Is Anything Too Hard for God?

Homily for July 1, 2017

The question Abraham’s visitors asked when Sarah laughed at the possibility of her having a child in her old age is worth reflecting upon. The truth is that by the way we think, we tend to assume God could have certain limitations. We tend to imagine God to be just like us and that certain things could be hard for him.

Dear friends, there is absolutely nothing beyond the reach of God. Nothing is too hard for God. God is not limited by time, space or anything you can think of. And guess what? The Centurion in our Gospel passage this morning knew this.

Hence, the Centurion would not allow Jesus come to his house because he knew Jesus was not limited by time or space. He simply asked Jesus to issue a command that it would be done.

Like the case of the Leper we saw yesterday, the Centurion teaches us to deepen our faith in the Power of God because indeed, there is nothing too hard for God to do.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, only say your word, and my soul shall be healed. Amen.

*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Saturday of the 12^th Week in Ordinary time. Bible Study: Genesis 18:1-15 and Matthew 8:5-17).*

Fr. Abu.

The Leper’s Faith.

Homily for June 30, 2017

Propelled by faith, a Leper boldly walked up to Jesus and said, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”

Even though he was a leper, his faith was stronger than his external condition. I will repeat this: Even though he was a leper, his faith was stronger than his external condition. He did not allow his circumstance determine the extent of his faith in God.

While the leper believed that God was capable of doing anything, Abraham simply laughed when God told him that his wife Sarai’s name would change and that the son he had promised was going to come from her very womb. Abraham laughed because he felt that God has already done his best with Ishmael and couldn’t do any better.

Like Abraham, we tend to assume God is limited or that there are certain things he cannot do simply because of the delay we face in receiving answers to our prayers.

When we examine the statement of the Leper, we discover that contained therein is a powerful lesson for us. This leper said: “LORD IF YOU WILL, YOU CAN…” In other words, if you want to do it for me, you have the power to do it.

Willing a thing and doing it are two different things. With God, all things are possible but if it is not his will, it will not happen. God has power to do anything but such must be his will first.

Recall, how Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane during his agony? Was it the case that God could not send legions of angels to deliver Jesus from the hands of Roman soldiers? Not at all. But the will of God was for Jesus to die for us.

So, when we do not get answers to our prayers, we should never assume God didn’t have the power to grant our requests, we should just know that it was not in line with God’s will.

Our unanswered prayers should not lead us to doubt. Rather, it should make us more humble knowing that God’s will is always superior to our own will. Yes, prayers may be delayed. Abraham waited for 25 years before he carried his son Isaac in his hands. It wasn’t the case that God could not answer him immediately, rather it was just God’s will to wait for that long.

We pray that we may have the unshakable faith of the Leper who believed God could heal him but still had the humility to ask if that was God’s will.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, if you will, save Nigeria from war, anarchy and religious oppression. Amen.

*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Friday of the 12^th Week in Ordinary time. Bible Study: Genesis 17:1-22 and Matthew 8:1-4).*

Fr. Abu.

Fighting the Good Fight; Winning the Race.

Homily for June 29, 2017

Today, we remember St. Peter and St. Paul, the greatest names ever as far the early history of the church is concerned.

Peter was the one to whom Jesus entrusted the keys of the kingdom of heaven as the visible head of the Church while Paul was the one Jesus arrested on the way to Damascus making him a great apostle to the Gentile world.

While Peter represents tradition, authority and unity, Paul represents grace, mercy and humanity.

St. Paul says to us today, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” These words underlie the nature of the Christian life. It is both a fight and a race at the same time.

A fight against the flesh and its craving for sinful desires, a fight against the forces of darkness, a fight against the world that has rejected and continues to reject Christ. To win this fight against principalities and powers,

St. Paul recommends that we put on the whole armour of God which includes truth, righteousness as a breastplate,  the gospel of peace,  faith as a shield, salvation as helmet, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Ephesians 6:12-17.

The Christian life is also a race which requires constant training, dedication and commitment. As St. Paul says to us “Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize?

So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 

Today we celebrate the ultimate victory of the Apostles for their efforts to keep the faith despite their struggles.

Herod arrested Peter intending to bring him to trial so as to publicly make fun of him but that very night he was set free by the Angel of God. Even if he would eventually die for the sake of the Gospel, this very incidence is a proof that when we suffer for the sake of righteousness, we are never alone.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, as we celebrate the two great men who fought gallantly in laying the foundation of your church on earth, help us to follow diligently in their footsteps and win the race before us. Amen.

*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. Bible Study: Acts 12:1-11. 2 Timothy 4:6-8,17-18 and Matthew 16:13-19).*

Fr. Abu.

By Their Fruits, You Shall Know Them.

Homily for June 28, 2017

The difference between a good tree and a bad one is not in its shape, size, age or colour. Rather, it is in the nature of the fruits it produces. A tree may appear very nice on the outside but if it bears rotten fruits, then it is good for nothing but to be cut down and used as firewood.

Bearing fruits is not a function of the external appearance but the internals; away from the sight of ordinary human eyes. So also, in every person, bearing fruits is a function of the mind; a place hidden from sight. No one knows or sees what is in another person’s mind but God alone. Hence, it is easy to pretend, it is easy to deceive others; it is easy to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

However, no matter how much we pretend to be who we are not, our fruits will eventually sell us out. No matter how much we try to deceive others, our fruits can never be higher than what goes on inside our minds.

Being Christian is not a matter of looking good before others, it is a matter of spirit and truth. As Jesus told the Samaritan woman: “The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him.” John 4:23.

The bitter truth is that a large percentage of Christians today are Christian only by name. Deep down within us, we are simply secular and worldly minded. We care more about prosperity, good food, health, security and pleasure than the things of God. No wonder, the level of immorality and evil amongst Christians today is outrageous.

As someone once said, the only reason why Islam seems to be succeeding in Islamizing Nigeria is because we Christians are not trying to Christianize Nigeria. We Christians have so much lost our values that we lack the zeal and courage to defend our faith.

The truth is that Islam may as well succeed not because it makes use of terror, but because we who claim to be Christians have long stopped being Christians. In the craze for material prosperity, we have been bearing too much smelling and rotten fruits that it seems God is tired of us. We are now being cut down to be used as firewood.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, free me from self-deception. May my worship of God be pure and sincere. Amen.

St. Irenaeus, pray for us.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Wednesday of the 12^th Week in Ordinary time. Bible Study: Genesis 15:1-12.17-18 and Matthew 7:15-20).

The Last Man Standing.

Homily for June 27, 2017

Would you dare to be the last man standing if you have to divide a piece of property between yourself and your cousin? Especially when it appears your cousin is now choosing the better part (or the part that appears to be better)?

Would you dare to be the last man standing when everyone around you is going left and you alone begin to walk right?

From where do you derive you sense of worth, is it from what people say or think about you or from what God knows about you?

Are you like Saul who disobeyed God’s instruction out of pressure from the people who “advised” him to keep some of the treasures for himself?

On what do you base your value system? On what the society regards as okay or on what God says is okay?

Jesus words in today’s Gospel passage have never been much truer. ENTER BY THE NARROW GATE FOR GATE IS WIDE AND THE WAY IS EASY, THAT LEADS TO DESTRUCTION AND THOSE WHO ENTER BY IT ARE MANY.

If all your friends say fornication is an act of love and you are the only one saying it is a grave offence against God, would you dare to be the last man standing?

If all your colleagues at work devise means of stealing and milking secretly the company’s resources, would you dare to be the last man standing?

If all the people you know tell lies at will and you are the one who even has to suffer for saying the truth, would you dare to be the last man standing?

When Lot moved first, Abram did not complain. He allowed Lot to choose the part that seemed good in the eye but it was not until Lot got there that he discovered it was not all that glitter that is gold. The land looked good but the people there were evil, immoral and wicked. They had no fear of God.

The choices that seem most attractive or popular are not always the best. So I ask again, would you dare be the last man standing?

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, help me to choose right, to stand by you even if the world around me is falls to evil. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Tuesday of the 12^th Week in Ordinary time. Bible Study: Genesis 13:2.5-18 and Matthew 7:6.12-14).

Responding to God’s Call.

Homily for June 26, 2017

Whenever God wants to accomplish a great thing among humans, he always begins by calling certain persons. The call of Abram in today’s first reading serves like a foundation or a mould for so many other calls contained in the Bible.

Nonetheless, in the case of Abram, there was nothing like resistance or questioning, Abram moved immediately leaving his father’s house and his native country behind.

Like Abram, God continues to call each and every one of us today. He wants us to drop our old ways behind alongside the traditional practices associated with our fore-fathers which are not in line with our faith as Christians.

Not until we agree to move away from our “father’s” house and fully embrace God’s divine call, our Christianity will not go beyond lip service. Today there are so many Christians in the church who believe more in traditional ways than in God. For them, those things that their fore-fathers did carry more weight than our Christian practices.

To such persons, God says: “This people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Isaiah 29:13.

In the Gospel passage, we come across another type of call. This one comes from Jesus himself. It is a call to EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE. A call to constantly look inwards to take out the logs in our own eyes before attempting to remove the specks in our neighbour’s eyes.

Both calls require movement and sacrifice. While Abram had to let go of his father’s land, we too are called to let go of our pride by examining our own lives rather than judging.

Let us claim the blessing of Abraham as we too respond to the Divine Call.

I WILL MAKE OF YOU A GREAT NATION!  . . . . . Amen.

AND I WILL BLESS YOU,  . . . . . Amen.

AND MAKE YOUR NAME GREAT,  . . . . . . .Amen.

SO THAT YOU WILL BE A BLESSING .  . . . . . Amen.

I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU . . . . . Amen.

AND HIM WHO CURSES YOU I WILL CURSE. . . . . .. .Amen.

AND BY YOU, ALL FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BLESS THEMSELVES  . . . . . Amen.

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, may I like Abram move today from my old ways and worship you truly. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Monday of the 12^th Week in Ordinary time. Bible Study: Genesis 12:1-9 and Matthew 7:1-5).

Fear Not, Even the Hairs on your Head are Numbered.

Homily for June 25, 2017

Today’s message would be very direct so brace up.

Dear friends, based on the recent happenings in our dear country today, one does not need a soothsayer any more to tell us that the Christian Faith and Christian Religion is under serious threat. Christians in Nigeria today are faced with an unprecedented form of persecution from the powers that be.

The recent introduction of a subject called “Religion and National Values” into the Nation’s educational curriculum whereby the same textbook would contain both Christianity and Islam and both would be taught by the same teacher is the greatest blow so far we have seen being meted out against Christianity.

There is grave insecurity in the land, people are now afraid to go to the farms but while the perpetuators of dastardly acts are never arrested but those who run to security personnel to report cases are held in custody.

Dear friends, just as Jeremiah cried out in our first reading today, there is terror on every side; Christianity is under attack. Many powerful persons have put plans in place not only wipe out Christians but Christianity itself from our dear country.

Even from within, the Christian-Catholic faith is under serious attack. We have shown so much hatred against our fellow Christians because we value our tribal and ethnic bond over and above their spiritual bond as baptized children of the same Father.

We have attacked the hierarchy, we have washed our dirty linens in public, we have shown the world that we cannot love and accommodate our fellow Christians as leaders because they didn’t grow up with us.

Yes, as we face persecution externally and internally, this is a time to pray the prayer of Jeremiah. Yes, this is a time for Christians to rise to their feet and join with Jeremiah to ask God for vengeance. As Jeremiah prayed: “O Lord of hosts, who test the righteous… let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause.” Jeremiah 20:12.

This is a time for us go to war against the enemies of our Christian faith with all our weapons for the enemy has drawn the battle line. Now is the time for us to put on the breastplate of righteousness, shoes ready to announce Gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Now is the time for us to double and even triple our prayer life. As St. Paul admonishes us: Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. See Ephesians 6:14-18 

Remember the story of Esther? How Haman made an evil plot to exterminate all the Jews simply because of his hatred of Mordecai? Remember how Esther together with all the Jews went down on their knees to pray and fast until God eventually did to Haman, the very thing he had planned to do to the Jews?

Dear friends, the Haman of our time has sworn an oath and is perfecting plans right now on how to wipe out Christianity. This is a time for every Christian in this country to pray and fast that the vengeance of God and his full wrath may fall upon the people who plan to destroy us.

Apart from prayer, this is a time for us to really rise in defence of what we believe. For some reasons, we Christians have become too worldly minded, too materialistic, too prosperity-conscious that we find it really difficult to proclaim our faith Jesus Christ openly.

We can go on and on talking about the latest musician, the latest fashion or the richest people in the world but when it comes to talking about Jesus or to put it bluntly, ENFORCING our religion on others, we behave like babies. It is as if we are ashamed or afraid. What is wrong with campaigning for and entirely Christian nation?

Jesus is telling us today to remove fear from our mind especially the fear of those who can kill only the body but cannot kill the soul. We should not be afraid at all because even the very hairs on our head are accounted for. This is a time for us to boldly and openly proclaim Jesus to the world. This is a time for us to acknowledge Jesus before men that he too may acknowledge us before the Father.

This is a time for us parents to teach compulsory C.R.S to all our children at home since the Government wants to remove the subject from our schools. Indeed, we have kept quiet for too long. Enough is enough. Any parent who fails to teach C.R.S to his or her children henceforth is not worthy to be called a Christian. Such a parent should be flogged seriously!

If you don’t have a Bible at home, Go Get One Now! And please Read it, read it aloud, recite it morning, afternoon and night. Stop watching immoral film shows, dancing to rubbish music, if not, we would be so shocked to see our next generation abandoning Christianity because there was no one to teach them.

It is no longer enough to bring your babies for baptism hoping they would just get along. No! No!! No!!! This is the time to stamp your feet down and deliberately teach God to your kids.

In fact, if I am not prepared to die for the sake of my Christian faith, then I am not yet fully converted. If I cannot talk about Christ and proclaim him from the rooftop of my house, then what is the point coming to church?

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, please take away fear from my heart. Amen.

Happy Sunday. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A. Bible Study: Jeremiah 20:10-13, Romans 5:12-15 and Matthew 10:26-33).

John the Baptist And the Rest of Us.

Homily for June 24, 2017

Today happens to be the birthday of Saint John the Baptist. Birthdays are always great days; they give us some time to reflect on the life of the celebrant, how he or she came to be born and the impact of their lives upon humanity.

From the life of John the Baptist, we can see that no human life comes into existence by a mere random act. God is the one who brings human beings to life and long before we come out of our Mothers’ wombs, God already has a plan for our life.

John the Baptist was not yet born before God sent an Angel to Zechariah his father telling him how he would have a son despite his old age who will prepare the way for the Messiah. Long before John the Baptist was formed in the womb, he already existed in the mind of God.

Long before we were born, God knew our names and he had plans for our lives. This is what the Prophet Isiah relates in our first reading: “The Lord called me from the womb, from my mother’s womb he named my name…”

Dear friends, each time we commit or consent to Abortion, we commit a very grave sin! Abortion is the greatest act of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man. By killing an unborn baby, we deny him or her the chance to live out the plans God already has for them. God will never allow a baby form in the womb if He does not have plans for the baby. It is an act of extreme wickedness to destroy precious human life in the womb.

Names are not merely means of identification; names are spiritual. A person’s name can affect his or her life. Our Gospel passage this morning is a record of the naming ceremony of John the Baptist. The people were planning to call him Zechariah after his father or “Junior” because they felt he would re-live his father’s life. But Elizabeth and Zechariah knew that this child had a destiny different from that of his father so they both opted for “John” instead.

We must be careful of the kind of names we give our children. Names mean a lot. Notice that it was only after naming the child that Zechariah’s speech returned. And guess what, Zechariah who used to complain and doubt a lot became a changed person; he sang the Benedictus, a song of praise to God, a song similar to that of Mary when she visited Elizabeth.

The people wondered: “What will this child turn out to be?” This is the same question we should ask ourselves each time we come across little children. Every child deserves respect, care and love because you can never know what the future of that child would be. This little baby you see today may one day be your life-saver. Age is just a number!

Our second reading sums up the life of John the Baptist. He fulfilled his destiny. He prepared the way for Jesus. He drew people’s attention only to end up saying: “I am not he. No, but after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.” The moment John the Baptist said that, he had reached old age. He had finished his work and was now prepared to bow out.

Old age is not when my hair becomes grey. I reach old age when I complete the assignment God gave me on earth. So the question is: “Have I discovered my destiny in life? Do I know my real purpose on earth?”

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, increase my respect for the life of the unborn. Amen.

*Happy Weekend. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Solemnity of the Birthday of John the Baptist. Bible Study: Isaiah 49:1-6, Acts 13:22-26 and Luke 1:57-66.80).*

Fr. Abu.

The Gentle and Lowly Heart of Jesus.

Homily for June 23, 2017

Today we celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a heart that Jesus himself describes as gentle and lowly. In a world where might is right, a world where people try by all means to have their way and violently oppress others, Jesus invites us to come to him and learn from him if at all we desires to find rest and peace of mind.

“Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls.”

Learning from Jesus entails that we strive to be gentle and humble in our dealings with our fellow brothers and sisters. Placing ourselves high or lording it over others will not help us find inner peace. Just as Jesus brought himself down and received humiliation in other to save the world, we too ought to bring ourselves down in relating with others.

The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is one that celebrates the great LOVE of God for mankind. In our first reading, Moses tells the Israelites that it wasn’t because of their numerical size that God chose them but purely out of love and so they ought to reciprocate this love by keeping God’s commandments.

If God has loved us so much, then as St. John would admonish us in our second reading: “Let us love one another… for he who does not love does not know God.” If we allow hatred and bitterness fester in our hearts, it means we are yet to know God.

In other words, getting to know God is getting to understand that God has a heart that does not accommodate hate. And so therefore, to worship God demands that we too should have a heart that is gentle and lowly, a heart that is free of hatred.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, make my heart like yours. Amen.

*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Year A. Bible Study: Deuteronomy 7:6-11, 1^st John 4:7-16 and Matthew 11:25-30).*

Fr. Abu.

When Prayers Make Sense.

Homily for June 22, 2017

Our Gospel passage this morning is part of the Sermon on the Mount wherein Jesus aimed at correcting some of the anomalies in the religious practices of his time. He would say: “You have heard how it was said…. BUT I say to you….” or “Do not be like so and so… instead do like this.”

If Jesus were to come in the flesh again today, I guess there would be a lot of things to correct in our religious worship today. The fact that something has been done in a particular pattern for many years does not mean it is correct or particularly pleasing to God.

At the time of Jesus, the people had a particular way of praying. They loved to heap up a lot of empty phrases because they probably imagined God to be very far away. Jesus was basically telling them that there is was just no need for that given that God already knows our needs even before we start praying.

Jesus did not stop at that, he proceeded to teach us how to pray given us the “Our Father” which is not only a prayer in itself but a formulae on how our every prayer should be composed.

The “Our Father” is a prayer that makes sense because it does not involve use of repeated empty and meaningless phrases. It goes directly to the points.

The “Our father” begins by acknowledging God as a Father. This first line teaches us that when we pray, we are children before a father who loves and cares for us and has everything we can ever desire.

Then it proceeds to ask that God’s will and not ours be done meaning that prayer is not a matter of commanding or forcing God, but rather seeking to have God’s will play out in our lives. Let us avoid shouting at God when we pray. God is not deaf. Moreover, we can never force God to do our own will.  

The Our Father then sums up all our needs with three powerful requests: “Give us this day our daily bread”, “forgive us our sins” and “lead us not into temptation.” These are the three things we ask for at prayer.

We should not focus solely on asking for our daily bread forgetting that we should also ask to be kept away from temptation. Sin is capable of destroying us so just as it is important to ask for the food we eat, we must also ask for the grace to live above sin.

However, out of these three requests, one demands a commitment on our part which is: Doing to others exactly what we want God to do for us. Jesus gave a condition with which our sins would be forgiven; that we forgive our fellow brothers and sisters.

In other words, forgiving others is part of our prayer. If I refuse to cleanse my heart of all bitterness, anger and hate, then even if I spend ten hours in prayer, my prayers will not sense to God.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, draw me nearer and nearer to you. Amen.

Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Thursday of the 11^th Week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: 2nd Corinthians 11:1-11 and Matthew 6:7-15).