Fr. Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie, MSP - Homily for Wednesday Week 26 Ordinary time - September 30, 2020

 

WEDNESDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER 2020

26TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

MEMORIAL OF ST. JEROME

Job 9:1-13,14-16, Luke 9: 57-62

 

GOD IS ALWAYS RIGHT

 

The touching story of Job has a lot of lessons to teach us. There are times in our lives when we think that God is wrong, we feel like asking God some questions. When Job met his misfortune, all his friends told him that God would not have loved him and then allowed those misfortunes to happen to him. In response as we see in the first reading, Job says that no one can question God because God is never wrong. God has a reason for everything he allows to happen. He knows us more than we know ourselves.

God has the power to do whatever he wills. Nevertheless, all his actions are for our own good. Things may happen to us and we are confused why they happen, let us continue to trust God like Job.

Today we celebrate the memorial of St Jerome. After his ordination as a priest, he was assigned to work as secretary to Pope Damasus. This he did dutifully. At the death of the Pope, he returned to Bethlehem where he founded a monastery, a hospice and a school. He also was very passionate about refugees and the poor especially during the barbarian invasion. He is well remembered for his translation of the  bible into the Latin language. A translation that was accepted and approved for use in the church. His commentaries on the books of the sacred scripture are still very much in use in biblical studies today. May almighty God give us the grace to maximize our potentials. God help us. Amen.

Fr Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie MSP

Fr. Emmanuel Megwara, MSP - Homily for Wednesday Week 26 Ordinary time - September 30, 2020

 

DATE : 30/9/2020, Wednesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time (A)

 EVENT : St. Jerome (Memorial)

 COLOUR : WHITE

 READINGS :Job 9:1-13,14-16;

 Resp. Psalm 87:10-15; Luke 9:57-62.

 

 

 THEME: DO NOT TRY TO PLAY GOD

 

    Greetings beloved people of God. I welcome you to "My Catholic Homily Digest".  Today, the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Jerome, a proficient Scriptural scholar and commentator. Beloved, just like the theme of today's reflection reads, many of us Christians want to play God and religion. And like the proverbial saying, "you can not eat your cake and have it". Many of us want to enjoy the dividends of Christianity, but we are not ready to experience the blunt aspect of the faith. Like spoilt rich kids, we like to call God our Father and want Him to always bless and answer our prayers whenever we come knocking at His doors, yet we do not try as much to obey His precepts in our actions, but merely profess lips service worship to Him.

 

    Child of God, Scriptures tells us in Ephesians 5:5-6, "do not let anyone deceive you, God cannot be mocked, no one who refuses to obey Him will be saved". God knows our hearts, he alone can read the secret intentions behind our every act, so you cannot play God. In the Gospel readings of today, we read about three disciples who expressed the desire to follow Christ, but to each, Christ, who is also God, looked at their intentions and answered each one accordingly. To him who wanted to follow Him because of fame, he said, 'the son of man has no where to lay His head'. To him who sincerely desired to follow him, but with little distractions, Christ said, 'no one who puts hands on the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom'. And to the indecisive one, Christ gave the command to follow Him.

 

   Beloved, the question we need to ask ourselves today is, where do I belong among these groups of 'would be followers of Christ?' Did Christ call me to follow Him, or was I the one who decided to follow Him? If I was the one who decided, what were my reasons for choosing to follow Christ? And finally, how faithful have I been to my decision to follow Christ? Beloved, most of us follow Christ for the wrong reasons, and like the good shepherd who knows the sheep, Christ knows our intentions for following Him, yet He still allows His blessings to reach us. So, conscious of this fact, let us purify our sordid intentions and stop thinking that we can deceive or play God with our external show of religiosity or lips services. God bless you 

 

   Oh that today you would listen to his voice harden not your hearts (Ps.95:7-8)

 

 LET US PRAY : Lord Jesus, you know everything including my secret thoughts and intentions, help me to purify my heart of all selfish desires and sincerely follow you.....Amen

 

@ Fada Emmanuel Nnamdi Megwara, MSP. ⛪

Fr. Emmanuel Megwara, MSP - Homily for Tuesday Week 26 Ordinary time - September 29, 2020

 

DATE : 29/9/2020, Tuesday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time (A)

 EVENT : Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael (Feast)

 COLOUR : WHITE

 READINGS : Dan. 7:9-10.13-14; Resp. Psalm 137:1-5; John 1:47-51.

 

 THEME: THE ARCHANGELS ARE AT YOUR SERVICE

 

    Greetings beloved people of God. I welcome you to "My Catholic Homily Digest". As the Church celebrates the feast day of the archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael,  I want to reflect with us on the theme "The Archangels are at your Service" Beloved,  I am certain that we all have heard something about the archangels and what they did. But, I am not too sure how many of us know the nature, mode of operation and function of these angelic beings. According to the English Dictionary, 'an  archangel is a powerful angel that leads many other angels, but is still loyal to a deity'. However, in Christian theology, an archangel is an angel from the third level or choir of angels, ranked above virtues but below powers. archangels are special messengers of God, usually identified with a particular function.

 

   Beloved, we must realise  that the word, "angel", signifies a function rather than a state of being.  Angels are spirit beings, created by God to sing, adore, worship and extol him day and night. Hence, they can only be called angels when they are sent to deliver some message and usually from God. Thus, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are simply called angels while those that often bear messages of supreme importance and command other fellow angels in executing a given task are called archangels. Now these are the archangels mentioned in the Catholic Bible and their functions:

 

1.  Archang Gabriel : The name could mean; God is mighty; God is my strength; my master is God; or strong man of God. He is often denoted as delivering messages of good news (Luke 1:27-30), or of horror (Dan. 9:21-27).

 

2. Archangel Michael:  The name Michael means, who is like God. He is often denoted as engaged in battle especially against Satan and all evil spirit. He is also known to be the defender of the Church of Christ and all her faithful children. He and his legions are responsible for fighting all our unseen battles (Dan. 12:1).

 

3 . Archangel Raphael : Raphael could be translated as, God has healed; Healer from God; God's remedy; Or

it is God who heals. In the Deuterocanonical book of Tobit, he is the angel who healed Tobit of his blindness.

 

   Beloved, from the above descriptions, we will realise that the archangels are mere messengers, sent from God to heal, defend and bring us messages from God. Unlike the Man who is made in the image and likeness of God, angels were not created in the image of God, they do not possess freewill like man, they are not mortals, hence they do not have soul and spirit. They exist to carry out the will of God, and the will of God is for us to be happy and to be reunited with him when we die. So, they exist to serve and help us to realise that supreme will of God.

 

   I pray that through the grace of today's celebration, we may receive healing from Raphael, good tidings from Gabriel that will change us for the good, and be defended from the whims and caprices of our enemies. God bless you.

 

   Oh that today you would listen to his voice harden not your hearts (Ps.95:7-8)

 

 LET US PRAY : Lord Jesus, you are gracious, merciful, and kind in all that you do. I implore you to send the archangel holding my portion of blessing to locate me this season....Amen

 

@ Fada Emmanuel Nnamdi Megwara, MSP. ⛪