Homilies (Page 28)

Justice Sunday! Exodus 22:20-26; 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10; Matthew 22:34-40 Going by happenings around the world—the riots and protests—in Nigeria and United States, there is a clear proof of anthropological poverty. The human person is left behind through human greed and debasement. The needless deaths, hunger and impunity oppressors visit on the poor is crying out to heaven for redress. Church and mosque attendances have become camouflages for religious piety, without social justice and equality to back it up. All these scenarios make this Sunday “Justice Sunday”!  Our first reading puts social justice on the front burner of today’s readings. Exodus 22:20-26 situates the meaning ofRead More →

  Make it Evident, the Image of God in You Is 45:1, 4-6; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b; Matthew 22:15-21 It is always nice to know, when to change one’s game or strategy, especially when it fails to yield the desired result. Haven used so many parables to talk to the chief priests and the Pharisees to no avail, Jesus now changes tactics to straight talk with the Pharisees. How does Jesus go about doing that – his straight talk? A bit of background check on the adversaries of Jesus is in order today. In their plot to eliminate Jesus, there is a new alliance formed, thereRead More →

Uniform Sunday: Your Character Matters  Isaiah 25:6-10a; Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20; Matthew 22:1-14 For those of us who like partying and celebrating, this is our Sunday. The imagery of food and drink, in our first and gospel readings, suggest a context of joy and celebration. In Africa, there must be dancing as well, to complete the celebration. However, from a deeper reflection, there is more than eating and drinking today. The purpose or reason for celebrating, eating and drinking, hides the meaning of food and drink. For me, this confirms what I was taught, as a little boy, that “you don’t live to eat, but eatRead More →

Behavior or Stewardship Sunday Isaiah 5:1-7; Philippians 4:6-9; Matthew 21:33-43 To say that one is a Lagosian, Londoner, Torontonian or New Yorker is to say much about oneself. The names of those cities say something about their residents or citizens. For example, the fact that Jesus was from Nazareth made many of his contemporaries to think that he was a loser: “can anything good come out of Nazareth”, says Nathaniel (John 1:46). Judah, Israel and Jerusalem, these are the names Isaiah calls the Lord’s vineyard, in our first reading, while Matthew simply calls them vineyard in our Gospel. If we looked at the behavior ofRead More →

Second Chance Sunday: The Power of Grace! Ezekiel  18:25-28; Philippians 2:1-11; Matthew 21:28-32 “Justice” is a tricky concept, in at least three counts. First, when pushed to its logical conclusion, justice negates or precludes mercy and compassion. Second, the power of justice is so linked up with the law that it forgets the lawmaker/lawgiver. Finally, when justice is misconstrued, the application of justice forgets that human beings are weak, fallen and imperfect. Today, God reminds us of “second chances” for every sinner, who recognizes his weaknesses and imperfections. This is what “Second Chance Sunday” speaks to, and it reorients the Christian mind to the “PowerRead More →

Workers’ Sunday: God keeps working, so must we! Isaiah 55:6-9; Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a; Matthew 20:1-16a Our God is a WORKER God! Whether it be the question of the Creation accounts in Genesis, the salvation of humanity under Noah, the covenants with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or the liberation from slavery in Egypt and freedom from Assyrian and Babylonian exiles, respectively, God keeps working. In Jesus Christ, we see God’s spectacular work—suffering, death and resurrection—the work of salvation! Apart from the busy schedule God has for corporate human needs, as individuals, we are keeping him extremely busy everyday and super-busy on Sundays: there is not anRead More →

Relationship Sunday: God at the Heart of our Relationships  Sirach 27:30-28:7; Romans 14:7-9; Matthew 18:21-35 “You do good, you do for yourself; you do bad, you do for yourself!” This is the summary of our readings this Sunday, from the story of Mr. Do-good. That is not his true name, but children gave him that name. As a beggar, he never said “thank you” when he was offered anything; instead, he said: “you do good, you do for yourself; you do bad, you do for yourself”. How does that formula of Mr. Do-good apply to our lives on earth as Christians? When we look atRead More →

Salvation for All! Ezekiel 33:7-9; Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20 There was a story told of a group of people on a voyage to heaven. They set sail in a gigantic ship to cross the oceans to meet God. Few meters away from shore, with their gaze already seeing heaven, suddenly, they were shipwrecked. Those who could swim, started swimming to the safety of heaven. There was an Olympic swimmer among those shipwrecked, this man swam quickly to heaven. On arrival on the shores of heaven, God was there to welcome him to heaven. God asked him, “were you alone?” He said “no, there were manyRead More →

  “By All Means, Keep Moving” Jeremiah 20:7-9; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27 One sure story known about Jeremiah is that he was a complainant. Anyone who complains is called a Jeremiah. But we can ask ourselves whether it is bad or wrong to complain? When our life’s dreams do not fall in place, what do we do? When we have done the right thing, should we be rewarded with evil and punishment? Is it too much to ask that he/she who has done wrong should be the person punished? Of course, we have a thousand and one arguments, using the intelligence God has given us,Read More →