LEAD A LIFE WORTHY OF YOUR VOCATION

XVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: Ephesians 4:1-6

Try to read attentively the following passage, from the letter to the Ephesians; then, make an effort to apply it to your own life.

I, the prisoner in the Lord, 

implore you to lead a life 

worthy of your vocation. 

Bear with one another charitably, 

in complete selflessness, 

gentleness and patience. 

Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. 

There is one Body, one Spirit, 

just as you were all called 

into one and the same hope 

when you were called. 

There is one Lord, one faith, 

one baptism, and one God 

who is Father of all, over all, 

through all and within all.

• Our vocation: called to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect (Mt 5:48). There is a Bemba proverb that says: Cimumbwa, pala noko; pala wiso ukuwama, meaning: creature, imitate your mother; imitate your father’s goodness.
• God is love: he is a merciful and compassionate God. Being his children, we must show love and compassion. Paul says: complete selflessness, gentleness and patience.
• God is a God of peace: God is communion, is sharing and self-giving. God is a continuous, eternal outpouring of love. That is what we affirm, when we proclaim our faith in the Holy Trinity. God is one, but he is not a lonely God; being love, God is relationship and communion. We are called to that unity.
• Thanks be to God: He is the “Father of all, over all, through all and within all”.

ORDAINED TO BE A SERVANT

Lubengele has a new priest: Fr. Maximilian Kolbe Bwalya

I went to Kabwe for the ordination to the Priesthood of Maximilian Kolbe Bwalya and Brian Mbulubaya, members of the SVD (Society of the Divine Word). Maximilian is from Lubengele in Chililabombwe. As his Parish Priest, I signed his application papers. 

The ordination was a joyful day, a day of praise, thanksgiving and renewed commitment to the service of the Word of God, the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I am very happy for Lubengele Parish, which has given to the Church three of its young people as missionaries: Fr. Peter Makasa, in Nigeria; Fr. Christian Mulenga, in Rwanda and now Fr, Maximilian Kolbe Bwalya, who is going to be sent to Paraguay, in South America. They showed generosity, commitment and spirit of service. 

To become a priest is not to acquire a status and a position of power; instead, it is the acceptance of Jesus’ call and of his mission: to be witnesses of his presence and announcers of his Good News of peace and salvation.

In the evening before the ordination, they made their profession of faith, accompanied by traditional symbols and songs that expressed the community’s acceptance of their willingness to serve and at the same time, the community’s guidance and wisdom for this attitude of service.

The candles given to them signify God’s gift and Christ’s call. He is the light of the world, and he calls us to be light of the world. After the candles, they were given an axe and a hoe, which are symbols of service, responsibility and commitment. The community considers them to be mature adults, ready to take care of themselves and able to serve the community (and the Church). 

In the past, the axe and the hoe were essential tools, found in all households. With a hoe and an axe, one clears a patch in the forest, tills the land and builds the family house. With them, one is able to provide enough food for the family, having always a surplus to share with the relatives, the guests or simply the passers by. A man who is afraid of the hoe and the axe is afraid of work, and he will be despised by all members of the community. He is not a real man! The symbolic giving of these tools inculcates a spirit of service and responsibility. As priests, they must be ready for hard work and they live among the people as servants.

LEADERS WITH HONESTY AND INTEGRITY

XVI SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: Jeremiah 23:1-6

In God’s name, Jeremiah accuses the leaders of his people of abusing their position: they oppress and commit injustices, ignoring the plight of the people and using their power and knowledge to foster their own interests. 

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” (Jer 23:1). They don’t care but about themselves.

Are today’s leaders better than the ones of Jeremiah’s time? Do they have the interests of the people at heart? Do they feel compassion for the suffering of the poor? There are so many who get rich by putting in their pockets what does not belong to them.

“Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord.” (Jer 23:2). Remember: God cannot be bought with money. He knows what we do, and there is no way of hiding from him. He is just being patient, but time will come for retribution.

All the leaders must realise that they are at the service of the people, and the people who chose them can kick them out.

The true leader must practice “honesty and integrity in the land” (Jer 23:5).

XV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: Amos 7:12-15

From shepherd to prophet

Amos was a man from the South, from the kingdom of Judah, who went up to the North and started proclaiming the word of God in the kingdom of Israel. With courage, like all the true prophets, he denounced the prevalent idolatry and the breaking of the covenant with God,  accusing the leaders of oppressing the poor and of making a mockery of justice. In his boldness, he went to the point of announcing the death of the king and the deportation of the population into exile (Am 7:11). His preaching was seen by the religious and political leaders as part of a plot against the king, and so he was accused of treason. The priests of the royal sanctuary in Bethel decided to take action, accusing him of being a false prophet and sending him back to his own country, the land of Judah.

Amos was not intimidated by that. He was well aware of the task entrusted to him by God. On his own, he was just “a shepherd, and looked after sycamores”. His ministry was not carried out of his own initiative, but God himself had called and sent him. His word was God’s word and his message a true message, pointing out the evil ways of a whole nation and calling it to repentance. He had nothing to lose, and so he could be bold enough to denounce the crimes of those in power.

XIV SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: Ezekiel 2:2-5 and Mark 6:1-6

A set of rebels

In Ezekiel, God calls the people of Israel “a set of rebels”, who have been in continuous revolt against God: They “have turned against me”. This revolt is more than a simple rejection. We may live ignoring God, and treating him as if we have nothing to do with him. A revolt implies a conscious effort to get rid of him and to take his place, and that in spite of the covenant established with God. In their unfaithfulness, they broke the covenant.

They took offence at him

In the Gospel, we find a similar attitude in the residents of Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown: “And they took offence at him” (Mk 6:4), in such a way that Jesus was surprised at their unbelief. For them, Jesus was only “the carpenter”; and so they ignored and despised him.

This attitude of rejection and revolt goes on. We can find it in our society, not only among unbelievers, but also among those who should know better and who profess themselves to be followers of Jesus Christ. And that is what is painful.

A prophetic voice questions and challenges

To the rebels – to ourselves – God sends prophets (like Ezekiel). The prophet will go through the painful experience of rejection, which may cause one to question himself, as some prophets did. The rejection will cause disappointment and discouragement; and some may even abandon completely the mission entrusted to them. But a prophet must speak the words of the Lord, whether they hear or refuse to hear, so that they may know that a prophet is among them (Ezk 2:5).

The prophet is a voice among the people to question and challenge, a voice that denounces and accuses; and mainly it is a voice that proclaims God’s love and mercy, and calls people back to God. He is a witness to God’s presence and action which come out of his love.

XIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: Wisdom 1:13-15,2:23-24

A deep desire for eternal life

Nobody wants to die, and we do everything possible to delay death. We know that we are mortals and that sooner or later we will depart from this life and this world. However, we want to live and to live forever. In our hearts, there is a deep desire for eternal life. And death, coming to destroy that light and that hope, is seen as an enemy.

Who to blame for death

What is interesting is that, in the Bible, God is not blamed for death. This Sunday’s first reading says it very clearly: “Because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living” (Wisdom 1:13). In the second story of creation (Gen 2:9), we are told that in the midst of the garden of Eden there two trees: the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. While man was forbidden to eat from the tree of knowledge, he was not forbidden to eat from the tree life, because God is the God of life and he wants people to live. But we cannot have life outside God, who is the source of life.

Already in Genesis, we are led to guess that death came about because of the envy of the devil.  And the book of Wisdom states it openly: “But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are allied with him experience it.” (Wisdom 2:24)

It is interesting that, according to traditional thinking (like among the Bemba and the Kaonde peoples), God is not blamed for the death of someone. There is no natural death, and so death is always caused by someone – an enemy; and that enemy is a fellow human being, mainly a relative or a neighbour. Death is brought about by the jealousy, the envy and the hatred of someone who is close enough to harm you. Surely, following this way of thinking, many innocent people are falsely accused. However, God is never blamed for someone’s death.

In a way, the first death – the death of the body – is just a passage to other life. We fear the pain and the loss, but we can wait for it with hope. The second death, which comes with a rejection of God and an exclusion from the communion of love with God, that is the one to fear.

Psalm 138:1-3,13-15

This is a wonderful psalm, the psalm to be sung in the mass of St. John the Baptist.

We are a wonder, and we must praise God for creating us so wonderful.

I thank you for the wonder of my being.

O Lord, you search me and you know me,

  you know my resting and my rising,

  you discern my purpose from afar.

You mark when I walk or lie down,

  all my ways lie open to you.

I thank you for the wonder of my being.

For it was you who created my being,

  knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I thank you for the wonder of my being,

  for the wonders of all your creation.

I thank you for the wonder of my being.

Already you knew my soul,

  my body held no secret from you

when I was being fashioned in secret

  and moulded in the depths of the earth.

I thank you for the wonder of my being.