This is the deposition of one of the scribes in our Gospel passage today, who came to Jesus and asked him a question concerning which commandment is the greatest.

 

In response Jesus reminds them of the 'Shema Israel' - שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל, the prayer that they knew and recited from their earliest years from which they learnt that the most important thing in life is to love God with all their heart, and with all thy soul, and with all their mind; that is, with all the powers and the more noble faculties of the soul, the mind, the understanding, judgment, and will. Jesus then added that to love one’s neighbour is the second priority.

 

This is just very practical because anyone who loves God will naturally love all God’s children, who are, of course, in a very real sense,e, our neighbours. We must love every single person because we are all created in the image and likeness of God. In other words, loving God with all our heart, with all our understanding and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves is what is required of us and it is the foundation of all the things we have to do. 

 

Hence, it is not possible to separate the love of God from the love of neighbour, for it is one commandment with two parts which will be the criterion for the final judgement of God. Thus, prophet Hosea, in our first reading, calls us to come back to the Lord our God, for our iniquity was the cause of our downfall. It is time to come back to the Lord, who loves us so much.

 

Dear friends, love is the centre of all the teachings of Jesus, for love is the purest gift that God has given to humanity. It is like the stream water, so innocent and pure. True love is not hidden, it radiates from the innermost being of a person who experiences it. If we love God, then, we will see him in others and treat them justly and honourably. We will not hurt our neighbours but do our utmost best to live in peace with them.

 

I don’t know if you have ever loved someone and you show it, or someone loves you and you know it. The fact is that it actually feels right and awesome because love brings healing and wholeness into people’s lives. Love is peace, Joy, strength and passion; love is stronger than death; it is that nature of God which we share.

  

Therefore, 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. The truth is that the absence of love is the cause of all the problems in our world today as most families exist by grace and not by love.

 

Imagine how wonderful the world would be if we all loved one another. How I wish we could invest our time and resources in ensuring love and unity in our dealings with one another. Believe me, we will not only be fulfilling the first and greatest commandments of God, but we will be building a happy humanity. Remember, God loves you so much.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, in you, is the fullness of love; as we listen to your words today, may we truly love you and our neighbours and so conquer the world full of hatred, self-centeredness, greed and corruption; we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a lovely day.

Homily For Thursday Third Week of Lent Year C, 27th March, 2025

 

Readings: Jer. 7:23-28, Ps. 95, Luke: 11:14-23

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

ARE YOU WITH GOD OR AGAINST GOD? 

Having journeyed with the Lord in the Midst of all the ugly situations going on in the world today. It is time to examine our conscience to know if we are still truly with the Lord in this journey of faith. This is the question we need to constantly ask ourselves because not all those who are journeying with us are really sharing the same faith and destination with us. Thus, how to identify those who are with us in this journey is what Jesus made clear in our Gospel passage today.

In this Gospel, Jesus said ‘he who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.’ This statement was made when the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law accused Jesus of using the power of Beelzebub to cast out other demons. Hence, Jesus rebuked them, saying that the devil and demons would not have divided among themselves if they were to achieve their goal, which is the destruction of humanity. 

Dear friends, today, as we listen to the words of God, we are called to turn back to God and abandon our sinful ways in order to be and remain with the Lord. Little wonder, in our first reading today, we heard prophet Jeremiah reminding us of the need to be with the Lord as we make our journey, thereby reminding us of the need to repent and to change our ugly ways of life. Therefore, we must make up our minds to follow the Lord. The world as we know it is offering us so many things, good and bad alike. 

But sometimes the options are so confusing and we must make choices. To make the right choice, we need to make a fundamental option that will form a solid base for all the choices we will be making in life. To make this fundamental option, we need to understand not just where we are physically but, where we are existentially in terms of our convictions, goals, desires, dreams and the destination of our soul in this journey of life.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we make the examination of conscience, help us to discover who we are and who we are journeying with. May we never be against you and your family, the Church, as we hope to remain united as one big family of faith, with one Father and one goal, which is to be united with you in your heavenly kingdom. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful day.

Homily For Wednesday Third Week of Lent Year C, 26th March, 2025

 

Readings: Deut. 4:1.5-9, Ps. 147, Matt 5:17-19

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

HOW TO OBTAIN TRUE GREATNESS

To be great is the dream of most people, but often time, when reflecting on the emptiness of life and the things of this passing world, I can not but ask myself: what is that thing that one really needs to obtain in life that will be referred to as true greatness? I find the answer to this question in our Gospel passage today.

In this Gospel passage, Jesus while describing what true greatness means said to his disciples as he is instructing us, that the man who infringes even one of the least of his commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven. Here, Jesus points out that keeping and teaching the commandments of God is the sure way to achieving greatness not just here on earth but also in heaven.

So, as Christians, we obtain true greatness by keeping and teaching the commandments of God. It is our duty to teach and bear sincere witness to God’s commandments by our ways of life. Therefore, we need to be serious about how to carry out our responsibility towards keeping and teaching the commandments of God. We need to start practising what we preach; we need to do more witnessing than preaching.

It is not enough to recall principles, state intentions, point to blatant injustice and utter prophetic declarations and denunciation; these kind of words lack real meaning of our faith unless they are accompanied by effective action manifested in our way of life. Hence we need to acknowledge that our authority as Christians comes from God who through Moses commanded us in our first reading not to forget the things our eyes have seen, nor let them slip from our hearts all the days of our lives; rather, we should tell them to our children and to our children’s children.’

Dear friends, today Jesus tells us that he has not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to complete them, so we are not called to compromise the teachings and laws of God to suit our wrong motives and parade ourselves as Christians, teachers, pastors, prophets. Rather we are called to live them out so that our actions should reflect the paternity of God in the way we live and serve others, knowing that true greatness is found in keeping and teaching the commandments of God, of which Jesus tells us that the greatest of these commandments is to love God and our neighbour.

Therefore, true greatness is rooted in our love for God and our neighbours; Jesus emphasized that it is too bad to break one of these commandments, but to teach someone else to do the same is a terrible,, evil thing to do. Thus, we should ask ourselves today, am I breaking these commandments and teaching others to do the same through my attitude and way of life? Am I following my own opinions contrary to the commandments and laws of love which Jesus has taught us by his way of life? Or am I keeping and teaching these commandments through my attitude and my way of life? The answers to these questions are not far from us.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, all good things come from you, as we struggle to sincerely witness our faith and keep your commandments, grant us the grace to keep and teach them by our way of life and so obtain the Joy of true greatness in this world and in your heavenly kingdom, through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a favourable day.

Homily For Tuesday Third Week of Lent Year C, 25th March 2025 The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

Readings: Is. 7:10-14.8:10; Ps.40; Heb.10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38

Rev Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

EMBRACING THE WILL OF GOD LIKE MARY

Today in a special way, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, an event that marks exactly nine months before the birth of Jesus at Christmas, recalling the very moment when our Lord and Saviour was conceived in the womb of Mary, as she responded to the revelation of God’s Good News through the Archangel Gabriel saying: I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word.

With this response, the Word became flesh and dwells among us through a humble Virgin, thereby revealing the arrival of the long-awaited Saviour into the world as we have it in our Gospel passage today. In our first reading, we also heard how King Ahaz received revelation from God through the prophet Isaiah of the coming of God’s salvation to his people.

But Ahaz refused to accept the sign out of false humility, saying that he would not put God to the test even when the prophet had specifically said that God would give him a sign. This shows a lack of faith and disobedience from King Ahaz, which is quite opposite to that of Mary, who humbly accepted God’s will.

When compared the response of Mary to that of Ahaz, who further led the people of Judah into sin, as he did not follow or obey God’s laws. We will see that his lack of faith is indeed opposite to Mary’s total submission to God; his pride and false humility are opposite to Mary’s total humility and devotion to God.

Hence, Mary became a role model for all of us, as her obedience and willingness to accept her role as the Mother of God and Saviour is something that all of us, as Christians, should also emulate in our own lives. Let us learn how to be submissive to God’s will like Mary.

Dear friends, this Holy season of Lent has been filled with a lot of uncertainty, sorrow and grief, challenges and trials, obstacles, difficulties and suffering all over the world due to economic hardship. But we are consoled in today’s Solemnity of the Annunciation of our Lord and Saviour with the words of the angle, telling us to rejoice most highly favoured for the Lord has special plans for us if only we can say like Mary: “Let it be done to me according to your will”.

Thus, we are called to draw strength, faith and courage from Mary in her total submission to God’s will, knowing that despite all the darkness, sorrow and uncertainties in our world, God will not abandon his people. His promise of salvation is a reality that we will surely experience.

Therefore, let us entrust ourselves in humility to God just as Mary had done. Let us ask for his mercy and forgiveness as we also forgive one another. It is not time to judge people or lose faith. Rather, it is time to pray for each other as we grow stronger in faith and in our love and devotion to God., knowing that he is closer to us in these turbulent times and he does not fail in his promises.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, the occasion of the annunciation reminds us of your promises and plans to redeem humanity, as we listen to your words today, may we respond positively to your requests and so be filled with the joy of your presence, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily For Monday Third Week of Lent Year C, 24th March 2025

Readings: 2Kings 5:1-15; Ps. 42; Luke 4:24-30

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

HOW PRIDE CAN DEPRIVE US OF GOD’S BLESSINGS

One of the forces that drives the world order today is pride. People can do anything to prove how powerful, influential, popular, wealthy and connected they are before everyone they encounter. Hence, at any little provocation, you see people ranting: "I will show you today who I am I", "By the time I finish with you, you will come to know me". I will do this, I will do that... just to prove who we parade themselves to be.

Everywhere we go, we want to be highly recognized, we look down on every other person. This ugly attitude is what the devil certainly wants us to have so that we end up distancing ourselves from God.

The devil does not want us to be saved, and he would tempt us to be arrogant and prideful as we heard in our first reading today in the story of Naaman the Syrian. Naaman went to the land of Israel seeking healing from the leprosy he had been suffering for years. But when Naaman sought the prophet Elisha, he was told to wash himself at the River Jordan seven times, and he would be healed. But he refused out of pride.

This was exactly how the devil tried to prevent Naaman from finding healing, not just from leprosy but also from his sinfulness and lack of faith by placing pride, ego and stubbornness in his way. It was at this point that, Naaman’s servant reminded him to be humble and accept the conditions for him to be healed since it was a very easy thing for him to do. In the end, Naaman obeyed, humbling himself in obedience to the advice of the servant and he was healed.

In the same way in our Gospel passage today, the people of Nazareth refused to listen to Jesus or believe in him because they stubbornly persisted in believing that what they had known earlier about Jesus as the Son of a mere carpenter, he could not have attained such power, authority and wisdom.

Their prejudices and egos prevented them from having faith as they hardened their hearts and minds against God. As such, the Lord could not do much in their midst and, in the end, make reference to the events of Naaman and the widow of Zarephath. Thus, he left his hometown doing little because of their pride and lack of faith.

Dear friends, pride is the first capital sin, so, do not let pride deprive you of God’s blessings. Thus, we are called today to renounce pride and embrace the courage of humility. We must entrust ourselves humbly to the Lord, because only in this way will we be able to become docile instruments in his hands and allow him to do great things through us and in our lives.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, oftentimes we have failed to humble ourselves because of pride, and this has deprived us of your blessings. As we listen to your words today, may we learn to humble ourselves and so obtain your blessings and favours. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a blessed and favourable week.

HOMILY ON THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR C, 23RD MARCH, 2025

Readings: Ex.3:1-8.13-15; Ps. 103; 2Cor 10:1-6.10-12; Luke 13:1-9

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia

THE RIGHT TIME TO REPENT IS NOW TOMORROW MAY BE TOO LATE

Reflecting on the ugly situations in our families, our societies, our country and in the world at large, I can not but recall the song of one of our great music legends Bob Marley, who said in one of his songs titled Natural Mystic:

There's a natural mystic

Blowing through the air

If you listen carefully now you will hear

This could be the first trumpet

Might as well be the last

Many more will have to suffer

Many more will have to die

Don't ask me why

Things are not the way they used to be

I won't tell no lie

One and all got to face reality now.

The meaning of the words in this song describes completely the situation in our societies today, which is very much in line with the topic of our message today. For we can feel the struggles, the killings, the tears, the disappointments that people are passing through every day. In fact, some people are losing hope in themselves and even in everything they do as they run up and down seeking solutions.

The poor are searching for daily bread, upliftment and favour; the rich are seeking protection and good health, while the evil ones are taking advantage of the situation to destroy the little hope and faith of the people. All these are signs from God who allows us to repent from our sinful ways of life.

This is what Jesus is telling us in our Gospel passage today when he said: “Do you suppose the Galileans who suffered like this were greater sinners than any other Galileans? They were not, I tell you. No, but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Then with a parable of the barren fig tree, Jesus demonstrated how God has made every moment of our lives an opportunity for us to repent and be fruitful.

This is clear when he said in the parable, “Look, for three years now I have been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and finding none. Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?” “Sir,” the vinedresser replied, “leave it one more year and give me time to dig round it and manure it: it may bear fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.”

Such is God’s patience with us for he gives us the opportunity to turn away from our sinful and ugly ways of life. Repentance is the key message of this Gospel passage, for Jesus makes it clear that those who suffered and were killed were not worse offenders than others; rather, he uses the opportunity to call us to repentance. Note that the purpose of this message is not for condemnation but rather for redemption.

What is most important in this message is for us to “listen carefully now and repent from our sinful ways of life”. This is because the world as we know is coming to an end, for the day of reckoning is very close at hand. This could be the first trumpet might as well be the last. For it is obvious from the signs we are seeing around us today. How can we interpret the signs of these times, the signs that tell us that this world is passing away?

Many are suffering, and many more will have to suffer from the greediness of others. Many have died, and many more will have to die. Many are perishing in sin, many more will have to perish if we refuse to repent from sin and greediness. And we heard in our first and second readings, how the chosen people of God failed to listen to God despite his warning.

They failed to please God and their corpses littered the desert. All this happened to them as a warning, and it was written down to be a lesson for us who are living at this end of the age. The man who thinks he is safe must be careful that he does not fall.

Dear friends, this call for repentance shows us that it is not too late for us to repent, for this may be the last opportunity. Because we can never tell what will happen in the next moment. We can never tell who is next to die; we can never know the form it will take or where it will occur; all that matters is for us to repent now that we still have the opportunity. For none of those who have died knew that it going to happen that day.

Therefore, let us repent now, for repentance helps us to be well-disposed for life and for death. Repentance helps us to live right and at peace with God and with one another. Repentance gives us the courage and confidence to face any situation without fear of death. All we need is to listen to God who is speaking to us now.

So, if we listen carefully now we will hear him telling us, that things are not the way they used to be, we all have to face reality now which tells us that: every every day is a golden opportunity, and today may be the last and only opportunity, today maybe that golden opportunity for us to change our sinful ways of life and embrace God completely.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, You are the author of our lives, freedom and salvation, all we have are yours, thank you for being with us in our daily troubles, struggles, fears, tears, hope and joy, may you provide for the poor, console the troubled, heal the sick, protect and put simile on the faces of your children today and always as we make effort to repent from our sinful ways, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a blessed Sunday celebration.