Fr. Adolph Guy sx
The celebration of Easter led Christians to the contemplation of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ through different solemnities related to it. As a matter of fact, we still savor the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as we have just celebrated it this past Friday. Now, here comes another season, a very long one called Ordinary Time, liturgically represented by green color. This liturgical season provides us with an ample period of time to implement what we have seen in the Lord Jesus in our ordinary life. This implies that all our actions and thoughts are to hint toward the advent of the kingdom of God as far as our earthly journey is concerned.
Conquer the world through good deeds
Let me be allowed to share with a true story I heard from an elderly priest. A young student studying medicine approached the chaplain of his university to seek help as life circumstances did not allow him to pay his fees anymore. Moved with compassion, the chaplain assisted him and eventually the student finished his studies and became a dentist. Few days after his graduation, the new dentist sought the father to express his gratitude. He met the father and thanked him a lot for the help he received. The father was happy to see him and after listening to the dentist’s words of gratitude, the father invited him to go and do the same to any person in need of help that may come on his way. Years passed by, the father got a tooth disease as he was getting older and older. He went to the hospital, he met a dentist. After treatment, the dentist asked the father: Do you remember me? The father got no idea regarding the person of the dentist as both of them, each in his own age, had grown older though the dentist could still remember his benefactor. The dentist introduced himself again to the father and recalled to the latter the piece of advice he gave him, namely, to pass on the good deed whose he is beneficiary to any other person in need in whatever way so that little by little they may not only expand the chain of good actions but also conquer the world through good actions. At the end, the dentist confessed to the father to have adopted two children who were orphans. Eventually, the chain of good deeds may continue as far as the adopted children would be exposed to the same story.
Not always big actions but even simple ones
The first reading we have listened to is one of the oracles that we find the first part of the book of the prophet Ezekiel. By the way, some experts in the Bible tell us that prophet Ezekiel did his ministry in exile in Babylon after the deportation in 598. And then, they picture his prophecy in three parts. The first starts from chapter 1 to chapter 24, the second from chapter 25 to chapter 32 and the third from chapter 33 to chapter 48. Scholars suggest that in the first part of his prophecy, Ezekiel was busy warning his fellow exiles of the imminent destruction of Jerusalem as the city was under Babylonians’ siege. However, amidst these warnings, Ezekiel had a vision of a future full of hope because he had faith in God’s promise (11:16-17). God will take the initiative to restart to build his kingdom with a handful of people coming back from the exile. A kingdom that will eventually grow as the time goes by. Prophet Ezekiel used the image of planting just a shoot on the top of the mountain. As time goes by, the shoot will sprout branches and bear fruit. The gospel talks of throwing the seed on the land which after some times will produce a lot of fruits.
It requires a proper attitude
Our good deeds are seeds that we sow in the lives of people soon or later they will bear fruit. The gospel highlights certain basic actions to which one can add others. The Gospel says we need cloth the naked, visit sick people and prisoners, welcome strangers and the likes. Our actions can bear fruit only if we adopt a conduct worthy of our call as Christians. Prophet Ezekiel talks of a new heart and a new spirit (36:20). Saint Paul admonishes us today “to be exiled from the body and make our home with the Lord. When you are helping your brother and sister, do not humiliate him/her and don’t grumble while you assisting somebody. Lastly keep your good deeds secrets between you and your God.
Mission with hope
I minister in Our Lady Queen of the Apostles parish in Mongo Bendugu town, to be precise. In terms of number of baptized Christians, we are just few. But when it comes to the area that the parish covers, it is very big; perhaps the only parish in rooted in Falaba district. Tribes (Kuranko, Yalunka, Madingo and Fula) that compose this district were exposed to Islam centuries before the arrival of Christianity that Islam has permeated the local culture, language and customs. Some people are resistant to Christianity and others are just indifferent. My companions and I drive miles in the bush and savanna crossing swamps and streams of water to reach out to children of our primary schools. We teach them catechesis, Christian songs with entertainment sometimes without the prospect of having some baptized. At the same time, we maintain a good relationship with traditional authorities and Imams.
Within Mongo Bendugu town where our community is found, we try our best to be good neighbors to our brothers and sisters by being present in most of the events of the place: anonymously we attend to naming ceremonies (commonly called ‘pul na do’) of our friends and neighbors or we join a throng of man as they carry a deceased person to the burying ground. Evening time provides us with an opportunity to meet people in their houses or spent few minutes with one or two beside the road to exchange words as we meet them on their way back from their respective farms. All these simple gestures enable us to spread the seeds of the kingdom of God in the hearts of the people under our parish. We do it with hope, not that we expect all of them to be converted to Christianity someday but because it makes sense in this particular time in this area of the country.
To summarize, the Ordinary Time is a good moment to spread the seeds of the kingdom of God through our good deeds. As missionaries, we help the handful of Christians under our care to deepen their faith and, at the same time, we expose the same faith to our Muslim brothers and sisters through our life testimonies.
The celebration of Easter led Christians to the contemplation of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ through different solemnities related to it. As a matter of fact, we still savor the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as we have just celebrated it this past Friday. Now, here comes another season, a very long one called Ordinary Time, liturgically represented by green color. This liturgical season provides us with an ample period of time to implement what we have seen in the Lord Jesus in our ordinary life. This implies that all our actions and thoughts are to hint toward the advent of the kingdom of God as far as our earthly journey is concerned.
Conquer the world through good deeds
Let me be allowed to share with a true story I heard from an elderly priest. A young student studying medicine approached the chaplain of his university to seek help as life circumstances did not allow him to pay his fees anymore. Moved with compassion, the chaplain assisted him and eventually the student finished his studies and became a dentist. Few days after his graduation, the new dentist sought the father to express his gratitude. He met the father and thanked him a lot for the help he received. The father was happy to see him and after listening to the dentist’s words of gratitude, the father invited him to go and do the same to any person in need of help that may come on his way. Years passed by, the father got a tooth disease as he was getting older and older. He went to the hospital, he met a dentist. After treatment, the dentist asked the father: Do you remember me? The father got no idea regarding the person of the dentist as both of them, each in his own age, had grown older though the dentist could still remember his benefactor. The dentist introduced himself again to the father and recalled to the latter the piece of advice he gave him, namely, to pass on the good deed whose he is beneficiary to any other person in need in whatever way so that little by little they may not only expand the chain of good actions but also conquer the world through good actions. At the end, the dentist confessed to the father to have adopted two children who were orphans. Eventually, the chain of good deeds may continue as far as the adopted children would be exposed to the same story.
Not always big actions but even simple ones
The first reading we have listened to is one of the oracles that we find the first part of the book of the prophet Ezekiel. By the way, some experts in the Bible tell us that prophet Ezekiel did his ministry in exile in Babylon after the deportation in 598. And then, they picture his prophecy in three parts. The first starts from chapter 1 to chapter 24, the second from chapter 25 to chapter 32 and the third from chapter 33 to chapter 48. Scholars suggest that in the first part of his prophecy, Ezekiel was busy warning his fellow exiles of the imminent destruction of Jerusalem as the city was under Babylonians’ siege. However, amidst these warnings, Ezekiel had a vision of a future full of hope because he had faith in God’s promise (11:16-17). God will take the initiative to restart to build his kingdom with a handful of people coming back from the exile. A kingdom that will eventually grow as the time goes by. Prophet Ezekiel used the image of planting just a shoot on the top of the mountain. As time goes by, the shoot will sprout branches and bear fruit. The gospel talks of throwing the seed on the land which after some times will produce a lot of fruits.
It requires a proper attitude
Our good deeds are seeds that we sow in the lives of people soon or later they will bear fruit. The gospel highlights certain basic actions to which one can add others. The Gospel says we need cloth the naked, visit sick people and prisoners, welcome strangers and the likes. Our actions can bear fruit only if we adopt a conduct worthy of our call as Christians. Prophet Ezekiel talks of a new heart and a new spirit (36:20). Saint Paul admonishes us today “to be exiled from the body and make our home with the Lord. When you are helping your brother and sister, do not humiliate him/her and don’t grumble while you assisting somebody. Lastly keep your good deeds secrets between you and your God.
Mission with hope
I minister in Our Lady Queen of the Apostles parish in Mongo Bendugu town, to be precise. In terms of number of baptized Christians, we are just few. But when it comes to the area that the parish covers, it is very big; perhaps the only parish in rooted in Falaba district. Tribes (Kuranko, Yalunka, Madingo and Fula) that compose this district were exposed to Islam centuries before the arrival of Christianity that Islam has permeated the local culture, language and customs. Some people are resistant to Christianity and others are just indifferent. My companions and I drive miles in the bush and savanna crossing swamps and streams of water to reach out to children of our primary schools. We teach them catechesis, Christian songs with entertainment sometimes without the prospect of having some baptized. At the same time, we maintain a good relationship with traditional authorities and Imams.
Within Mongo Bendugu town where our community is found, we try our best to be good neighbors to our brothers and sisters by being present in most of the events of the place: anonymously we attend to naming ceremonies (commonly called ‘pul na do’) of our friends and neighbors or we join a throng of man as they carry a deceased person to the burying ground. Evening time provides us with an opportunity to meet people in their houses or spent few minutes with one or two beside the road to exchange words as we meet them on their way back from their respective farms. All these simple gestures enable us to spread the seeds of the kingdom of God in the hearts of the people under our parish. We do it with hope, not that we expect all of them to be converted to Christianity someday but because it makes sense in this particular time in this area of the country.
To summarize, the Ordinary Time is a good moment to spread the seeds of the kingdom of God through our good deeds. As missionaries, we help the handful of Christians under our care to deepen their faith and, at the same time, we expose the same faith to our Muslim brothers and sisters through our life testimonies.