Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Friday, March 1, 2019

Though we be friendly with many, only one in a thousand should be our close confidant, or our partner in life. Sirach opens his mini-essay on friendship with this advice: A kind mouth multiplies friends, and gracious lips prompt friendly greetings. We begin with a smile; our first communication, imparted intuitively, is one of interior joy and peace, showing that we are at peace with ourselves and with God. His guidance is both peaceful and cautious, for he counsels: “When you gain a friend, first test him, and don’t be too ready to trust him.” He proceeds to give the positive qualities of a true friend, who will be like “your other self; a treasure beyond price; a sure shelter a life-saving remedy.”  “A faithful friend is the elixir of life.” He is confident that those who fear the Lord will find a faithful friend. In other words, when we relate well to the Lord we will find the right kind of friends, ones we can rely on. When our relationship with the Lord is right it helps us to form good human relationships, marked by faithfulness and generosity. Whether married or single, we are all called to build faithful friendships that mirror the Lord’s faithful love and in turn reveal to others that faithful love of the Lord. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Thursday, February 28, 2019

We can say that our love for our neighbour has reached its full maturity in Christ from the daily and visible exercise of charity toward our neediest brothers: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. Our love for neighbour should be an imitation and prolongation of the merciful goodness of God the Father who provides for the needs of all and makes no distinctions whether one is a friend or an enemy. Only when we let ourselves be moved by our neighbour’ impoverished state can one say that we loves God. To be indifferent to those who hunger and thirst is to be closed to Christ and to deny the universal love of our Heavenly Father. Jesus, in today’s Mk 9:41-50, reminds us that every ounce of kindness done in His Name will never be forgotten and will certainly be rewarded. Every act of love will never be unnoticed by the Father if done to give glory to Him. Because we all belong to Christ, the cord that should bind us together should be the bond of His love and compassion. When we truly love our neighbour, then we can say that we love God. Rejoice if you followed God’s commandment of love. Jesus said to his disciples: “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.” If we imitate Christ and follow His ways, then we have certainly kept Him in our lives and we will be able to live in peace not only with one another but also with ourselves. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Wednesday, February 27, 2019

John and the other Apostles witness someone with whom they were not familiar, doing the very good deed of driving out a demon in Jesus’ name. It’s a somewhat strange image to imagine.  John sees this good act and tries to interfere by asking the person to stop. Then he goes and tells on this man to Jesus, hoping Jesus will intervene. But Jesus does the opposite. "Exclusivism” can be defined as a tendency to think that something is good only when I do it. It’s a form of spiritual greed in which we have a hard time rejoicing in and supporting the good deeds of another. This is a dangerous but all too common struggle for many. The ideal, in our Christian life, is to look for the works of God everywhere and within everyone. We should so deeply desire that the Kingdom of God be built up that we are overjoyed whenever we witness such activity. If, on the other hand, we find ourselves jealous of another for the good that they do, or if we find ourselves trying to find fault with what they are doing, then we should be aware of this tendency and claim it as our sin, not theirs. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Benjamin Franklin, the early American statesman, made a list of character qualities that he wanted to develop in his own life. When he mastered one virtue, he went on to the next. He did pretty well, he said, until he got to humility. Every time he thought he was making significant progress, he would be so pleased with himself that he became proud. Humility is an elusive virtue. Even Jesus’ disciples struggled with it. When Jesus learned that they had been arguing about who was the greatest, He responded, “If anyone desires to be first, he should be last of all and servant of all” Mk. 9:35. Then He took a little child in His arms and indicated that we need to humbly serve others as if we were serving Christ. If a news reporter were to talk to our friends, neighbours, or fellow church members and ask them to describe us, would they use the word humble? True greatness does not lie with those who strive for worldly fame; It lies instead with those who choose to serve in Jesus’ name. Humility can be sought but never celebrated. Good morning and you have a great day. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Monday, February 25, 2019

Jesus said, “Everything is possible to one who has faith.” And the father of the boy replied, “I do believe. Help my unbelief.” He believed in Jesus, but he knew his faith wasn’t enough. So he prayed: “Help my unbelief.” That was enough for Jesus to do another miracle of casting out the evil spirit from the boy. It is not necessary that we have great faith. Jesus said that if we have a faith the size of a mustard seed, we can command a mountain to move. But that has to be accompanied by a great deal of prayer. It is only by asking God to help us that our faith will be much stronger. This is what happened to the father of the boy. In contrast, let us look at the disciples. They were trying to cast out the evil spirit from the boy, but they could not. Why? Jesus told them, “This kind could only come out through prayer.” In other words, they were not praying. They were trying to cast out the devil through their own power, without asking for God’s help. It is only through prayer that our faith can grow stronger, and then everything becomes possible. I always like this quotation: “When man works, it is just man who works. But when man prays, God works.” Another quotation says: “The most powerful man on earth is the one who bends his knees and prays.” He who prays without ceasing unites prayer to good works and good works to prayer. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time year C, Feb. 24, 2019

The story of David and Saul in 1Sam 26:2-23, functions almost like a parable. Showing mercy to his deadly foe, David gives a concrete example of what Jesus expects to become a way of life for His disciples. The reading informs us how David had the opportunity to revenge against Saul but chose to spare Saul’s life. At that time when the law was, “eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,” David stood out in showing mercy and forgiveness to Saul who made eleven attempts on his life. David is a perfect example of Jesus’ teaching in today’s Gospel: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To those who strike you on one cheek, offer the other one as well…” A forgiving and merciful state of heart will free us from judging others and make us reconcilers, builders of man as God is. If in prayer we ask God to deliver us and pardon our sins for His Name’s sake and not to deal with us according to our sins, we too should be able to intercede for our neighbor and seek God’s mercy and compassion on them. Forgive as the Lord forgave us. Not as others treated us but as Jesus treated us. If Jesus forgave us for all we have done to hurt Him despite our undeserving state then we too should be able to freely forgive. When we forgive, we are able to take off our judge’s robe and let God be the one to take care of the person who hurt us. His justice will be far superior to any revenge we could have. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Thursday, February 21, 2019

In Mark 8:27-33, Jesus and his disciples were traveling between villages when He asked them who they believe He is. “You are the Christ,” Peter responded. But as soon as Jesus begun to describe what it means to be Christ – rejection, suffering and even death – Peter was found ambivalent and cold to what Jesus confided to them as he tried to discourage Jesus from talking about it. In our own life, We are like Peter as we always avoid the most uncomfortable situations. We are not exactly proponent for self denial and self giving neither do I face rejection and pain with an open heart. Today, to be an authentic follower of Christ, we have to do more than just offer lip service. It’s not enough to say I am a follower of Jesus as Peter did but we need to live it and accept all that it means. Jesus took His place among the poor. He chose rejection, suffering and death over power and influence. Today His invitation to all of us is no different. He wants us to pursue a life of self giving and self denial. He is asking us to bear our cross and follow Him. In our hearts let us deny ourselves and allow God to change us according to His plan and let Him perfect our faith. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Jesus showed considerateness in bringing the blind man to a place away from the skeptics and gawkers who might dampen his faith and trust in Jesus. Then Jesus did something quite remarkable and unexpected. Mark says that Jesus “spit on his eyes, and laid his hands upon him” Mk 8:23. Jesus physically identified with the blind man’s incurable condition both to show his personal compassion for him and to also awaken faith in him. Jesus then asks the man, “Do you see anything?” The blind man begins to recognize that he can now see a little bit – but his sight is very blurry. So Jesus lays his hands on him a second time to strengthen his faith so he can receive a complete healing. Mark said the blind man: “looked intently and was restored, and saw everything clearly.” His sight was restored in stages as he responded in faith to Jesus’ healing touch and words. Some of us have a tendency to pigeon hole God and put him in a compartment. This leads to seeing him merely as one who fixes things for us or one to whom we go only in need. We might fail to see that he is always there and is much bigger than anything we can ever imagine. Let us pray to God that He touches us deep in our souls and gives us not only the Virtue of doing His will but the Wisdom of knowing it and the Strength of living by it. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Friday, February 15, 2019

“And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him.” Mk 7:32. Those people who brought the deaf man to Jesus probably felt that there was not much they could do for their friend.  Most probably that was the very reason why they begged Jesus to lay His healing hands upon their friend. Some of his friends might have hoped for total healing while others may have hoped only for a little improvement to his condition. Some friends may have hoped that even with such condition Jesus could at least give the deaf man some peace in his heart. Today, we may have a lot of friends and family who may need physical and spiritual healing. Our hearts are so concerned for them but there comes a point when there is there is not much that we can do. In reality after we have persevered in praying with them and walked with them hand in hand, all we can do to bring them healing and wholeness, is simply to surrender them to the Lord in prayer. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Thursday, February 14, 2019

I’ve always enjoyed the story in Mark 7:24-30, because of the Greek woman’s response to Jesus in the face of an impossibility. She’s a sign of hope for all of us when we’re up against a wall and there seems to be no door through it. Her persistence and her confidence in Jesus, who was known to be a barrier-breaker, were traits that we should copy. At first, Jesus seemed to be saying “no” to the woman’s prayer request, but the woman persisted. Think about the barriers that you seem to be up against. When it seems like our prayers are hitting a hard wall. Is Jesus really saying no? Sometimes he does, but only for our protection, because it would be harmful for us to proceed ahead with our plans. We need to be like the Greek woman who found a clever way around her obstacle. No prayer bounces off a brick wall forever. Find a new angle and keep hitting that wall with more prayers. And when you get tired, take a rest in the Father’s lap. You will reach the breakthrough you need. I guarantee it. I speak from experience. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Godliness and righteousness are not matter of externals, but they flow from the goodness of one’s heart. To be acceptable to God is not a matter of compliance to rituals but one that involves cleansing of our inside-our hearts and minds from what is not of the Lord. Jealousy, envy, hatred and pride are among the few that we as Christians should be able to decide to cleanse from our inner being. They mislead us and deceive us with foolish suspicions that we effectively mistrust everyone. We become paranoid that people are ganging up on us and our subsequent reaction is to attack with unfair accusations which are not only unsound but uncharitable and certainly not characteristic of a follower of Christ. They cause us to sin and to spill out impurity…impure thoughts and deeds that are fit only for those who have decided to affiliate themselves with the Enemy. Today let us ask ourselves who invited jealousy, envy, hatred and pride and unforgiveness into our hearts. No one but our sinful nature! This is the reason why change should sincerely start from within us. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Tuesday, February 12, 2019

In Mark 7:1-13, the Pharisees and the Scribes see that the disciples of Jesus eat with unwashed hands, and so ask Jesus a question concerning what they consider as defilement. In his response to them, Jesus takes the discussion to a higher plane, by focussing not merely on what defiles or does not defile a person, but on true worship, which stems from the heart. To illustrate his point, Jesus gives the example of Corban, in which the Pharisees’ would dedicate, something to God, and so not allow anyone else including their parents to use it, but would use it themselves. In case others wanted to use it, their answer would be that they could not allow them to do so since it was dedicated to God (Corban)and so belonged to God alone. There are times when we find way and means to get out of fulfilling our obligations to others. We come up with flimsy excuses when we cannot keep a commitment, and try to absolve ourselves of our responsibility. At these times we too can be accused of lip service. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Saturday, February 9, 2019

In never ending love and compassion which we all experience in Jesus’ ministry as portrayed by Mark 6:30-34, Jesus discloses the need for every Christian worker to go on a retreat-a time to rest in the Lord, a special time to meditate on His works, His grace and goodness, time to receive His word and will in our daily lives. He modeled to us that spiritual energy and strength can be with us in special times of prayer to the Father, in times of solitude when we communicate to Him and bring up to Him our frailties and what impede us from doing our work for Him. Going on a retreat means, going closer to God and the more we draw near God, the more we learn about Him, the more we have of Him and the more we are able to serve Him; the more we will see Him do incredible things and the more we will crave to be involved in His work. Being alone with God renews us, nourishes, energizes and prepares us to do more work for Him. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Friday, February 8, 2019

Basically, the root of every fear is the assumption that we are not loved, not really-really loved. We’re afraid of being open and honest with others because they might take advantage of it to hurt us. Heb 13:1-8, describes the various ways that we act in love, and then it points out that by relying on the help of God who is love, we have nothing to fear. Overcoming fear takes faith. It takes faith to “let brotherly love continue” when the brother is irritating us and we’re afraid of getting hurt again. It takes faith to “not neglect hospitality” when we’re tired of unpleasant people and we’re afraid of what our kindnesses might lead to. When we do everything “in love”, we do it in Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will not abandon us in our needs. The risks we take for the sake of love keep us safely in God’s protective care and helpfulness. Our loving deeds won’t always produce the results that we’d like to see, and we surely will get hurt when we courageously love everyone unconditionally, but this is not what matters — not really. What matters is that God works everything out for good. If what we’re afraid might happen does indeed happen, he will turn it into a blessing. That is the generosity of his love for us. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Thursday, February 7, 2019

In Mk 6:7-13, Jesus, after a night in prayer, selected twelve of his followers for a special mission of intimacy with himself. He gave three reasons for this mission: 1) to be with him; 2)to go out and preach the good news; and 3)to have authority to cast out demons and to heal. Then Jesus sends them out two by two and gives them authority over unclean spirits. Therefore, all their power and authority came from him and the twelve travels light. As Jesus’ ambassadors, they preached repentance. All this they did in union with Jesus and by his power because “they were with him.” Likewise, our efficacy as his disciple depends on our union with Jesus –being with him – and that requires prayer, penance and recollection. We have all been called like the Twelve to serve God in faith, hope and charity. But we should all be aware of our great dignity because we have been called to be children of God and heirs of heaven. This call should not make us proud, but very humble, because it is all God’s work, not ours. It is a gift. God is being and life, while we are nothingness and death without him. How authentic am I in following the Lord as a Christian? Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Tuesday, February 5, 2019

We may tend to give up and lose heart especially when our prayers remain unanswered for a period of time. We may sometimes accept defeat and stop praying. We may lose faith. The miracles of Mark 5:21-43, call us to continue to hope even if there are times in our lives when our prayers do not seem to be answered. If we persevere and have faith like the woman and Jairus, we too can obtain from the Lord what seems impossible. For He is indeed the Lord of all impossibility. Today, let us continue to believe, pray and depend on Jesus. With our trust in Him, He will bring us to a state of utter confidence in the Father’s power to rescue and sustain us even in our darkest hour because Jesus is the leader and perfecter of our faith. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from Monday, February 4, 2019

Our impression of “being possessed” always has been close to a physical invasion of someone’s body by evil spirits, such as what we see in the movies. But reflecting on Mark 5:1-20, brings us some thoughts that being possessed by spirits can also transpire in more subtle ways than what we see in Mark as in the man from the tombs. We can also be possessed when the spirit of selfishness overtakes our inclination to be more giving and generous, when the spirit of bias and prejudice sets aside our sense of fairness. Being under the control of the evil one could flow into our affairs as a community when control and dominance take over our spirit of empowerment, when we make the letter of the law preside over the spirit of love and mercy…when we abuse the authority that is provided for by our position in community…when we circumvent and hide the truth by using God’s Word to suit the desires of our lustful hearts for power and control…when we knowingly side with what is wrong to achieve transient glory and success and conceal our shortcomings. When we are overcome by what is evil, all that we desire is the flesh and the world, its power, its pleasures and influence. Jesus is ready and willing to free us from anything that binds us and that keeps us from the life God has prepared for us, from His love, His mercy and grace. Shalom!