Fr. Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie, MSP - Homily for Saturday After Ash Wednesday - February 20, 2021

SATURDAY 20TH FEBRUARY 2021

SATURDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY

Isaiah 58:9-14

Luke 5:27-32

HAPPINESS ONLY COMES FROM DOING GOOD

As human beings, we seek to be happy, we want things to go well for us. There is a big connection between happiness and the type of life we live. Many people who live terrible lives and gain material things through illegal and scrupulous ways may think that they have gained happiness, but it is a form of pseudo happiness because it does not last and they are alienated from God.

In the first reading of today, the prophet Isaiah tells us what to do to attain happiness. We must live according and do what is right, we must treat other people well and plan the best for them. Material things do not ensure happiness, only God can make us happy.

In the gospel reading, we see Matthew leave his work as tax collector to follow Jesus. There is no doubt that Matthew would have been more happy as an Apostle of Jesus than a tax collector, even though he had much money as a tax collector. Jesus is inviting us to true happiness today. Only by living rightly can we be happy.

May almighty God grant us the grace to seek the true happiness that comes from him. God help us. Amen.

Fr Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie MSP

Fr. Emmanuel Megwara, MSP - Homily for Saturday after After Ash Wednesday - February 20, 2021

  DATE : 20/2/2021

 EVENT : Saturday After Ash Wednesday

 COLOUR:Violet

 READINGS : Isaiah 58:9-14; Resp. Psalm 85:1-6; Luke 5:27-32.

 THEME:  TAKE NOTE OF THE IGNORABLE FAULTS

         Greetings beloved people of God. I welcome you to "My Catholic Homily Digest". On this Twentieth day of February, the Saturday After Ash Wednesday, I wish to reflect with you on the theme: " Take Note Of The Ignorable Faults". Beloved, during this my short time as a Roman Catholic Priest, I have had the privilege of experiencing people on a deep and personal level. Some I have even accompanied and still accompanying in their spiritual journeys. During these my encounters, I have come to discover that many of us are really trying and making efforts to avoid the obvious sins and to be holy. However,  most of us, have a very shallow idea of sin and what offends God. For instance, if a hundred people come to confessions, you could almost readily predict the range of sins they would all be confessing. If it is not lie, it is disobedient, then abuses, followed by sexual related sins (fornication, adultery, masturbation and abortion) and then a few anger burst moments. But, we know that inasmuch as these sins are worth confessing, there are a lot of Ignorable wrongdoings and faults which every one of us commit, but pass it by or even are not conscious that we have transgressed. These are the sins which God wants us to be weary about in today's readings.

    In the first reading of today, Isa. 58:9-14, God reminds us through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, that it is evil when we waste and throw away food, when people are hungry around us. It is a sin when we pass by an oppressed person without doing or saying something. It is a grave sin when we travel or transact on Sundays. It is a sin worth confessing when we gossip, speak ill or defame the character of another person, whether what we said is true or wrong. It is a pardonable fault when we pass by sacred images, places and person without showing adequate reverence. It is  a sin when we plan sin in our heart, even if we eventually did not carry it out. It is an offence when like the Pharisees in today's Gospel, Luke 5:27-32, we feel holier or more godly than other people. It is unchristian when we think and judge others to be sinners. It is a sin when we pretend to avoid somebody because they have wronged us, while we are actually malicing them. It is a sin to keep items which in conscience we know that we no longer need them. It is a sin to always shout 'JESUS', at every slightest provocation or accident.

   So beloved in Christ, if you truly want to be holy, do not just focus your attention on the big sins mentioned earlier. Remember that these small and Ignorable faults also have the power to cost you your salvation. Hence, just like it is often said, "that the devil lies in the details", make sure to guard against this Ignorable faults, so that you may be completely blameless before God. I hope your Lenten fast is going on well? Peace be with you.

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

 LET US PRAY : Lord Jesus, from hidden and Ignorable faults acquit me.

 

The Lord be with you....... and with your Spirit.

 May Almighty God bless you in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit ....Amen

   HAPPY WEEKEND BELOVED FRIENDS

@ Fada Emmanuel Nnamdi Megwara, MSP. ⛪

Fr. Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie, MSP - Homily for Saturday Week 5 of Ordinary Time Year I - February 13, 2021

SATURDAY 13TH FEBRUARY 2021

FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR I

Genesis 3:9-24

Mark 8:1-10

WHY ARE WE AFRAID TO ADMIT OUR SINS?

As children growing up, we found it very difficult to admit the wrong things we have done. In fact we run away and hide from our parents when we commit an offence. We hardly accept that we are wrong even when we are caught red handed.

This is the same attitude we see in our first parents in the  first reading of today. They had sinned against God by disobeying his instructions. That disobedience landed them and the whole of humanity in trouble. It was after they had eaten the fruit that they had their full senses back. They began to hide from God, not because they were naked, but because they could not relate with God any longer. It is the same way that we hide from God and are not able to pray when we have sinned.

When God inquired from them why they disobeyed him, Adam shifted the blame to Eve and Eve shifted the blame to the serpent. I'm sure if the serpent was given a room to speak, it would also have shifted the blame to another object (there will be a joke at the end of this reflection about the response of the serpent)

Despite all these, one striking thing about God in the first reading, is the fact that though he was very angry with our first parents and the serpent and he cursed them, he started forgiving us from that same moment; he made them clothes out of skin and continued to care for them even outside the garden of Eden, he sent prophets to them until he sent his Son Jesus Christ to call us back to him.

Whatever the sin that has made us feel ashamed of God to the extent that we are hiding from him, let us be conscious that God is not aiming to condemn us, he wants us to come back to him.

God help us to shun the voices that are not of him. Amen.

Fr Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie, MSP

Joke: God asked the serpent, what is this that you have done, why did you give her the fruit? The serpent replied: I was just relaxing on the tree when Eve was passing by. She asked me, anything for the girls?

Fr. Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie, MSP - Homily for Friday Week 5 of Ordinary Time Year I - February 12, 2021

FRIDAY 12TH FEBRUARY 2021

FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR II

Genesis 3:1-8

Mark 7:31-37

SIN CAUSED OUR DEPRIVATIONS

Since the beginning of this week, we have been reflecting on God's creation. We see the importance given to man among all other creatures. One of the greatest gifts God gave to man is freewill, which means that we can decide to do good or evil. No other creature has such abilities. Animals only live by instinct, they have no capacity to reason and take decisions.

In the first reading of today, we see how our first parents misused the gift of choice and freedom God gave to us. God had good plans for them in the garden of Eden,  but pride and pleasure did not allow them to enjoy what God had in place for them. They sinned and fell, and they dragged down all of creation with them.

If we reflect about our lives today, we see that we are not too different from our first parents. God has good plans for us all, but our pride and quest for pleasure have not allowed us to enjoy them. Our sins continue to alienate us from God.

Just as Eve was deceived by the devil in form of a serpent, that is how the devil waits for us to exploit our weaknesses whenever we are at right with God and are ready to enjoy his gifts. Let us always make efforts to shun the devil and obey the voice of God.

It is when we have finished committing sins that our minds and hearts begin to act rightly; we fail to listen to God before and during the moments of sin. May almighty God help us to listen and obey his voice. Amen.

Fr Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie, MSP

Fr. Emmanuel Megwara, MSP - Homily for Friday Week 5 of Ordinary Time Year I - February 12, 2021

DATE : 12/2/2021, Thursday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time (B)

 EVENT : Mass of the Weekday

 COLOUR:Green

 READINGS : Gen. 3:1-8; Resp. Psalm 31:1-2.5-7; Mark 7:31-37.

 THEME:  PLUCK OUT THE GREED IN YOU

         Greetings beloved people of God. I welcome you to "My Catholic Homily Digest". On this Twelfth day of February, I wish to reflect with you on the theme: " Pluck Out The Greed In You". Beloved in Christ, it was Mahatma Gandhi of India, who said, "there is enough resources in the world to meet everyone's need, but there isn't enough resources to satisfy every one's greed". God as the architect of creation, has fashioned the world in such a way that it is able to support the sustainability of every living thing, plants and animals alike. Thus, there is enough food to go round, enough shelter to go round, enough water to go round, enough money to go round, enough lands to go round, even enough male and female to go round. The world is not deficient in any way, there is nothing lacking in the world, the resources in the world are not limited. Just like the Bible says in Matt. 6:29 and Luke 12:27, God takes care of all created things, such that even King Solomon in all his adornment is not half as beautifully clothed as the lilies of the field s. And I dare to add that even Bill Gates with all his dollars is not as well taken care of as the ever green trees planted by the flowing river (Cf. Rev. 22:2).

         However, despite this availability of unlimited natural resources, abundance of rich food, and variety of pleasant luxuries, we noticed that in the first reading of today, the Devil was able to beguile Eve. Now apart from many other theological and spiritual explanations behind the vulnerability of Eve which later metamorphosed into the fall of man (Adam and Eve), Eve, representing the entire human race, fell because of the greed of the eye, and the greedy desires of the appetitive tongue and stomach. Now, added to the fact that the devil suggested eating the fruit to Eve, the Bible recorded that the fruit was desirous and pleasant to the eyes (Gen. 3:5). hence the temptations became a slippery slope for Eve. And she fell easily into it.

        Beloved in Christ, Beware of that which your eyes desire. Often times, we imagine that the devil will come to tempt us with something big. But no, as a cunning and wise serpent, he uses that which our hearts already remotely desires. What he does is just to give us a little push, and off we fall. As Christians, let us watch out for our Achilles heels, and our Waterloo, for that is the place the devil is sure to easily trap us. Bible tells us in 1Cor. 10:12, 'that he who thinks he is strong enough to stand should be careful lest he falls'. For as the saying goes, 'A chain is as strong as it's weakest link'. Always pray for the grace to work on your weakness and to pluck the greed of worldly desires from eyes.

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

 LET US PRAY : Lord Jesus, help me with the grace to resist the most inordinate desirous longing in my heart..... 

The Lord be with you....... and with your Spirit.

 May Almighty God bless you in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit ....Amen

 @ Fada Emmanuel Nnamdi Megwara, MSP. ⛪

Fr. Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie, MSP - Homily for Thursday Week 5 of Ordinary Time Year I - February 11, 2021

THURSDAY 11TH FEBRUARY 2021

FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR II

Genesis 2:18-25

Mark 7:24-30

HE MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE

The human person is very complex and unique. When God created the various species, such as land and sea animals and all the birds of the air, no emphasis was made as to the fact that they were created male and female. As to the creation of the human person, an emphasis is made in the first reading of today, that God created Adam, and then Eve to complement him.

The beauty of a family is the complementarity of the male and female coming together to share their lives with one another. God himself made it that a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and they become one body. Husbands and wives are meant to complement and help each other. What one lacks, the other supplies.

The emphasis on the creation of Woman is not to be seen that women are a different creature from men. Humanity is a single specie. That women are created from the ribs from the side of men explains it all, that they both need each other to improve themselves. It is when this complementarity is not understood, that one begins to fight the other for irrelevant things.

We pray for families today, that parents will always compliment the efforts of one another, for the good of all creation. God help us. Amen.

Fr Michael Osatofoh Eninlejie, MSP.

Fr. Emmanuel Megwara, MSP - Homily for Thursday Week 5 of Ordinary Time Year I - February 11, 2021

DATE : 11/2/2021, Thursday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time (B)

 EVENT : Our Lady of Lourdes (Opt. Memorial)

 COLOUR:Green

 READINGS : Gen. 2:18-25; Resp. Psalm 127:1-5; Mark 7:24-30.

 THEME: WOMEN ARE LOVELY CREATURES

    Greetings beloved people of God. I welcome you to "My Catholic Homily Digest". On this Eleventh day of February, which the Church celebrates the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, I wish to reflect with you on the theme: " Women Are Lovely Creatures". Beloved, although it is often said that, 'beauty is in the eyes of the beholder', there are some beauties which are self evident and undisputably glaring. Hence, except under the pretext of denial, a rational person may not denial the loveliness, goodness, attractiveness, beauty, elegance and gracefulness with which God has fashioned the female beings. In fact, according to the second account of creation found in Gen. chap. 2, we are told that God created women with a particular specification and goal in mind. Namely to be desirous, irresistible and appealing to the cognitive and emotive faculties of  the man. Thus, it is natural and normal for a complete and healthy man to desire a woman, for that was what the divine being intended with the creation of the woman.

      Dearest in Christ, from the first reading of today, Gen. 2:18-25, we are told that in his love for man, God didn't want the man to be alone. Hence, he wanted to get a companion for him. However, in his divine wisdom and plans God did not just want to get for the man a companion, he wanted to provide him with a helpmate, a colleague, a gist partner, a friend, a confident, and a wife. One whom the man would not be able to resist, push aside or ignore like he had done with every other animal. Hence, based on request and need, God fashioned the woman in such a lovely way that the man would necessarily be wowed by the presence of the woman. So, Beloved in Christ, every woman is created attractive, lovely, beautiful, graceful and irresistible. Thus, it is the will of God that once a man has chosen 'his' woman, he should cling to her, love her, respect her, adore her, pamper her, take care of her, provide for her, protect her, defend her, and see her as a part of his own body. For indeed, a woman was taken from the substance of man. And just like a man cannot hate himself, but love and take care of it, so must he treat the woman.

     Child of God are you a man, then learn to respect women, learn to make life easy for them. Learn to love them as a part of you. Do not exploit women. Do not rape them. Do not see them as sex tools. But rather, while appreciating their loveliness, desire and thank God who created such beauties. Are you a woman, know your worth, do not disgrace your womanhood. You are gracefully made, do not ruin yourself in the mud because of material things. Learn to appreciate God for creating you the way you are. Do not enhance yourself into a tempting tool to vulnerable men. Ask God to make you a favourable helpmate to your man. 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, thank you for filling and decorating the world with such beautiful woman, whom you have put as a helpmate to the man.

The Lord be with you....... and with your Spirit.

 May Almighty God bless you in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit ....Amen

  @ Fada Emmanuel Nnamdi Megwara, MSP. ⛪