Homily For Saturday Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 15th October, 2022. The Memorial of St. Theresa of Avila

 Readings: Eph 1:15-23, Ps. 8, Luke 12:8-12

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHAT ARE THE “UNFORGIVABLE” SIN AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT?

From this frightening passage, Jesus reveals to us that sins no matter how grievous can be forgiven, but there is a particular sin that will not be forgiven. That is, the sin against the Holy Spirit. But what is this sin against the Holy Spirit? And why would it not be forgiven? The sin against the Holy Spirit is rooted from ones outright rejection of God’s grace of salvation offered to us through the Holy Spirit ‘s incessant invitations, and warnings. This happens when the will of a person is hardened against God’s mercy and goodness.

Hence the sin against the Holy Spirit is “unforgivable” because it is the sinner himself who rejected God’s forgiveness. This is so, because God respects the freedom which He has given us, for he respects a sinner’s decision to firmly refuse to be forgiven. Thus, this sin, traditionally has been seen as a sin of final impenitence, or presumption, which occurs in a situation where someone sinned gravely and then either fails to have any sorrow for that sin or simply presumes on God’s mercy without truly repenting. And this lack of sorrow closes the door to God’s mercy against the sinner. 

To make this clearer, Pope Pius X in his catechism made us to know that there are six elements of this sin against the Holy Spirit which includes: Firstly, by despairing of God’s salvation, which occurs when a person completely loses hope of salvation by judging and undermining the divine mercy of God.

Secondly, by presumption of God’s salvation, this occurs out of pride, when a person cultivates in his soul an idea of his own perfection by believing that his salvation has been guaranteed by what he has done. Thirdly by denying the truth of faith recognized as such by the Magisterium of the Church, by considering his personal understanding to be greater than that of the Church and the teachings of the Holy Spirit even after an exhaustive doctrinal explanation. This attitude is referred as the sin of heresy. 

Fourthly, by envying the grace that God gives to other people. This occurs when one detests other peoples gift and possession wishing to have everything alone, thereby  going against the law of love for one’s neighbour. Fifthly, by obstinacy, this occurs when someone resolved to remain firmly in sin and continue in error even after receiving the light and help of the Holy Spirit by separating him/herself from God’s will and rejection of His salvation. Lastly, by final impenitence. This occurs as a result of complete rejection of God and the invitation of the Holy Spirit, during ones entire life time even at the hour of death.

Dear friends, we must be very wise for there are many false prophets and teachers operating under the power of the devil leading people away from God. Today Jesus is promising us the Spirit of truth that will give us a special sign for distinguishing true doctrine and true teachers from the false ones. Therefore, let us constantly ask the Holy Spirit to give us the grace of discernment in order to distinguish between good and false prophets and teachers in order not to let them lead us to sin against Him (Holy Spirit). Little wonder St. Paul in our first reading today says: may the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him.

This will help us to understand the life of St. Theresa of Avila whose memorial  we celebrate today. She was one of the most prominent members of early Church, who helped to established a solid foundation for the Church. A life she embraced so deeply and became a renowned mystic and holy woman. For with the help of St. John of the Cross, she was a very important figure in the renewal and reformation of the Carmelite order through which she established the Discalced Carmelites. She is one of the few female Doctors of the Church because of her immense contribution to the faith through her writings and way of life by which she sought to return the Christian faith to it’s purer state. So, let us learn from her how to be true Christians in our way of life, words and deeds. Let us learn to put our trust in God who has promised to keep us from falling away from the true faith we have found in His Son Jesus. 

LET US PRAY: O God, you promised to send us the Spirit of truth, grant we pray, that through the intercessions of St. Theresa of Avila we will always stand and witness to the truth we have found in Jesus against all the false influential prophets and teachers in our society today and never to sin against the Holy Spirit. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful weekend.

Homily for Friday Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 14th October, 2022

 Readings: Eph 1:11-14, Ps. 33, Luke 12:1-7

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

DO NOT BE AFRAID TO FACE THE STORMS OF THIS PASSING WORLD FOR YOU ARE GOD’S VALUABLE INSTRUMENT

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, opinion and faith. Hence, Jesus knowing the difficulties and challenges his disciples will encounter, needed to train and instruct them properly, so that they can stand firm in the midst of threats, oppositions and persecution that may bring fear in their midst.

Thus, in our Gospel passage today, Jesus continues with his instruction on what it means to be a firm disciple in 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 moment of killings, brutality, poverty, sickness, persecution, intimidation, greed, immorality, wars, famines, genocide in our families, societies, country and the world at large. This ugly condition can make someone to completely lose hope in humanity and also in God. But Jesus do not want us to lose hope, rather he wants us to be that firm and strong disciples that will stand firm and courageously face the ugly situation we encounter everyday. For Jesus needs firm disciples that 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 occupied. We should not give in to some of these powerful ways of silencing people from expressing their views, opinion and faith. Yes all over the world, there are wars against injustice, protests against intimidation and brutality of innocent people especially in our country. 

Hence, we the youths ought to be out seeking for justice, equity and good governance. We must not stop or give up in 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. Little wonder St. Paul in our first reading says: you too have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit of the Promise, the pledge of our inheritance which brings freedom for those whom God has taken for his own, to make his glory praised

Dear friends, as disciples of Jesus, our purpose in life is to become like him in deeds and in character. By so doing we will have confident that God will enable us to carry out the work that he has entrusted to us even in the midst of persecution, knowing that neither the human person nor the devil can affect our soul. We can be confident of God’s intimate care for us, because He knows even the numbers of the hairs on our head. Thus, as true disciples of Jesus we should not be afraid to face the storms of this passing world for we are God’s valuable instrument. So, we must have confidence and remain firm in faith even in the midst of persecution, intimidation, brutality, sufferings 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 interest of humanity. Grant us we pray, the grace to resist their evil and ugly attitude and to stand firm in the midst of all the oppositions and persecutions we may encounter in our daily lives, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a blessed and peaceful day.

Homily for Thursday Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 13th October, 2022

Readings: Eph 1:1-10, Ps. 98, Luke 11:47-54

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHY DO WE OFTEN SET TRAPS TO CATCH INNOCENT PEOPLE WHO SPEAKS TRUTH?

Today in our Gospel passage Jesus continued with his reproach on the Scribes and the Pharisee for hardening their hearts from the teaching of Jesus, and 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 in the various occasions when we ought to obey the Lord but preferred to live and act in accordance to 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 also killed the prophets. In a similar way, Jesus despite all the signs and wonders he had done for humanity we still refused to have faith in him. 

Little wonder, St. Paul in our first reading says: blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ. For he chose us in him before the foundation of world, that we should be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence. Telling us how much God loves us and how necessary it is for us to listen to him.

Dear friends, why do we often feel bad to hear people telling us the truth? Why do we often set traps to catch up with the innocent people because they are telling us the truth we don’t want to hear? Today we are called not to be like the Scribes and Pharisees, who out of pride and selfishness rejected the words of Jesus and sort to kill him. Rather, we should be more humble and disposed towards the words of God we hear everyday. We should make efforts to transform our lives and faith more closer to that of Jesus. We should stop opposing and setting traps for people because they are telling us the truth or refuse to follow our opinion. Let us stop building on the past ugly and evil attitudes of people who have gone before us just like the scribes and Pharisees.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, out of pride we often wish to eliminate those who correct us. As you reproach this 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. Do have a blessed day.

Homily for Wednesday Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 12th October, 2022

 Readings: Gal 5:18-25, Ps. 1: 1-6, Luke 11:42-46

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

BUILDING OUR INTERIOR LIFE STRONG IS BETTER THAN LIVING A FAKE LIFE OF PACKAGING 

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 draws the admiration of people, but within it are full of dead man'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 to actually loose focus of how we ought to do things. 

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 life. 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 and the things we see around us today are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful and draws 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 we like the scribes and the Pharisees are interested mostly in external beauty of things around us while neglecting there essence. We are self-satisfied, and often time 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 tells us that, when self-indulgence is at work in us the results are gross indecency, fornication, and sexual irresponsibility; idolatry and sorcery; feuds and wrangling, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels; disagreements, factions, envy; drunkenness, orgies and similar things. He then earns us to embrace the interior life of the spirit which brings love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control for when we  are led by the Spirit, no law can touch us. 

Dear friends, 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 us. This may seem very difficult. But, we need to change in so many ways especially as regards our attitude towards things of this passing world.  For God is calling us to repentance, He wants to come into our souls and dwells. 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 whitewashed tombs of deception, immorality and corruption. Give us grace to be wise enough to discern what is right and pleasing to you. And as we struggle with the ugly situation of this life, may you guide and direct our paths. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.

Homily for Tuesday Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 11th October, 2022

 Readings: Gal 5:1-6, Ps. 119, Luke 11:37-41

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

THE TRUE NATURE AND PURITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON COMES FROM WITHIN OUR INTERIOR LIFE 

Our society is full of artful deception, dishonesty and fraudsters. Integrity has become virus to be eliminated. Morals and virtuous acts are no longer valuable. Heroes of deception and fraudsters are honored, decorated and celebrated. This unhealthy attitude of humanity is what Jesus is addressing in our Gospel passage today. For when a Pharisee invited Jesus to a 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 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 with the outward appearance and the ‘letters’ of the Law, that they neglected the ‘spirit’ of the Law. However, Jesus made it clear that the purity of the human person is not based on 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 our salvation is due to our faith in God and not just on the Law or the obedience to the Law. That is why he rebuked those who forced and demanded that every members of the Christian faithful should embrace circumcision according to the Law of Moses. Therefore, letting us to know that without faith, all of our good actions, obedience and the observances of the Law will be empty and meaningless.

Dear friends, the true nature and purity of the human person comes from within our interior life. So, 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 virtuous and truthful actions in our daily activities. Therefore, we must 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, 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. Do have a fruitful day. 

Homily for Monday Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 10th October, 2022

 Readings: Gal 4:22-24.26-27.31-5:1, Ps. 113, Luke 11:29-32

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

REPENT AND STOP SEEKING FOR UNNECESSARY SIGNS 

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 sign of all time 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 to 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. He also warns us 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. 

And St. Paul in our first reading today reminded us the sign of God’s promise to Abraham as a result of his faith, by comparing between the two sons of Abraham, the one born earlier to the slave Hagar, namely Ishmael, and the one born of his wife, Sarah, the promised son, Isaac, born as promised by God. Thereby giving us the contrast between the two states of our existences, namely our past, sinful and slavery life, and our new and purified life which we obtained through our baptism the greatest sign of our redemption.

Dear friends, what signs are we seeing around us today? How can we interpret the signs of this times, the signs that tell us that this world is passing away? Do these signs make us to 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 for signs, rather we should repent and 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: Lord God, 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 times. And as we carryout 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, 9th October, 2022

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

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

LEARN TO SAY THANK YOU TO GOD AND THE PEOPLE HE USES IN BLESSINGS YOU, FOR THAT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

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 illustrates 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 your 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 is 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 realized that God is the source of his healing. Unfortunately, God’s greatest gifts, which is 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.

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 for 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 leprocious problems you are passing through? Are you weigh 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 of 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. He desires to be with us as we struggle everyday 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 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 am sorry Lord, am sorry for having deviated from you, and now is time to come back and say thank you Lord. It’s time to let go of hurtful feelings, it’s time to let go of malice and the bitterness in our hearts and say thank you Lord for your mercies in my life. It’s time to say yes! Yes! to God and no! no! to pride and all the distracting things of this passing world. It’s time to love, is time to share, is time to bear with one another’s failings. It’s time to forgive those who have offended us and ask for forgiveness from those we have offended.

Yes it’s time to thank God and all those that 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’ time to thank our maids, neighbours, colleagues, classmates and friends. It’s time to thank our governments, civil servants, pastors, doctors, nurses, lawyer, police officers, military men and women who are faithful in their humanitarian services. Yes, It’s time 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 has helped us but we have never thought it necessary to say thanks. Today maybe 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 bye. 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 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 inner most 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.