Fr. Emmanuel Megwara, MSP - Homily for Saturday Week 3 of Advent - December 19, 2020

DATE : 19/12/2020, Saturday of the Third week of Advent Year (B)

 EVENT : Mass of the Week day

 COLOUR: VIOLET/PURPLE

 READINGS : Judges 13:2-7.24-25a; Resp. Psalm 71:3-4a.5-ab.16-17; Luke 1:5-25.

 THEME: DESTINED FROM THE WOMB

    Greetings beloved people of God. I welcome you to "My Catholic Homily Digest". On this Nineteenth day of December, I wish to reflect with us on the theme: " Destined From the Womb" Beloved, have you ever taken time to reflect on the prophetic words of Jer. 1:5, "Before I formed YOU in the womb I knew YOU; before YOU were born I consecrated YOU...." These are powerful words addressed through the voice of the prophet Jeremiah to all of us who are now children of God. There is never a person born without the authorisation of God. I refuse to buy the idea that some pregnancies are a mistake. Yes. in the sight of men and due to the circumstances some persons may see some pregnancies as unwanted since they did not plan for it. But in the sight of God, any child born into this world is carefully fashioned and known personally by God, has a destiny to fulfill, and is precious to God. Hence, before we began forming in our mother's womb, God knew us personally. What a mystery to grasp!!!

   Beloved, in the two readings of today, Judges 13 and Luke 1, we heard how the angel of God appeared to Hazzelelponi and Zachariah, bringing the news of the birth of Samson and John the Baptist respectively. One interesting thing about both stories was that both couples presented in the passages of the readings were barren and the sons to be born to them were destined for greatness from the womb and were called by God to bring hope and deliverance to the people at a time of spiritual darkness and difficulty.

    Child of God, do you believe that you are special to God? Do you believe that you are not a product of chance and that God created you with a destiny for greatness? Do you also know the destiny and task God has for you? Do you think you are on the right path to accomplishing the purpose for which God created you? That you are created for greatness does not mean that life would be simple, smooth, easy or fair to you. Even Samson had his Delilah to contend with and John the Baptist had the wilderness and authorities to contend with. Nevertheless, they both trail blazed and still fulfilled God's will in their lives. We are encouraged today not to be discouraged or allow any form of Delilah, wilderness or authorities to stop us from fulfilling our individual destiny. Let us try our best to remain focused and victory shall be ours. 

  Do not be afraid for you will be remembered in my priestly prayers throughout this month. God bless you

#End Sars,

#End Political Oppression

#End Bad Governance

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

 

 LET US PRAY :Lord Jesus, help me to love and serve you, may your love rule in all my relationships and remove any barriers to peace and harmony in my path

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

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

 HAPPY WEEKEND BELOVED FRIENDS

@ Fada Emmanuel Nnamdi Megwara, MSP. ⛪

Fr. Emmanuel Megwara, MSP - Homily for Friday Week 3 of Advent - December 18, 2020

DATE : 18/12/2020, Friday of the Third week of Advent Year (B)

 EVENT : Mass of the Week day

 COLOUR: VIOLET/PURPLE

 READINGS : Jer. 23:5-8; Resp. Psalm 72:1-2,12-13,18-19; Matt. 1:18-24.

 THEME: WHERE IS YOUR INTEGRITY

    Greetings beloved people of God. I welcome you to "My Catholic Homily Digest". On this Eighteenth day of December, I wish to reflect with us on the theme: Where is Your Integrity". Beloved, it is often said that when money is lost, something is lost, but when integrity is lost, everything is lost. This is why Scripture tells us in Proverbs 22:1, "that a good name is to be desirable over great riches". But we know better dear friends, that as Christians today, many of us have thrown integrity to the winds, and give no damn about maintaining good name or reputation, in the frenzied search for material wealth, connection and our daily bread. According to the Webster English Dictionary, 'integrity is defined as a steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code without fear or compromise'. Now, as a Christian, how faithful are we to our Christian moral code? Do you easily compromise and lower your ethical standard in order to accomodate your appetitive desires? Do you care about the impression  you sell out whenever you speak or act in public? Do you take out time to ask for feedback so as to find out what impression people have of you?

   Beloved, in today's Gospel reading, Scripture recorded that Joseph, the son of David, was a man of honour and integrity. So, having made up his mind to divorce Mary his betrothed, he still did not want to daint her reputation, but to preserve her integrity by dismissing her informally. Now, the reason why Joseph was concerned about Mary's integrity was because he was a man of integrity himself, so he understood perfectly the value of honour. If you care for and value your integrity, you would also value that of others. But if you have lost your integrity and respect in the sight of men, how can you value and preserve that of others?

     Beloved, I know it is difficult to preserve integrity especially in this our morally decayed era. I know it is difficult not to compromise your Christian ethics especially when your stomach is chunning, when  as a single, lady age is against you; when as a business man, you need to make profit to feed your family; when as an employee, you need to secure your job; when as a priest or minister, you need to feed and live well. So, I pray with the first reading of today, that the Lord who is our integrity (Jer. 23:6), will give us the grace to keep struggling to be perfect and to maintain our integrity.

  Do not be afraid for you will be remembered in my priestly prayers throughout this month. God bless you

#End Sars,

#End Political Oppression

#End Bad Governance

Fr. Emmanuel Megwara, MSP - Homily for Thursday Week 3 of Advent - December 17, 2020

DATE : 17/12/2020, Thursday of the Third week of Advent Year (B)

 EVENT : Mass of the Week day

 COLOUR: VIOLET/PURPLE

 READINGS : Gen. 49:2.8-10; Resp. Psalm 72:1-2.3-4ab.7-8.17; Matt. 1:1-17.

 THEME: ANCESTRAL ORIGIN: A BLESSING OR A CURSE

    Greetings beloved people of God. I welcome you to "My Catholic Homily Digest". On this Seventeenth day of December, I wish to reflect with us on the theme: " Ancestral Origin: A Blessing or a Curse". Beloved, I believe that due to no fault of ours, many of us cannot trace our ancestral origin more than four generations. Apart from the limitation of undocumented history, many of us do not judge it as important, hence, we are not interested in knowing who our ancestors were, what prophecies were made upon their generation and what blood covenant was made such that any child born in the lineage  automatically becomes initiated and carries a spell. Most of us do not care to know what mistakes our ancestors made that may be affecting us.  Furthermore, it is pitiable to see that most modern Christians instead of sanctifying their so called "pagan" genealogy, have chosen to deny or  cut off themselves abruptly from their roots which they perceive as evil.  

    Beloved in today's Gospel passage, St. Matthew, presents us with the genealogy of Jesus. This is to show the importance of knowing and sustaining our ancestral lineage. Now, a key factor in this genealogy is that Jesus' ancestral origin is not a perfect one. There were holy men like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David, as well as people of questionable character like Tamar, Rahab and Ahaz. Yet, Jesus came from this  ancestral origin and still fulfilled his destiny. He did not reject his ancestors, he did not cut off ties with them, he did not exorcise himself from them, Instead, he purified it and even associated himself with one of them who was adulterous, David. Thus the name, JESUS, SON OF DAVID.

  Child of God, As Christians, we are not meant to distance or cut off ourselves from our genealogy. Anybody telling you to do so is misleading you because Christianity is not opposed to culture, genealogy and history. Rather, we are called to know and be interested in our ancestral origin; to know where our ancestors came from, to know what prophecies, promises or curses were placed upon their heirs. And most importantly, through our Christian baptism, we are called to sanctify  our genealogy, to connect it to the Divine origin and to present it before the throne of God, that He may purify us from the ungodly initiation made on our behalf, and help us to fulfill our destiny. We are also meant to pray for the grace to sustain our ancestral bloodline and to be reunited with them in heaven, when our stay on earth is over. Beloved friends, instead of investing much energy in breaking and destroying your ancestral lineage, why not invest your energy in getting to know your origin and ask God to sanctify it for you.

  Do not be afraid for you will be remembered in my priestly prayers throughout this month. God bless you

#End Sars,

#End Political Oppression

#End Bad Governance

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

 LET US PRAY :Lord Jesus, I invite you to be the ruler of my life and the king of my lineage. May there be nothing in my genealogy to hinder me from doing your will always.

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

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

@ Fada Emmanuel Nnamdi Megwara, MSP. ⛪