Fr. F. X. Sudarmanto, SX
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
On the fourth Sunday of Advent, we listen to the message of prophet Isaiah that God is willing to step into the darkness of his people, to be with them, if they let him enter. As we sing in the responsorial psalm “Let the Lord enter, he is the king of glory” we are called to welcome his coming to dispel our loneliness, the greatest threat of our happiness.
One day when I visited our Catholic school in Danyoro village, a villager told me about another village called Firawa, which according to him is just 2 miles away from Danyoro. Thinking that the distance was quite small, I started towards the village on the motorbike. With eagerness to know the village, I moved along the narrow and stony road carefully. But I realised after some time that the 2 miles had been covered, without seeing any sign of a village.
Anyway, I continued riding the motorbike with a little bit of worry inside. Not seeing any sign of any village, I stopped to check the fuel in the motorbike, before deciding to continue to look for the village. Thank God, the fuel was still plenty, so I decided to continue, though I felt somehow cheated by the villager, who had told me the distance was 2 miles. At the same time I tried to cheer up myself by praying in my heart, convincing myself that, after all, what I was doing was a missionary endeavour. Finally I saw a village in front of me, yes, it was Firawa village. The truth is that it was 6 miles away from Danyoro.
I stopped at the first house, met and greeted some young ladies, asked them about the town chief. Then a boy guided me to the house of the town chief. While passing through the town, I saw people around. They were all strangers to me, and I was a stranger to them. Anyway, I greeted them in Koranko, saying: ‘Tana masi!... I kende?’, ‘Good morning!... How are you?’
Unfortunately the town chief was not around. He was in Guinea, concerned about gold mining. But his brother welcomed me on behalf of the town chief. He called all people in the town, children, youth, men, women and elders. They appreciated my visit, introduced themselves to me and welcomed me by performing a traditional ceremony, and gave me cola nuts as a sign of brotherhood as one family.
I spent some time in the village and listened to their story about the village. They showed me a ‘bafa’ (hut) that served as a ‘school’, but it was abandoned because there was no teacher anymore, expecting that God would provide another one to take care of their children and youth. They told me that the name of the village ‘Firawa’ means ‘a deep forest’, maybe because this village is the last village before entering Guinea, the neighbouring country. They told me that they want to open the road towards Danyoro village and Mongo town, so that Firawa would become more accessible for visitors, and not remain any longer in ‘a deep forest’.
While preparing Christmas, I remember people of Firawa village who do not want to be in a deep forest anymore, do not want to be alone anymore. Surely, their sincere longing would be fulfilled. In the Lord Jesus, God is “Emmanuel – God with us.” He steps in to save us, who pass through the twilight of human existence. He wants his light to be accessible to us. This tremendous mystery (“God with us – you do not have to go it alone”) is what we are going to celebrate at Christmas. With the psalmist we pray: “Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.” My prayer is that the Lord may enter the life of Firawa people, our life and everybody who are going to celebrate Christmas.
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
On the fourth Sunday of Advent, we listen to the message of prophet Isaiah that God is willing to step into the darkness of his people, to be with them, if they let him enter. As we sing in the responsorial psalm “Let the Lord enter, he is the king of glory” we are called to welcome his coming to dispel our loneliness, the greatest threat of our happiness.
One day when I visited our Catholic school in Danyoro village, a villager told me about another village called Firawa, which according to him is just 2 miles away from Danyoro. Thinking that the distance was quite small, I started towards the village on the motorbike. With eagerness to know the village, I moved along the narrow and stony road carefully. But I realised after some time that the 2 miles had been covered, without seeing any sign of a village.
Anyway, I continued riding the motorbike with a little bit of worry inside. Not seeing any sign of any village, I stopped to check the fuel in the motorbike, before deciding to continue to look for the village. Thank God, the fuel was still plenty, so I decided to continue, though I felt somehow cheated by the villager, who had told me the distance was 2 miles. At the same time I tried to cheer up myself by praying in my heart, convincing myself that, after all, what I was doing was a missionary endeavour. Finally I saw a village in front of me, yes, it was Firawa village. The truth is that it was 6 miles away from Danyoro.
I stopped at the first house, met and greeted some young ladies, asked them about the town chief. Then a boy guided me to the house of the town chief. While passing through the town, I saw people around. They were all strangers to me, and I was a stranger to them. Anyway, I greeted them in Koranko, saying: ‘Tana masi!... I kende?’, ‘Good morning!... How are you?’
Unfortunately the town chief was not around. He was in Guinea, concerned about gold mining. But his brother welcomed me on behalf of the town chief. He called all people in the town, children, youth, men, women and elders. They appreciated my visit, introduced themselves to me and welcomed me by performing a traditional ceremony, and gave me cola nuts as a sign of brotherhood as one family.
I spent some time in the village and listened to their story about the village. They showed me a ‘bafa’ (hut) that served as a ‘school’, but it was abandoned because there was no teacher anymore, expecting that God would provide another one to take care of their children and youth. They told me that the name of the village ‘Firawa’ means ‘a deep forest’, maybe because this village is the last village before entering Guinea, the neighbouring country. They told me that they want to open the road towards Danyoro village and Mongo town, so that Firawa would become more accessible for visitors, and not remain any longer in ‘a deep forest’.
While preparing Christmas, I remember people of Firawa village who do not want to be in a deep forest anymore, do not want to be alone anymore. Surely, their sincere longing would be fulfilled. In the Lord Jesus, God is “Emmanuel – God with us.” He steps in to save us, who pass through the twilight of human existence. He wants his light to be accessible to us. This tremendous mystery (“God with us – you do not have to go it alone”) is what we are going to celebrate at Christmas. With the psalmist we pray: “Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.” My prayer is that the Lord may enter the life of Firawa people, our life and everybody who are going to celebrate Christmas.