Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily Friday, March 8, 2019

Many people felt angry when Isaiah accused them of being rebels against God Isa 58:1-9. They saw themselves as devout, zealous in religious practice. But the prophet pointed out that even while they fasted for religious purposes, they had not qualms about oppressing their workers. In which case, the religion they practiced was not really to please God, but to please themselves. Their ritual observance has become merely a traditional activity, something they are doing for themselves. Even on the days when they fast, they end up arguing and fighting, self-righteous and disunited. Today, we too can fall into this syndrome, putting questions of ritual on the back burner. Many seem to limit the ideal of “walking-with-God” to something that is fulfilled in a one-day-a-week commitment, by attending church. Some will do even this only if the Mass or service be held at a time that caters entirely to their personal preferences. We become so wrapped up in our own concerns, that there is hardly time for conversing with God our Maker. But helped by the words of prophet Isaiah, perhaps we can see more clearly the penance that God offers us as a special blessing, in the blessed season of Lent. It’s designed not as a time to indulge oneself, but as a time to think of others. The fast that God prescribes for us is to find the time to clothe the naked, to right injustices, to feed the hungry, and to make provision for those who have no home. It is to love my neighbour as truly as my own self. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily Thursday, March 7, 2019

Jesus says that if we want to be his followers we have to be ready to renounce ourselves. Lent is traditionally a time for self-denial. We ask ourselves what it is we need to let go, to give up, in order to follow the Lord more closely. We all have something we need to let go off; it might be some excessive attachment that is holding us back, or some habit that is not serving us well. Self renunciation is more difficult today than in the past because we live in a culture which encourages us to indulge ourselves. We can easily think of self-renunciation as something negative. Yet, the giving up, the letting go, is always with a view to life, to living life to the full. The book of Deuteronomy puts it very positively, “Choose life, that you and your descendants may live”Duet 30:19, and Jesus says in the in Matt 9:24, that whoever loses his life for his sake will save it. We pray this Lent that the Lord would give us the grace to keep on choosing life. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily Ash Wednesday, March 6, 2019

As we receive the ashes on our foreheads, we take stock of the purpose of Lent: it is an exercise in cleansing and holy desire. It lasts forty days in imitation of the time Jesus spent in the desert before starting his public ministry. What is the purpose of Lent? It is to prepare us for a more effective involvement in our vocation as Christians. Our desires are far too small if we look for fulfilment only in what this world offers by way of transient satisfactions, but God wants us to have so much more; his very Self. During Lent we seek to tune in to higher desires our longing for God. In Matt 6:1-18, Jesus shows the way: prayer, fasting and almsgiving, the classic Lenten practices. Our eternity will be an eternal relationship with the living God in the Communion of Saints. That relationship begins in this life through prayer. While we should certainly enjoy food and the conviviality that often accompanies a good meal, we should also find a place for fasting, in order to sharpen our appetite for God. All of us resonate in some way to the ideal of almsgiving, could we perhaps do more to serve the needy, not so that people will consider us generous, but to imitate God’s generosity to us? God means to fill each of us with what is good; so cast out what is bad, and now is a favourable time to do so. Wishing you a spirit filled Lenten season. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Peter asked the candid question, “What about us? We have left everything and followed you.” Mk 10:28. He and his colleagues had given up much to be followers of Jesus. They may have wondered if it was really worth it all. We too have responded to God’s call, maybe not in such a radical way as the apostles who left their livelihood and family for a very uncertain future. Perhaps we might be tempted to ask like Peter; “Is it worthwhile trying to live by the values of the gospel day in and day out.” The answer is “Yes, in the long run it is worth the effort.” Jesus promises that when we give of ourselves for his sake, we will receive much more than we give up. In particular, we will gain a new experience of family, far beyond the confines of our blood family. We will find ourselves co-travellers with others who are trying to take the same path as ourselves; we will experience the richness of the church, as the communion of saints. That community embraces not only those of us still on our pilgrim way, but all who have passed beyond this life, including the saints, that great cloud of witnesses. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily Monday, March 4, 2019

Have you noticed that when you’ve made great progress on your spiritual journey, Jesus smiles at you and says, “Ahhh, this is good, very good! The Father and I are very pleased with you.” But then he adds: “There’s something else I want you to do.” He knocks you off your chair of cozy self-contentment and invites you to more purification. I get so tired of that! That’s what happened to the rich young man who gleefully ran up to Jesus in Mk 10:17-27. He’d been dutifully obeying all of God’s commandments. With such commendable holiness credentials, he thought he had earned an open door to heaven. But Jesus knew that in the man’s heart he was self-satisfied while doing only the minimum and living a mediocre faith. So Jesus invited him to see the commandments differently. Notice that he did not condemn the man. Neither does Jesus condemn us when we need purification. He knows that we truly desire to be holy. With tremendous love, he brings to our attention the shortcomings of our obedience and teaches us the greatest commandment: the Law of Love. But we frown as that young man did.  Our flesh nature does not enjoy giving up its self-satisfied limitations that we impose on God’s commandments. This is why Jesus emphasizes: “For you, it IS impossible, but not for God!” Trusting God to do in me what I cannot do for myself has proven to be an excellent strategy. What sin are you unwilling to quit? What change have you been avoiding? Tell Jesus that you don’t want to stop justifying your sin, but give him permission to re-create you according to his loving kindness. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily from 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time year C, March 3, 2019

Addressing his disciples through a proverb and parables, Jesus explicates what it means to be a true disciple Lk 6:39-45. The proverb about the blind leading the blind is a challenge to the disciples to be better qualified than those they seek to serve. This qualification has nothing to with degrees or diplomas, but everything to do with trying to be like Jesus. In so doing they will not look for faults in others, but will focus on the positives in them and at the same time constantly strive to become aware of their own shortcomings. This awareness of one’s own weakness will make one humble and also more accepting of others. Then truly will there be a synchrony between what one is and what one does, the being and action, the saying and doing. The former will inevitably be exposed by the latter. Discipleship, therefore, requires not just good deeds. It requires integrity and a purity of heart such as one sees in Jesus himself. The example of Jesus whose whole being was good must be our constant motivation. If we follow the example of Jesus, then people will say of us his disciples, see how they go about doing good. Shalom!

Fr Peter Ireorji, MSP - Homily Saturday, March 2, 2019

When people bring children to Jesus, the disciples try to stop them from doing so showing once again that they have not been able to understand what Jesus and the kingdom are all about. The kingdom is for everyone and is inclusive not exclusive. Jesus is emphatic in his response to their action that the kingdom does indeed belong to children and that anyone who does not become like a child can never hope to enter it. The point is not so much that one will be excluded but that one will exclude oneself. The kingdom is a gift and must be received as a gift. No human power can create or force it. The kingdom of God will come when we behave like little children. A childlike attitude means not only that one will be humble and spontaneous as children are, but also that one will acknowledge like a child has to do, his/her dependence. Many of us like to be independent and for some asking a favour of someone else is extremely difficult because they do not want to acknowledge their dependence on that person and so be indebted. We must realise that we are all interconnected and while we are dependent on each other in some way or other, we are primarily dependent on God. Shalom!