LORD, IF YOU WILL, YOU CAN MAKE US CLEAN

 Friday After the Epiphany of the Lord, 8th January, 2021

Readings: 1 John 5:5-13, Ps.147, Luke 5:12-16

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

LORD, IF YOU WILL, YOU CAN MAKE US CLEAN

With the ugly situation in our lives, our families, societies and the world at large, there is no doubt that we all are sick and in need of God’s healing touch. Thus, our Gospel passage today, presents to us the story of a leper who approached Jesus for healing. He made this request with faith and trust in the power of Jesus. He said: “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” Probably, he may had heard stories of Jesus' many healings. So in response, Jesus immediately touched him saying: “I will, be clean.” The man was healed immediately. 

This can be symbolic in relation to what God has done for humanity. For while we were still in the state of sin, corruption and in deep darkness as a result of the evil activities in this world. The Lord has not abandoned us, rather he always reached out to us and touched us by his generous love and often healed us from our sins, which had separated us from God just as the leper had been separated and cast out from the society.

Here also, the touching of Jesus is very significant. No ordinary person would dare to touch a leper. Think of the inner healing that must have resulted from the touch of Jesus, that moment of physical contact. Touch is something we all need but are so often lacking in our relationship with God and one another. Thus, we too, are in need of healing, including the healing that comes from the touch of Jesus. 

And the truth is that, we all have received this amazing loving touch of God, his mercy, compassion, forgiveness and healing. This is what St. John in our first reading today is reminding us, when he spoke about overcoming the challenges of this world by believing in Jesus, who through the testimonies of water, Spirit and Blood bears witness to the love of God.

Dear friends, I don’t know what type of leprocious problems you are passing through, let us put our trust in the healing power of Jesus. For the story of this leper 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 able to cleanse us, because he is always willing to cleanse every sinner who comes to him. 

LET US PRAY: Lord God,  we come to you today just like the man in our Gospel passage, you know our inner most being, so we ask that if you will, you can cleanse us, our families, societies and the world from physical, emotional sinful, greed, unforgiveness and spiritual leprosies. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.  Do have a blessed day.

LOVING GOD IN OUR NEIGHBOUR IS KEEPING GOD’S COMMANDMENTS

 Thursday After the Epiphany of the Lord, 7th January, 2021

Readings: 1 John 4:19-5:4, Ps.72, Luke 4:14-22

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

LOVING GOD IN OUR NEIGHBOUR IS KEEPING GOD’S COMMANDMENTS

For the past few days now, we have been hearing about love from the first letter of St John. John is one of the inner circle of the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is know as the beloved disciple of Jesus as his character and personality portrays this and all his teachings are centered on love. Thus, our first reading today, centers on the summary of God’s commandments, that is, the love of God and the love of neighbour.  

Here, John was just very practical because, anyone who loves God will naturally love all God’s children who are, of course, in a very real sense our neighbours. We must love every single person because we are all created in the image and likeness of God. 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.

John tells us that these commandments are not burdensome. Not because they are always easy to carry out fully but because we live in the strength of the Holy Spirit and also, because they are in total conformity with our nature made in the likeness of God, there is nothing artificial or arbitrary about them. To observe them is to become more and more what we are meant to be that is, living in that image of our Creator which we share with him. This is the teaching and mission of Jesus Christ as we have it in our Gospel passage today, where we heard Jesus proclaimed his mission and goals as the fulfilment of all the wonderful promises of God’s salvation for humanity.

Dear friends, our Lord Jesus has taught and revealed to us what it means for us to love. He often reached out to us, even to the worst and the most wicked sinners. He always touch us with his love and also calls us to follow his example. But are we willing and able to commit ourselves to follow his example. I don’t know if you have ever loved someone and you show it, or someone loves you and shows it? The truth is that, it actually feels right and awesome, because love bring 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. 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, love is your gift to humanity, help us to embrace this gift of love and learn to share it with one another, just as Jesus has taught us who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. Do have a lovely day.

DO NOT BE AFRAID BUT ABIDE IN GOD’S LOVE FOR HE IS WITH US

 Wednesday After the Epiphany of the Lord, 6th January, 2021

Readings: 1 John 4:11-18, Ps.72,  Mark 6:45-52

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

DO NOT BE AFRAID BUT ABIDE IN GOD’S LOVE FOR HE IS WITH US 

Those who are into sea business such as the fisher men and the marine men know what it is to be on the sea with heavy storms. A condition where the need to look for a Saviour is highly expected. Such was the case with the disciples of Jesus in the Gospel passage today. It is a story about panic. With the waves breaking over the boat, the disciples cannot believe that the Lord has seen them, and is approaching. Hence, they were afraid and needed help from anywhere. It was at this point that they saw Jesus walking on the sea and he said to them: “take courage, it is I, do not be afraid”. 

This story signifies God's chosen people on a transit of faith, frightened by the guilt of sin and wounded by the waves of the sea, the abode of evil forces and monsters of this world. The boat can be taken as a symbol of the young Christian Church struggling with the world’s principalities and powers, while the storm is a symbol of persecution suffered by this young Christian community. However, John in our first reading tells us that God abides in us and his love is perfected in us, for there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear. Thus, Jesus says: "Do not be afraid".

Dear friends, Jesus is calling us today to journey on his boat of life with an unwavering faith and a repented heart because, the world is being tossed around by the waves of evil forces, the enemies of humankind. And it is only God can subdue it, for he has promised to restore us back to himself. 

Therefore, I don't know the great storms of doubt and fear in your soul, as a result of the power of the evil forces of this world? All I know is that with great faith in God, the words of Jesus: “take courage, it is I,” will surely resound in the hearts of all us and all Christians who live in an indifferent or hostile community.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we abide in your love, may your presence cast out every forms of fear in us, so that the violent storms and waves of bondage in our lives will end in a wonderful calm that brings peace to our souls. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you the best of God’s favour today and always.

THE COMPASSIONATE LOVE OF GOD FOR HUMANITY

 Tuesday After the Epiphany of the Lord, 5th January, 2021

Readings: 1 John 4:7-10, Ps.72,  Mark 6:34-44

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

THE COMPASSIONATE LOVE OF GOD FOR HUMANITY

One of the common words we use to express our feelings is the word “love” and this word means a lot of things to different people. But what is love? For me, love is God’s nature which he shares with us. That is why love is beyond human nature. When we love, we are actually acting out that very nature of God in us. For love is greater than human nature because it is the nature of God that we share. 

Therefore, to understand the depth of God's love for us there is a principle that we need to abide with, that is, the principle that says that everyday is a gift from God to us. A gift that shows how much He loves us by sending His Son whose life giving sacrifice means salvation for all humanity. But the world prefers darkness to light, death to life and these have made the world a difficult place to live in. 

Today in our first reading we are told that God loves us so much that he sent his Son Jesus to be the expiration for our sins. And the event of feeding of the five thousand as we have in our Gospel passage today, speaks of the generosity of God and his kindness towards us. Telling us that when God gives, he gives abundantly. He gives us more than we need for ourselves so that we can share with those who lack. In fact, we can interpret this miracle as the fruit of sharing with one another, for it is possible that once the disciples began to share the little food they had with those around, others also who had actually brought some food with them started sharing what they have and indeed grace multiplied what they have to the point of having left over. 

Dear friends, God loves us so much, that he is willing and ready to satisfy our unquenchable hunger for physical and spiritual things. How I wish humanity can give up greed, selfishness, hatred, embezzlement of our common resources in order to embrace true love for one another and learn to share our resources with one another for the purpose for which they are meant for, believe me, the world will witness another miracle of multiplication of resources that will be enough for everyone with left over for the future generations. 

But we have failed to embrace this love, we have failed to share this love with one another or give up these ugly attitudes. Therefore, let us embrace Jesus and the love he is offering us. Let us like Jesus have compassion and love for everyone, for that is the very nature of God which we share.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, we are really hungry, in need of your love and satisfaction both physically and spiritually, feed us once again with your heavenly grace and multiple the little bread and fish we share with others and provide for us the basic needs of life. And as we carryout how daily activities this year, give us a generous heart that we may freely share your love with those we encounter. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have lovely day.

DISCERNING THE TRUE SPIRIT OF GOD IN A WORLD FULL OF FALSEHOOD AND DECEPTION

 Monday After the Epiphany of the Lord, 4th January, 2021

Readings: 1 John 3:22-4:6, Ps.2,  Matt. 4:12-17.23-25

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

DISCERNING THE TRUE SPIRIT OF GOD IN A WORLD FULL OF FALSEHOOD AND DECEPTION

In our societies today there are many influential powers that have great effect in our lives coming from various source under the guise of good but some are in fact evil leading us astray. So, there is need for us to examine these false and deceptive spirit. For the Holy Spirit will lead us to learn how to distinguish clearly where and in whom is the Spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood.

 

As long as we are of God and in Christ, we have nothing to fear. We do not belong any more to this present world, full of sin, hate and greed, corruption, deceit and violence. Thus, we must let ourselves be guided by the Lord against embracing, too readily, any doctrine proposed to us. We must guide ourselves against attaching ourselves without due consideration, to any teacher that may pretend to have a divine inspiration; because, many false teachers are increasing everyday to deceive the people.

Dear friends, we must not let ourselves be deceived by the evil power of this world. For John in our first reading gives us a special sign for distinguishing true doctrine or true teachers from the false ones. For him, any spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh is of God. Therefore, we must be very wise for there are many false prophets operating under the power of the devil who are deceiving humanity and turning our attention from God.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we thank you for the gift of Your Holy Spirit, who guides us against the deception of this world. Give us the grace of discernment in order to distinguish between good and false Spirit. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful week ahead.

Sunday, the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, 3rd January, 2021

 Sunday, the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, 3rd January, 2021

Readings: Isaiah 60:1-6, Ps. 72, Eph 3:2-3.5-6, Matt.2:1-12

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

IN FAITH LET US JOURNEY TO ENCOUNTER JESUS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Epiphany of our Lord, an occasion where we continue to contemplate and celebrate the mystery of the birth of Jesus. Epiphany was first celebrated in Africa, Egypt precisely, where it was used to replace a pagan feast where they celebrate the victory of light over darkness. The word “Epiphany” means manifestation or revelation. So it is the solemnity of the manifestation of the Lord.

 In our Gospel passage we see how the Wise Men being led by a star journeyed a long distance in search of the new born king. They were probably sages in search of something more about life, in search of the true light that could point out the path to true meaning of life. This journey of the Wise Men was bold, courageous and imaginative. For some persons, they may appeared to be foolish even a little crazy. No doubt they encountered many difficulties and experienced some moments of doubt and danger. Yet in spite of the difficulties, doubt and dangers they preserved in their search and were joyful when they finally found the baby Jesus.

Thus, today the Wise Men find, crying in a manger, the one they have followed as he shone in the sky. They see clearly, in swaddling clothes, the one they have long awaited as he lay hidden among the stars. Today, the Wise Men gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on earth, earth in heaven, man in God, God in man, one whom the whole universe cannot contain now enclosed in a tiny body. As they look, they believe and do not question, as their symbolic gifts bear witness: incense for God, gold for a king, myrrh for one who is to die.

In this journey the light of a star guided them, they did not know where the star was leading them. Hence, their journey was very much a journey of faith, knowing that the star was a means by which a great mystery was to be revealed. The journey of these Wise Men symbolizes our journey of faith and it can serve as a model for us as we struggle on our journey of faith. For the faith of the Wise Men is the first fruits of the belief of the Gentiles, so the Gentiles, who were the last, became the first. Thus is our journey, for just as they were guided by the light of a star so we are guided by the light of faith.

Dear friends, we can learn something great from these Wise Men. First, their journey was one of searching and questioning, of fear and hope, of pain and joy. It is not an easy journey. Our journey of faith contains all of these elements. Like the Wise Men, we can expect to encounter difficulties and experience doubts. But, we can draw inspiration from their courage and perseverance.

Also, we can learn some thing about Herod. As the Wise Men journeyed above the great city of Bethlehem the star disappears, they could no longer see it. For them, it was logical to seek the new king in the royal palace, where they believe that wise men were to be found. But to their amazement, the newborn child was not found in the places of power and culture. Hence, king Herod in anger seeks to kill the child. 

Here, perhaps, we should ask ourselves: is there something of Herod in us? Have we in anyway seen God as a sort of rival? Have we been blind to the signs God is offering us or pay deaf ears to his words because we think he is setting limits on our life and does not allow us to live as we wish?

Another thing we can learn from the Wise Men is that, they did not travel alone, they traveled in a little community of three believers. We then, must not try to make the journey of our faith alone, we need to journey with our brothers and sisters in our community. We need to support one another. However we have one great advantage over these Wise Men. At the start of their journey they knew nothing about Christ. We already know Christ and have encountered him in faith. 

Nevertheless, the fact that we have not seen him face-to-face means we have not yet arrived at our final destination. So we are still searching, still journeying to encounter Jesus the light of the world. Thus the journey of faith is the journey of a lifetime. The goal of this journey is to arrive at the heavenly Bethlehem where we can see Jesus and experience his glory. 

WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT IS YOUR ROLE IN THE MASTER PLAN OF GOD?

 Saturday in Christmas time, 2nd January, 2021. 

The Memorials of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops, 

Readings : 1 John 2:22-28 , Ps 97, John 1:19-28

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT IS YOUR ROLE IN THE MASTER PLAN OF GOD?

Oftentimes, things happen in our lives that we can not explain how and why they happened. This is to tell us that we are unique and special, because, in our uniqueness we come to realize that God has a special plan for everyone. Today, in our Gospel passage, we heard about the role and the personality of John the Baptist's in redemptive plan of God. This is obvious when John was questioned by the Pharisees. They asked him, who are you? This is a fundamental question we need to ask ourselves everyday. John explained to them that he is just a voice and his role and purpose is to cry in the wilderness in order to make a straight way for the Lord.

This is a fundamental question because it points out to the fundamental reality of who we are and what we have identified ourselves to with. A lot of people do not know who they are or what they have identified themselves with. A lot of people today are sufferings and struggling because they do not know who they are and the identity they bear. Some have misplaced their identity with some thing else, some are putting on an identity that doesn’t belong to them.

Dear friends, Who are you? What is your identity? What is the source of your identity? Whose identity are you putting on now? Why are you putting on someone else identity? Why have you misplaced your identity. John the Baptist was very clear about his identity, he was clear that he was not the Christ. He was clear that he was not Elijah. John was clear that he was not the prophet, he was only a voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord. 

The fact remains that every human person has a special role to play in the Masters plan of God. Though some seem to have more significant role than others. However, whether significant or not, the truth still remains that we all have a role to play. But the question is, how are we playing this role? Are we playing according to the master plan or against it? Are we confuse about who we are and our role in this master plan of God or have deviated from it. 

As the year begins we must ask ourselves the fundamental question: who am I? what is my purpose on this earth? To discover these, we must ensure that we cooperate with God's plan for us and to do these three things are very essential. First we must learn to pray the right way, secondly, we must have a convincing plan, nurture it and not deviate from it. Thirdly, we must be disciplined and strive to live a holy life. Remember, we are playing our own role in the salvation of mankind, our existence means a lot to future generation. 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, our true identity is found only in you through Christ your son, as we rejoice and celebrate his birthday, may we be filled with the joy of his presence and through the intercession of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen,  grant us the grace to live out your purpose in this life.  We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful weekend.