Shikrot Mpwi - Sunday Synopsis with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk

17^th Sunday of the Year, B – July 29, 2018.

Readings: 2 Kings 4:42-44; Ps 144:10-11,15-18; Ephesians 4:1-6; 

Gospel – John 6:1-15.

Theme: Ubuntu and the Spirit of the Eucharist!

Introduction

Beloved in Christ, this Sunday presents us with the practical demands of our faith namely, caring, sharing and living for others that is encapsulated in the African Spirit of Ubuntu which means, “I Am Because We Are.” The miracle of barley loaves in both the first reading and gospel draws our minds to the Spirit of Liturgy of life. The Liturgy of life is the practical dimension of faith which challenges us to demonstrate the communitarian character of being truly Christian. Suffice it to say that we would draw lessons both from the sacred text and African communalism. But first, I would like share with you the popular Ubuntu story.

The Ubuntu Narrative

We are told that many years ago, a Western Anthropologist came to Africa to study the social behaviour of an indigenous tribe. He saw a group of children and proposed a game for them. The children were excited and so obliged him. He kept a basket filled with fruits under a tree, and told them that whoever reaches the basket first would win the whole basket and have the fruits all by himself. After lining them up, he raised his hand and said, “Ready, go!” 

Surprisingly, instead of attempting to beat each other in the race, the children took each other’s hands and started running together. They all reached the basket at the same time, sat in a big circle and enjoyed the fruits together full of laugher and smiles. The anthropologist who could not believe what he saw, asked the kids why they held each other’s hands and went as a group, when each one could have reached first and enjoyed the whole fruits alone. In reply, the children shook their heads and said: “Ubuntu, how can one of us be happy if all the others are sad?” This story sets the tone for our reflection, titled: “Ubuntu and the Spirit of Liturgy.” But first, let us peruse the readings.  

Background & Summary of the Readings

Our first reading (2 Kings 4:42-44) reveals how a man from Baal Shalishah brought twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain from the first fruits to Prophet Elisha. It also discloses Elisha’s miracle of feeding a hundred men with the loaves and ears of grain. It tells how the people ate and there were leftovers as the Lord had said. It crucial to note that first fruits were produce from the first crop of the season which were desirable because they tasted better than old crops. It was a sort of movement from shortage to abundance. The Israelites offered the first fruits to God as a sign of acknowledging their dependence on him (Exodus 23:19; 34:26). Although the first fruits were to be given to the priests (Leviticus 23:10; Numbers 18:13), the man in the first reading brought it to Elisha, the prophet of God. 

It is instructive to stress that this was a time of famine which shows that the gift of food represents a sacrificial offering on the part of the giver and a life-giving gift to Elisha. According to Donovan (2018), this is not the first miracle worked by Elisha. The series of miracles in Chapters 4-5 of 2 Kings worked by Elisha include: The multiplication of the widow’s oil so that she could sell it and pay her debt (4:1-7), the birth of a son to the Shunammite woman (4:8-17), the raising of that son from the dead (4:18-37), the purification of a pot of contaminated stew (4:38-41), the healing of Naaman the leper (5:1-19) and the miracle of the floating axe head (6:1-7). These miracles authenticate Elisha as a worthy successor to Elijah. They seem to provide real solutions to real problems of the people. Elisha’s assurance does not depend on a careful survey of the food available but on the power of God to provide for his people. 

This prepares us for the message of the gospel (John 6:1-15) wherein Jesus multiplies five loaves and two fish among five thousand people who ate and were filled. Accordingly, the disciples picked up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and also of the fish. Like the case of the man in the first reading who gave the barely loaves to the Prophet of God, the miracle in the gospel wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of the boy who willingly gave out his five loaves and two fish.

The feeding of the five thousand prefigures the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist that Christ instituted on Holy Thursday as the sign of the New and Everlasting Covenant enacted on Calvary. Both the biblical miracles and the contemporary miracle of the Holy Eucharist evokes some thoughts on caring, sharing and living for others which is encapsulated in the African spirit of Ubuntu which means, “I Am Because We Are.” St. Paul tells us in the second reading (Ephesians 4:1-6) to bear with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience and to preserve the unity of the Spirit. This leads us to the practical lessons for this Sunday.

Pastoral Application & Practical Lessons

1. In an African society that is becoming increasingly individualistic because of the negative effects of globalization namely secularism, modernism and relativism, we are challenged to emulate the generosity of the man in the first reading and the little boy in the gospel by being our brothers keeper. It is high time we revamped the spirit of Ubuntu which Desmond Tutu explains thus: “One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu – the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can’t be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu - you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. 

2. Our liturgy also urges us to be available for others and also offer them our time, treasure and talent. Again the words of Tutu are worth recalling: “A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.” 

3. The recent BBC video of the South African man who disclosed that he raped over 24 women and he feels good sharing/spreading HIV Aids because he doesn’t want to die alone is reckless, unafrican and ungodly. Instead of sharing the Good News of Christ, the man whom I suppose is a Christian is forcefully sharing a deadly virus. This calls for value reorientation!  

4. The South African man is not any different from the corrupt politician who steals public funds meant for improving critical infrastructure like hospitals and roads and buys luxury houses he cannot stay in Switzerland and Dubai while allowing pregnant women to die without Medicare and folks to use roads which have become dead traps.      

 5. Perhaps the greedy and selfish need to have a rethink about the significance of the Kiss of Peace at Mass since they are ever ready to shake hands with poor but are not ready to share their bread/resources with them.

6.  While it is disheartening for the oppressed to relate with oppressors, the celebration of the Holy Eucharist prepares a common entry point for the two to share from the same chalice and eat the same Body of Christ. This is why St. Paul instructs that we bear with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience and to preserve the unity of the Spirit.

7. In a society where the rich scandalously spend money on pet dogs and ornamentations while the masses die in Internally Displaced Person’s (IDP) camps, we are called to have a rethink and do the needful. 

8. God does not like waste that is why both the first reading and the gospel reveal that leftovers were collected. Where do you keep your excess food, clothing, bags, shoes et al. The saying of St. Basil the Great makes sense here: “When someone steals another's clothes, we call them a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the poor.”  

9. Today’s liturgy prompts us to go the extra mile by doing something extraordinary like saving the money you are supposed to use for beer, cigarette, clubbing, DST ExtraView to put smiles on the face of your nieghbour or someone in need. It took a little boy for over 5000 people to be fed. How many people do you think will be fed if everyone in the Church surprised the world with an act of kindness?

10. Isn’t it scandalous that Non-Governmental or Not For Profit Organisations are taking to charity while the Church is sleeping? Against the avarice and greed of Gehazi (2 Kings 5:15-27) and Ananias and Sapphira (Cf. Acts 5:1-11), we are charged to outdo the world in giving to charity. My heart melted when one of the winners of the African Magic Viewer’s Choice Award sometimes back dedicated his award to the Catholic Women Organisation of his parish for adopting him as an infant when his mother died and paying his school fees. We urgently need this kind of groups in our various parishes to cater for the needy especially, vulnerable children, women and the aged. This is not the task of St. Vincent De Paul alone.

               

Homiletic Points to Remember

1. This Sunday presents us with the practical demands of our faith namely, caring, sharing and living for others which is encapsulated in the African spirit of Ubuntu which means, “I Am Because We Are.”

2. The miracle of barley loaves in both the first reading and gospel draws our minds to the spirit of Liturgy of life.

3. The Liturgy of life is the practical dimension of faith which challenges us to demonstrate the communitarian character of being truly Christian.

4. “Ubuntu, how can one of us be happy if all the others are sad?”

5. Both the biblical miracles and the contemporary miracle of the Holy Eucharist evoke some thoughts on caring, sharing and living for others.

  

Conclusion

We live in a Nigerian society where people prefer to live in isolation with tall fences and fierce dogs because they don’t want the poor near their gates. The gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” keeps widening by the day as poverty, disease and death keeps taking from among the poorest of the poor. The gospel message challenges us to consider the spirit of Ubuntu based on African communalism. Perhaps we fail to ask ourselves how the world would be like if there were more people with the spirit of Ubuntu. Isn’t it a shame that collectively contemporary Africans are poor but individually they are rich?

The Eucharist presents us with the platform where both the perpetrators and victims can sit on a round table to share from the Eucharist. It is here that the perpetrator seeks reform while the victim demonstrates forgiveness towards peaceful resolution. Those who loot the earth’s resources ought to think twice. This is why we are charged to focus our energies on helping others around us to succeed. Helping someone to secure a job or sponsor a life-changing trip, pay children’s school fees or hospital bills and provide food or shelter, might just be that miracle the person needs from you to make it in life. The story of those children should propel us to be truly a Eucharistic people who are ready to translate ecclesiastical Liturgy into the Liturgy of life. May God help us to live our lives not only with the spirit of Ubuntu but that of the Eucharist!