Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for The Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C - June 26, 2022

Homily of Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C, 2022

1 Kings 19:16, 19-21; Psalm 16:1-2, 5. 7-8, 9-11; Galatians 5:1, 13-18; Luke 9:51-62

This Sunday brings us properly to the Ordinary Time of the Church’s liturgical calendar after the Easter season, the celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, and the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. The Ordinary Time continues to the First Sunday of Advent. From now till the first Sunday of Advent, the Church uses green vestments and green decorations. Green color is the Church’s invitation to what St. Paul calls ministry of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:8); that is to grow, bloom and bear fruit with the graces we received from Lenten season to the celebration of Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

The first reading is about the call of Elisha to become a prophet to succeed Prophet Elijah. Elisha accepted the call. In order to answer the call, he freed himself from his former way of life. The reading says, he “took the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them; he used the plowing equipment for the fuel to boil their flesh, and gave it to his people to eat.” After which he proceeded to become Prophet Elijah’s disciple. Elisha is just one example of many great men and women who abandoned their former way of life, or ambition, or profession in order to embrace the mission God called them. We have some examples in the Scripture. Abram left his land, his relatives and his father’s house to the mission called him (Genesis 12:1). Peter and Andrew left their nets and followed Jesus. James and John left their boat and their father and followed Jesus (Matthew 4:18-22). Many priests, religious, and missionaries have to give up personal ambition in order to answer God’s call. Do we feel challenged by the radical ‘yes’ to God’s call of the examples above? We may not abandon our way of life, or ambition, or profession but we can engage in a ministry, or a service or a just cause for God’s glory and for the good of humanity.

St. Paul tells us in the second reading that to engage fruitfully in the ministry of the Spirit and to serve one another through love, we must “stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” To be under the yoke of slavery means to be controlled by the desires of the flesh. In Galatians 5:19, St. Paul names some of the desires of the flesh: “immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.” We are unable to engage in the ministry of the Spirit or bear meaningful and lasting fruit if we are weighed down by the yoke of the desires of the flesh. We read in the Scripture how Levi (Matthew) the tax collector, left his custom’s post and everything and followed Jesus. Saul (Paul), transfigured from a persecutor to the greatest evangelist. Do these radical conversions challenge us? Can we identify yokes of slavery in ourselves and get rid of them?

In the Gospel, Jesus calls our attention, further, to the costs of ministry of the Spirit or cost of discipleship. He says, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nets, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” By these statements, Jesus communicates to us that pleasure and comfort should not be priorities, and there are no rooms for procrastinations and excuses for true disciples. What is needed is radical commitment.

The readings today challenge us to obey the call of God without delay. Like Elisha we are to rid ourselves of the yoke of oxen and plowing equipment (that is personal comfort and worldly gains) that prevent us from the ministry of the Spirit. The readings challenge us to remove the yoke of slavery (that is our sins) that prevent us from properly engaging in the ministry of the Spirit. The readings challenge us to rid ourselves of procrastinations and excuses that prevent us from committing ourselves in the ministry of the Spirit. We are all invited to radical ‘yes,’ radical conversion, and radical commitment.

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for Corpus Cristi Year C - June 19, 2022

Homily of Corpus Christi Year C, 2022

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Genesis 14:18-20; Psalm 110:1-4; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Luke 9:11-17

In the first reading, Abram brought tithe to Melchizedek the priest of Most High God. Melchizedek had a celebration of bread and wine with Abram, and blessed Abram. The Book of Hebrews writes about Melchizedek, “There is no mention of father, mother or genealogy; nothing is said about the beginning or the end of his life. In this, he is the figure of the Son of God, the priest who remains forever” (Hebrews 7:2-3). The celebration of bread and wine foreshadows the Eucharist which Jesus celebrated during the Last Supper. St. Paul recalls the Last Supper in the second reading. “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and after he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This is my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’”

During the Last Supper, Jesus did not say, “It is like my body.” Or, “It resembles my body.” Or, “It is in place of my body.” He said, “This is my body.” “This is my blood.” This is why we believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. This is why we adore the Body of Jesus in the tabernacle. When we come into a Catholic Church and see a tabernacle and a tabernacle light, we know, immediately, that the Eucharist is present in the tabernacle. We are required to genuflect in reverence. Jesus is no longer physically with us, but he has left himself spiritually with us in the Eucharist.

The Eucharistic celebration is the highest prayer of the Catholic Church. The Eucharistic celebration is not a prayer service. The feast of today is the center of the Catholic Faith. The Eucharist is the most distinctive mark of the Catholic Church. We must guard it with pride, respect, honor and reverence. Someone advised priests and indeed all Catholics, “Take each Mass as your first Mass, your last Mass and your only Mass.” This means that we are required to give every Eucharistic celebration our maximum attention and participation.

The command that we continue to celebrate the Eucharist is the last will of Jesus. Just as we take people’s last will seriously, more so, we are to take Jesus’ last will very seriously. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1324) writes, “The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch."

We are to receive the Eucharist reverently and worthily. We do not receive the Eucharist because “it is time for Holy Communion,” or because everyone in the pew is proceeding to receive. We must not disregard St. Paul’s advice in 1 Corinthians 11:28-29, “Let each one, then, examine himself before eating of the bread and drinking of the cup. Otherwise, he drinks his own condemnation in not recognizing the body.” This is why the Sacrament of Reconciliation helps us to prepare for the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

We receive many graces from participating in the celebration of the Eucharist and in receiving the Eucharist worthily.

 

The Eucharist is food for our spiritual journey. It gives us spiritual nourishment just as material food gives us physiological nourishment.

The Eucharist have transformative power. It gives us graces to become whom we receive.

The celebration of the Eucharist is the commemoration of the sacrifice of Jesus for our sanctification, for expiation of our sins, and for our salvation. It is for this reason that we celebrate the Eucharist for the living and the dead.

The celebration of the Eucharist is an efficacious prayer for physical and spiritual healing, and for deliverance from evil forces.

The celebration of the Eucharist is our communion with the Trinity, the angels, and the saints. The celebration of the Eucharist is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet after our life here on earth.

God answers many prayers during the celebration of the Eucharist. This is why we celebrate the Eucharist for various intentions.

The many benefits of the Eucharistic and its celebration need to encourage us to participate actively and attentively in the celebration and to receive the Eucharist worthily.

Fr Martin Eke, MSP

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for Holy Trinity Sunday Year C - June 12, 2022

Homily of The Most Holy Trinity Sunday Year C, 2022

Proverbs 8:22-31; Psalm 8:4-9; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15

The descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles brings the work of the Trinity to its fullness. God the Father is the Creator. God the Son is the Savior. God the Holy Spirit is the Renewer, and the Sanctifier.

When Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, he authorized his apostles to baptize in the name of the Trinity. He said to them, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). With these words Jesus authorizes us, his followers, to do everything in the name of the Trinity. That is why all our prayers begin and end in the name of the Trinity.

By the Sign of the Cross, we invoke the Trinity. We are encouraged to pray it and sign ourselves with understanding, conviction and faith because of its deep and profound meaning. One of the meanings is, when we pray and sign ourselves with the Sign of the Cross we invoke the Love of God, the Grace of Jesus Christ and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14). The Sign of the Cross should always be made prayerfully with this deep and profound meaning in mind.

The Trinity is one of the most important mysteries in Christianity. That, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three persons, but one nature, one God, equal, undivided, and no separation. We are not invited to fully understand the dogma since it is a mystery. We are, rather, invited to believe, participate, and share in the way of the Trinity. Today’s readings give us some glimpses of the relationship in the Trinity:

First Reading: “When the Lord established the heavens, I was there … Then I was beside him as craftsman, and I was his delight day by day…” (Proverbs 8:27).

Second reading: “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith to his grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. … The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Romans 5:1, 2, 5).

Gospel: “Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason, I told you that he (the Holy Spirit) will take from what is mine and declare it to you” (John 15:16). 

Any family, parish, community, association, organization, or country that walks in the way of the Trinity will be transformed. The crises we have everywhere is because of human beings’ rejection of the way of the Trinity. Some people walk in their own way which leads to nowhere. Worse still, some people walk in the way of the Evil One which leads to sin.

What is the way of the Trinity?

First, the way of the Trinity is unity: The Trinity is one nature, undivided, no separation. We are invited to witness unity wherever we find ourselves. Separations and divisions are against the way of the Trinity.

Second, the way of the Trinity is harmony: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit related in harmony from creation to redemption, and from redemption to the descent of the Holy Spirit. Disharmony is against the way of the Trinity.

Third, the way of the Trinity is equality: The three persons of the Trinity are equal. None is superior to the other. Therefore, all forms of inequality are against the way of the Trinity.

Fourth, the way of the Trinity is love: Unity, harmony, and equality can only be possible where there is love. The Trinity is bonded by love. We pray for genuine love in all our associations and relationships.

Fifth, the way of the Trinity is holy: As we celebrate and worship the Most Holy Trinity, may the rays of the holy light of the Trinity shine on us and dispel forces of sin and darkness and bring us to conversion. May the rays of their holy light grant us healing and protection. May the rays of their holy light guide us in the path of truth and righteousness. Amen.

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for Pentecost Sunday Year C - June 5, 2022

Homily of Pentecost Sunday of Year C, 2022

Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104:1, 29-34; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23

The Church was conceived when Jesus said to Peter, “You are the rock, upon you I will build my Church” (Matthew 16:18). But the Church was born on Pentecost Sunday with the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.

Among the Jews in the Old Testament, the feast of Pentecost was when Jewish pilgrims gathered in Jerusalem from various parts of the world: Europe, Asia, and Africa to celebrate the festival of thanksgiving for the first fruits of their harvest (Numbers 28:26).  Before his ascension, Jesus instructed the apostles to go and wait in Jerusalem until the coming of the Holy Spirit. The apostles returned to Jerusalem, and locked themselves up in the upper room (Acts 1:13).  While the crowds were celebrating the feast of Pentecost, the apostles remained locked up in the upper room and stayed in prayer. It took the power of the Holy Spirit to liberate the apostles from the fear of the Jews and bring them out of their hiding.

We read in the first reading, “Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, ‘Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?’” One of the miracles of the descent of the Holy Spirit was that the apostles spoke in different languages, in such a way that people from various parts of the world could understand them in their own language. We recall that in Genesis, God used language to disperse the builders of the Tower of Babel (Genesis: 11:1-9). During the descent of the Holy Spirit on the feast of Pentecost, God used language to unite all peoples (Acts 2:11). One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is that the Church is able to preach the message of Christ in different languages in all parts of the world.

The celebration of Pentecost Sunday is our prayer for individual Pentecost experience. We pray for the renewal or revival of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in us. Isaiah 11:2-3 names the following gifts: wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. These gifts can be called foundation gifts on which numerous other gifts of the Holy Spirit are rooted into.

St. Paul names some other gifts which have been referred to as extraordinary or charismatic gifts: faith, healing, mighty deeds (miracles), prophecy, discernment of spirits, varieties of tongues (variety of languages), interpretation of tongues (interpretation of languages), apostleship (discipleship), teaching, assistance, and administration (1 Corinthians 12:9-10, 28). These extraordinary or charismatic gifts are nourished by the foundation gifts named above.

The sign that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are effective and active are the lasting fruits they bear. St. Paul in Galatians 5:22-23 mentions some of the fruits as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

For many of us, it is true that the gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed on us are either inactive or minimally active. For this reason, St. Paul urges us, “I invite you to fan into flame the gift of God you received through the laying on of my hands” (2 Timothy 1:6).

However, there are spiritual conditions that enable revival of the gifts and for us to experience personal or interior Pentecost. The first condition is as St. Paul urges us, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Ephesians 5:14). The second condition is as St. Paul, also, invites us, “Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12).

Through the grace of Pentecost, may we be able to “arise from the dead.” May we be able “to throw off the works of darkness.” May we be liberated from hiding and freed from “the fear of the Jews.” May the fire of the Holy Spirit descend on us that we may fan into flame the gifts God has given to us; and may the gifts bear lasting fruits. Amen.

Shall we rise and sing:

Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.

Melt me, mold me, fill me, and use me. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for Seventh Sunday of Easter Year C - May 29, 2022

Homily of Seventh Sunday of Easter Year C, 2022

Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 97:1-2, 6-7, 9; Revelation 22:22-14, 16-17, 20; John 17:20-26

The trial and the death of Jesus and the trial and death of Stephen have some resemblance. Jesus was falsely accused: “The chief priests and the whole Council tried to find some evidence against Jesus so that they might put him to death, but they were unable to find any. Even though many came up to speak falsely against him, their evidence did not agree. At last some stood up, and gave false witnesses… even so, their evidence did not agree” (Mark 14:55-59). Stephen was falsely accused: “Some men came forward… As they were unable to face the truth, they bribed some men to say, ‘We heard him speak against Moses and against God.’ So they stirred up the people, the elders and the teachers of the Law; they seized him… and brought him before the Council. Then they produced false witnesses [against him]” (Acts 6:8-15). The soldiers led Jesus outside the city, a place called Golgotha, which means the Skull, where he was crucified (Mark 15:20-22). Stephen was thrown out of the city, and stoned to death. Jesus prayed on the Cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Stephen prayed while being stoned, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” Jesus prayed as he died, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Stephen prayed as he died, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Jesus and Stephen put before us the cost and rough path of discipleship. Whether false accusation, false witnessing, torture, cast out, and death, we are to pray for our detractors and forgive them. We are to commend ourselves into God’s hand. Like Stephen, we are to look up intently to heaven and see the glory of God and Jesus at the right hand of God. That is where our spiritual strength comes from. In Acts 7:54-55, while Stephen’s killers were enraged and gnashed their teeth at him, Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit and fixed his eyes on heaven!

John chapter 17 is one of the greatest chapters in the New Testament because Jesus helps us to understand that Christians and non-Christians should live in unity and peace. Jesus prays, “Holy Father, I pray not only for them (Christians), but also those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may be one.” Jesus also says, “I have other sheep which are not of this fold. These I have to lead as well, and they listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, since there is one shepherd” (John 10:16). “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Therefore, whoever speaks truth and lives truth believes in Jesus. That is why the Catholic Church relates peacefully and cordially with members of all religions that speak truth and live truth, because the truth they speak and live is Jesus. For this reason, Christians are to preach unity and oneness, and witness Jesus to everyone in all nations.

Unfortunately, there is so much religious persecution in many parts of the world. We pray that the Spirit of Jesus touches the hearts of perpetrators of religious persecution to seek unity and oneness which Jesus prayed and preached. We pray for unity and oneness in the Christian fold where there are so much bitter divisions, disagreements, unhealthy criticisms, castigations, and rejections among churches and sects. We pray for unity and oneness instead of division, disunity, false accusation and false witnessing, throwing of stones, and crucifying of one another in our homes, work places, communities, groups, parishes, countries and the world.

In the second reading, Jesus declares, “Behold, I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to his deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” … “I, Jesus, sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star. … Let the one who thirsts come forward, and the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water” (Revelation 22:12-17). We pray to Jesus to fulfill his word; for there is so much turmoil and violence in our lives and in our society. The situation in Nigeria and many other parts of the world are helpless. We are, indeed, thirsting.

We conclude with an Advent hymn, “Come Lord Jesus, the light is dying.”

Christ come quickly, there’s danger at the door,

Poverty a plenty, hearts gone wild with war,

There is hunger in the city and famine on the plain.

Come Lord Jesus, the light is dying,

The night keeps crying, come Lord Jesus.

What demands a hearing in far many lands,

The sick go untended, death deals a heavy hand,

The dreams of men are empty, their cup of sorrow full.

Come Lord Jesus, the light is dying,

The night keeps crying, come Lord Jesus.

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP

 

 

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP - Homily for Ascension Thursday Year C - May 26, 2022

Homily of Ascension of the Lord Year C, 2022

Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47:2-3, 6-9; Ephesians 1:17-23; Luke 24:46-53

The idea that Jesus was a political messiah never left Jesus’ disciples until the ascension of Jesus. They gave him a heroic welcome into Jerusalem believing that he had come to overthrow the Romans. Then he was arrested, crucified and buried. When Jesus reappeared, the disciples’ conviction was even stronger that he was certainly going to overthrow the Romans at that time. We read, “When they had gathered together, they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?’” I guess that Jesus’ reply surprised them further. Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The disciples might have wondered, “What’s this man about? We are talking about the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, and he is talking about the Father and the Holy Spirit. What’s the connection?” Probably that was why when Jesus disappeared into the cloud, in bewilderment they stood and gazed intently at the sky until the angels came to minister to them. Then, they returned to Jerusalem and remained together and gave themselves to constant prayer until they received the Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised them (Acts 1:12-14).

What does the Ascension of the Lord mean to us?

First, Jesus ascended into heaven and is at the right hand of God interceding for us. St. Paul confirms this, “Who will dare condemn them? Christ who died, and better still, rose and is seated at the right hand of God, interceding for us?” Jesus himself says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).  The Book of Hebrews speaks of Jesus, “Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Also, 1 John 2:1, “We have an intercessor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just One.”

Second, Jesus says, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may be where I am” (John 14:3). The two angels who appeared to the disciples when Jesus ascended into heaven said to the disciples, “This Jesus has been taken up into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.” The Preface 1 of today’s Eucharistic celebration says, “Mediator between God and man, judge of the world and Lord of hosts, he ascended, not to distance himself from our lowly state but that we, his members, might be confident of following where he, our Head and Founder, has gone before.” We are, therefore, to be ready for his return and going with him. The Lord speaks of his coming in the Book of Revelations, “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed” (Revelations 16:15).

Third, Jesus is no longer physically in the world. As his followers, we are to continue his good deeds by witnessing him to the world. He says, “You shall be my witnesses.” Let us witness Jesus in such a way that at our last moment he will say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things… Come and share your master’s happiness” (Matthew 25:23). Jesus is no longer physically in the world; but he remains in the world through us, his disciples, his ambassadors, his witnesses. We are his mouth, his hand, his feet, and his heart.

Christ has no body now but yours.

No hands, no feet on earth but yours.

Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world.

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good.

Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

(Teresa of Avila)

Fr. Martin Eke, MSP