Homily For Monday Sixth Week of Eastertide Year A, 15th May, 2023

Readings: Acts 16:11-15; Ps.150; John 15:26:16-4

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

 

OBTAINING THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

 

In our societies, today many false influential powers have e great effect on our lives coming from various sources under the guise of good but are in fact leading us astray. So, there is need for us to examine these influences and today in our Gospel passage, Jesus said to his disciples: when the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness. And you too will be witnesses, because you have been with me from the outset. ‘I have told you all this that your faith may not be shaken.

 

Thus, the Holy Spirit will lead us to learn how to distinguish clearly where and in whom dwells the Spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood. As long as we are of God and in Christ, we have nothing to fear for we do not belong any more to this present world, full of sin, hatred, greed, corruption, deceit and violence. Everyday many false prophets and teachers are increasing and are deceiving the people. May God guide us against embracing, too readily, any doctrine proposed to us without due consideration from any teacher that may pretend to have a divine inspiration but are not.

 

Dear friends, we must be very wise for there are many false prophets operating under the power of the devil. 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.

 

Let us also be true Christians in our way of life, words and deeds just like Lydia in our first reading, a devout woman from the town of Thyatira who listened to the word of God, and the Lord opened her heart to accept what Paul was saying. After which she and her household was baptised. 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: Lord God, you promised to send us the Spirit of truth, grant we pray that 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. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a fruitful week.

Homily For Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year A, 14th May, 2023

Readings: Acts.8:5-8.14-17; Ps.66; 1 Pet. 3:15-18;  John 14:15-21

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

 

WAITING FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE PROMISED PARACLETE

 

As the Solemnity of the Ascension comes up soon precisely on Thursday within the week, in anticipation of the Solemnity of the Pentecost coming very soon. The Holy Mother Church today the sixth Sunday of the holy season of Easter, presences to us the instructions and promise of Jesus to his disciples before his departure.

 

Hence, the readings of today draw our attention to the promise of Jesus to his disciples concerning the Counsellor, the Paraclete, the Advocate, God’s Holy Spirit, who will guide and teach them everything about their faith in Jesus and God his Father. Thus in our Gospel passage, Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.’

 

Here, Jesus knowing that he is about to leave his disciples and needed to share a special relationship with them, talks about the Holy Spirit, whom he calls the Spirit of Truth. This is the Spirit who will reveal to his disciples the truth about their faith. He also calls the Spirit "another" Advocate, which presupposes that Jesus also was an Advocate. So, Jesus and the Holy Spirit have some similar functions. Since they both come from the Father and are sent into the world. For Jesus communicates what he has received from his Father and the Holy Spirit declares what he has received from Jesus to his disciples.

 

Therefore, what Jesus has made known to his disciples through the Holy Spirit, has been passed down to us through his Apostles. This promise of Jesus is what we received at the Sacrament of Baptism, when we were baptized in the Name of the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, and then sealed by the Sacrament of Confirmation.

 

Dear Friends, as Christians, the Holy Spirit, the Promised Paraclete plays a very vital roles in our lives and mission. The first role is to help us to establish a special relationship with God through Jesus. Remember the central command that Jesus gave his disciples is for them to love him by obeying His commands. Hence, one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is for us to love Jesus and obey him.

 

Also, when Jesus used the word advocate or counsellor which literally refers to the Greek word parakletos, which means “to stand beside.” Telling us that the role of the Holy Spirit is to stand beside us as our advocate, our helper, our best friend, our encourager, mediator and comforter.

 

As Christians the Holy Spirit connects us to Jesus so that we have a special relationship with God. He stand beside us as our caregiver and also companion who helps us to overcome fears, the devil and sins. He gives us peace and victory if we let him come into our lives.

 

Little wonder, in our first reading, we heard about the great manifestation of the Holy Spirit, as great miracles were worked, unclean spirits came shrieking out of many who were possessed, and several paralytics and cripples were cured and when the Apostles laid hands on the people they received the Holy Spirit.

 

More so, St Peter in our second reading exhorts us as Christians to reverence the Lord Jesus in our hearts, and always have our answer ready for people who will ask us the reason for the hope that we all have. He encouraged us to be active in living up to our faith, to be faithful in all things and deeds that everyone who hears us, witness us and interact with us may know that we are Christians, people who have received the Holy Spirit and are ready and dedicated to do the will of God at all times, even in the midst of the various tragedies we encounter in life.

 

LET US PRAY: Almighty ever-living God, as you promised not to leave us as orphans in this world, but will send your Holy Spirit as our Advocate. Grant we pray that the Holy Spirit our Advocate will help us to conquer the ugly situations in our society and the world at large and so overcome devil and all his evil agents and their evil agenda. Amen. Do have a spirit filled Sunday.

Homily For Saturday Fifth Week of Eastertide Year A, 13th May, 2023

Readings: Acts 16:1-10; Ps.100;  John 15:18-21

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

 

WHY THE HATRED AND PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS?

 

There is no doubt that threat breeds fear, insecurity and anger which brings about the negative feeling we called hatred. Little wonder the word ‘Hate’ is often used to express a negative feeling towards something or someone who we presumed to have some threat over us or something related to us. Meanwhile, hatred as we know is direct opposite of love.

 

This definition is very important in order to understand the teaching of Jesus in our Gospel passage today, when he said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me before you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you do not belong to the world, because my choice withdrew you from the world, therefore the world hates you.”

 

Here, Jesus who has been talking to his disciples about love and commanding them to love one another is today warning and telling them that, there is no guarantee that they will be loved in return by the people of the world. He used himself as an example of how they may be treated, that if the world hated and persecuted him so badly, his disciples should expect to be treated the same way. But why did the worldly-minded people hate and persecuted Jesus and his disciples?

 

This is because the presence and words of Jesus bring great light and judgment to the darkness of this world, and the people of the world loves darkness rather than the Light, since their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. So the presence of Jesus the light of the world threatens the people of the world and this breeds fear, insecurity and anger which brings about the negative feeling of hatred for Jesus and those who associate with him.

 

More so, it is important to note that, when Jesus talks about the “world” as we have it the Gospel passage, he is not referring to the physical world but the people who are so attached to the things of this world. People who have made the things of this passing world their God and have come to trust in their ability to exploit others and acquire the earth as their own.

 

They try very hard to cover their sin and silence the voice of conscience accusing them of their sins. But here are Christians constantly reminding them of their sins as they strive to live a life of holiness which of course stirs up again all those thoughts and feelings of guilt which they wished to silenced. Hence, this threat breeds fear, insecurity and anger that gives birth to hatred of Christian by worldly minded people.

 

Dear friends, today we are called to bear witness even in the face of hatred and hostility. For spite of the world’s hatred, we should never respond with retaliation or hatred. Yes, there may be times to ask God to judge the wicked. There may be times to shake the dust off our feet and move on, of course we have to, knowing that we can do so through the Spirit of truth dwelling in us. For through our Baptism, we have received the Holy Spirit in us, which helps us strive to live a life of love and righteous even in the midst of persecutions and hatred.

 

LET US PRAY: Almighty and eternal God, who through the regenerating power of Baptism have been pleased to confer on us the heavenly life, grant us, we pray, the grace to bear authentic witness of your love and peace in the world full of hatred and strive. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a lovely and peaceful weekend.

Homily For Friday Fifth Week of Eastertide Year A, 12th May, 2022

Readings: Acts 15:22-31; Ps.57;  John 15:12-17

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

 

WHY WE MUST LEARN TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER?

 

Love is a gift from God to mankind, 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 experience it. Most of the problems in our families, societies and the world at large can be traced to one major challenge, that is the absence of sincere love for one another, as most families today exist by grace and not by love. Imagine how wonderful the world would have been if we all love one another.

 

Little wonder, Jesus knowing how important love is for the well being of humanity, made it the center of all his teachings. He presents love of God and love of neighbour as the summary of all the commandments. And in our Gospel passage today, he says: “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you.”

 

So, as Jesus continues his teaching on love, today we heard more about the commandments of loving one another. There is no doubt that we all have experienced God’s love and favour in one way or another. God has done so much for us, giving us everything that we need, and He has shown us all these wonderful love so that we too may know what it truly means to love. And today Jesus is commanding us to also love one another in the same way that God has loved us and this is exemplified by the Apostles in the decision they made concerning how the gentile believers should be treated as we have it in our first reading today.

 

Dear friends, I know that it is not easy to bear the sacrificial nature of love, but that is what the world needs now. So let us be genuine with our actions and love towards one another. Let us not just think about ourselves and our selfish desires, but consider the needs of others. Loving one another requires sacrifice, sacrifice of our comfort, resource, talent, gifts and pride. Loving one another requires forgiveness, mercy, care and humility.

 

How I wish that humanity can invest the amount of energy, time and resources used in producing heavy machines and ammunitions of war into 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 family, a peaceful community and one united humanity build on love. This is why we must learn to love one another.

 

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we make efforts to love one another, grant us the grace to experience true love in our lives, families, communities and the world at large. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen Do have a blessed day.

Homily For Thursday Fifth Week of Eastertide Year A, 11th May, 2023

Readings: Acts 15:7-21; Ps.96;  John 15:9-11

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

 

 REMAIN IN THE LOVE OF GOD BY KEEPING HIS COMMANDMENTS

 

The word “love” means a lot of things to different people. For some, love is one of the common words we use to express our deep feeling of affection for someone or something. But the fact remains that love is much more than that, why? Because it is something greater than the nature of the human person.

 

For me, Love is the nature of God which he shares with His creatures. It is that nature of God which we share with one another. Love is beyond human nature. When we love, we are actually acting out that very nature of God in us and this can be overwhelming and mysterious because it is the nature of God that we share.

 

Therefore, love is God's greatest gift to humanity. A gift that shows how much He loves us by sending His Son whose life giving sacrifice means salvation for the world. So, the love that Jesus has for us is nothing less than the Divine love that unites the Persons of the Trinity, and Jesus presented this love as life that must continue among his disciples. That is why in our Gospel passage today he said to his disciples: ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.

 

Dear friends, let us keep the Lord’s commandments, let us embrace Jesus and the love he is offering us. Let us serve the Lord and his Church faithfully by spreading his love everywhere we find ourselves. The truth is that, it actually feels right and awesome to experience and share the love of God. I don’t know if you have ever loved someone and you show it, or someone loves you and shows it?Or somebody loves you and you know it, it is something great and awesome, because love bring life, 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, just the same way the disciples were able to resolve the issues of circumcision in our first reading today. For they said instead of making things more difficult for pagans who turn to God, we will tell them merely to abstain from anything polluted by idols, from fornication, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as we listened to your words today, may we resolve to keep your commandments and remain in your love. Help us to spread your love to the world and by so doing conquer the hatred, self-centeredness, greed and the sin rooted in our families, societies and the world at large. Amen  Do have a favorable day.

Homily For Wednesday Fifth Week of Eastertide Year A, 10th May, 2023

Readings: Acts 15:1-6; Ps.122;  John 15:18

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

 

ARE YOU STILL CONNECTED WITH JESUS THE TRUE VINE?

 

Since Sunday we have been listening to Jesus’ instructions to his disciples especially as regards to the relationship between him and those who wish to be his disciples. To drive this message down to the level they will understand him, he used the imagery of Vine and branches. The vine as we know is the source of life for the branches. It provides the water and nutrients by which the grapes are produced. Without the vine, no fruit could ever be produced. And branches utterly dependent upon the vine.

 

So as Jesus and his disciples were passing through the vineyards that surround the city after they had concluded their meeting in the upper room in Jerusalem where they celebrated the Passover, Jesus told them the parable of the Vine and the branches as we have it in our Gospel passage today saying: ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing.’

 

Here, Jesus is emphasizing on the need to remain faithful in our relationship with God, as we know in the scriptures, Israel is pictured as a vine which is to produce good fruit. But has failed. Thus, Jesus made them to know that he is the true, genuine and authentic Vine. But in the Old Testament, God’s vine was Israel. He used them to accomplish his purpose in the world. However, he is the true Vine through whom humanity have life.

 

So, the major purpose of this parable is for us to remain faithful in our relationship with God and also to be fruitful in our Christian faith. Because as God’s chosen people, we are expected to produce great, sweet, beautiful, rich fruit of righteousness, holiness, justice, peace, joy and unite to the world. But most of us, just like the Israelites and those men in our first reading today have failed to produce good fruits of love and unity, as we prefer to produce sour, rotten, stinking, tasteless fruit of sin, corruption, greed, cruelty, exploitation and hatred in the world.

 

Dear friends, as branches of Vine which is Christ, our fruit should be the natural outflow of the life of the Vine. For when we are united and identified with Jesus we produce from his Vine the fruit of the Holy Spirit, that sweet and rich wine of love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, self control, holiness, courage and faith which is lacking in the world today.

 

But the questions we need to ask ourselves today are: are we still connected with Jesus the true Vine? What kind of fruit are we producing in this world? What is stopping us from producing good fruit? Do we need to be pruned of our ugly habitual sins? Remember, God prunes a branch so that it may bear more fruit and this pruning is not done only once for it is a constant process.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, we are so much attached to so many things in this passing world, as we find delight in Jesus our true Vine, prune us where we need to be pruned, so that we may remain faithful in our relationship with you and so bear good fruit of your love and peace in our families, societies and the world at large. We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Do remain blessed.

Homily For Tuesday Fifth Week of Eastertide Year A, 9th May, 2023

Readings: Acts 14:19-28; Ps.145;  John 14:27-31

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia.

 

WE ALL NEED PEACE, BUT PEACE IS NOT CHEAP

 

The ugly events we hear and experience on daily basis especially the cases of killings, hatred, betrayals, greed; social and economic injustice, bloodshed, kidnapping, banditry and the massacre of innocent people all over the world is a clear sign that the world has lost a treasure which she enjoys in the presence of God before the fall of man.

 

By original sin, man has lost the peace he enjoyed with God. But God, who is compassionate and gracious, wills to restore back this peace. Hence Jesus who is the fulfillment of God’s plan in time, offers peace to the world as his first gift after his resurrection, when he said to his disciples in our Gospel passage today,  “peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid”.

 

The word Peace from the Hebrew word shalom means more than an absence of conflict or disturbance or war. Rather it signifies a state of complete integration of unity between God and Man, between man and neighours, also between man and his environment. It thus implies everything that Jesus came to achieve in this world. It is the legacy of his life, death and resurrection. Little wonder these words of Jesus are repeated at every Eucharistic celebration, where Jesus offers us his peace again and again.

 

But the questions we need to ask ourselves are: Have we really embraced this peace in our lives? Do we experience this peace at the Eucharistic banquet every time we participate at the Holy Mass? Am I an instrument of peace to my neighbour, my family and the society at large? Am I ready to sacrifice my possessions, my ambition and my life for the sake of peace? Am I ready to forgive those who offended me and seek reconciliation for the sake of peace?

 

 St Paul in our first reading today was stoned and dragged out of the city because he offered the word of peace to the people who rejected it. Should we give up because our peace has been rejected by people? Should we stop being peace-loving because of persecution? Will I be courageous enough to let peace be known in the world where killings, hatred, betrayals, greed; social and economic injustice, bloodshed, kidnapping, banditry and the massacre of innocent people have become the order of the day? Will I use the peace I have found in Jesus to reshape the world around me? Will I let this peace reign supreme in my heart?

 

Dear friends, we all need peace, but peace is not cheap, because it requires sacrifice. Are we ready to sacrifice for the sake of peace like Jesus. For in every Eucharistic sacrifice, Jesus is offers us his peace in sacrificial way. Today he is searching for true and available instruments of peace. He wants to use us as his instruments of peace in our families and in the world. Are we available? Can we make the sacrifices and be that instruments of peace?  Can his peace reign in our hearts, so that we can  extend this peace to our families, societies, country and the world at large? Lord make us instrument of your peace.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, in the midst of the chaos, tribulations, hatred, betrayals, greed, violence, banditry and kidnapping in our world today, grant we pray the grace to be true instruments of your peace in our homes, societies, country and the world at large, so that our world may be restored back to its original harmony and the face of the earth be renewed. This we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.