Reflection/Homily: Palm/Passion Sunday – Year C

Theme: The Painful Betrayal of a Friend

In the Shakespearean classic Julius Ceasar, William Shakespeare narrates the tragic story of Julius Caesar who was betrayed by his best friend, Marcus Junius Brutus. Ceasar was warned by his wife not to go out on the Ides of March but knowing the evil they had planned against him, Brutus encouraged him to go out. Brutus had already conspired with some senators to attack his friend Caesar who they considered as a tyrant. When Caesar noticed the involvement of Brutus in the attack, he knew he had been betrayed by a friend. Although Ceasar was stabbed several times, the stab by Brutus was so deep that he immediately gave up and died with the words “Et tu Brute” (even you Brutus) on his lips.

Reflection/Homily: Fifth (5th) Sunday of Lent Year C

Theme: The Power of Divine Friendship

The history of the Israelites was punctuated with several ups and downs. After the Babylonian exile, they had to begin life afresh with little or no hope. It was difficult for them to hope for a brighter future because they had lost their friendship with God. God restored this friendship by promising them restoration and hope. In the first reading (Is. 43:16-21), we see this promise of restoration and hope. He urged the Israelites to forget the past because He was doing a new thing in their lives.

In the gospel reading (Jn. 8:1-11), we see a practical example of God’s promise of hope and restoration in the life of the adulterous woman. After being caught in adultery and seeing the people’s readiness to stone her to death, she lost every hope of survival until Jesus intervened. By that sinful act, she lost her friendship with her family, with the society and with God but Jesus became the fulfillment of God’s promise to do a new thing in her life – to restore this lost friendship.

Reflection/Homily: Fourth (4th) Sunday of Lent Year C

Theme: Returning like the Prodigal Son

The gospel reading (Luke 15:1-3.11-32) presents us with a familiar story – the story of the prodigal son. This story describes the lives of a rich father and his two sons. The younger son came to the father and requested for his share of the family property and went away to squander his share in an unknown distant land. When he realized his miserable condition after spending all he had, he made haste to return home, at least to work as a servant in his father’s house. Contrary to popular expectation, his father joyfully welcomed him as his son and organized a great party in his honour. The elder brother on his return showed his jealousy and dissatisfaction over the warm reception given to his brother and refused to be part of the joy.

Reflection/Homily: Third (3rd) Sunday of Lent Year C

Theme: The Word of God: A Divine Catalyst

Those days in the secondary school, we were taught that a catalyst is a chemical substance that facilitates a chemical reaction and is itself unchanged during the chemical reaction. In other words, we can say that a catalyst is an unchanging substance that is capable of initiating a change in another substance. Under the field of science, we can find catalysts like Manganese dioxide which is used to decompose Hydrogen peroxide to oxygen and water, we can also find sulfuric acid which is used to dehydrate Ethanol to Ethylene, etc.

A more familiar example of a catalyst is heat. Heat is used to speed up a number of chemical reactions but at the end, it remains unchanged. Importing this idea into our context, we can also consider a spoken word as a catalyst in the sense that it goes from the speaker into the hearer to transform the hearer but in itself it remains just a spoken word. In this sense, we can then analogically talk about the Word of God as a Divine Catalyst. This Word comes to us as a gift from God to instruct and transform us into what God wants us to be, but this Word remains unchanged.

Reflection/Homily: Second (2nd) Sunday of Lent Year C

Theme: Listening to Jesus

In today’s Gospel reading (Luke 9:28-36) Jesus went up to the mountain to pray with three of his disciples. Within the course of the prayer, Moses and Elijah appeared and Jesus was bodily transfigured into glory as his face and clothe were as dazzling as the sun. Rapt in this glorious ecstasy, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He did not even consider their own accommodation. All he wanted was to remain there experiencing the glory of God.

But as Peter spoke, something dramatic happened before Jesus could reply. Suddenly, a cloud came and covered them with shadow and as the disciples were trying to understand what was going on, a voice spoke and said “This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.” Immediately, the two guests (Moses and Elijah) left and Jesus was found alone. In other words, we can say that immediately the voice finished speaking, the whole glorious scene ended waiting for the time the disciples would experience this beatific vision permanently.

Reflection/Homily: First (1st) Sunday of Lent Year C

Theme: The Temptations of Jesus

Lent is a special period of preparation for Easter. It is an opportunity to reflect on and share in the sufferings of Christ who gave up his life for our salvation. Within this period, in order to suffer with Christ, we are obliged to accept some of our dislikes and reject some of our likes. This is the goal of self-mortification; voluntarily accepting suffering and willingly rejecting pleasure. As we try to do this, we may encounter several temptations. The temptations of Jesus narrated to us in the gospel reading (Luke 4:1-13) presents us with the various tactics and means the devil may use to tempt us. Jesus’ responses to these temptations equally guide us on how to overcome these temptations. On this first Sunday of Lent, the Church reminds us that nobody is above temptation  and in fact, the closer we are to God, the more we are tempted; the moment we decide to do good, that’s when the devil tempts us to do bad. 

Reflection/Homily: Ash Wednesday

It was not long ago that it was announced in a parish that the diocesan bishop would be coming to the parish on a pastoral visit. This great event of the bishop’s visit once in four years due to the large size of the diocese was marked with a great preparation. There were renovations within the Church premises, decorations, clean ups, etc just to prepare for the great event of the bishop’s visit. This is an indication that most often, important and remarkable things do not just happen without serious preparations. For an ordination and profession to take place there must have been a period of formation, for graduation, a period of scholarly involvements, serious academic struggles and scholarship, for marriage, a period of courtship and even for Christmas, a period of advent.

Reflection/Homily: Palm/Passion Sunday – Year B (March 29 2015)

Reflection/Homily: Palm/Passion Sunday – Year B (March 29 2015)

Theme: The Painful Betrayal of a Friend

In the Shakespearean classic, Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare narrated the betrayal of Julius Caesar by his best friend Marcus Brutus. In that tragic play, Brutus was tricked into joining a team of conspirators who wanted to kill Julius Caesar. On the fateful day of Caesar’s assassination at the Capitol, he was stabbed in the back by his murderers but the stab from Brutus came as a very big shock to him. He felt betrayed by a friend and was disposed to defeat. Shocked at the betrayal by his friend Brutus, Caesar died with the words “Et tu Brute?” (and you Brutus?) on his lips. You may have had similar personal experiences of betrayal by a trusted friend. Perhaps, a friend betrayed your love, or betrayed you in a business plan or in school or at work. These are usually very painful and traumatic experiences. In the light of our personal experiences of betrayal by a trusted friend, we can better understand the agony Christ went through in today’s passion narrative (Mt. 26:14-66 or 27:11-54). Judas, one of the closest friends of Jesus conspired with the Chief priests to hand Jesus over to them at the cost of thirty pieces of silver. Perhaps, he thought Jesus would miraculously escape as he had always done, but the whole drama became clear to him only when Jesus was taken away to be crucified. His inordinate love for money led him to betray his master. 

Reflection/Homily: Fifth (5th) Sunday of Lent Year B (March 22 2015)

Reflection/Homily: Fifth (5th) Sunday of Lent Year B (March 22 2015)

Theme: The Christian Cross as a Gateway to Heaven

In life, most times we desire good things but sometimes, we are unable to pass through crucibles in other to get them. For example, many students dream of graduating with first class honours but only a few are really burning extra candles. Some of us forget that hard work is a necessary condition for a great achievement. In the gospel reading (John 12:20-33), Jesus reiterates this principle that nothing good comes easy. He uses the analogy of the sown wheat to demonstrate that to redeem man, he must die and for us to gain eternal life, we must also die just as a sown wheat must die in the ground before it yields a rich harvest. The problem is that most of us are reluctant to work hard. This reluctance is found in our physical and spiritual lives. Sometimes, we want this or that from God but we can’t kneel in prayer to get them. We want to go to heaven but we can’t do good and avoid evil. We want to be exceptionally spiritually gifted but we can’t work hard to develop these spiritual gifts, etc.

A Short Stations of the Cross

1^st Station: Jesus is condemned to death – O my Jesus, you were condemned for my sake and most often I still condemn you through the evil I do, help me with your grace never to condemn you again and when people condemn me or rain all sorts of abuses on me just because of you, help me to stand firm.

2^nd Station: Jesus carries his cross – My dying Jesus, I understand the weight of the cross to be the weight of my sins, help me to carry my own cross patiently following your example.

3^rd Station: Jesus falls the first time – My most beloved Jesus, by virtue of your first fall help me to overcome the sins of the flesh which make me fall away from your grace.

Reflection/Homily: Fourth (4th) Sunday of Lent Year B (March 15 2015)

Reflection/Homily: Fourth (4th) Sunday of Lent Year B (March 15 2015)

Theme: God’s Immeasurable Love for Humanity

Today’s readings challenge us to reflect on God’s immeasurable love for humanity and its implications for us. In the first reading (2 Chr. 36:14-16, 19-23), the Israelites with their political and religious leaders all rebelled against God and defiled God’s dwelling place. Out of love for them, God constantly sent messengers to direct and teach them but their messages were treated with scorn. God did not abandon them but He kept on watching them as they neglected His Love and wallowed in sin. Being vulnerable for being outside of God’s love, they were attacked and taken into captivity by the Babylonians. When they suffered and learnt their lessons, God had to intervene because of the love He had for them by raising up a king who will proclaim their liberty, offer them treasures and help them rebuild the Temple as we see in Ezra chapter 1.

The second reading (Eph 2:4-10), also confirms this love of God not just for the Israelites alone but for all of us. It says that because of God’s love for us, He was generous to us with His mercy, to the extent that even when we were spiritually dead because of our sins, He had to look for us and gave us life. In our sinfulness, we run far away from God and brand ourselves enemies of God but in God’s love, He finds us wherever we go, brings us nearer to Himself and brands us His friends, not by merit but by virtue of His mercy built on grace. Thus, a reflection on the love of God is a reflection on the mercy of God which brings about a salvation built on the platform of grace. That is why the reading also exhorts us never to claim to be worthy of God’s salvation since it is a privilege gained through grace and not on merit. But this grace has to be activated to bear fruits through faith.

Reflection/Homily: Third (3rd) Sunday of Lent Year B (March 8 2015)

Reflection/Homily: Third (3^rd) Sunday of Lent Year B (March 8 2015)

Theme: God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom

Taylor Sauer, 18, was an intelligent high school graduate who met her untimely death on Jan. 12 2012 when she ran into a truck while messaging a facebook friend as she drove. It was later discovered that Taylor posted on facebook every 90 seconds while driving. After her burial, her parents Clay and Shauna Sauer became lobbyist in their home state Idaho (U.S) urging the state legislature to pass a law banning texting or facebooking while driving. The father said “I think every state should have the texting ban law, it might not make changes right now, but for the young generations, it will be an educational tool, just like the seat belt law”.

From the background of this story, we see a law (like the law banning texting/facebooking while driving) not as anything evil but as a necessary good to prevent a potential evil. This means that law-givers do not give or make laws for punishment or to deprive people of comfort but to ensure people’s safety and general well-being. This is how we have to understand the divine laws/commandments given to us in the first reading (Ex. 20:1-7). These laws were given by God to Moses at Mt. Sinai for the observance of all Israelites and by extension, all people of God. The commandments should not be seen as punishments but as guides that will help us live a fulfilled life in our relationship with God and our neighbours. If there had been a law prohibiting facebooking while driving, Taylor might not have been so unfortunate if she was conscious of the law. Therefore, the commandments prove God’s love for us and they make us always conscious of the good we ought to do and the evil we ought to avoid. The Ten Commandments are all important and none should be considered more important than the other, but for today’s reflection, let us examine the 6^th and 9^th commandments.

Reflection/Homily: Second (2nd) Sunday of Lent (March 1 2015)

Reflection/Homily: Second (2^nd) Sunday of Lent (March 1 2015)

Theme:  At the Mountain-Top Faith  gives way to Vision 

            As a little boy, when I first heard the passage read in the first reading, the first question that was raised in my mind was whether God could tempt one to sin since Abraham would have been guilty of murder if he had sacrificed Isaac. I later grew up to understand this passage better bearing in mind the distinction between temptation and test. The transliterated Hebrew “nacah” is rendered in English as “to test or tempt”. Its transliterated Greek equivalent “peirasmos” also means “test or tempt”. The words “test and tempt” though similar are not exactly the same, the former is positive while the latter is negative. For this reason, exegetes recommend we look into the context to differentiate between the two meanings, bearing in mind that God only tests while Satan tempts. The goal of God’s tests is for us to prove our faith but the devil tempts to destroy our faith. St. James stresses this distinction when he says “consider it a great joy when tests of many kinds come upon you, for you well know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance… (1 v.2-3) and “… God does not tempt anyone to sin” (1 v.13).

Reflection/Homily: First (1st) Sunday of Lent Year B (February 22 2015)

Reflection/Homily: First (1^st) Sunday of Lent Year B (February 22 2015)

Theme: Repent and Believe in the Gospel

A covenant ordinarily speaking could mean a binding agreement between two or more people, equal or unequal. When one ponders on the covenant God established with man, we wonder why the All Powerful God had to go into an agreement with mortal men who solely depend on Him? Likening our relationship with God to our relationship with our possessions (like our pets), do we need to make an agreement with our dogs not to sell them off when they are sick? We need not go into agreements with them before taking actions for or against them. But despite the great inequality between God and man, God had to go into agreements with man just to convince us of how much He loves and values us. In the first reading (Gn 9:8-15), we see one of such unmerited agreements God had with humanity through Noah. Before then, humanity rebelled against God and He had to wipe them away leaving only the righteous Noah, his family and a few animals. After that, God promised never to wipe away humanity with the flood again. This covenant He made with Noah, He signed with the rainbow in the cloud. 

Reflection/Homily: Ash Wednesday (February 18 2015)

            It was not long ago that it was announced in a parish that the diocesan bishop would be coming to the parish on a pastoral visit. This great event of the bishop’s visit once in four years due to the large size of the diocese was marked with a great preparation. There were renovations within the Church premises, decorations, clean ups, etc just to prepare for the great event of the bishop’s visit. This is an indication that most often, important and remarkable things do not just happen without serious preparations. For an ordination and profession to take place there must have been a period of formation, for graduation, a period of scholarly involvements, serious academic struggles and scholarship, for marriage, a period of courtship and even for Christmas, a period of advent.

            Therefore, the Church as the Vehicle of Salvation has also deemed it wise to prepare Her members for the re-enactment of the Sacred Mysteries of the Death and Resurrection of Our Lord. That is why today being “Ash Wednesday”, we are launched into this great season of preparation we all regard as the Lenten season or period. 

Reflection/Homily: Fifth Sunday of Lent Year A (6 April 2014)

Reflection/Homily: Fifth Sunday of Lent Year A (6 April 2014)

Theme: God is Ever Ready to Raise You

As a minor seminarian, I once got myself into a problem that almost robbed me of my highly esteemed vocation. I was on suspension as the case was been looked into while I waited for the final verdict of either returning or permanently remaining at home. During that period, I felt I was standing alone in the whole wide dark world. All I needed then was a reassurance of God’s love for me and a physical manifestation of this love. For once, I felt like one in the grave. I spent my days in the chapel asking God to intervene and one day, I decided to prayerfully read the passage presented to us in the first reading (Ezekiel 37:12-14). I felt these words being addressed to me: “I will bring you out of your graves… put my spirit in you… settle you in your land and you will know that I, Yahweh have done what I said I would do.” It was not long after then that a friend who went to plead on my behalf was asked to inform me to return. For once too, I felt like Lazarus being raised from the grave and like Mary and Martha having their brother back. It was then that I became convinced that each time we read the Bible, we do not just recount events that happened in the past, but that God also speaks to us personally and repeats His actions in our lives. 

Reflection/Homily: Fourth Sunday of Lent – Laetare Sunday, Year A (30 March 2014)

Reflection/Homily: Fourth Sunday of Lent – Laetare Sunday, Year A (30 March 2014)

Theme: Healing our Spiritual Blindness

Today is the fourth Sunday of Lent which the Church traditionally observes as Laetare Sunday. Laetare is the Latin word for rejoice. On this Sunday, the Church invites her members to rejoice as we get to the middle of the Lenten season and so, gradually approaching Easter. We have to rejoice because of the great hope that awaits us at Easter. This year, the fact that most Churches celebrate their mothering Sunday today, also gives us an additional reason to rejoice. The first reading (1 Sam. 16:1.6-7.10-13) also gives us another reason to rejoice. This reason is the fact that God does not judge us based on our physical appearances as men do, but that He judges our hearts. The heart here refers to the inner chamber of a person where one interacts with God. This was the lesson Samuel learnt when God asked him to anoint David as King instead of his elder brothers who had better physical qualities. The Good News is that God is not interested in our outward appearances but in our internal disposition towards Him. If our disposition is good, He might also improve on our physical appearances.

Reflection/Homily: Third (3rd) Sunday of Lent Year A (23 March 2014)

Reflection/Homily: Third (3rd) Sunday of Lent Year A (23 March 2014)

Theme: Christ is The Source of Living Water

The first reading (Exodus 17:3-7) narrates to us the story of how thirsty the Israelites were in the desert on their way to the Promised Land. Despite their lack of trust in God, God intervened in their situation by asking Moses to strike the rock with his rod and out of this rock came fresh water for the Israelites to drink. Perhaps we may have experienced similar forms of divine interventions in our lives especially at our moments of despair. The reading assures us that though God may seem not to be interested in our predicaments, He is always there to rescue us and that is why we should continue to trust in Him who can never disappoint us. All we need to do is to obey His commands just as Moses did. Today, in our journey to the new Promised Land (heaven), like the Israelites, we also experience thirst in various forms. We may be thirsty of healing, salvation, employment, financial breakthrough, etc and these problems may have led us to murmur against God. In the midst of these difficulties, we can always approach Christ represented by the ministers of the Gospel who are also representatives of Moses. Through the exercise of their ministry, God comes to our aid. Christ is that rock from which the blessings of God flow like water. He is the source of the living water which quenches our spiritual and physical thirst.

Reflection/Homily: Second (2nd) Sunday of Lent Year A (16 March 2014)

Reflection/Homily: Second (2^nd) Sunday of Lent Year A (16 March 2014)

Theme: The Journey of Faith

During my first apostolic work as a senior seminarian, I was sent to a parish in my diocese. This parish was located in the hinterland and I was informed that there was no power supply and mobile telecommunication service (network) there. I was used to regular power supply and I imagined how I could neither charge my mobile phone nor have access to the internet for six weeks. Worst still, then, I was not used to spending a long period of time outside my home or seminary. I wondered how comfortable I would be in a strange environment especially among people of a different culture and dialect. Within the apostolate, I discovered that the grace of God was always at my disposal and it enabled me enjoy the circumstances under which I worked. Perhaps, you may have had a similar experience leaving your home for a strange land either as a result of marriage or educational pursuit or in search of greener pasture. We know there are always lots of anxieties involved in leaving a familiar place for an unfamiliar place.

Reflection/Homily: First (1st) Sunday of Lent Year A (9 March 2014)

Reflection/Homily: First (1^st) Sunday of Lent Year A (9 March 2014)

Theme: Dealing with Temptations

There was this little boy who ran to his parish priest in one area of Igbo Land (Nigeria) and said to him, ‘onwunwa na anwam (literally translated temptation is tempting me). The priest wondered what the little boy meant by that and the boy went on to explain how he bought five pigeons to train, four became ill and died simultaneously while the last one flew away. According to the boy, he could not understand why God would allow such a thing happen to him after all the selfless services he renders to God in the Church. Today, we still find many Christians who have the same mind frame like this poor boy. For them, temptation is the worst thing that can happen to them. In fact, they cannot understand why God would allow evil to befall them in the name of temptation or why they should have the desire to do evil. They think that by prayer and good works, they grow above the possibility of being tempted. But we have to understand the exact meaning of temptation before we can conclude we are being tempted.