Homilies (Page 39)

  Nehemiah 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21 God wants you to be Happy: “Do not Weep! The Joy of the Lord is your Strength” This is good news at its peak, everywhere in the whole wide world – “Do not Weep! The Joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Many people are hurting religiously, spiritually, relationally, economically and politically. Religious fanatics have overrun the Middle-East, Africa, Europe, North America and a vast swathes of Asia. Suicide boomers – god’s army – are readily available marauding human societies unleashing death sentences wherever they can. Spiritual exploitation of the rich andRead More →

Micah 5:2-5a; Hebrews 5:5-10; Luke 1:39-45 When God visits, there is salvation, there is Happiness There was a family of five, mother, father, two sons and a daughter. This family does its best to remain a loving and caring family. Every Christmas, everybody returns home for a family celebration. As time went on, all three children went to college far away from home, but Christmas remains a home-coming event for them. One Christmas vacation, however, each of the children called their Dad to announce that they were not coming home for Christmas. You can imagine the sadness of their parents. So, a week before Christmas,Read More →

Baruch 5:1-9; Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6 Original Blessing: God’s Mission to Create the Hope of Salvation needs You and Me There was a Catholic couple who were married for ten years but could not have kids. They sought medical help, still their barrenness continued. One day, it was announced at Mass that their pastor was going to Rome for studies. So, they came to request of him to light a candle for them when he gets to Rome, so that they may have kids. The priest promised to do that, and true to his promise, he lighted a candle at the intention of theRead More →

Our God Reigns: Let us Reign with Him in Truth! Daniel 7:13-14; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18:33b-37 One Christ the King Sunday, a priest preached a sermon on the need for every Christian to join the regular army of the Lord, so that the kingdom of the Lord may expand upon earth. At the end of Mass, the priest was greeting and shake hands with parishioners, when he noticed a man whom he didn’t see regularly at Mass; so he said to him: you need to join the Lord’s regular army. The man responded, I am already in the Lord’s army, Father. The priest protested: IRead More →

Seated at the Right Hand and Coming in Clouds/Glory: The Destiny of A Christian Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13:24-32 The progress recorded in history, thanks to science and technology, is so tantalizing that our scientists are thinking of immortality on earth. After all, longevity in the 21st century is unrivaled in past generations – more and more people live longer lives now than ever before. Just as the strides made by science and technology make earthly existence fascinating, the so-called third-world countries experience huge human migrations to the North Atlantic, whether they be South and Central Americans en route to the United StatesRead More →

Where is your Investment? Turning Our Faith into Relationship with God 1 Kings 17:10-16; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44 Progressively, the decay in the Nigeria polity continues. Every single day, since the Independence of Nigeria in 1960, the quality of life and services keep dwindling. With this dwindling comes the numbers of those Nigerians being baptized and the multiplication of edifices called churches. The more church structures built, the more decadence in the Nigerian society. This calls for a rethink of what roles sacraments and structures play in the lives of Nigerians and Christians all around the world. This Sunday, a story seems to capture theRead More →

Change is Possible: Faith is the Only Sight Necessary Jeremiah 31:7-9; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46–52 I am not 50 yet, but it is just incredible what can happen in so short a period of time. Growing up in Nigeria, with hindsight, one felt like living in paradise. The presence of Americans, Canadians, English, Russians and Indians looking for jobs and happily contributing to the economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Nigerian green passport commanding respect everywhere in the world; “Naira,” the Nigerian currency, imposing itself because of its purchasing power over the American dollar and British pounds; and Nigerian embassies around the worldRead More →

Suffering is Christian: When Daily–Baptism is Prayer Answered!  Isaiah 53:10–11; Hebrews 4:14–16; Mark 10:35–45 Most of the Sacraments that we receive, except Confession/Reconciliation, take place within the context of festivities, where our friends, family members and faith communities come around to support us and to share in our joys. Even when our earthly Christian journey which begins at Baptism comes to an end, friends and loved ones come around to bury us and wish us well for the other-world. The festivities that surround the sacraments make most of them to appear as banquet occasions. However, a closer look at the sacraments we receive, their implicationsRead More →

Whose Child are You: Like Father Like Child? Wisdom 7:7-11; Hebrews 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30  An African wisdom can save our world, if we practice it. This wisdom is so common place that it is the first question an African asks a stranger: “whose child are you?” NOT “what is your name”! In Africa, there are no loners, only “we”! A stranger is anyone who lacks an ancestry -connection with the past – whose appearance doesn’t reveal his/her identity and origin. The question, “whose child are you?” is a reinsertion of a stranger into the community of friends, family and loved ones. The origins and rootsRead More →