Homilies (Page 26)

I am a Christian Gossip, When Gossiping turns into Salvation Story and Good news Acts 3:13-15, 17-19; 1 Jn 2:1-5a; Lk 24:35-48 Do you know that “god-sibb” is the forefather of “gossip”? Just google the etymology of “gossip” or look up that word in old English dictionaries or dictionary of etymology. “God” is included in the word “gossip”. God-talk was gossip, and in the nations where freedom of religion is unacceptable, it remains a gossip. For us Christians, Easter fever has gone viral, and salvation virus has gone nuclear. The fever and virus in town is GOSSIPING! The trending gossip, you know, is the resurrectionRead More →

Thank you Sunday”: Be Compassionate as the Heavenly Father is Compassionate  Acts 4:32-35; 1 John 5:1-6; 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 priestRead More →

When I am Like Mary Magdalene: Even Sinners have Rights Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9 There is a huge consolation that comes from reading the gospel of today because of Christ’s resurrection. In Christ, and because of his death and resurrection, a new dawn of grace has arrived. This new dawn, according to the gospel, is “the first day of the week”. Christians have a new day, which is now known as Sunday. This “first day of the week” inaugurates the effects of Christ’s resurrection as the dispelling of the darkness of sin and death, and has given way to the light ofRead More →

Day Time Forever: The Meaning of Holy Saturday! Human history has experienced moments of darkness, too long to enumerate. In recent years, all sorts of genocides, ethnic cleansing, wars, slaveries and exploitations continue to cast darkness upon the earth. The darkness of evil and sin is simply ubiquitous. There are serious doubts, in all quarters, whether it will ever be day time, day time forever more! Two areas of doubt are the possibility of nuclear extermination of the earth and its inhabitants; the other doubt is whether the human person can be any good besides the evil and sin that inhabits him and her. Tonight,Read More →

When Good Friday is Just a Bus Stop, Easter Sunday is the Destination Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9;John 18:1-19:42  For so long, fasting, sorrow and deprivation, these are the average Christian’s approach to Good Friday. We celebrate the present sadness of Good Friday and forget about the hope, the future that Good Friday opens up. Without hope, Good Friday spells doom and fatalism for Christians. However, when Good Friday is seen just as a bus stop, when Easter morning is seen as the destination to focus on, we find the courage to embrace our daily sorrows, disappointments and failures. The hope of Easter morning remindsRead More →

A Covenant of Lives: Creating Unity through Feeding and Caring for Others* Ex 12:1-8, 11-14; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-15 This night, we have come to eat; not just any kind of food, but flesh – meat and blood. We are here, not because we have no food and drinks in our individual homes, but because there is a party, Jesus’ banquet where there is food and drink for everyone who cares to stop by. It is a dinner, a supper with a difference – we will eat and become what we eat, Jesus. It is not like our every day meal, it is an initiationRead More →

Right-to-Life Sunday or Stop-the-Killings Sunday Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 15:1-39 The mantra is “crucify him!” Not only in Jesus’ case, we still hear it today—“crucify him” or “kill him or them!” It suffices to be a Christian or live in a Moslem dominated country for the reality of death to be omnipresent. It used to be that life was loved and protected, not anymore because the angels of death have multiplied in their millions. For those who escape religious violence, scientific violence eliminates them – gun violence and  abortion are forms of this killing. The rumors and reality of fratricidal wars, economic strangulations andRead More →

Covenant-of-Love Sunday: God’s Irrevocable Love  Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 5:7-9; John 12:20-33 Those calling for the end of the world or the condemnation of sinners do not understand Christianity! Christianity is a covenant of love, an irrevocable love of God. No human being is either righteous enough to merit it nor too sinful to be excluded from it: it is a covenant of love that we continue to experience as forgiveness of sins! The good news is that no matter how human beings wish it, pray for it and attempt to wipe it out by their sins, the world will always elude their grasp  because “TheRead More →

Laetare Sunday or “Happiness Sunday”: Salvation is free-of-charge! 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21 An Irish missionary priest working in Nigeria had a catechist/pastoral agent working with him. He noticed how dedicated, resourceful and pious he was, yet the man was not a communicant/he wasn’t receiving Holy Communion because he had two wives. The first wife’s name was Mercy and the second wife’s name was Grace. After many years of working together, the priest decided to confront his pastoral agent/catechist on the issue of polygyny. He invited him to his office to speak with him. He advised him to be married in church,Read More →