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Homily For The 21st Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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Isaiah 22:19-23; Psalm 138:1-3.6.8; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16:13-20. “WHO DO YOU SAY I AM? FROM IMPRESSION TO PERCEPTION!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        We live in an era where a lot of people are masking and claiming to be who they are not. In this era, it is difficult to know who God is, let alone worship him in spirit and truth. It is an age of false prophets who pretend to be acting and speaking in the name of God. ·        The challenge that comes with false prophecy is that they are so good at imitating that which is real. They go the extra mile to look like the real, but they are not. Their motive and passion are materially oriented, and the children of God are caught at the crossroads trying to decipher which is false and true. ·        If the Lord himself was accused of using the powers of darkness to cast out demons, then we must understand that it is possibl...
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Homily For The 20th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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Isaiah 56:1.6-7; Psalm 67:2-6.8; Romans 11:13-15.29-32; Matthew 15:21-28. “FAITH AND PERSISTENT PRAYERS!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Today the church celebrates the 20 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. The church wants us to reflect on the theme of faith and persistent prayers. On this Sunday, we ought to realise that where faith is deep and prayers persistent, results and testimonies abound. ·        The Catholic Catechism defines faith as a supernatural gift of God that enables us to believe without doubting whatever God has revealed. Faith is an assurance of things hoped for, conviction of things not seen (Heb. 11:1). ·        Prayer is defined as the raising up of our minds and hearts to God. It is communication between us and God our Father. While we take our needs, wants, and supplications to God, in return he grants us our requests according to his divine wil...
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Homily For The 19th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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  1 Kings 19:9. 11-13; Psalm 85:8-13; Romans 9:1-5; Matthew 14:22-33. “FAITH AND THE STORMS OF LIFE!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Today the church celebrates the 19 th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. Jesus continues to elucidate for us the need to have a deep faith in him no matter what our situations in life are. In good times and bad, we must learn to trust and praise God. ·        The gospel reading today ( Matthew 14:22-33) presents us with the encounter between Jesus and Peter on the sea. While Jesus was walking on the sea, Peter and the other apostles thought him to be a ghost. Peter, being who he is, asked to verify whether it was Jesus by walking towards him on the sea. Jesus granted this request. As soon as his faith and trust in God began to wane, he sank simultaneously. ·        Dear friends in Christ, the sea is traditionally full of waves and storms...
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Homily For The 18th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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Isaiah 55:1-3; Psalm 144:8-9,15-18; Romans 8:35, 37-39; Matthew 14:13-21. “WITH GOD, YOU HAVE IT ALL!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Today the church celebrates the 18 th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. God continues to invite us to a journey of faith in this perilous and uncertain times. Our faith in Christ Jesus assures us that when God seems delayed, he usually comes in a big way! ·        God is inviting us to seek Him first despite all odds, and every other thing that we seek will fall in place for us. To seek God is not just a one-off thing. It is a lifelong commitment to journey with Him through thick and thin. To set our hands on the plough and never look back. ·        In the first reading (Isaiah 55:1-3), the Prophet Isaiah reminds us of the promise of abundance which God has reserved for those who stick to His ways. When God calls us, he makes provision for t...
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Homily For The 17th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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  1 Kings 3:5. 7-12; Psalm 119:57. 72. 76-77. 127-130; Romans 8:28-30; Matthew 13:44-52. “DISPOSITION TO PRAYER!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Prayer is a communication between man and God. The Catholic simple catechism teaches that prayer is the “lifting of our heart and mind to God”. Through prayers, we empty our hearts to God and, in return, discern God’s will in our lives. ·        Unfortunately for most Christians, they think that prayers and divine favours must go hand in hand. When we pray, we give God conditions and deadlines. We ask God for the things we do not need in prayers. Our prayer request becomes an order to God. ·        Dear friends in Christ, when you pray, what is the content of your prayer? What is your understanding of prayer? Note that not all prayers must be saturated by requests and demands, and that is why we have different kinds of pr...
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Homily For The 16th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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  Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Psalm 85:5-6, 9-10, 15-16; Romans 8:26-27; Matthew 13:24-43. “THE LORD STILL CARES!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        I hear many Nigerians refer to themselves as their own government. This statement is borne out by the fact that many Nigerians provide for themselves most of the basic social amenities that should ordinarily be provided by the government. The extreme of this practice is that many people now live for themselves alone, charting their own course and doing their own thing because they feel that the Lord has been distant from them. He does not care nor partake in their affairs, so what's the point of paying allegiance to God? ·        If we are in this category, we ought to realise that God is still very much involved in our affairs. “Cut off from me you can do nothing.” (Jn.15:5) He created the world in goodness and therefore he will not abandon it to be overrun ...
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Homily For The 15th Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year A.

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  Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 64:10-14; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23. “MY HEART: A SEED-BED FOR GOD’S WORD!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        We live in an era where it is increasingly becoming difficult to listen to and put into practice the word of God. People are rather ashamed to profess their faith in public for fear of incurring the wrath of their friends, colleagues, or family members. They know the truth of the gospel and yet refuse to practice it. ·        Examining these trends, a lot of people point to the fact that they fear the ridicule of their friends, some fear the loss of their jobs, and some want to feel accepted by the public. So, they suppress their conscience and the word of God in their hearts. The question that comes to mind is, who are we to be afraid of, a man who is temporal or God who is eternal? Whose friendship will pay us more, friendship with God or with a man? ·  ...
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