Homily For Monday Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time Year C, 17th October, 2022. The Memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch

 Readings: Eph 2:1:10, Ps.100, Luke 12:13-21

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

LEARN TO DETACH AND SHARE YOUR WORLDLY POSSESSIONS WITH OTHERS

There is no doubt that material things of this passing world is very necessary for our well-being. In fact they are gifts from God and he alone gives us the right to them. But what we possess is meant to help us grow in our relationship with God and neighours not to separate us from them, because if we are not careful, too much love for material possession can be an obstacle on our way towards God’s Kingdom. Little wonder Jesus in our Gospel passage today warns us against covetousness and excessive attachment to worldly possessions. This he greatly emphasized with the story of the rich Man Harvest. 

In this story a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, “What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops.” Then he said, “This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time.” But God said to him, “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then.

Here, Jesus tells his disciples about the need to live a life of detachment. He used this story to teach his disciples and all of us about the futility of worldly desires and it’s pursuits. Thereby showing us the foolishness of human greed, as well as pride and ego. For in this man we see the uselessness of human selfishness, covetousness and excess desire for worldly possession, as he constantly focused only on himself saying I will do this, I will do that, ‘my goods, my fruits, my barns, my soul, etc, without any interest or room for his neighbours or the poor. He has no thought of God, nor of his own servants. If he had looked a little beyond himself, he would have seen many places where he could have bestowed his crops.  Thus, there is need for us to constantly prune ourselves from excess love for material possession of this passing world. 

The fact remains, that, material possessions in themselves are good, for we would not survive for long without them, but excess attachment to it at the expense of eternal life is grade one suicide. No doubt, it is difficult to give out or share our possession, but the ones who give up everything are the ones who receives more in this life as well as in heaven. For St. Paul tells us in our first reading that, we all like those in the past are living sensual lives, ruled entirely by our own physical desires and our own ideas; so that by nature we were as much under God’s anger as the rest of the world. But God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy: when we were dead through our sins, he brought us to life with Christ.

Dear friends, detaching and sharing what we possess with others especially the poor is a sure way to finding life, peace, happiness. And Jesus is telling us that it will be difficult for us to enter his kingdom when we choose to attach ourselves in the riches of this passing world. Though material possessions are gifts from God and he alone gives us the right to have them, but what we possess is not meant to separate us from God, rather, they should help us to grow in our relationship with God and neighours.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are living in a world where materialism is the order of the day, through the intercessions of St Ignatius of Antioch help us to learn how to live a life of detachment and prune us always from the sin of covetousness and pride, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed week.

Homily For Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 16th October, 2022

 Reading: Exo. 17:8-13; Ps.121; 2Tim.3:14-4:2; Luke:18:1-8

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

DON’T GIVE UP SO EASILY FOR PRAYER SOMETHING REQUIRES PERSEVERANCE AND PERSISTENCY 

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 doors remained shut. In such moments what should we do? Quit or persist in our request?

Jesus in our Gospel passage today gave us the answer to this question. For using the parable of the widow and the unjust judge he addressed the issues of faith in difficult times and the need to persevere in prayer. Here Jesus reassures us that God hears our prayers. He tells us that we need to pray continually and never lose heart. In this parable Jesus is not comparing God to an unjust judge,  but he is saying that if through perseverance one obtains justice from an unjust judge, how much more will we receive our hearts desires from a good and loving Father? For persevering in prayer teaches us that God does not need to be informed of our needs, rather he is training us to learn how to be patient with life situations and struggles.

The parable also serves to encourage those suffering from injustice to continue with their struggles and also the call for justice for everyone. In this parable, we learn how we should persist in our complaints, and prayerfully confront unjust authorities in order to effect the change needed for justice to reign. Thus, Jesus is encouraging us never to lose heart in times of injustice and challenges of life, rather, we should approach God with confidence, persisting until we obtain what we need. We should keep on asking, seeking, and knocking in prayer until we obtain the answer we need. 

This is what we heard in our first reading today when we heard how the people of Israel was victorious in the battle at Rephidim. For as long as Moses kept his arms raised, Israel had the advantage; when he let his arms fall, the advantage went to Amalek. And when Moses’ arms grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him to support him. Also Aaron and Hur supporting his arms, one on one side, one on the other; and his arms remained firm till sunset. And with the edge of the sword Joshua cut down Amalek and his people and victory was granted to the chosen people of God. This teaches us that sometimes prayer requires the support of others especially in difficult situations, for we need one another. 

Now we can understand the value of praying for one another. Yes, there is strength and strong connection when we pray together or support one another in prayers. For it is often said that the family that prayers together stays together. Prayer has the power to strengthen families and improve relationships, that’s precisely why we need to have a special prayer place for everyone in our family. Our Family prayer is the bound that holds us together. It’s the spiritual foundation of our home which is a solid base that gives our children the security and confidence to face challenges in life. This is why we need to teach our children the important of prayers and the need to inspire them to pray and study the scriptures.

Little wonder St. Paul in our second reading today says: all scripture is inspired by God and can profitably be used for teaching, for refuting error, for guiding people’s lives and teaching them to be holy. This is how the man who is dedicated to God becomes fully equipped and ready for any good work. He continues: I put this duty to you, in the name of Christ Jesus and of his kingdom: proclaim the message in season and out of season, welcome or unwelcome, insist on it. Refute falsehood, correct error, call to obedience. But do all with patience and with the intention of teaching.

Dear friends, have you been truly in need of something from a friend who is capable of give you what you need but has not yet giving it to you? Or have you been in a situation where you needed something from a friend but cannot get it because you can not reach him or does not know how to 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 of waiting and reaching out to him? This kind of disposition is what we experience sometimes when we pray and our requests are yet to be granted. 

In such moments we should not give up easily for sometime prayers require persistency and perseverance. For these 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, for people are not ready to wait for God’s time. Let me ask you a question? “As good parents who love their children, if your seven years old son walk up to the Father who his capable to give his son anything he asks saying:  father I want you to give me the car key for I wish to own and drive a car. 

As a good and loving father what will you do? Give him the car key immediately because you can afford it knowing that the car at this stage of his life will put his life and the life of other people in danger? Or will not rather ask him to wait for the right time when he is matured enough and passed through driving school, then he will be able to manage the car properly?” This is how God relates with us as our loving Father. But we are not just patient with God. We want to have everything right now as it is hot without knowing if it is the right time and right thing for us to have. The fact remains that patient, persistency and perseverance help us to conform our will to God’s will, but I  don’t know why these are very difficult virtue for most people acquire today. Let us learn to be patient with God in prayers, let us learn to wait for God’s time, knowing that God’s time is always the best for us. Let us not give up so easily especially in difficult and challenges situations. Let us learn how to wait on God’s intervention through our persistent in prayer.

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, 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. Wishing you a fruitful Sunday celebration.

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.