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Homily For The 29th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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  Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 67:2-3.5.7-8; Romans 10:9-18; Luke 24:44-53. “BE MISSIONARY!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        On this 29 th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, the church celebrates this day as World Mission Sunday. The church is always missionary, but this day is set aside to pray for missions and missionaries around the world. Today’s celebration reminds each Christian that we have all been called and sent. ·        Every Christian is a product and a beneficiary of a missionary enterprise. Having benefited from that enterprise, we ought to keep it alive so that others can come to know the message of Christ and that the gospel may reach the ends of the earth. ·        With the various events going on around us and in our world today, the world needs to be re-evangelised again. And no one will do that unless we become missionaries of various degrees. ·  ...
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Homily For The 28th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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  Isaiah 25:6-10; Psalm 23:1-6; Philippians 4:12-14.19-20; Matthew 22:1-14. “SALVATION FOR ALL!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        The reading of this Sunday demonstrates the original intentions of God. This intention is that all be saved. All of us, regardless of social class or race, have been invited to the eternal banquet of God. ·        In the gospel reading ( Matthew 22:1-14 ), the kingdom of God is portrayed as a wedding banquet, but this time an eternal wedding banquet which God has prepared for all who faithfully serve him in this world. ·        This wedding banquet was initially supposed to be a VIP wedding with a special “gate pass” and broad-chested men manning the gate to screen all the guests. It was like our own “who is who” wedding. Probably conducted at one of the big cathedrals of his world. With special dress codes and designated tables for guests. ...
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Homily For The 27th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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  Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:8.11-15.17-19; Philippians 4:6-9; Matthew 21:33-43. “WHERE ARE YOUR FRUITS?” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        God constantly uses familiar images to convey deep and heavenly realities. He uses that which we can commonly understand. The message of salvation is communicated to us using the farmer-plant-harvest relationship. ·        The Joy of every farmer at the end of every planting season is reaping a bumper harvest. He does everything humanly possible to make a good yield. He  seeks the best soil,  plants the best seed, and makes every arrangement to ensure a good harvest. He is devastated and broken when the yield is low. ·        On this 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, the use of parables in today’s readings, especially the first reading and the gospel, is to tell us of the pains and disappointment of God when we fail to yield the e...
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Homily For The 26th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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  Ezekiel 18:25-28; Psalm 25:4-9; Philippians 2:1-11; Matthew 21:28-32. “ACTIONS ARE BETTER THAN INTENTIONS!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Many of us have dreams and ambitions that we hope to accomplish someday. Most of those will remain dreams until we take practical steps to bring them into action. ·        In the same vein, our readings of this Sunday admonish us to go beyond lip service or verbal approval to concrete Christian actions. Our actions ought to speak louder than our words. Unfortunately, it is only our actions that can be evaluated, not our intentions. ·        In the gospel reading ( Matthew 21:28-32 ), Jesus uses the parable of the two brothers to teach us an eternal lesson. The two represent the various tendencies of the human person. Sometimes we are quick to accept responsibility and just as quick to back out of it. At other times, we decline a...
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Homily For The 25th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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Isaiah 55:6-9; Psalm 145:2-3.8-9.17-18; Philippians 1:20-24.27; Matthew 20:1-16. “THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Our Catholic Catechism teaches that God the Son is both human and divine. God the Son took on our human nature to feel what we feel to save us. For many of us, the decision of God to become a man is unfathomable because he could have saved the world through other means. ·        Dearly beloved in Christ, trying to completely unravel the mysteries of God is a futile venture because the moment we “completely” know God, he ceases to be God. It is in the nature of God to be mysterious. ·        The first reading today ( Isaiah 55:6-9 ) explicitly tells us that God’s ways are not our ways, and his designs are beyond human understanding or reckoning. To be saved is to have blind faith and to seek divine help to always do the will o...
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Homily For The 24th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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Sirach 27:30-28:7; Psalm 103:1-4.9-12; Romans 14:7-9; Matthew 18:21-35. “FORGIVE AND FORGET!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Christians are generally referred to as members of a community of believers. Believers come from different orientations and backgrounds, with different temperaments and dispositions. Because it is a community of people, conflicts of interest and misunderstandings are inevitable. ·        The early Christian community, despite being reputed as a wonderful community, had their share of crises. The Apostles had to map out ways to resolve them by selecting seven deacons to quell the crisis (Acts 6:1-4). ·        Today’s readings give us the recipe to also live in a human community and yet live in peace and harmony, managing each other’s shortcomings and inadequacies by learning to forgive and forget. ·        The question...
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Homily For The 23rd Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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Ezekiel 33:7-9; Psalm 95:1-2.6-9; Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20. “COMMUNAL HARMONY AND FRATERNAL CORRECTION!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        The church is a community of the sons and daughters of God. Like any other community, there are ups and downs, and at times, the possibility of misunderstandings and rifts. Today, the readings provide a step-by-step guide to resolving conflicts and keeping the community at peace and in harmony. ·        There is a Russian proverb that states that it is “better to be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie.” Another unknown author says that “pretty words aren’t always true and true words aren’t always pretty.” These two sayings are like a warning to all who want to hear what they want to hear. ·        We live in an era where those who tell us the hard truth are considered our enemies; they are jealous of our success and achiev...
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