FR REMI HOMILIES/REFLECTIONS AND SERMONS

  THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (FEAST) Zephaniah 3:14-18within the 1:39-56 MARY: MODEL OF CHARITY In the liturgy of the word today, we hear the narrative of Mary, hurriedly visiting her cousin Elizabeth who in her old age conceived a son and was in her sixth-month pregnancy, at the Hill Country of Judah. Having received such news from the Angel Gabriel, Mary could ascertain forthwith the necessities of her cousin in such a demanding situation. Consequently, she made haste to the home of Zachariah (Lk 1:36). The scripture succinctly detailed the dramatic encounter that took place between Elizabeth and Mary; of how the child in the womb of Elizabeth leapt for joy at the greeting of Mary, and Elizabeth was filled instantly with the Holy spirit in the home of Zachariah. Sequel to that Mary chanted the Magnificat, praising God for his graciousness. Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, Mary comprehended above all else the most important gift to offer to her cousin Elizabeth i

  HALF-BAKED KNOWLEDGE IS DANGEROUS  (Acts 17:15,22-18:1 ;John 16:12-15)  The ultimate quest of the human person is to acquire knowledge. The capacity to have a comprehensive understanding of things significantly distinguishes the human person from other world creatures. This is why knowledge, according to Francis Bacon is Power. For who knows, conquers everything. In today's liturgy of the word, we are told that Paul made a speech before the council of the Areopagus in Athens, “men of Athens”, Paul declared, “I have seen for myself how extremely scrupulous you are in all religious matters, because I noticed, as I strolled around admiring your sacred monuments,  that you had an altar inscribed: To An Unknown God. Well the God whom I proclaim is the one whom you already worship without knowing it”. (Acts 17: ). The people of Athens, though they pride themselves as philosophers, Paul underscored them as extremely scrupulous and ignorant on religious matters; by implication, their kno

GOD IS PRESENT EVEN IN SORROWFUL TIMES --- REMAIN PRAYERFUL  (Acts 16:22-24; Jn 16:5-11) In the eyes of the faithless, suffering, misery, hardship, agony, sorrow, scourging, and persecutions are sure demonstrations of the absence of God; that one had been abandoned by God to his whims and caprices.  The liturgy of the word today addresses that mind construct by maintaining that God is readily available even at the sorrowful moments of our lives.  In the Acts of the Apostles, we are told that “the magistrate had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they were severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, in the innermost cell and their feet fastened in the stocks”. This was a clear indication of the mistreatment and persecution Paul and Silas underwent for the sake of preaching the Gospel of Christ. The brutality, notwithstanding, they anchored their faith and trust in God and did not allow their pain to infringe on their joy in God, for we are

FAITH IS A SUPER NATURAL GIFT FROM GOD ALONE   (Acts 16:11-15; John 15:26-27; 16:1-4) HOMILY FOR MONDAY OF THE SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER The catechism of the Catholic church (CCC) tells us that faith is a supernatural gift from God which enables us to believe without doubting whatsoever God has revealed. In the Acts of the Apostles, we are told that “the Lord opened the heart of Lydia to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul” (Acts 16:14) and after her conversion, Lydia requested from Paul by saying “if you judge me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at home, and she prevailed upon us” (Acts 16:15). Beloved in Christ, God is the one who opens the heart of man to receive faith. It is a gift given by God and God alone. It is God's communication of himself to humanity, inviting us to share in his own. Independent of God, Man on his own cannot acquire Faith. It is through Faith that God opens the heart of man to his revelations. Friends in Christ, although Faith marks the beginning

CHURCH: MODEL OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (22 May 2022) Acts 15:1-2,22-29; Jn 14:23-29 In today's liturgy of the word from the Acts 15 a great controversy arose in the early Christian community between the Jewish Christians on the one hand and  Paul and Barnabas on the other hand, on whether the Gentile Christians must conform to the law of Moses in other to be saved. We are told that “certain individuals came down from Judea (to Antioch) and were teaching the brothers, “unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1) and in Jerusalem “ some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and also said ‘ it is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses” (Acts 15:5). This debate was birthed on the grounds of the significance of circumcision and the law of Moses to the Jews. For them, in Judaism, these are unchangeable and irreplaceable laws and traditions that guarantee salvat

COME OVER TO MACEDONIA AND HELP US (Acts 16:1-10; Jn 15:18-21)  Beloved in Christ, the first reading from the Acts of the apostles designates the initiation of the 2nd missionary journey of St. Paul and his encounter with Timothy, who became of great assistance to Paul in his missionary journey, such that Paul would refer to him as “my beloved and faithful child in the Lord” (1Cor 4:17), “a loyal child in the faith” (1Tim 1:2), and “my child” (1Tim 1:18). We are told that Timothy though a Greek, Paul got him circumcised because of the numerous Jews who would not accept his words because he was Greek and not because Paul believed in circumcision as a sine qua non for salvation. Central to the reflection of today is the strong disposition of Paul to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as he journeyed from town to town. Paul prioritized the leadership and companionship of the Holy Spirit in his missionary journey. He acknowledged via his actions that the Holy Spirit is the rightful guide an

CHRISTIANS: GIVERS OF GOD'S LOVE (Acts 15:22-31; Jn 15) Theologians believe that the promulgation seen in the letter sent to the Gentile-Christian community as contained in the first reading of today stands out as one of the very first cannons of the church in the first century. It reads “It has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well” (Acts 15:28-29). The Church henceforth, over time kept on formulating laws that will continually guide the pastoral ministry of the church and not leave them at the whims and caprices of anyone. We can also observe that the church in concluding this controversy did so not without the guidance and consensus of the Holy Spirit as seen in the experience of Peter in the household of Cornelius. Even while sending the letter to Chris

LIFE WITHOUT CHRIST IS A DEAD END  CHURCH: THE MODEL OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION Acts 15:1-6; Jn 15:1-8 In today's liturgy of the word from Acts 15:1-6 a great controversy arose in the early Christian community between the Jewish Christians on the one hand and  Paul and Barnabas on the other hand, on whether the Gentile Christians must conform to the law of Moses in other to be saved. We are told that “certain individuals came down from Judea (to Antioch) and were teaching the brothers, ‘unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1) and in Jerusalem “ some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said ‘ it is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses” (Acts 15:5). This debate was birthed on the grounds of the significance of circumcision and the law of Moses to the Jews. For them, in Judaism, these are unchangeable and irreplaceable laws and traditions that guarantee salvation and any

RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE: THREAT TO PEACE AND LOVE Acts 14:19-28; John 14:27-31 According to Harriet Sherwood, “religious intolerance is a bigger cause of prejudice than race, ethnicity or nationality”. He maintained that study has proven that most people are tolerant of those from different ethnic or national backgrounds, but many have negative attitudes based on religion; for religion is a ‘red line’ for many people. The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us: “Jews came there from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. Then they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead” (Acts 14:19). Following the establishment of new teaching, a new doctrine, a new community of believers, and a new religion (Christianity), some Jews became jealous and irritated by the teachings of Christianity, the spread of the new religion and the number of converts it gathered. Consequently, some Jews became indignant, intolerant of the teachings of Paul and Barnab

GOD MUST BE AT THE CENTER STAGE OF OUR LIVES    ( Acts 14:5-18;  John 14:21-26) The enmity between the Jews and the Gentiles notwithstanding, simply for the sake of terminating the preaching ministry of Paul and Barnabas, the Jews and the Gentiles connived to mistreat Paul and Barnabas and stone them (Acts 14:5). A replica of the coming together of Herod and Pilate against Jesus Christ even though they were arch-enemies. Brothers and sisters in Christ, does it not bother you how evil-doers can set aside their conflicts and disagreements simply to reach a consensus on how to obstruct the fruitfulness of the good? They collaboratively carry out an evil act despite their conflict of interest? Their primal objective of unity is for the destruction of the good. Insofar as the downfall of the good is accomplished they can continue in their enmity. Beloved in Christ, does this not shock you? What should even bother us the most is why aren't good-doers (Christians) able to vehemently unite

ST. MATTHIAS (APOSTLE) (14th May)  Acts 1:15-17, 20-26; John 15:9-17 Matthias, whose name means “gift of God,” was the disciple chosen after the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the 12 Apostles following Judas’ treacherous betrayal and subsequent death. St. Jerome and the early Christian writers Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius of Caesarea attest that Matthias was among the 72 disciples paired off and dispatched by Jesus. Sequel to this, in Acts of the Apostles 1:20-26, following the address of Peter to the congregation, that one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us-one of these two must become a witness with us to his resurrection. This they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas also known as  Justus, and Matthias. Then, after prayer to God and casting of the lot, the lot we are told fell on Mathias who wa

BRIEFLY DEFINED:  Human Experimentation is an experiment or research involving human subjects that are designed either to enhance the professional capabilities of individual physicians or to contribute to the font of knowledge in those sciences that are traditionally considered basic in the m edical context e.g biochemistry, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, epidemiology and cognate behavioural science. TYPES OF HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION:  There are two types of  Human Experimentation namely Therapeutic and Non-Therapeutic Therapeutic experimentation is concerned with the acquisition of generalizable knowledge. Here the subjects are themselves expected to benefit medically from the new drug, vaccine, treatment, or diagnostic procedure being tried. For example, the first patients on a kidney dialysis machine and coronary bypass surgery were therapeutic. These procedures were used on the subjects for their benefit because it promises to be more effective than other available therapy. Non

THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH Acts 12:24-13:5; Jn 12:44-50 Central to the readings of today is the indispensability of the Holy Spirit in the Church. The unquantifiable role of the third person of the Divine Trinity, the advocate of truth, in the Church is visibly ascertained even in the first reading from the Acts 12:24-25;13:1-5. As the church in Antioch grew and many were converted, we are told that while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said “set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them”. Then after fasting and prayer they laid hands on them and sent them off ” (Acts 13:1-3). Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, the Holy Spirit is readily present to the church at all times; at moments of persecution when trouble menaced the church, the Holy Spirit remained to comfort and strengthen the church; at moments of confusion and ignorance, the Holy Spirit remained to guide and enlighten the church; at moments of de

THE BLESSINGS OF CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION Acts 11:19-26, Jn 10:22-30 The reading of today is a continuation of the reading of yesterday from the Acts of the apostle's chapter 11. Today we are told that those who were scattered because of the persecution upon the church in Jerusalem, of which Stephen was martyred transited far into the Gentile region of Antioch, Cyprus and Phoenicia. There, some men of Cyprus and Cyrene on coming to Antioch preached the word of God to the Hellenists; consequently, in Acts 11: 24, it is recorded that “many were brought to the Lord”. Antioch, therefore, became the first Gentile Christian community which, eventually in an outstanding description became the starting point of the mission to the Gentiles.  Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, the persecution that was meant to debase, devalue, demean, obliterate and diminish the early Christian community ended up becoming an avenue through which the missionary activity of the church grew; what they were tr

THE INDISPENSABILITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH (Acts. 11:1-18 ) The acts of the apostles 11:1-18 while exposing the problems that plagued the early Christian community such as circumcision, unclean food, the distinction between Jews and Gentiles, between Gentile Christians and Jewish Christians, designated with significance the indispensability of the Holy Spirit in the revelations of the truth of God to the church.  We are told that many in the church in Jerusalem rigorously criticized Peter for what had happened in the house of Cornelius saying, “ why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” (Act 11:2-3).  In response, Peter did not argue with them. He only showed facts, the facts of his vision of unclean animals and the Lord asking him to kill and eat them (cf Acts 11:7), and the angel appearing to the man (cf Acts 11:13), and the Holy Spirit coming down on cornelius and all his household (cf. Acts 11:15). Peter through the intervention of the Holy Spirit realized

THEME: PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS; PROTAGONISTS OF THE DREAM OF GOD . ( HOMILY FOR THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER YEAR C- GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY/ VOCATION SUNDAY 1st reading:Acts 13:14, 43-52  2nd reading:Rev 7:9,14-17 Gospel: John 10:27-30 On this day, the 8th of May, 2022 which is the 4th Sunday of Easter, also called the Good Shepherd Sunday, the Church celebrates the 59th World Day of Prayer and Promotion for Vocations; vocations to the priesthood and religious life.  This celebration was established in the year 1963 by Pope Paul VI, designating the place of religious life and the priesthood in the church and to the whole world. Thus, today can likewise be referred to as “Vocation Sunday”.  Pope Francis in his message for this 59th World Day of Prayer for Vocations on the theme “Called to Build the Human Family” noted in his message to priests and religious that when we speak of “vocation,” it is not just about choosing this or that way of life, or devoting one’s life to a certain ministry,

Theme: GOD DOES NOT INTERFER IN HUMAN FREEDOM  (John 6:60-69)  Homily for Saturday of the 3rd week of Easter 7th May 2022 Just like the bird called the pelican that lives in the African desert. The mother's undying love for the young ones at the time of crisis or shortage of food is so sensational that the mother pecks her breast with its powerful peak and wounds itself until warm blood trickles down and nourishes the starving young ones. Thus, feeding them it dies. Brother and sister in Christ, Jesus is the True Pelican, who through the offering of his body and blood, died upon the cross to bring salvation to the whole world.  He says in Jn 6: 53-57 “very truly I tell you unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them on the last day; for my flesh is true food and blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just

THEME: NO ONE IS EVER WRITTEN OFF IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD-HOMILY FOR FRIDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK OF EASTER 6th May 2022 Acts 9:1-20 The reading of today from the acts of the apostles communicates the conversion of Saul. An irreversible moment in the life of the persecutor who breathed fury against the early Christian community, the Church. A key moment in this encounter is the response of Jesus to the question of Saul: “who are you?”. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5). Rooted in this response is the Apostles’ teaching on the church as the body of Christ. Jesus. Although Christ had ascended into heaven, he continues to be present on earth, in the church. He is the church. This experience guided St. Paul and the Apostles in the teaching that the church through the Holy Spirit is a single mystical body whose head is Christ, and we are all his members. Consequently, all violence and wounds inflicted upon the church are harm done to Christ. The church nevertheless, invites her Chr