Fr.Charles Ezejide

  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...

  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...

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...

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...

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...

  Jeremiah 20:7-9; Psalm 63:2-6.8-9; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27. “THE HUNGER FOR GOD!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Today is the 22 nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. On this last Sunday of the month of August 2026, God has given us another opportunity to gather as children of God to pray and worship and to thank him earnestly for favours received and to pray for more blessings. ·        We live in a society where things are not the way we wish them to be. A lot of people are presently experiencing untold hardship and are on the verge of giving up on everything; hence they are prepared to do just anything for survival and to make ends meet. ·        Dear friends in Christ, the truth is that if we take God out of the equation or any venture, we must be sure that that venture will fail or lead to our frustration. For some, they claim that they do not mix busin...