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Homily For The 4th Sunday Of Easter, Year A.

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Acts 2:14, 36-41; Psalm 23:1-6; 1 Peter 2:20-25, John 10:1-10.   “THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        The 4 th Sunday of Easter is traditionally known as the “Good Shepherd Sunday” or the “Vocations Sunday”. This day is set aside to pray for vocations in the church that God may raise for himself good shepherds for his vineyard because “the harvest is rich, but the labourers are few” (Matt. 9:37). ·        Growing up, there is hardly any child who could not recite Psalm 23 from the beginning to the end without reading from the bible. We prayed it at the assembly ground, we wrote it as tests in schools, and we adopted it as our favourite Psalm, clearly telling the world that Christ is our Shepherd and if the Lord is our Shepherd, there is nothing we shall want. ·        Today, our readings call us to a deeper commitment to the words of that Psa...
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Homily For The 3rd Sunday Of Easter, Year A.

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  Acts 2:14, 22-23; Psalm 15:1-2, 5, 7-11; 1 Peter 1:17-21, Luke 24:13-35. “A LONG WALK TO EMMAUS!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Today, we celebrate the third Sunday of Easter. These are indeed uncertain times. We need a good dose of hope and courage in the word and promises of God. There is nothing that makes our hope and joy possible beyond the Easter experience. The Easter experience assures us that since Christ died and rose again, we have a sure hope for an afterlife despite all odds.        While the news that Christ died and is now risen from the dead filled many with Joy and courage, some others were devastated and decided to return to normal life, return to their former ways. They were unsure if that news was anything to go by. ·        This is the story of the two disciples on their way to Emmaus in the gospel reading. Their names were not given, which means that it ...
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Homily For The 2nd Sunday Of Easter, Year A.

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  (DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY) Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24; 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31.   “ MERCY MEANS COMMUNITY AND COMMUNION!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        On this second Sunday of Easter, the church celebrates the solemnity of Divine Mercy. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have become the eternal beneficiaries of the mercy of God. If God has shown us mercy, we too ought to show mercy to those around us. ·        This Divine Mercy Sunday was initiated by Pope Saint John Paul in the year 2000 during the canonisation mass of St. Maria Faustina. This Holy nun took it upon herself to spend time before the Eucharistic Jesus pleading for the mercy of God upon the whole world. ·        The message to pray for the mercy of God upon the whole world was entrusted to St. Maria Faustina following the two World Wars. Jesus told Sr Fausti...
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Homily For Easter Sunday, Year A.

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“THE STONE IS ROLLED AWAY: WE ARE SAVED!” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide ·        We have come to the high point of our faith. The events of this week have brought us mixed feelings and uncertainties. A lot of us have dwelt in doubt, especially after experiencing or watching the gruesome way the Son of God was killed for our sake. ·        The death of Jesus really cast doubts on our minds about whether he is truly God. If yes, must he die the way he died so that we might be saved? Through the death of Jesus on the cross, he showed us that there is no gain without pain. And it is to show us the extent of his love for us that he had to die the most SHAMEFUL death so that we can be GRACEFUL. ·        Dearly beloved in Christ, the death of Jesus is sacrificial, the death of Jesus is redemptive, there is nothing suicidal about it. Those who commit do not resurrect, but died for our sake,...
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Homily For Passion (Palm) Sunday, Year A.

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Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22:8-9. 17-24; Philippians 2:6-11; Matthew 26:14-27:66. “THE PAIN THAT LEADS TO GAIN” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Today, the church celebrates the triumphant entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. Entry into his passion, death, and resurrection. Today, the Lord Jesus begins the final weeklong journey for our redemption. This week is heavily loaded; the temptation and trials of Jesus will be enormous, but the truth is that the pains he will endure will eventually lead to our gain. ·        Today’s liturgy is characterised by mood swings of the initial joy of proclaiming Jesus as the King of kings, and then suddenly it changes to a sober and sorrowful mood where the king must be made to die for his subjects. ·        It is a sad experience to witness the people who once welcomed you as their King of kings and Lord of lords turn and chorus, “Crucify him! C...
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Homily For The 5th Sunday Of Lent, Year A.

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  Ezekiel 37:12-14; Psalm 130:1-5. 7-8; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45. “LENT: MOVING FROM DEATH TO LIFE” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Today, the church celebrates the 5 th Sunday of Lent. By this celebration, our journey with Jesus in the wilderness (Lent) is almost over. This should naturally fill us with joy and excitement because where we are going is closer to where we are coming from; we must learn the lessons and imbibe the discipline for better Christian living. ·        In today’s reading, God shows us his power over physical death with a firm assurance of a new life that has no end in the new world he will inaugurate. Hence, the season of Lent at this stage should be a period of preparing ourselves to move from a temporality (death) to live (eternal life).  ·        Dear friends in Christ, Jesus expects us during this season to constantly learn how to ...
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Homily For The 4th Sunday Of Lent (Laetare Sunday), Year A.

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  1 Samuel 16:1.6-7.10-13; Psalm 23:1-6; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41. “THE CHOICES OF GOD” By: Rev. Fr. Charles Onyeka Ezejide. ·        Today, which is the 4 th Sunday of Lent, is traditionally known as the “Laetare Sunday”. It is so-called because the church wants us to rejoice in the joyful anticipation of Easter. Since Easter is closer to us than when we started this Lenten journey, we must rejoice because our redemption is close at hand. ·        Today, more than ever, there are many reasons why we should be joyful. We should be joyful because God’s ways are not the ways of man, and if men were God, then maybe we would have all perished. ·        This is exactly what we see in the choice of God for David in the first reading (1 Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10- 13) over the rest of his brothers. Humanly speaking, David fell short of the requirements to be King in Israel, but here we se...
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