THE LORD HAS SEDUCED ME

XXII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Jeremiah 20:7-9

The Psalm 63, which is this Sunday’s responsorial psalm, expresses the human experience, that is the experience of the man who seeks God and who cannot find peace until he finds him. We are like dry and scorched land, thirsting for water. It is like a burning fire whose flames we cannot quench.

“O God, you are my God, for you I long;

  for you my soul is thirsting.

My body pines for you

  like a dry, weary land without water.” (Psalm 63:1)

In our search for God, we may go astray, and like a butterfly fly around, aimlessly seeking all colours and flavours. And nothing can satisfy us. Then, we try everything that is strange and drown ourselves in the blaring noise that surrounds us, but the pleasures of this world do not satisfy us. We look far and wide, but the one who can bring peace to our hearts is with us; in fact, he is within us, as St. Augustine wrote: “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient and ever new! Late have I loved you! And, behold, you were within me, and I out of myself, and there I searched for you.”

However, if we do not give up searching for him, he will reveal himself to us, bringing joy and peace to our hearts. Then, we will realise that our restless search for God was guided by him. In fact, he is the one who takes the initiative and comes looking for us.

The prophet Jeremiah expresses the experience of every prophet when he says: “You have seduced me, Lord, and I have let myself be seduced.” (Jr 20:7) Jeremiah experienced the love of God and could never forget him. With that experience, his life went through a radical change, a change that brought him in conflict with the society around him. Very soon he realised that God’s ways are different from our human ways. In his effort to be faithful to the God of love, he entered into conflict with the prevalent values and the politically correct. He was rejected, despised and hated, thus encountering suffering and persecution. And he felt like trapped: he would like to give up his mission and to abandon the God who had seduced him, but he could not. Going through the experience of being “a daily laughing-stock”, Jeremiah complained:

“you have overpowered me,

you were the stronger.”

It seems as if Jeremiah was fighting with God and could not win. That brings to mind the struggle between Jacob and the Lord (Gn 22:32). In that wrestling, we get the impression that Jacob came out victorious, but that was not the case since Jacob was injured and, in the end, received a new name, confirming that his life and his mission was totally dependent on the Lord, who had been fighting with him. We may try to wrestle with God - and we do it many times -, but in the end, God’s plans are carried out. Jeremiah came to the conclusion that within him there was 

“a fire burning in my heart,

imprisoned in my bones.

The effort to restrain it wearied me,

I could not bear it.” (Jr 20:9)

As I read this passage, it came to my mind Leonard Cohen’s song: You want it darker, in which he cries out God: I am ready, my Lord.

It is difficult to understand and to accept that the way to true life passes through suffering and through death. Peter wanted to keep Jesus away from his passion, and Jesus rebuked him for that. And all the true disciples of Jesus must be ready to carry the cross like him:

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it, but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?” (Mt 16:24-26)

HOW RICH ARE THE DEPTHS OF GOD!

XXI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 16:13-20

Whenever we speak of God, we fall short of words. It is nearly impossible to speak of the divine with human words. In Bemba, there is a proverb that says: Apasamika umutali, umwipi teti afikepo. It is impossible for the short one to reach up there where the tall one keeps things. In his letter to the Romans, Paul tells us exactly that: “how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods! Who could ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor?” (Ro 11:33-34).

In our theological discourse, we must remain aware of the limits of our language. God is always somehow (or even greatly) different from what we say. Before God, we are faced with the mystery, an overwhelming mystery that surrounds and penetrates us to the inner core of ourselves. With Paul, we can cry out: “How rich are the depths of God – how deep his wisdom and knowledge!” (Ro 5:33). To know God and to know his design and plan for us is only possible if he reveals himself to us. We are in a constant search for meaning and for truth - in a search for God and we are baffled by our inability to make headways. In our intellectual search for God, we are only able to get a glimpse of him. Revealing himself to us in Jesus Christ, God presents us with the offer of a relationship of love. It is only through love - first of all, a love received and then a love given back - that we may enter the heart of God and discover his loving plan of salvation for us.

Before God’s love, we must sing his praises with Paul: “To him be glory for ever! Amen.” (Ro 11:36). And we must make ours the words of the Psalmist:

“I thank you for your faithfulness and love,

  which excel all we ever knew of you.

On the day I called, you answered;

  you increased the strength of my soul.” (Ps 138:2-3)

Due to his love, God has decided to “reconcile the world to himself” in Christ “and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.” (2 Co 5:19). It is in Jesus, who is the Christ, the Son of the living God, that we are reconciled with God, being accepted as his beloved children.

Today’s gospel presents the big question that we should always ask about Jesus of Nazareth: Who is Jesus? Who is he for me, for us? In the end, Jesus himself asks that question from us. We may have encountered Jesus in many different ways and have different ideas about him. However, if we look for him with a sincere heart, sooner or later we will come to the community of his disciples - the Church - and make with them the proclamation first made by Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Mt 16:16). This is the faith of the Church, and there is no Church without believing with the full assent of our hearts and minds that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. This is the foundation of the Church, the rock upon which Jesus builds his Church.

And in Peter, Jesus entrusted to the Church the ministry of reconciliation. This ministry implies to proclaim the good news of God’s mercy in Jesus Christ, that is the good news that we are reconciled in Jesus Christ, and the mission to lead people to reconciliation. working for reconciliation, we work for the Kingdom of God, received as a gift with a thankful heart.

LET THE NATIONS BE GLAD AND EXULT

XX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Matthew 15:21-28

It was very difficult for the Jewish people to change from a nationalist and exclusivist mentality to a universalistic. It was difficult for them to understand that they had been chosen for the sake of the others so that salvation would be offered to all. For them, the gentiles were outside God’s promises of salvation and the only way for them to have a share in the promises was to join the Jewish people and to become one of them. Having realised that the salvation of God is offered to all, Paul considered himself as the apostle of the gentiles: “God has imprisoned all men in their own disobedience only to show mercy to all mankind.” (Ro 11:13,32)

In this Sunday’s first reading, we hear that, through the great prophet Isaiah, God had already spoken of his universal plan of salvation, leaving the door open to all “foreigners who have attached themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love his name and be his servants” (Is 56:6), and He will take them to his holy mountain.

However, during Jesus’ time, the Pharisees had a great influence and that influence became dominant after Jesus and during the time of the first Christian Communities, mainly after the destruction of the Temple, They could not understand or accept that salvation was offered to all just through faith in Jesus Christ. For them, the Law of Moses was essential to belong to the people of God and to find salvation. The Messiah would come to the Jews bringing the promises to fulfilment. Then, from the superabundance of grace,  some scraps would fall off to the gentiles. The best food belonged to the children of the house, and the scraps to the house-dogs near the table. That was a common understanding and Jesus used that popular understanding and way of speaking in this Sunday’s gospel to drive home the lesson that all those who have faith will find peace and salvation in him.

A foreign woman came to Jesus. She was a “Canaanite woman”, and that word rings a bell: the Canaanites had been a constant temptation to the Jews with their worship of Baal and their sacred prostitution. But here, this Canaanite woman is given as an example of faith. She addressed Jesus three times as Lord and knelt before him in worship. With words that sound harsh to our modern ears, Jesus tested her faith and she came out of the test in the best way. And then Jesus not only granted her request but also praised her faith: “Woman, you have great faith.” (Mt 15:28).

It is by faith in Jesus Christ that we are saved and all those who have faith receive the treatment reserved for the children - the beloved children of God.

With the Psalm 67, we may sing:

Let the peoples praise you, O God; 

let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and exult

  for you rule the world with justice.

With fairness you rule the peoples,

  you guide the nations on earth. (Ps 67:3-5)

**

This Sunday, 20 August, the Parish of Lubengele celebrates fifty years of the opening of the Church. In the following link you can open the pamphlet prepared for the consecration of the Church:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzfceLeKDTYoWkJrUV9vSnJXcWs

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF LUBENGELE CHURCH

Through Facebook and Facebook Messenger, many people from Lubengele have asked me if I do not go there to celebrate with them the golden jubilee of the building of the Church. I am sorry, but I will not be able to be there. It is a long way from Portugal to Zambia and I have work here. One day, God willing, I will come to visit you. 

I miss Lubengele, I miss the vibrant celebrations with the singing of the Choir, the word of God proclaimed in songs by the baMushika (Yangeni Singers) and the religious dancing (ukusengela) of the Stella, Bana ba Maria and Women (banamayo). And I miss the people, mainly the children, the youth, the catechesis, the married couples, the school, the Small Christian Communities (ifitente) and all the groups and movements, the choir singing and Yangeni performing. I cannot forget you, all of you.

As for the Jubilee of the Church, I looked into my notes and I found that in 1997 we had a big celebration for the 30 years of the Church. Then, in 2006, we had a golden jubilee celebration for the first baptisms registered in Lubengele, in 1956, before the Church was built. And we made a big celebration. 

On 27 October 2006, a Friday, we had a singing competition. On 28 - a Saturday - in the morning, we had a march from Shaft nº 3, passing through the Church to the Community School, which was officially opened; in the afternoon, we had a festival. 

Then, on 29 October, Sunday, we had a big eucharistic celebration, with the consecration of the Parish to Mary, Our Lady of Mercy.

Inquiring from different people, I got the following information:

“The beginnings of the Parish
The Parish of Lubengele was initiated by the Franciscan Friars, from Chingola. The first baptism - the one of Richard James Carew, an expatriate - was administered by Fr. Mauro Mamo on 29 August 1954. Then, on 19 September 1954, Fr. Raymond Mauceri baptised the first Zambians in Chililabombwe.
At that time the Priests were staying in Chingola, and baptisms were registered in Nchanga. Up to 19 January 1956, Fr. Raymond Mauceri administered nearly all the baptisms. Then in February of the same year, Fr. Leo Cusimano started going to Chililabombwe. At the beginning of 1956, Fr. Achille Fontana came to Chililabombwe as well and made some baptisms.

The first baptisms registered in Lubengele Parish are from 14 October 1956, done by Fr. Leo Cusimano, who remained there up to February 1957.
Building the church
The first place of worship in Lubengele Parish was near the present day Shaft nº 3 in a thatched shelter. When the place had to be abandoned, the community went Mr Loyd’s place in G section. Later on, the worshippers used the Mine Hall, near Konkola Stadium. Finally, the Catholic community of Lubengele decided to build their own church, behind the Buntungwa market or Kalukungu as it is popularly known.  

According to Mr Alphonsus Mukuka, the foundation and the slab were laid in place in 1959. The walls were built in 1967.
The main work was done while Fr. Lodovicus Mizzi, known as Fr. Katyetye Mwenda Mwalimwa, was the Parish Priest. They put a roofing structure supported by pipes before the walls were built. And the community abandoned the old place that was too small and started worshipping in the new church.

The church was opened on 20 August 1967.

In the booklet with the songs for the liturgy of the consecration of the church, Mr Bonaventure Mubanga wrote:
"Natusansamuke bonse pa kwisula Ing'anda yakwa Lesa iyo twashukila panuma ya kucula imyaka 15, lelo kwena ubukûle bwesu tabulapwa nakalya; twaisula fye bwangu bwangu ico tatwakwata ing'anda ye Pepo.” (“Let us rejoice all of us at the opening of the church that we are happy to have after 15 years of suffering; but the building is not finished yet; we opened it in a hurry because we don't have a place of worship."

LIST OF THE PRIESTS WHO WORKED IN LUBENGELE PARISH – CHILILABOMBWE (following the baptism registers of the Parish)

• Fr Mauro              1954
• Fr. Raymond Maucery 1954 – 1956
• Fr. Leo Cusimano 1956 – 1957 
• Fr. Claude 1957 – 1958
• Fr. Achille Fontana 1958 – 1960
• Fr. Ludovicus Mizzi 1960 – 1968
• Fr. Philip Zara 1968 – 1969
• Fr. Angelo Panzica 1969 – 1973 (alternating with Fr. Philip)
• Fr. Charles Talone 1973 – 1975
• Fr. Dominik Wasilenski 1975 – 1979
• Fr. Zygmunt 1979 – 1980
• Fr. Dominik Wasilenshi 1980 – 1981
• Fr. José dos Santos Guedes 1981 – from October 1981 to beginning of January 2009.
• Fr. Simon Kunda
• Fr. Edward Mumbi
• Fr. Michael Kolala
• Fr. Matthews Chamangwa
• Fr. Chalwe Chonde

I wish the parishioners of Lubengele a great celebration. I pray for them and ask the Lord to fill them with the Holy Spirit to be always true witnesses of Jesus Christ.

LORD, SAVE ME!

XIX SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - 1 Kings 19:9,11-13

Coming out of slavery, in the desert, the people of Israel made an extraordinary experience of God, as the liberator, the one who cares and the one who is always present walking with them on their journey towards the land he had promised them. That experience was the foundation of their lives and their history. They experienced God as the one who revealed himself to them and called them to a relationship with him, a relationship sealed with a covenant. However, the theophanies (manifestations) of God could be terrifying, as they are described like a thunderstorm, an earthquake or a volcano:

“On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain, and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God. They took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended upon it in fire; the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, while the whole mountain shook violently.” (Ex 19:16-18)

The people had to remain at a distance, afraid of dying  (Ex 19:21). Then, it is not surprising that the letter to the Hebrews compares the theophanies of old with the way God revealed himself in the New Testament saying:

“You have not come to something that can be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.”) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” (Heb 12:18-24)

The prophet Elijah - the great prophet, who put his whole life at the service of God and whose heart was full of zeal for the Lord - had a profound experience of God, in which he realised that the traditional signs of God’s presence were not valid anymore. God was not in the mighty wind, in the earthquake or in the fire. Instead, he perceived God’s presence as “a gentle breeze”, like the breath of life that God breathed into the nostrils of the first human being (Gn 2:7). Elijah was discouraged and reaching despair, preferring to die than to go on with his mission, which he considered a failure, but after this experience of God he felt a new strength and was ready to carry on with his mission, the mission that God himself had entrusted to him.

In this Sunday’s gospel, the Apostles experienced loneliness and despair in the darkness of the night, battling with a heavy sea. Their worries were so big that mistook Jesus for a ghost. Indeed, when we are not able to recognise God’s presence among us, we see ghosts everywhere and remain terrified like the Apostles. The word of Jesus came reassuring: “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.”.

Trying to show off in front of his companions, Peter asked Jesus to allow him to walk across on the water. However, instead of enjoying a glorious moment, Peter was humbled by his own fragility, weakness and lack of faith, when he started going down. At least, he had the good sense of asking for help: “Lord, save me!” (Mat 14:30). We are not better than Peter and like him, we must ask earnestly: “Lord, save me!”.

LISTEN TO HIM

FEAST OF THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD - Matthew 17:1-9

In the book of Daniel, we find an extraordinary vision in which God is presented as “the Ancient of days” appearing in all his glory, seated on his throne and surrounded by thousands and thousands waiting on him and myriads and myriads more standing before him. That’s when someone looking like a son of man, coming “on the clouds of heaven” presented himself before the presence of “the Ancient of days”, and 

“on him was conferred sovereignty,

glory and kingship,

and men of all peoples, nations and languages 

became his servants.

His sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty

which shall never pass away,

nor will his empire ever be destroyed.” (Dan 7:14)

This passage is understood as referring to the Messiah and Jesus himself understood this passage as referring to him, especially when he answered under oath the question of the High Priest: “tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Before the highest Jewish authority, Jesus presents himself as that divine figure who becomes the ruler of the universe, with all peoples, nations and languages becoming his servants. The members of the Jewish Council must have thought of this claim as a joke. Since Jesus was arrested and being judged by them, how could he claim kingly and divine powers? 

Many of the disciples, even the closest to him, followed Jesus with this great expectation: he would be a glorious king with the power to destroy all the enemies of the people of Israel and they would have a share in his glory. However, Jesus did not go that way. To Pilate, he said that the had not come to be an earthly king (Jn 18:36). As Messiah, Jesus chose the way of the Servant of the Lord - the suffering servant who dies for his people. 

The cross on which Jesus was crucified became a scandal on which many people stumbled. Even the Apostles would not be able to overcome the doubt, the discouragement and the despair that followed the crucifixion of Jesus without being prepared for it. That’s why Jesus allowed three of his Apostles to be with him in the mountain and witness the manifestation of his glory. They were so overwhelmed with ecstasy that they did not desire anything else but to be there: “Lord, it is wonderful to be here!” (Mt 17:4). Even though the ecstasy lasted but a moment, Peter would remember it all his life: “we had seen his majesty for ourselves. He was honoured and glorified by God the Father, when the Sublime Glory itself spoke to him and said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour.’ We heard this ourselves, spoken from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.” (2 Pe 1:16-18).

Presenting his Son on the holy mountain, God gives us only one command: “Listen to him.” (Mt 17:5). And this is the only command given by God the Father in the New Testament. We must not listen to anybody else but Christ; He is he Word and in him, we find the truth and life.