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MISUNDERSTANDING
DISCIPLESHIP
In a few weeks time, we will be celebrating the
great feast of Easter. And in most
of our churches in Zambia,
we will be receiving new people into the “Family of God,” our church,
through the Sacrament of Baptism. These
people will become disciples of Jesus.
But what it means to be a disciple of Jesus isn’t
always clear. It is something we
always need to learn much more about. On
this Third Sunday of Lent, we are helped very much by the scripture readings to
understand true discipleship.
The first reading from the Book of Exodus presents us with
a story of God’s saving acts through Moses. The Israelites question their
liberation from Egypt
because now they are suffering very much in the desert. They are thirsty and
hungry -- where is this promised liberation?
They complained to Moses: It
was better to stay in Egypt
under the oppression of Pharaoh -- at least we could eat and drink!
They simply could not understand what it meant to be a faithful follower
of God. They complained about their
hardships.
In the second reading, St.
Paul shows that our
idea of God is often not God. Naturally people think we can merit the love of
God with its graces by portraying ourselves as “good people in the society”.
But here comes Jesus who chooses to die for us not because we are “saints”
and we deserve that love, but simply because he loves us and in our sinful
condition he sacrifices his life for us. Is
this not a great surprise and disappointment to most of us who are
self-confessed “morally up-right” people in the society?
The Gospel of John by its nature is easy to misunderstand
and today’s passage is certainly very challenging.
The Samaritans receive the Good News not through the “Twelve
Disciples” but through a Samaritan woman! This is indeed shocking! A number of
things are fascinating in the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman.
First of all, she is a woman, and in the Jewish culture and indeed in most of
our Zambian cultures, it is unexpected that the Messiah would choose a woman to
fulfill his mission. But secondly, she is not only a woman, she is also a
Samaritan! Ordinarily, Jews would not mix with the unclean race of Samaria. Yet here is
Jesus, a very proper Jew, asking for a drink from a Samaritan woman.
This is indeed a scandal to all the Jews and even more to the chosen
“Twelve”! Thirdly, the way this encounter takes place shows that the person
Jesus chooses to share Good News with others is not only a woman, not only a
Samaritan, but also a sinner! This is a woman of bad reputation, having lived
with several husbands. Yet, she is
the one Jesus chooses.
What does this encounter teach us good Christians during
this Lenten season? Let us reflect
on the attitudes we have of some people, especially women, in our communities,
working places, cultures and Churches. Do we think that anything good can come
through the least people we expect? Do we accept a newly baptised woman to be
the leader of the Church council? A
newly repentant man to be communion minister?
A person coming to our Church from a Protestant
Church
to lead a small Christian community? Do
we sometimes reject the burial of a fellow Catholic on very strict and strained
reasons (e.g., not paying mtulo, not having marriage blessed?)
This story of the Samaritan woman raises another point for
us to consider this Lent. She
misunderstands the “water” that Jesus has to offer.
The disciples misunderstand the “food” that Jesus says he already
has. During Lent we are encouraged
to “fast” – but do we misunderstand what that might mean in Zambia
where most people are already fasting? With
almost 80% living below the poverty line, most Zambians regularly fast, having
only one meal a day!
So what would it mean to speak of “fasting” not just in
terms of food but also of other things? Fasting
from angry words, fasting from revenge, fasting from unfaithfulness, fasting
from tribalism, fasting from envy? Could
we also fast from our tendency to ignore the orphans, the widows, the street
children, the elderly? This might
mean putting our Lenten spirit into politics, as we would push for better
economic programmes by our government, better policy priorities from our
politicians, even debt cancellation from our international creditors (like the
IMF and World Bank).
When we meet this week in our
small Christian communities, let’s ask ourselves questions like this:
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What do we understand by true discipleship? What
would have been our reaction if we were in the shoes of the Disciples or the
Samaritans and we saw Jesus choosing the woman?
- Does
our culture help us to know what God wants of us or does it just blind us?
Why is it that a lot of work in our Churches is done by women?
- How
do we accept in our Churches and our small Christian communities people who
are very different from us?
Let us pray for the open mindedness of our hearts so that
we could become good disciples and bring the good news to others.
SKETCH.
Let us have people arguing on the true discipleship. One
group that is open to accept any serious person who comes to the Church and
another group that pays particular attention to issues of Mtulo cards, and
marital issues, when assigning tasks in the parish. The point must be made that
God is after the inner convection and not outer practices.
COMMUNITY PRAYERS.
- God,
help us to accept your message even in things that seem unfamiliar or
outside our own culture, so that we might be able to receive you in this
Lent. Lord, hear our prayer.
- God,
give us the courage, heart and eyes of a Samaritan woman of being a disciple
to our fellow peers and close associates.
Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear our prayer.
- God,
help us to make right all our priorities in life. Give us the grace to
choose the water of life. Let us pray to the Lord: Lord, hear our prayer.
[Jesuit
Centre for Theological Reflection, P.O. Box 37774, 10101 Lusaka, Zambia]
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