Homilies (Page 23)

 Life Saving Sunday Isaiah 53:10-11, Hebrews 4:14-16, Mk 10:35-45  “Life” has become intentionally ambiguous in its meaning, whether it is human or non-human. While some people protect human life from conception to natural death, others protect it when it is convenient to do so. For sure, whatever we consider as “life”, we generally try to protect it. These days, our society takes seriously ecological life, in its diverse forms, because the survival of human beings on earth needs it. What is obvious is the appreciation of life and the conscious steps many take to protect and save it from destruction, even if that requires sacrifices inRead More →

Spirit-of-God Sunday Wisdom 7:7-11, Hebrews 4:12-13, Mark 10:17-30 I don’t know about you, but it surprises me how a simple machine, GPS (Global Positioning System), could lead me to places effortlessly! I can choose the voice I want, male or female; I could indicate my language preference, English,  French, etc; all I need do is purchase a GPS, remain obedient to its instructions, and my destination is most of the times guaranteed. Lest we forget, the directions provided by a GPS have been computed into it by a human agency! For Christians, the Spirit of God is our GPS provided by God for the asking.Read More →

Humanity Sunday  Genesis 2:18-24; Hebrews 2:9-11; Mark 10:2-16 We may choose to blame St. Augustine for “inventing” the term “Original Sin”, arguing that he gave creation a bad press, by harping on sin; what remains irrefutable prior to and since St. Augustine is that every generation of human beings perfects on the sins of previous generations. It is not just the case of Original Sin, it is the evidence of Progressive Sin, because sin remains with us even today! The option some of us have chosen is to insist on “Original Bless”, because God blessed all he created. We look at all the good thatRead More →

No Escape or No Outsider Sunday Numbers 11:25-29; James 5:1-6; Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 When things go wrong, accusing fingers shoot out! Habitually, others are always responsible for what failed and  is failing; we refuse any personalresponsibility and contributions. Everyone easily identifies with success, without ascribing to the hard work of success. In our days, people migrate joyfully to countries with economic success, abandoning economic disaster zones. Countries ravaged by wars and extremisms empty their potentials for reconstruction to other stable nations. The commercialization of religion registers more recruitment than the church and assembly of prophets. The spirit of martyrdom and sacrifice to change a desertRead More →

Spiritual Combat Sunday Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; James 3:16-4:3; Mark 9:30-37 Maybe I am old-fashioned, but my best classic is entitled “The Spiritual Combat”. I am drawn to it because it teaches one to attack, as the best means of self-defense. I want to propose the same approach to you today – Spiritual Combat: the enemy is inside each one of us, not outside; and we need to attack it; when the enemy steps outside, then we have the problem of our first reading, it becomes a deadly virus; curtailing it becomes herculean, and it is only conquerable with the assistance of God! But for are theRead More →

Suffering Sunday: Exercising my Right to Suffer Isaiah 50:5-9a; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35 I have the right to suffer, because my God suffered for and suffers with me! This is a controversial statement because in places where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, has taken hold on people, we talk of “my rights” and how to protect them. The said Declaration has no place for suffering or should we say torture, and that is a good thing — to oppose anyone else from making another to suffer or feel pains is a Christian imperative. But when I choose to suffer, it is my rightRead More →

Sunday of Hope and Self-importance Isaiah 35:4-7a; James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37 When I hear of all kinds of cancers today, it is so frightening that I wonder why human beings must suffer thus! Maybe for adults, one could understand illnesses (even though that too is inexplicable), but children suffering from cancer keeps one on the verge of revolt and rebellion against God – why the suffering of the innocent and the weak? Issues of needless poverty and injustices of preposterous proportions stare us in the face on daily basis. Situations like these make me dream of a sickness-free world; a world where people are everRead More →

Wisdom or Commandments Sunday Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8; James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-25, 21-23 Last Sunday, August 23, 2021, I drove to St. Louis Hospital, Zonkwa, Kaduna  Sate, Nigeria, to visit the corpse of my late Father, having just arrived in Nigeria the previous day. It was a sad day for me, but a bad day for the residents of Mabushi and Samaru. About 13 of theirs were shot dead using AK 47 by Fulani herdsmen and 16 of theirs were in Zonkwa hospitals with different gun wounds. I could see, first hand, not only the ravages of hatred, but also the danger ofRead More →

DECISION SUNDAY  Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b; Ephesians 5:21-32; John 6:60-69 It is difficult to believe in the intrinsic goodness of the human person when the sole reference point is the media. There is a conspiracy of bad and fake news, news breaking that argues how evil the human person is, and how irredeemable humanity has become. All that is left of the human person is his ability to sin and commit crimes. Even individuals sunk deep in sin doubt about the possibility of standing up on their feet once more to proclaim the glory of God that each one of us is and is supposedRead More →