Homilies (Page 58)

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Zephaniah 3:14-18a; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18 Rejoice! Why? because there is a solution to human Unhappiness – Jesus Christ!   A young girl went to her mother to ask her about the origin of human beings. Her mother said to her, my daughter, we are all descended from Adam and Eve: they were our first parents. Not very satisfied with the response she got, she went over to her father to ask him the same question: Dad, where did human beings originate from, she said. Her father responded: we are a production of evolution, we evolved from apes and monkeys, they were out first parents. MoreRead More →

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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 →

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Jeremiah 33:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 Creative Fidelity for a Season of Hope (Advent): Our God is Faithful to his Promises, What about Us? What is certain about the prophecy of Jeremiah is the message of hope he preaches in an apparently hopeless situation – the perennial nature of Israel’s infidelity to God. Israel makes covenants with God only to break them. What was predictable of Israel was its fidelity to infidelity to God. This track record is all invasive and pervasive in Jewish history: from the disobedience of Adam and Eve to the deluge as corrective for sin and infidelity; the worshipRead More →

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Daniel 7:13-14; Revelation 1:5-8; John 18:33b-37 Our God Reigns: Let us Reign with Him in Truth! 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 doesn’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 →

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Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13:24-32 The Lord is my Judge: He will take me to Heaven with Him Someday! There was a lovely couple, very pious, very dedicated to God. Unfortunately, the woman died before her husband and went to heaven. St. Peter welcomed her to heaven because she was a good lady upon the earth. As we know, Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter: it is his job to welcome souls to heaven. So, St. Peter made her his assistant in heaven: when he goes on coffee break, she takes over the work of welcoming souls to heaven, afterRead More →

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1 Kings 17:10-17; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44 My God is Alive – I will give him my Widow’s Mite, my whole Life! Late Fr. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor said that each time one meets an Irish who needs to defend his Irish identity, such an Irish person must be living outside of Ireland. Analogously, to have a prophet whose name is Elijah: EL (God) – i (my) – Jah (Yahweh) – “my God is Yahweh,” there must be people or situations that contest the kind of God or the name of the God he worshipped. After his marriage to Jezebel (1 Kings 17:31-34), king Ahab became aRead More →

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Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12a I am a child of God: Heaven is my Home, I am called to be a Saint! In a kindergarten class, taught by a nun (reverend sister), the nun asks the kids to indicate by a show of hands how many among them would like to go to heaven. All, but one little girl raised up their hands. Curious, the nun asks the little girl whose hand was not up: my daughter, why do you not want to go to heaven? She replies: my Mom, on dropping me off at school this morning, asked me to stayRead More →

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Ayodele Ayeni, The Antithesis “Neither Jew nor Greek” in Galatians 3:28a. Its Context, Application, Meaning and Origin, Frankfurt: Lambert Akademikerverlag, 2012,  13,5 x 21,5 cm, 306 p. — “‘You always have the Poor with you but you do not always have me’ (John 12:8): Charity as Worship of God,” African Journal of Contextual Theology 5, 2014, 53-77. — “Ni judío ni griego,” Anamnesis 25/50, 2015, 41-64.Read More →

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Jeremiah 31:7-9; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52 Not my Faithfulness, but God’s Mercy and Fidelity: God calls me to be a Christian! An Irish missionary priest to Nigeria has a very dedicated and faithful catechist (pastoral agent) working with him. In all ramifications of Christian life, the catechist is impeccable except one thing – he has two wives: one named Mercy, the other Grace. The priest decides to have a conversation with his catechist; after talking to his catechist about the Christian imperative to be monogamous, his catechist promises to straighten out that aspect of his Christian life. One faithful day, the catechist comes with both wivesRead More →

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Isaiah 53:10-11; Hebrews 4:14-16; Mk 10:35-45 Hope, not despair – Our God Reigns over Sins! Quite often we forget the meanings of “Isaiah” and “Jesus” – both mean “God is salvation” or “God saves.” The meaning of “salvation” here is not that we are already promised heaven, but we are offered the opportunities to make heaven. This is the case because “sin” – any wrong doing – separates us from God and changes the course of our journey away from God and heaven. Thankfully, the first reading of today announces the good news that “sin” has a divine solution! Away in Babylon, on account ofRead More →