Fr.Charles Ezejide

  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...

  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 ...

  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? ·  ...

  Zechariah 9:9-10; Psalm 145:1-2. 8-11. 13-14; Romans 8:9. 11-13; Matthew 11:25-30. “LET GOD LEAD!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        We celebrate today the 14 th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. It is also the first Sunday of the second half of the year. Despite all odds, it is a great privilege to be counted among the living, and for this we are gathered to thank the Lord, to pledge our continuous allegiance to him, and to ask him for more favours and more blessings. ·        There is no doubt that we live in a very hard time in our country, Nigeria; this hardship has pushed many Nigerians to demand better governance and leadership. Nigerians are beginning to ask questions about our corporate existence as a nation, about our future as one nation, the poor health care systems, the loud call for restructuring, and the various voices of anger and disappointments from the various regions of the countr...

  Acts 12:1-11; Psalm 33:2-9; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18; Matthew 16:13-19 .   “FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH ! ”   By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Today, the church celebrates the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. These two great men are commonly referred to as the fathers or foundations of our Christian faith. While St. Peter is known as the Apostle to the Jews, St. Paul, on the other hand, is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles. ·        On the writings, teachings and ministries of these two great men stands our Catholic faith. They both laboured tirelessly to the point of shedding their blood for the faith. That is why our vestments today are red - the symbol of martyrdom. ·        The readings of today point to the fact that both Peter and Paul could not be said to be early comers to faith. St. Peter was originally a fisherman. St Paul was busy persecuting Chris...

Jeremiah 20:10-13; Psalm 69:7-9.13.16.32-34; Romans 5:12-15, Matthew 10:26-33. “DO NOT BE AFRAID!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Today the church celebrates the 12 th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A. The readings of today call us to develop unreserved confidence in God, knowing that if the Lord walks with us, there is nothing to be afraid of. No harm will ever befall us, and we will surely reach our destination. No wonder scriptures say, “If God is for us, who can be against us” (Rom. 8:31). ·        When we are told not to be afraid, to be fearless, sometimes it sounds easier said than done. When we are confronted with real-life issues, it takes the grace of God for many not to shiver and give up. St. Peter, in the episode of walking on the water, did so at the beginning. Even with Jesus reassuring him not to be afraid, when the reality of life dawned on him, he began to doubt and thus began to sink (M...