Shikrot Mpwi - Sunday Synopsis with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk
26th Sunday of
the Year, B – September 30, 2018.
Readings: Numbers 11:25-29;
Ps 18:8,10,12-14; James
5:1-6;
Gospel – Mark 9:38-43,45,47-48.
Theme: A Call to be Truly
Catholic!
Introduction
Friends in Christ, our
liturgy this Sunday reminds us about the universality of salvation and the need
to fight for a common humanity rather than preoccupy ourselves with
denominationalism or religious
differences. In both the Nicene and Apostolic Creeds, we profess belief in the
One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Despite the fact that the Catholic
Church prides itself as being Catholic or Universal, history painfully reveals the
position of the Church before Vatican Council II that outside the Catholic
Church, there is no salvation.
This assertion did not
only shut others out but prevented Catholics from seeing or recognizing the
good in others. On the level of the unity of Christians, despite the various
attempts at ecumenism in Nigeria, the church is still contending with
challenges which stand in the way of intra-faith relations some of which
include: Theological differences or liturgical differences, hierarchical and
theological triumphalism, ethnicity and tribalism, religious bigotry and lack
of a united voice as Christians amongst others. Our relationships with Muslims
in Nigeria have regrettably also been marred by religious triumphalism, bias, propaganda,
belligerence and religious intolerance.
To correct this anomaly,
the Fathers of the Vatican II Council in Nostra
Aetate (8/10/1965) – The Declaration on the Relation of Church to Non-Christians
which Pope Benedict XVI calls the Magna Carta of interreligious dialogue,
the Council Fathers having acknowledged that in the past the relation between
Christians and Muslims was fraught with suspicion and fear, now “pleads with
all to forget the past, and urges that a sincere effort be made to achieve mutual
understanding...”
The Church Fathers
believed that when mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims is
realised, only then can we “preserve and promote peace, liberty, social justice
and moral values...” It took a bold and
magnanimous John Paul II to apologize for the sins of the Church. Our
reflection this Sunday calls us to not only extend the olive branch to our
separated brethren and engage in dialogue with Muslims but seek good wherever
we see it and also fight for a common humanity.
Background
& Summary of the Readings
In today’s first
reading (Numbers 11:25-29),
we hear how God took some of the spirit that was on Moses and put it on seventy
elders. It is important to note that at this time, Moses was aging and the
grumbling of the people was on the increase. As a result the demands of the
ministry became difficult for him. God decided to ensure division of labour to
caution the effects of the people’s burden on Moses. However, we are told that
Moses’ assistant, Joshua who had been serving him from youth reported Eldad and
Medad to Moses when he saw them prophesying in the camp. He wanted Moses to
stop them but Moses rebuked him by saying, he wished everyone in the camp were
a prophet and had the spirit of God. While the text reveals the seeming
jealousy of Joshua, it discloses the magnanimity of Moses.
The second reading (James
5:1-6) comes hard on the rich who cheat the poor, live a life of comfort and
luxury eating to their heart’s content even as they condemn and kill the
innocent. The Lord says, start crying now and weep for the impending miseries
because your wealth is rotting, your clothes eaten by the moth and your gold
and silver are corroding. It emphasizes that corrosion will be your sentence
because it will eat up your body. It also notes that it was a burning fire that
you stored up as your treasure for the last days because you were not
magnanimous; you were not large-hearted or generous - instead, you were selfish
and cheated; you were not truly Catholic by providing a shelter for the poorest
of the poor in your life.
In the gospel (Mark 9:38-43,45,47-48), Jesus’
disciples tried to stop a man who was not one of them from casting out devils
in his name. He swiftly rebukes them – why must you stop him? Since he works
miracles in my name, he cannot likely be against us. He goes ahead to state
that anyone who is kind to you for the sake of Christ would be rewarded but
warned those who cause scandal which makes children to fall into sin to repent
or be eternally doomed. It ends with the call on us to remove everything that
causes us to sin so as to enjoy the beatific vision.
Internal
& External Universality
a).
Internal Universality
This is much like Mission ad intra which entails forming a
synergy amongst all the Pious Societies and Sodalities in the Church. Above
all, it requires all efforts at not giving bad example to the young which our
gospel refers to as scandal. What this means is that since children deserve all
attention and care in the world, it is the responsibility of parents as first
teachers and the Church to foster the unity of the spirit within the body of
Christ.
b).
External Universality
This is akin to Mission ad extra which touches on our relationship
with our Protestant and Pentecostal brethren known in theology as ecumenism. It
is important to focus our energy on our strengths namely, the scriptures, the
theology of the Trinity, sacraments like baptism and intra-faith marriages, our
unity as God’s children, ecumenical gatherings and prayer.
Engaging with other
Christians through exploiting other opportunities such as intra-faith relations,
faith-sharing by experts and the faithful, common gathering like Christmas
carols, choral concerts, common projects like hospitals, schools, fixing of
roads, volunteerism and exchange programme in schools remains key to ecumenical
rendezvous.
The story is told of a Parish
Priest who was approached by a man to baptize his dog. The priest who
identified the man as a Protestant was annoyed and turned the man back saying,
“This is the Catholic Church, we don’t baptize animals.” The man who held his
dog tightly apologized to the priest and said, “I had written a cheque of 20
thousand dollars as stipend for the baptism.” On hearing that, the priest
smiled and said, “Why did you not tell me that your dog is a Catholic? Be sure
it’s done.”
Four
Types of Dialogue
To further ensure the
universality of the message of salvation, in 1984 the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue which made a
case for dialogue and mission proposed four kinds of dialogue aimed at
healing a broken-world:
1.
Dialogue of Life: Dialogue of life happens in a
situation “where people strive to live in an open and neighbourly spirit.” It
happens in the ordinary events of life – work-place, institutions or in the
neighbourhood. Here, people get to know each other and strive to live in peace
with them. For instance, when we go to the bank or market, dialogue of life
takes place as customers are not treated based on their religion. This kind of
dialogue requires patience, perseverance as well as personal and communal
effort anchored on our common humanity.
2.
Dialogue of Action: Wherever Christians and Muslims work together to promote peace, liberty,
social justice and moral values, dialogue of action takes place. These creeds
stand for justice, peace and respect for life as well as human dignity. Since
both religions share common human values and see the human as the custodian of
the earth endowed with the power to use the earth’s resources justly, it is an
imperative for Muslims and Christians “to collaborate in addressing social
concerns based on these common religious motives and values” – This is dialogue
of action. Many Christians have saved Muslims and Muslims, Christians against
attacks during crisis. This is dialogue of action.
3.
Theological Dialogue or Dialogue of Experts: When academics, experts, theologians or
religious leaders of various religions meet to clarify issues, create greater
understanding, they are engaged in dialogue of experts. This kind of dialogue
helps to remove prejudices that blind religious leaders of a particular creed
from seeing the good in another faith. It also helps them to appreciate each
other’s spiritual values while having a better understanding of their
differences. An example of this is the Christian-Islam
Congress which was co-organized with the World Islamic Call Society (WICS) in Tripoli
in 1976.
4.
Dialogue of Religious Experience: This kind of dialogue
takes place at interfaith prayer sessions where religious texts are jointly
read and reflected upon by members of both faiths. This kind of dialogue also
requires a level of expertise. While this type of dialogue requires expertise,
it could take place in local communities when there is a genuine need to come
together to seek the face of God – such occasions could be during draught or
famine. An example was when Pope John
Paul II visited the Umayyad Mosque in 2001 becoming the first Pope to visit the
Mosque, 1,363 years after Caliph ‘Umar Ibn Khattab visited the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Pastoral
Application & Practical Lessons
1. The fact that Eldad
and Medad were not among the seventy elders but were given a share of the
spirit of Moses tells us that there is division of labour in the Church – the
priest cannot be a Mass Server or take the place of the Council Chairman
because by the virtue of our baptism, we have been empowered by God to share in
the priestly, kingly and prophetic mission of Christ through the Ministerial
and Common Priesthood of Christ which gives us different rights and privileges
in the Church geared towards the same goal.
