Homilies (Page 47)

Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:2-3a, 4-6; Matthew 2:1-22 The Return of Christianity: Restoring God’s Fatherhood of Humanity When one sees the number of church structures and church goers in the southern half of the geographic location called Nigeria, one is full of praises and admiration for the legacies of all Christian missionaries who brought Christianity to Africa in general, and Nigeria in particular. The missionary enterprises of the past leave behind them solid and visible vestiges of their passage on the terrains of Nigeria – visible church and school structures. These vestiges, I dare say, are virtually becoming effigies of Christian past, although they are notRead More →

Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21 Happy New Year, 2017: When Change Becomes a Blessing Philosophers pride themselves in discovering that “change is the only thing permanent or constant,” but theologians mock their ignorance because they fail to know that God does not change. Scientists celebrate every discovery and innovation, Christians wait patiently for education to catch up with the knowledge of God. Universities keep multiplying, but common sense is as rare as ever. Wealth and money increase by the day, but poverty kills more people today than every before. More Nobel prizes are won today, but violence and strive show no signs of abating,Read More →

“Peace on Earth”: Every Life is Worth Celebrating and Defending Isaiah talks about the “beautiful feet” of those who announce the good tiding of peace to Israel. But what are human feet, when those feet belong to cadavers? What is the usefulness of voices, when human bodies are lifeless. What is the usefulness of a piece of good news to a ghost town? Announcing that “your God reigns” shows the importance of a people to be ruled to the reign of a king. Not to have subjects is to undermine and change the meaning of rulership and kingship. All these hing on the presence andRead More →

Isaiah 7:10-14; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-24 Mary’s FIAT: The Power of Obedience and the Fruit of Co-operation with God Well, on this fourth Sunday of Advent, God shows himself a God who answers his people with promptitude. When the Assyrian army rose against Israel, which is the context of our first reading, God took the initiative to go and discuss with the king, Ahaz, and to give him a guarantee that the battle was the Lord’s to fight not his. This is Isaiah’s understanding of salvation – God rises to the occasion, when his children are threatened, a ready-to-go God. The invisible God, who wasRead More →

Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11 “Gaudete”: Happiness Sunday I sometimes ask myself why my name is Ayodele, a name which means “happiness has come to our home.” Is this “happiness” for me or for my parents? Are my parents still very happy that they have me as a son, given the fact that they are not Roman Catholic and they did not approve of my choice of the priesthood in the Catholic Church. What I am today, was that what they wanted or dreamt of when I was born? You can imagine how many possible questions to be asked about the reality ofRead More →

Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12 When the Past Becomes Present: Testimonies of Jesus Christ as Reliving Christmas Reading the message of Isaiah today and hearing about the role of John the Baptist in the lead up to the coming of Jesus as a human being, the many ways that you and I can relive the experiences of 2000 years ago began to flood my mind. First of all, I remember the story of a young girl who, in the preparation for Christmas, was asked to take part in a sketch or drama a nun/Sister at her parish church was preparing, where the nun/sister gatheredRead More →

Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14; Mt 24:37-44 Active or Practical Hope: The Christian Attitude to Waiting/Advent “Coming” and “waiting” are two dominant verbs to take seriously during the season of Advent. Notice that both verbs are in the progressive form or present continuous tense, as we often say. In themselves, theses verbs are suggestive of what is expected of a Christian during the period of Advent, the liturgical season when we await the arrival of God as human being – Christmas or Incarnation – and we receive encouragement to assume the position or attitude of expectant parents at the news of an imminent arrival of aRead More →

2 Samuel 5:1-3; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:35-43 From a Kingdom to a Life Style: Your Life is What Matters, It Shows Who Your King Is! “WHO is your model”? is a more important question than “WHAT is your model”? “Who” asks the question of personality, and “what” asks the question about rules and regulations, human contrivance. “Who” worries and centers itself on LIFE, while “what” sets one’s gaze on things. A concrete example is found in Israel. Israel moved away from a theocracy (God’s leadership) which teaches them about WHO they are, to a monarchy (human leadership) copying from human rules because Israel wanted toRead More →

Malachi 3:19-20a; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12; Luke 21:5-19 We celebrate Salvation Day and NOT Doom’s Day: Heaven or Hell depends on you! Nigerians are very daring and creative people. Not only on earth, but in Heaven above and in Hell below. Listen to this story about Nigerian bravery. I’ve been laughing since I got this joke…..but are we really this bad? ANGELS: Father! We are tired of these Nigerians in heaven. GOD: What have they done this time? ANGEL: Everything!They don’t listen to instructions. They don’t obey traffic rules. They don’t wait for their turn in anything. They are completely reckless! GOD: Then we better sendRead More →