Homily for Friday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 8th October, 2021

 Homily for Friday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 8th October, 2021.

Readings: Joel 1:13:15.2:1-2; Ps.9;  Luke 11:15-26

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

HUMAN CRAFTINESS AND THE DENIAL OF SPIRITUAL REALITY

One of the gifts of God to us is the gift of discernment, which enables us to know and distinguish between good and evil spirit. This gift is very important to the office of every leader. But it is sad and unacceptable when a leader decided to misused this gift out of envy and jealousy. This is the attitudes of some of the people in the crowd especially those who belong to the party of the Pharisee as we have it in our Gospel passage today. 

For  we heard how Jesus had delivered a man possessed by an evil spirit. The spirit had bound his tongue and made him mute. But when Jesus had cast out the demon from the man and the man spoke, some people in the crowd who belonged to the party of the Pharisees watched this great miracle as it happened said that it was through the power of Beelzebul the prince of demons that he was able to cast the devil out. 

This is because they were adamant in their opposition against Jesus which were propelled by envy and jealousy. That is why they were unable to look beyond their narrow-mindedness and stubbornness in insisting that their way was the true way while others like our Lord Jesus were wrong. But Jesus as usual used this opportunity to correct them by pointing out the mistakes in their argument. Thus, telling us that it does not make sense for the demons to be fighting one another and so be divided among themselves. Because any house that divides within itself can not stand, and as we know the evil ones are always united in their plans to bring about destruction in human activities.

Dear friends, we are called today to make proper use of the gift of discernment which the Lord has given us. We must not let envy, jealousy and over ambition make us to deny the truth about the spiritual realities we experience from the Lord. We must not let the devil succeed in sowing the spirit of division among us. We should also ask God to endow us with the spirit of discernment and truth especially this period that we are faced with the ugly and sad attitude of human deception all over the world. Thus, prophet Joel in our first reading today said: sound the trumpet in Zion give the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the country tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, yes, it is near. Therefore, we must not allowed ourselves to be distracted by those who wish to see us fall.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we struggle everyday with the manipulation of the evils ones, give us the grace to overcome them, may we never be misled by the devil and all of his forces, as they often attempted to sow divisions and dissensions among us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you. 

Homily for Thursday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 7th October, 2021. The Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

 Homily for Thursday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 7th October, 2021. The Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

Readings: Mal. 3:13-4:2; Ps. 9; Luke 11:5-13

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WE WILL OBTAIN WHATEVER WE NEED THROUGH PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCY IN PRAYER

Have you been truly in need of something from a friend who is capable of give you what you needed but he is so busy to give you what you need now? Or have you been in a situation where you needed something from a friend but cannot get it because you can not reach him easily. Such a situation can make one to be under serious pressure. Then the question that comes to mind is, are we going to give up or persevere in our struggles on waiting or reaching out to him? This kind of disposition is what we experience sometimes when we pray and our requests are yet to be granted.

And this kind of situation is what Jesus is addressing in the story in our Gospel passage today as he continue his teaching on prayer. Thus, telling us that we should approach God with confidence as a friend, persisting until we obtain what we need. We should keep on asking, seeking, and knocking in prayer until we obtain the answer we need. Just like a boy asking his father for a fish or an egg, knowing that his father would not give him a snake or a scorpion instead of the fish or egg he had requested. 

With this illustration Jesus emphasized that if we, who are prune to evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more shall the heavenly Father give to those who ask him. And in our first reading  we heard the Lord said: I will make allowances for those who serve the Lord as a man makes allowances for the son who obeys him. Then once again you will see the difference between an upright man and a wicked one, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him

Dear friends, there are times when we asked and we received, sought and found, knocked and it was opened to us. But there were also times when we asked but did not receive, seek but did not find, knocked but the door remained shut. In such moments persistency and perseverance in prayer are what we are called to embrace. For they will help us to understand how to trust God knowing  that he does not need to be informed of our needs, thereby encouraging us never to lose heart. This is certainly one of the biggest challenges of our faith today. People are not just patient with God. We want to have everything right now as it is hot. Patient, persistency and perseverance are very difficult virtue for most people today.

Therefore, let us learn from Mary how to be patient, persistent and persevere in prayer especially as we celebrate the Memorial of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. An event where we recall the famous victory of the Christian faithful against the enemies of the Church in the battle of Lepanto, where through the prayers and intercessions of Our Blessed Mother Mary the Church became victorious when the situation of the Christian faith were in extreme danger and were bitterly divided by the various heresies and splinter groups appearing at the time due to the reformation movement. 

Then, Pope Pius V called all of Christendom to pray the rosary fervently, sorting the intercession of Mary the Mother of God that her Son Jesus should be with the faithful fighting for the survival of the Christian faith which was under persecution and trials. And through the power of their dedication to praying the Rosary, God granted victory to his faithful people, and this  is the root of our October devotion. Hence, we should learn how to be patient and persevere in our prayers.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, oftentimes we are not patient with you in our prayers, give us the grace to persevere and be persistent in our prayer life and in every other things we do in life, especially in our relationship with others. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily for Wednesday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 6th October, 2021

 Homily for Wednesday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 6th October, 2021. 

Readings: Jonah 4:1-11, Ps. 86, Luke 11:1-4

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

LORD, TEACH US ONCE AGAIN HOW TO PRAY PROPERLY

Prayer is a means of communication between God and humanity. It is a close link by which we reach God who dwells in our hearts. It is through prayer we discern the will of God for us. Hence, if we have not been able to discern the will of God for our lives or have not had any personal relationship with God in prayers, then perhaps we should consider to examine our prayer life to know if we have been praying the right way. Thus we can learn the proper way to pray from the prayer Jesus taught his disciples as pattern of all prayers as we have it in our Gospel passage today.

In this prayer we have four traditional dimensions of prayer which includes: glorification of God, submission, justice and protection. Jesus begins by saying: Father, hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come, thereby teaching us that we begin any of our prayers by glorifying God. Following this is our total submission to God’s providence when we say: give us each day our daily bread. Then, we acknowledge the justice and mercy of God when we say: forgive us our sins as we for give those we have sinned against us. And finally we ask for God’s guidance and protection when we say: lead us not into temptation but deliver us from all evil.

This is important because it is the means by which we communicate with our God. But often time we treat prayer wrongly when we consider prayer as a means to only achieve what we desired without considering what God desires for us. This is obvious in our first reading today in the prayer of Jonah who wished that God should condemn the people of Nineveh after his preacher. But God out of compassion forgive them and so Jonah was  angry and prayed saying: Ah, Lord, is not this just as I said would happen when I was still at home? That was why I went and fled to Tarshish: I knew that you were a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, relenting from evil. So now, Lord, please take away my life. The Lord replied, ‘Are you right to be angry?’ ‘You are only upset about a castor-oil plant which cost you no labour, which you did not make grow, which sprouted in a night and has perished in a night. And am I not to feel sorry for Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people.l  

Dear friends, it is time for us to change our perspective and wrong disposition towards prayers. It is time for us to spend more quality moment in prayer and be connected with God. We must let our prayers also be meaningful and be genuine from our hearts. It is time  for us to improve the quality of our prayer life by imitating Jesus, who always prayed to his heavenly Father at every possible opportunities. But some of us end up spending lots of time reciting the prayers and yet we did not mean what we say, because we have wrong disposition born from unforgiving heart which must be redirected before we can get a positive response from God.

LET US PRAY; Lord God, we do not know how to pray properly, as we carryout our daily devotion, teach us once again how to pray properly, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful day.

Homily for Tuesday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 5th October, 2021

 Homily for Tuesday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 5th October, 2021

Readings: Gal 1: 13-24, Ps. 139, Luke 10:38-42

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

BUSY WITHOUT LISTENING AND LISTENING WITHOUT DOING IS WORTHLESS

Listening is one of the vital aspect of the human person, which is very much lacking in most of our communication this days. This is because, oftentimes, we worry about so many things in life, trying to let people hear us without taking time to listen to them. There are people who are always trying to satisfy everyone without listening to the real thing that matters. I have also come across people who are often worried about how to make others feel more comfortable without minding their own discomfort. They are so concerned with pleasing others even when they are not pleased. What a great sacrificial virtue that is not common this days. 

This sacrificial virtue is the attitude of Martha in our Gospel passage today were we have the story of how Martha was so busy trying to make Jesus comfortable when he visited them at their house in Bethany. But when Martha observed that her sister Mary was not helping out in the preparation, rather was busy listening to Jesus, she said to Jesus: “Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered: ‘Martha, Martha, you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her”.

Here, Jesus is not condemning this great sacrificial virtue nor condoning laziness. Rather, he is saying that busy without listening and listening without doing is worthless. Hence, he gently correct the impression of Martha who was too busy and distracted with so many things that she risks losing sight of what is really important, that is, listening to Jesus. This is because Martha gives the impression that Mary is just sitting there doing nothing. But, in fact, she is listening to Jesus.

However, Jesus is not telling us to be content with sitting down and listen to his word, for he always insists that listening to his word means putting it into practice. While his objection to Martha request is because she was too anxious and distracted by many things, that she was not able to really listen to him and for Jesus listening is the best option. It is this act of listening that saved the people of Nineveh in our first reading today, because when they  listened to the preaching of prophet Jonah, the whole city of Nineveh went into great mourning and repentance before God. For everyone who listened to Jonah beginning from the King, who issued an  order that the whole city and its people should repent from their sins, right down to the lowest among the people, all humbled themselves, tore their clothes and wore sackcloth as a sign of penance.

Dear friends, in our relationship with Jesus, are we more of listener or more of accommodating and caring? Are we more like Martha or like Mary, for they were both friends of Jesus? Today many of us are so busy and anxious of so many things that we have no time to listen to God speaking to us and addressing the situation we are actually busy trying to solve. Today we are called like Martha to pause and listen, so that we can hear God speaking to us and directing us towards the right path.

Thus, Martha who was known as a friend of Jesus, loved to welcome him into her home, let us learn from her, knowing that hospitality is perfected when we have a listening ear. For it is a great virtue to be hospitable and caring especially when we spend quality time to listen to God and letting him direct and guide us towards carrying out our daily tasks. 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are always so busy with the things of this passing world, that we often do not have time listen to you. Give us the grace like Mary to chose the better part which is to truly listen to your word and then be well disposed to be caring and hospitable just like Martha, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed day.

Homily for Monday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 4th October, 2021. The Memorial of St Francis of Assisi

 Homily for Monday Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 4th October, 2021. The Memorial of St Francis of Assisi.

Readings: Jonah 1:1-17;2:1-10; Ps. Jonah 2:2-7; Luke 10:25-37 

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

LOVING GOD AND NEIGHBOUR ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR ETERNAL LIFE

As humans we are always desiring to know what life requires of us, especially when we are faced with the realities of life. We often want to know the things that should be our first priority. So we always ask questions that will help us in addressing most of the challenges we encounter. These questions are sometimes meant to test our ability towards understanding the realities of life.   

This is the deposition of the lawyer in our Gospel passage today, who came to Jesus to test him by asked him question concerning the requirements for inheriting eternal life. This lawyer backing up his question with his knowledge of the ten commandment, made reference to the 'Shema Israel’, the prayer that the people of Israel knew and recite from their earliest years, from which they learned 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 and to love their neigbhour as well. 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. 

But this lawyer needed more clarification concerning this requirements, then he asked Jesus a second important question when he said: who is my neighbour? At this point Jesus did not just explained, he illustrated who a true neighbour should be with the famous story of the good Samaritan. In fact, from the story Jesus did not just answer the question: ‘who is my neighbor?’ He also demonstrate what a true and righteous neighbour should be like, thereby showing us that our neighbours are often those we least expect to be a neighbours. For our neighbour can be anyone even the ones we most despised or feared just like the good Samaritan and this tells us that a true neighbour shows compassion, love, care and makes sacrifice for others.

This is what Jonah in our first reading today failed to understand when he refused to carryout the mission God has entrusted to him. He rather prepared to run away from the Lord, but since no one can escape from God, Jonah fine himself in the midst of obstacle caused by his disobedience. To overcome the obstacle and save the lives of his neighbours in the boat, Jonah was thrown into the sea. But, the Lord had arranged that a great fish should be there to swallow Jonah; and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. The Lord spoke to the fish, which then vomited Jonah on to the shore.

Dear friends, love is the center of all the teachings of Jesus, for love is a gift from God to humanity. It is like the stream water, so innocent and pure. A true love is not hidden, it radiates from the innermost being of a person who experienced 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. 

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 love one another. How I wish we can 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 community. 

LET US PRAY: Almighty God, in you resides the fullness of love, grant that we may 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. Do have a fruitful week ahead.

Homily for Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, 3rd October, 2021.

 Homily for Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, 3rd October, 2021.

Readings:  Gen. 2:18-24;  Ps. 128; Heb. 2:9-11; Matt. 10:2-16

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

ADDRESSING THE ISSUES CONCERNING MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE IN FAMILY LIFE

The fragile nature of our society today has placed in the minds of the youths a distorted image of what marriage and family life entails and truly represent in the society. This is because many young people today find themselves in a condition of radical instability and look for people to help them answer the fundamental questions of life. Today there are different notion and understanding of marriage especially among the youths. Marriage is seen as a business which anybody can engage or disengage at anytime. 

Marriage among the youths of today is a thing of choice and contract which is suitable only when it serves their personal interest. Commitment, sacrifice and partnerships of a whole life are far from their understanding of what marriage truly represent. The fact remains that Marriage is the basis of every human family and indeed the basic cell of every community.

Little wonder in our first reading today, we heard Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helpmate and in our Gospel passage today we heard how the Pharisees engaged Jesus on the notion of divorce in marriage and it’s controversy. Jesus refer them to the fundamental principle of marriage when he said, ‘It was because you were so unteachable that Moses wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. This is why a man must leave father and mother, and the two become one body. They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide. And he said to them, ‘The man who divorces his wife and marries another is guilty of adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another she is guilty of adultery too.

Here, Jesus emphasized on the real intention of God about marriage. Though, there are two forms of life that help us to value human sexuality as a gift from God that is marriage and Celibate life. So, Jesus ruled out divorce by placing men and women on the same level; no longer could a man opt to divorce his wife. But today there are lots of problems in family due to lack of understanding of what marriage truly means. 

It is quite interesting to realize that social, economic and political factors were major determinants that shapes the youths present understand of marriage, as we see the youths giving importance to changing trends in marriage such as: single parent, inter-caste marriage, living in relationship or cohabitation, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender marriages, etc. Hence, marriage for them is more of a social phenomenon than spiritual union and physical companionship.

This must be corrected because marriage is much more than a social phenomenon. To understand what marriage truly means, we need to look how the Church defined marriage in  Canon 1055 of code of Canon Law which states that: marriage is the matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole  life and which is ordered by its nature to the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring, has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament between the baptized. 

Here, marriage is defined as a covenant between a man an a woman, that means marriage is sacrificial love not a social events between people or things with a particular selfish interest or ambition. It also talks about the partnership of the whole life which is made for the good of the spouses not for one person, not just for contract that you can abandoned at anytime you feel like. It tells us that marriage must be opened for procreation and education of offspring because most people today are not interested in the procreation and those who are open to procreation are not ready to educate their offspring. And finally since marriage between the baptized is raised to the dignity of sacrament, it must be sacred, enduring for the whole life time and uncontaminated. 

Dear friends, we are having issues in marital life because we have chosen to abandoned God in our lives, we feel that God is so rigid, so we want to eliminate him from our activities. Thus, we have abandoned God and divorced him, by trusting on our own power and ability which he has given us. Yet God still remembers the covenant he made with us, he is not ashamed to identify with us. All he wants is for us to come back to him now that we are still alive for he is a merciful and faithful husband who loves us as his bride.  So, today we are called to embrace the will of God and his teaching concerning family life and the issue of divorce. We should not let the trending ideas of disordered personalities in our world mislead us. Rather, we should value and respect the sanctity marriage.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we have always failed to listen and follow you teaching, as a result, there are lots of problems in  our families due to lack of understanding of what marriage truly means. As we listen to your teaching today, help us to value our vocation whether marriage or celibate life and to constantly struggle to fix the problems in our families, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Happy Sunday.

Homily for Saturday Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 2nd October, 2021. The Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

 Homily for Saturday Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 2nd October, 2021. The Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

Readings:  Exodus 23:20-23; Ps.91; Matt.18:1-5.10

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

BEHOLD I SEND AN ANGEL BEFORE YOU TO GUIDE YOU ON YOUR WAY SAY THE LORD

As humans we often experience some level of favour, providence and protection which we do not expect. Sometime we wonder how we managed to escape some dangerous actions on our way or what has inspired and sustained us in doing great works. The answer to this question is found in the memorial we are celebrating today, that is, our Holy Guardian Angels whom God had set before us, to be our guide and protector in our constant struggle against war that rages in our souls. In this angels we celebrate God’s loving care for each and everyone of us, for God sends them to guide and to protect us. They are higher being then us but God put them at our service. 

The angels have one goal in mind that is the glorification of God, which for our sake consist in our salvation and sanctification. They are prepared to do anything in order to procure our salvation and increase our sanctification. So, angels do protect us physically but more than that, they protect us more spiritually especially guiding and protecting our souls from the danger of sin and condemnation, they do this by putting in us a holy fear, or contempt for those evil we know we should avoid. They enlighten our minds in order to help us to know the good we ought to do and the evil we are to avoid, this they do by acting upon the sensible part of our souls, our emotions and sentiments and so inspire us with joy, peace and favour of God. For God communicate his message to us through their mediation.

Thus, in our Gospel passage today Jesus, tell us to be humble like little children in following the directives of our Guardian Angels. As he also warned us from misleading the little children in their faith or in harming them, for their Angels in heaven are constantly interceding for them. And in our first reading the Lord says: ‘I myself will send an angel before you to guard you as you go and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Give him reverence and listen to all that he says. Offer him no defiance; he would not pardon such a fault, for my name is in him. If you listen carefully to his voice and do all that I say, I shall be enemy to your enemies, foe to your foes. My angel will go before you.’

Dear friends, God has always provided for us and protected us. He often send his Angels before us. All we have to do is to trust in the Lord and follow the directives that our Guardian Angels had proposed for us. Because, they are always before God interceding and praying constantly for us. They often speak to us and communicate the message of God to us, but we are often too busy and distracted by the noisy thing of this passing world, which the devil has been using to lead us astray. We can not give-in to his schemes if we remain faithful and attentive to our Holy Guardian Angels.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of our Guardian Angels, today we ask that through their intercession may we always find favour in your sight and before men, and always be defended by their protection and rejoice eternally in their company as we say: Angel of God, our guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits us here. Ever this day be at our side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen. Do have a fruitful weekend.