Homilies (Page 32)

Holy Saturday: Stepping out of Darkness into the Light of God “Time” matters, not just because it marks and gives perspective to human actions, but it also offers us the opportunity to celebrate the defeat of darkness—Holy Saturday. Before “time” came to be, “Darkness” allows for no presence, it celebrates absence. Before the great statement of our first reading today – “Let there be light,” darkness had a field day, celebrating the absence of light and time. The joy of this night, the greatest of all nights because light will dawn to put asunder whatever is left of darkness, is the celebration of Christ, theRead More →

When “Things Fall Apart”, You need Good Friday Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 4:14-16; John 18:19-19:42 “Things Fall Apart” is not the cry of defeat or self pity, it is the evocation of the best in the human person, because life is worth living. In the face of COVID-19, “Things Fall Apart”, on that original Good Friday, things fell apart: sin was defeated, virtue triumphed over vice, life overcame death—a new day dawned. Welcome to Good Friday, the goodness in Good Friday! A story was told of little Andrew, who was sent to a public school for his first year of secondary (Junior High) education. At theRead More →

“Crucify Him”: The Place of God Amidst Evil  Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Matthew 26:14—27:66 The blame game is all about the fear of death: we all want to go to heaven, apparently no one wants to die! Since we cannot take COVID-19 to court and make it feel the power of our democracy and a taste of our jail, in fact, it is the Coronavirus that has imprisoned us, from the greatest to the least, in our homes, castles and presidential residences, there must be a scapegoat somewhere—God! We blame God for the COVID-19 and the other ills of our lives. Well, Israel did thatRead More →

The Triumph of Grace, because “Jesus Wept” Ezekiel 37:12-14; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-42 Quite often, we fail to tap into the knowledge of our faith to help us to weather the storms of temptations and trials. For example, how often do we remember the meaning of “grace/hope” which we learnt in our Catechism classes – “Grace is the supernatural gift of God which makes us believe that God will do everything for our justification and salvation.” Today, all I hear is how COVID-19 is ravaging humanity, how everybody is so bad that hell of fire is over crowded. Where is the power of God’s graceRead More →

“Not as man sees does God see”: A Listening Church  1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41 Going by human predictions, we will be having an unprecedented Easter celebration this year, 2020–Easter celebration without the habitual gathering or congregation. With recourse to our medical science, we know the circles of viruses and human expected reactions. Our experts are of the opinion that we are in it—COVID-19—for the long haul. We are advised to reschedule, postpone or shelve our plans altogether. Come to think of it: do we have as much knowledge of God and his workings, as we do viruses? Our readings todayRead More →

“Is the Lord among us?” Exodus 17:1-7; Romans 5:1-8; John 4:5-42 “Is the Lord among us?” remains a pertinent question for every human being, given the economic, financial and Coronavirus/COVID-19 drama unfolding globally; but particularly for those individual Christians who pray hard everyday for God to intervene in the moral decay of our times, and all those who long for a new lease of life to be infused into Christianity and Christian practices. In fact, a new Pentecost is what is longed for and needed. Our first reading’s question, “Is the Lord among us?” is the cry of thirsty Israelites on their way to theRead More →

A Listening Prayer: A Journey into the Cloud! Genesis 12:1-4a; 2 Timothy 1:8b-10; Matthew 17:1-9 Nigerian Christianity calls it “Shekinah glory,” the Jews only call it “Shekinah;” that is, the presence of God as Cloud. In the Old Testament tradition, where God led his enslaved children from Egypt to the Promised Land, the pillar of Cloud showed God’s presence, while he travelled with his people—a traveling God. The cry of the Israelites in Egypt caught God’s attention. The suffering of servitude became a prayer beckoning on God to intervene and provide justice. God heard, came down in a pillar of Cloud, and assumed the postureRead More →

Turning our Temptations into Strengths Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11 When I listen to homilies, these days, the emphasis on the damnation of sinners tromps that on the salvation of sinners; but then, Jesus didn’t come to condemn sinners, he came to save sinners. When “prosperity gospel” is not preached, on a Sunday, “end times prediction” is the next viable topic of interest among evangelists and prophets, but that topic didn’t preoccupy Jesus during his earthly ministry. All in all, one gets the urgency of repentance and the acute ascendancy of sin in the world, painted in the most apocalyptic terms possible. Yet,Read More →

Beyond Ashes: (The Imitation of Christ) The Language of Love Joel 2:12-18; 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 Looking into the eyes of her beloved, a woman promises: “in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer . . . . I will love you until death do us part!” Although this promise is made while hoping for the best, unfortunately, some have to literally live that out by supporting their spouse in their poverty and ill-health. The good news is that the promises made prepare couples for the best, as well as for the worst. And, when they have to support each other inRead More →