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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Third (23rd) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (6th September 2015)

September 5, 2015, 2:37 am
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Theme: He Makes the Deaf Hear and the Dumb Speak

In today’s gospel reading (Mark 7:31-37), Jesus was confronted with a pathetic situation of a man who was deaf and dumb. Out of pity, he manifested his power to heal all types of infirmities by healing the man. The man’s healing was dramatic as St Mark records it: “He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle.  Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, “Ephphatha”, that is, “Be opened”.  And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly”. This gospel narrative fulfills in practical terms, the promise of the first reading (Isaiah 34:4-7). God through the Prophet Isaiah promised to visit the people of Judah: “Look, your God is coming, vengeance is coming, the retribution of God; he is coming to save you”.  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf unsealed, then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy.” Jesus became the fulfillment of this messianic prophecy just as we saw in the gospel reading. 

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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Fourth (24th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (September 13 2015)

September 11, 2015, 3:33 pm
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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Fourth (24th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (September 13 2015)
Theme: Who is Jesus Christ for You?

Examinations are important aspects of the learning process. It is always important to examine students to know how much they have learned and how far they can apply what they know to concrete circumstances. In today’s gospel reading (Mark 8:27-35), Jesus considered it wise to examine his disciples on what they know about him. The question was “Who do people say I am?” The disciples gave him the common conception among the people: “John the Baptist,” they said “others Elijah; others again, one of the prophets.”  Jesus went further to ask them: “But you, who do you say I am?” To this question Peter replied:“You are the Christ.”
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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Fifth (25th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (September 20 2015)

September 17, 2015, 5:03 am
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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Fifth (25th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (September 20 2015)
Theme: Achieving Greatness through Humility 

I had a funny experience during one of my apostolic works. I was posted to work in a parish and in the compound where I lived, there were lots of children. One afternoon, three children gathered beside my window and were making some arguments. They didn’t know I was around. They were arguing over who was my most beloved friend. The first claimed to be my most beloved friend because I gave her a gift the day she sang well. The second claimed that I always call her pet names while the third claimed that he was my companion who accompanies me during home visitations and other apostolate. They almost fought because of this but I wondered what brought about the argument. I could not but laugh at them.
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Homily for 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B - By Fr. Munachi E. Ezeogu, CSSp

September 18, 2015, 2:08 am
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Homily for 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B - By Fr. Munachi E. Ezeogu, CSSp
Wisdom 2:12,17-20, James 3:16-4:3, Mark 9:30-37
- on the Gospel

Biblical scholars have discovered in Bible stories a pattern which they call “the younger child motif.” They found that in stories that have to do with two brothers or two sisters, it is almost invariably the younger one who emerges as the hero, the good guy, the one who laughs last. Starting from the story of Cain and Abel, through those of Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and his brothers, David and his brothers, Adonijah and Solomon, Leah and Rachel, the prodigal son and his elder brother, to that of Mary and Martha, we find it is usually the younger sibling who ends up more at peace with God and people. It is hard to make sense of this biblical pattern, but a theory put forward by Carl Jung seems to help.

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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Sixth (26th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (September 27 2015)

September 20, 2015, 4:00 pm
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Reflection/Homily: Twenty-Sixth (26th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (September 27 2015)
Theme: Appreciating the Good from Another  

Last week I travelled to Port Harcourt to see a friend. One evening, we decided to take a stroll down the street. Along the line, something caught my fancy. There were serious and loud shouts of prayer booming from heavy public address systems at three strategic places close to each other. It was like a competition venue and the noise suggested a heavily crowded congregation, but I was surprised to see only three persons in each of the small churches. Sincerely, they had good public address systems which many Catholic Churches here in Nigeria do not have. I wondered why they should possess such good gadgets while so many Catholic Churches that are heavily populated still battle with faulty microphones and speakers. Simply put, I must confess that I was jealous and angered with their development.

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Homily for 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B – By Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu, CSSp

September 20, 2015, 5:00 pm
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Homily for 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B – By Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu, CSSp

Numbers 11:16-17,25-29, James 5:1-6, Mark 9:38-43,47-48

-          on the Gospel - Let God Be God

Ned goes over to see his neighbour who has a very ferocious-looking dog. As Ned approaches the door the dog begins to bark wildly and his neighbour says to him, "Come on in, Ned! Don't be afraid of my dog. You know the old proverb: A barking dog never bites." "Yes," replied Ned, "I know the proverb, and you know the proverb, but does your dog know it?" Before we have an agreement on when a dog can bite and when it cannot, we must first make sure the dog is party to the agreement. In the same vein, any attempt by humans to legislate on where and through whom God can act or cannot act is nothing but a futile attempt to limit God. For God cannot be limited.

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Homily: Twenty-Seventh (27th) Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (October 4 2015)

September 30, 2015, 12:33 am
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Theme: The Dignity of Marriage  

It was not quite long ago that a friend was narrating to me, the difficulties her sister was passing through in her matrimonial home. After revealing a lot of horrible experiences the sister had undergone, I asked her what she would do if she had been in her sister’s shoes. She said she will know what to do but never gave me a specific answer. I further asked her what advice she gave to the sister and she said “to divorce him”. It was an interesting chat but I was eager to know her sister’s disposition in the marriage. From what I learnt, the said sister accepted her condition in good faith and prefers to die in her matrimonial home to a divorce.

In our society today, it seems to me that most of the divorce cases are not championed by the spouses themselves but by relatives and friends of the spouses. A closer look at the present society will also reveal an increasing rate of divorce. As a matter of fact, the dignity and sacredness of marriage is fast washing away. This is because marriage is regarded as a social or business contract that could begin or end whenever and anyhow one pleases. This was perhaps the concept of marriage in the minds of the Pharisees who came to question Jesus in the gospel reading (Mark 10:2-16). It was a test because they wanted to know Jesus’ concept of marriage and know if it was in opposition to popular tradition or the Mosaic tradition. The popular tradition held that a Jewish husband could divorce his wife by pronouncing a divorce formula three times in the presence of two male witnesses (called the triple express system). But the Mosaic tradition held that the husband could only divorce his wife with a letter of divorce (writ of dismissal). 

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Homily for 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B By Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu, CSSp

September 30, 2015, 12:36 am
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Genesis 2:7-8,18-24, Hebrews 2:9-11, Mark 10:2-16

- on the Gospel - Jesus' Teaching on Divorce

Some Pharisees came to Jesus, and to test him they asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" (Mark 10:2). What is going on here? Why is it a test? Well, to start with, the Pharisee never had any doubts about the dissolubility of marriage. The Law of Moses took the lawfulness of divorce and remarriage for granted and all the Pharisees accepted that. It says:

If a man takes a wife, and after they are married she is unpleasing to him because of something objectionable in her, let him give her a statement in writing and send her away from his house. And when she has gone away from him, she may become another man's wife. (Deuteronomy 24:1-2)

The only disagreement among the various schools of the Pharisees was: What is the meaning of this "something objectionable" that a husband would find in his wife to justify divorce? The conservative school of Rabbi Shammai said it meant only a case of scandal, like adultery. The liberal school of Rabbi Hillel said it meant any case of annoyance, "even if she has burned his supper." And the even more liberal school of Rabbi Aqiba said that the woman did not have to be guilty of anything in particular; that the man simply no longer fancied her was enough reason for divorce. This was a trap because if Jesus took sides with one school of thought, he would antagonise himself with the others.

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Homily: Twenty Eight (28th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B (October 11 2015)

October 6, 2015, 10:57 pm
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Theme: Gaining Wisdom and Eternal Life

In a particular African village, the crown prince wanted to take a wife. Among the girls in the village, two girls distinguished themselves in character and were seriously attracted to the royal family. The prince had to choose a wife from among them. One day, he invited both girls to the royal garden and asked them to pick whatever they liked. The first girl gathered a basketful of apple while the second only picked an apple seed. When the prince demanded an explanation for their choice the first girl said: “Apple is a sign of love and the basketful signifies the great love I have for you”. The second girl replied: “I chose an apple seed instead of the fruit because with it, I will have as many fruits as I desire”. It is a sign of love that will keep growing and cannot be exhausted.  At last, the Prince married the second girl because of her wisdom.
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Homily for 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B By Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu, CSSp

October 6, 2015, 11:16 pm
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Wisdom 7:7-11,        Hebrews 4:12-13     Mark 10:17-30
 
- on the Gospel - The Monkey Trap

African hunters have a clever way of trapping monkeys. They slice a coconut in two, hollow it out, and in one half of the shell cut a hole just big enough for a monkey's hand to pass through. Then they place an orange in the other coconut half before fastening together the two halves of the coconut shell. Finally, they secure the coconut to a tree with a rope, retreat into the bush, and wait. Sooner or later, an unsuspecting monkey swings by, smells the delicious orange, and discovers its location inside the coconut. The monkey then slips its hand through the small hole, grasps the orange, and tries to pull it through the hole. Of course, the orange won't come out; it's too big for the hole. To no avail the persistent monkey continues to pull and pull, never realizing the danger it is in. While the monkey struggles with the orange, the hunters approach and capture the monkey by throwing a net over it. As long as the monkey keeps its fist wrapped around the orange, the monkey is trapped. The only way the monkey could save its life is to let go of the orange and flee.
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Reflection: Twenty Ninth (29th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B (October 18 2015)

October 20, 2015, 4:54 am
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Theme: Authority: Service and Sacrifice

After high school, I was privileged to work as an academic dean in my diocesan minor seminary. One day, a woman came to my office with her son requesting that I promote her son who had failed woefully to the next class. I knew the woman was not a literate and never understood the meaning of her request. I explained to her politely that her son simply could not learn the basics he was supposed to learn in the previous class and would not cope in the next class. Besides, I made her understand that it was not in my position to grant such requests since it is the rector’s prerogative to promote students to the next class. After our discussions, they left my office disappointed. Most often, people make requests that may be detrimental to them. Promoting an ignorant student instead of allowing him to repeat the class and learn was a way of adding more illiterates to our ignorant society. These types of vain requests are made out of selfishness because we do not understand their implications.

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Homily for 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) By Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu, CSSp

October 20, 2015, 12:10 pm
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Isaiah 53:4, 10-11,   Hebrews 4:14-16,     Mark 10:35-45

- on the Gospel - What Is Success?
Alexander Woolcott, one of the most famous alumni of Hamilton College, New York, was asked to give a major address at the college's centennial celebration. Woolcott gave a memorable speech which began with these words: "I send my greetings today to all my fellow alumni of Hamilton College, scattered all over the world. Some of you are successes, and some of you are failures - only God knows which are which!" This is a wonderful reminder to us that in our measurement of success and failure, "God's thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are our ways God's ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God's ways higher than our ways, and God's thoughts than our thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9 paraphrase). This is the lesson that the overambitious disciples, James and John, are about to learn in today's gospel story.
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Homily for 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) By Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu, CSSp

October 20, 2015, 12:17 pm
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Jeremiah 31:7-9, Hebrews 5:1-6, Mark 10:46-52

- on the Gospel - Self-Realisation in Christ

There is an old African fable about how the duck learnt to swim. Duck and Hen lived together in a house by the seaside. Their food was the rotten fish that the fishermen threw away. Everyday they saw Heron swimming up and down the sea, catching and eating fresh fish. This made Duck desire so much to have some fresh fish. But Hen said to Duck, "Why do you desire what you can't have? The Heron is a sea-bird. Her body is light. We are land-birds and land-birds do not swim. If you enter the sea with this your heavy body you will sink like a stone and that will be the end of you." Duck believed Hen. So they went on eating their rotten fish. But this did not stop Duck's hunger and inborn desire for fresh fish.

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Homily for 30th (Thirtieth) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B (October 25 2015)

October 20, 2015, 12:22 pm
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Theme: Restoration through Faith

Most often, life challenges us with unfavourable situations that make us victims of circumstances. At such moments, all hope is usually lost. Such was the kind of experience the people of Israel had during the Babylonian exile when they were driven away from their homeland as captives in Babylon. But God took the initiative of bringing them back to their homeland and restoring their lost possessions. That is why in the first reading (Jeremiah 31:7-10), God through the Prophet Jeremiah in the Book of Consolation delivers a promise of restoration, recovery and hope for the Israelites in their captivity where they had lost every sense of peace, happiness and hope.
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My Prayer for Imo State

October 25, 2015, 6:02 am
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All Powerful and Merciful God,

We your people in Imo State thank you for the numerous blessings and favours we have received from you both individually and collectively. We ask for pardon for the several ways we have fallen short of your glory. Today we are held captives by the agents of bad governance involving both leaders and followers. As a result of this, we are suffering from spiritual, political, economic, social and intellectual blindness.

God our Father, our people have been impoverished by non-payment of workers’ salaries, neglect of pensioners, the dilapidation of social infrastructure, selfishness by our leaders, lack of befitting employment for our youths and reckless spending of public resources among others. Our roads have become death traps, our educational, medical and even political structures among several others have been rendered useless by false promises, deceit and bad will. Parents are no longer able to cater for their children and our youths cannot achieve their goals.

Compassionate Father, we beg you, touch the hearts of our leaders and all those responsible for our collective well-being, that they may have a sense of love, justice and good will. Since they are blind to our predicaments, grant that they may see again, so as to be sensitive to the plights of the suffering masses. Bless us with responsible governance and God-fearing leaders who will restore our lost glory and lead us into the Promised Land. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.

-    Uwakwe Chibuike MFC

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Homily for the Solemnity of All Saints (November 1) By Fr. Munachi Ezeogu, CSSp

October 30, 2015, 7:43 am
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Theme: The Beatitudes: Road Map to Happy Eternity
(Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14,  1 John 3:1-3,  Matthew 5:1-12)

Why is it necessary to celebrate the feast of all saints? All year round we are celebrating feasts of saints: Thomas Aquinas, January 28; Augustine of Hippo, August 28; Theresa of Lisieux, October 1, etc. Why then is it necessary to set apart a day to celebrate the feast of all saints? I can think of two important reasons.

1. Beside the handful of saints whose feast days we celebrate on specific days in the year, there are countless other saints and martyrs, men, women and children united with God in the heavenly glory whom we do not celebrate. Many of these would be our own parents and grand-parents who were heroic women and men of faith. Today we keep their honourable memory. In many ways, therefore, today's feast can be called the feast of the Unknown Saint, in line with the tradition of the Unknown Soldier. We celebrate what the first reading calls "a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands" (Rev 7:9).
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Homily for Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed - All Souls (November 1) By Fr. Munachi Ezeogu, CSSp

October 30, 2015, 7:45 am
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Theme: Saved, But As Through Fire
(Job 19:1, 23-27,  1 Corinthians 15:20-23,  John 12:23-26)

Native American tribes are known for their elaborate and colourful quilts. Often the memories of the tribes are woven into large quilts used in religious ceremonies. Native American peoples are believed to be among the best quilt makers in the world. What many people do not know is that they have an unwritten law governing the art of quilting: every quilt must have some flaw. Even when they could easily produce the perfect quilt, they go out of their way to introduce a flaw into it. Since the quilt for them is basically a representation of human life and the human condition, the symbolism is clear: no human life is perfect. In a way, the feast of All Souls which we celebrate today echoes the same message: no human life is perfect, not even the Christian life. The Good News we celebrate today is that God loves us even when we are not perfect, and that the love of God does not abandon the souls of our departed brothers and sisters in the faith even when they did not measure up to the ideals of Christian perfection.
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Meet the World's Oldest Cardinal @ 100 years - Cardinal Loris Francesco Capovilla

October 30, 2015, 8:27 am
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At100, Cardinal Loris Francesco Capovilla is the oldest Roman Catholic Bishop from Italy and the oldest member of the College of Cardinals. Born on Octiber 14 1915, Cardinal Capovilla was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Venice on 23rd May 1940 by Cardinal Piazza, the Patriach of Venice. He was appointed bishop of the Archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto on 26 June 1967 and consecrated on 16 July 1967 by Pope Paul VI. He served as the personal secretary to Pope John XXIII from 1958 to 1963 and was created a Cardinal by Pope Francis in 2014 even though he received a dispensation to be absent from the Feb 22 consistory due to old.
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Homily: Thirty-Second (32nd) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year B (November 8 2015)

November 6, 2015, 2:34 am
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Theme: Selfless Sacrifice

One day, I had a funny experience at a motor park. One pretty and well-dressed lady approached me and begged me for some money to enable her travel home. I asked her what was wrong with her whether she was robbed. She went on to narrate to me how she came to the city for a crusade and in the course of the crusade, the man of God urged them to donate generously to the Church and be sure of God’s abundant blessings. So she had to give all she had as a widow’s mite. I could not understand why she had to donate her transport fare only to start begging in the park. I only had to help her based on Christian charity so that she wouldn’t be stranded or embarrassed.

Her action was a literal understanding and interpretation of today’s gospel reading (Mark 12:38-44). There, Jesus only praised the poor widow not because she gave all she had to live on but because of her total trust and dependence on God. There are four lessons we can learn from the simple action this poor widow performed.

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Homily for 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time By Fr Munachi E. Ezeogu, CSSp

November 6, 2015, 3:02 am
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I Kings 17:10-16,  Hebrews 9:24-28,  Mark 12:38-44
 Theme: The Widow’s Plight

Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa is very fond of this joke: "When the missionaries came to Africa, we had the land and they had the Bible. Then they said, 'Let us pray ...,' and asked us to close our eyes. By the time the prayer was over, they now had the land and we had the Bible." And he usually ends the joke by adding, "And I think we got the better deal." In this joke we have a substantiation of Karl Marx's criticism of the Christianity of his day as the "opium of the people," - that which puts people to sleep while the ground under their feet is taken away from them. In today's gospel Jesus warns his followers against religious leaders who propagate this kind of anaesthetic religiosity. "Beware of the scribes, who ... devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation" (Mark 12:38-40). In the second half of the gospel reading, the story of the Widow's Mite, we see a tragic example of the product of this kind of religiosity. Jesus commends the victim but condemns the victimiser.
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