Homilies

Vocation Sunday: A Call to Fidelity, NOT Celebrity  Acts 13:42-52; Revelation 7:9, 14b-17; John 10:27-30 If the resurrection saga of Jesus has stirred so much controversy because the Jews wanted to discredit it, this Sunday’s readings have decided to shift gears and attention. Instead of dwelling on Jewish opposition to the resurrection story, the search light is turned on how those who preach the resurrection should do their job: we move from opposition to witnessing to the resurrection of Jesus Christ as individual Christians. The fundamental question is how does one respond to opposition to what one stands for? Better put, how does one dealRead More →

From Philos to Agapē: “Do you love me? . . . . Follow me!” Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41; Revelation 5:11-14;  John 21:1-19 How normal is it for anyone to say, “I am glad because I am suffering?” Yet, that is what the apostles said in our first reading – “So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name” (Acts 5:41). This courage, and similar acts of valor, turn our minds to the real meaning of Christianity – a religion of the cross, the cross of Jesus Christ, the cross of aRead More →

Hope of Salvation Sunday Acts 5:12-16; Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31 A story was told of a man who died and went to Hell. While in Hell, he decided to review his life on earth to ascertain that he really deserved to be in Hell. In his retrospections, he consoled himself for being in Hell because he began to enumerate his sins to himself and his conclusion was that Hell was where he belonged, on account of his wrong doings on earth. However, he lifted up his gaze, and to his utmost surprise, he saw his pastor/parish priest in Hell. In his amazement heRead More →

“Passion Sunday”: Suffering is Christian! Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Lk 22:14-23:56 or 23:1-49 Today, a name matters. Our Sunday is called “Passion Sunday” to teach us that suffering is Christian and normal/natural. In order to tell us the importance of “Passion,” we read a “Passion Narrative,” the story of the suffering, betrayal, and agony of Jesus. In fact, all three readings of today qualify as “Passion Narratives”. In our first reading, we read the agony of Jesus in the prophecy of Isaiah, how the Messiah’s beard becomes an instrument of torture; his face, a toilet for spittle; and his back, a punching bag. Imagine whenRead More →

Acquittal Sunday Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11 This morning, I was sitting on a bench next to a homeless man, I asked him how he ended up this way. He said: “Up until this last week, I still had it all!!! A cook cooked my meals, my room was cleaned, my clothes were washed, pressed, I had a roof over my head, I had TV, Internet, I went to the gym, the pool, the library, I could still go to school.” I asked him, “What happened? Drugs? Alcohol? Divorce?” “Oh No, nothing like that he said. No, no … I got out of prison!”Read More →

Salvific Prodigality Sunday Joshua 5:9a. 10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 Growing up in rural Nigerian State of Kaduna brought me close to the importance of milk – breast milk. Whether human or animal, neonates/new born babies need milk for survival, and what a pride Nigerian women take in displaying both their motherhood and generosity in breastfeeding their babies. The African celebration of feminineness extends to a God who is proudly human in his identification with the attributes of both genders, masculine and feminine. Today, the feminine aspect of our God comes to play – he feeds his children with pride, just as anRead More →

Charity or Almsgiving Sunday Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9 Wow, the third Sunday of Lent is already upon us! How much of a host of the past three weeks of Lent have we been? What are the achievements so far in our warfare against discriminations, selfishness, maliciousness, anger, gluttony, gossip? Yes, how charitable have we been in the past three weeks of Lent? It may surprise you that charity summarizes our journey of Lent so far; but it shouldn’t. The three readings of this Sunday are pointing in the direction of charity or sharing what we have with others – unlessRead More →

“Our citizenship is in Heaven”: Preserve it! Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28b-36 For those of us who travel often, international passports are not equally respected. For once, black is powerful, perhaps Africans should be proud of this, because it shows that Caucasians are not a bunch of racists – their passports are largely black, and respected; how Africans and Asians end up with greenish and reddish international passports is a tale for another day. The power of black passports derives from human contrivances, and history shows that their powers have fluctuated with good and bad fortunes. The issue, though, is that earthly citizenshipsRead More →

Diet to Overcome Indifference Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13 The Lenten season calls us to fasting, almsgiving, and prayer—three perennial spiritual disciplines. However, in light of Pope Francis’ 2015 Lenten message, we are invited to expand our understanding of fasting as a means to overcome indifference. The Pope warns that “indifference to our neighbor and to God represents a real temptation for us Christians.” This indifference often stems from an attitude of exceptionalism, where individuals separate themselves from the struggles of others, believing that societal issues do not concern them directly. A Nigerian man, who had sent his two sons to the United StatesRead More →