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. ⛪

Fr. Emmanuel Megwara, MSP - Homily for Monday Week 26 Ordinary time - September 28, 2020

 

DATE : 28/9/2020, Monday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time (A)

 EVENT : St. Wenceslaus and Lawrence Ruiz and Companion (Opt. Memorial

 COLOUR : GREEN

 READINGS : Job 1:6-11; Resp. Psalm 16:1-3.6-7; Luke 9:46-50.

 

 THEME: GOD HAS SO MUCH CONFIDENCE IN YOU, DO NOT SHAME HIM

 

    Greetings beloved people of God. I welcome you to "My Catholic Homily Digest". As this new working week begins today, and the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Wenceslaus and Lawrence Ruiz, I want to reflect with us on the theme "God Has so much Confidence in you, do not disappoint Him". Beloved, the basic foundation and string, holding any good friendship and relationship is trust. Once trust is lost in any relationship, just forget it. Usually, people earn our trust and confidence because they have proven to us beyond all reasonable doubt that we can rely on them. Imagine how broken you will feel if after vouching for someone in public, he or she disappoints you.

 

    In the first reading of today, we are told that God vouched for Job in the gathering of the sons of God. He gave Satan the permission to tempt Job to a breaking limit to proof that Job would never abandon Him no matter what. Now the questions we ought to ask ourselves today are: what made God to trust Job so much? Has Job proven himself trustworthy in the past? If I am Job, can God trust me not to disappoint Him when tempted? Have I proven myself triumphant before any temptation in the past? Is there something which is my achilles heels (my weakness), that the tempter can easily use to pull me down?

 

    Child of God, truth is, the world is being ruled by Satan, he is the prince of this earth. God has granted him the permission to tempt us, to hurt us, to cause us pain, to inflict all kinds of disasters on us. We must bear in mind that the devil is never at rest (I Pet. 5:8), he is our sworn enemy, his plan is only to kill, to steal and to destroy, he knows all our weaknesses, and he feeds on them. But glory be to God, for through the Paschal mystery of Christ, the devil, our accuser before God has been overpowered. And we have been engraced, through our baptism to stand up to him, and to defeat him. Child of God, just like Job, God has so much trust in you, please do not disappoint Him, You are stronger than your weakness through the grace of Christ. Do not allow the devil to humiliate God with laughter on your account. Stop that evil habit today and shame the Devil. 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 loved and trusted me so much that you even vouched for me with your life, help me with your grace to prove myself worthy of your trust for me....Amen

 

 HAPPY NEW WEEK (BARKA DA SABUWAR MAKO)

 

@ Fada Emmanuel Nnamdi Megwara, MSP. ⛪

Fr. Emmanuel Megwara, MSP - Homily for Friday Week 25 Ordinary time - September 25, 2020

 

 

 DATE : 25/9/2020, Friday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time (A)

 EVENT : Mass of the Day

 COLOUR : GREEN

 READINGS :Eccl.3:1-11; Resp. Psalm 143:1-4; Luke 9:18-22.

 

 THEME: PERFECT TIMING IS KEY TO SUCCESS

 

    Greetings beloved people of God. I welcome you to "My Catholic Homily Digest". Today, I want to reflect with you on the theme, "Perfect Timing is Key to Success". It is often said that, 'a stitch in time saves nine'. Beloved, doing the right thing at the right time is highly commendable and often yields the required result. Often time, so many people fail to succeed, not because they did the wrong things, but because they did the right thing at the wrong time.

 

   Child of God, timing is everything in life. We exist in  time and we act in time. The first reading of today brings out this clearly when it said: "there is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven...a time to be born and a time to die, a time for sowing and a time for reaping what is sown. My pastoral ministry here in an agrarian settlement has helped me to better appreciate the wisdom in timing. Every crop has its own particular time to be planted, if the farmer hopes to reap bountifully from his labours. The time for planting maize is different from the time for planting beans and the same goes for other crops. Thus, timing is key to a successful harvest.

 

 Beloved, in today's Gospel, Jesus warned His disciples not to speak about Him publicly yet because the time is not ripe for that. Their faith in Him was not yet grounded, they still needed time to understand His mission and to witness His passion, if they are to be completed certified to preach about Him. Possibly if they had preached prematurely about Jesus, they would not have recorded the level of success they did today. God is the author of time, though he does not exist in time. He has fixed a time for everything under the sun. So, relax allow God's timing to take precedence in your life. Do not try to outsmart God, or run faster than your shadow, for if you do, you will end up tired, weary and a failure. take your time, do not rush in life, plan whatever you want to do or say, look for the best time to do or say it, Ask for God's approval, wait upon the Lord, for at the appointed time, God will give you all the enablement you need to succeed. 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, I believe and I profess that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. I hand over all my plans and potential actions to you, help me to execute them at the appropriate time

...Amen

 

 HAPPY WEEKEND BELOVED (BARKA DA JUMA'A)

 

@ Fada Emmanuel Nnamdi Megwara, MSP. ⛪