BUILDING TRUE COMMUNITY

In a few weeks, we will be celebrating Easter, a time for baptising the new members of our Catholic church.  It is a very happy moment, when many women and men, young children and new babies all become Christians and members of the Family of God, our church.  Yes, through the grace of baptism, we who are sinners become the special children of God.  We are transformed into God’s Temple in which the Holy Spirit lives, the Spirit of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit continues to sanctify us from within us so that the marks of Jesus who died for us may appear in us.  Anyone who resembles Christ is the true child of God and such a one becomes the heir of the Kingdom of God.  A person of this kind can cry out “Abba” – that means a “loving parent,” a father, a mother -- and God will indeed listen and answer appropriately (see Romans 8:15).  God will not close his heart to such a call coming from his beloved children.

We know very well that sin is the enemy of our human development.  It is like a wedge that cuts us off from each other and from the true communion with our God.  It makes us aliens to God, to one another and to ourselves.  However we should realise that from the very first moment of creation, the human person was meant to live in unity and communion with God.  Remember that God is indeed community in nature, the community of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Our scripture readings this Fourth Sunday of Lent tell us about the importance of being part of that community of God’s beloved children.  In the first reading, from the Old Testament, we heard that people who reject God’s way, people who follow the ways of the world and the ways of evil, are severely punished.  And in the Gospel reading from John, we heard that very famous statement: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son!”  God’s love, that is eternal life, comes to those who follow his ways and live in communion with God and with each other.

The Church, the messenger of the Lord, has strongly stressed the need for such a communion among God’s children and with our God.  Remember how the African Synod described our church as the “Family of God.”  We are all together as a family.  The Second Vatican Council spoke about the church as the “People of God.”  To be the “People of God” is to be a true community.

That prophetic message of the Church that we are in communion with God in Jesus Christ awakens in us the awareness that we must be open to all others since we are members of the same family.  It is in that spirit, therefore, that the issues of justice, development and peace become very real indeed.  This fact is obvious when we look at some of these issues, for example:

·         responding effectively to the needs of the poor

·         the place and role of women in our society and in our church

·         respect for the human rights of all people

·         education for our youth

·         employment opportunities for everyone

·         the care for the environment around us

·         honesty and hard work among our government officials

Here in Zambia, following the instructions of the Second Vatican Council and the African Synod, we have very strong Justice and Peace groups at both the national level and at the parish level around the country.  This is indeed a blessing, because these groups help us become more truly a community, the Family of God!

In a real community, we realise that we have to serve and correct each other.  We must listen respectfully to each other.  We have to dialogue and sacrifice ourselves for one another as our master Jesus did during his life.   This is the spirit of being, “Like father, like son and like mother, like daughter”.  The Bemba have a proverb that tells us that a creature must resemble its maker:  “Chimumbwa pala noko, pala wiso ukuwama” – creature, resemble your mother and resemble your father in beauty.    In that beauty, we open our eyes and we stick together as a true community.

We can see the effects of being a true community in the ordinary life of a village or a neighbourhood.  “Kamodzi n’kanyama, tiwiri n’banthu” is a Chewa proverb that tells us that  “Alone is a beast; when we are two, we are human beings”.  The emphasis is on social unity of human beings that brings about a spirit of peace and togetherness and harmony  among people.  The Tonga say, “Kukala amwi mbunyina”, that is to say, “To stay together is fraternity”, and so we help one another.

Let’s hear a few more nice proverbs that tell us this truth.   The Chewa say:  “Mfumu ya ndeo simanga mudzi,” which means that a chief who is always quarrelling will never build a village.  Because, again from the Chewa,  “Pa mudzi pa m’gwire, m’gwire si pakhala anthu” -- in a village of daily quarrels, human beings scatter”.  On the other hand, the Bemba say:  “Mwapoleni, akulile umushi”.  That means that, “Where people interact well, that village will grow”.

So we can all ask ourselves: what type of spirit do we have?  What type of spirit do we have in our church, our small Christian communities and lay movements, our villages and neighbourhoods, our nation and our world?   Is it the spirit of Lucifer who finds joy in confusion, quarrelling, fighting, stealing, jealousy and indulging in all sorts of immoral actions?  Or is it a spirit of Jesus, the spirit cooperation, collaboration, teamwork, unselfishness, love, generosity, building true community?

Remember that each one of us is someone who God so loved that he sent his only Son that we might have eternal life.  We are children of God.  And a child of God must resemble and emulate the beauty of Christ, the beloved Son of God.  Yes,   “Like father, like son and like mother, like daughter”! 

SKETCH

Some people gather in two small groups, representing two villages.  In one village, people are always arguing and fighting and refusing to help each other, as the headman shakes his fist and criticises everyone.  In the other village, the headwoman is very kind and the people cooperate together, helping each other to really develop.  This village continues to grow, as people leave the trouble-torn village to join it and live in harmony.

COMMUNITY PRAYERS

1. Loving God, we thank you that because of our Baptism we are your beloved daughters and sons, and we ask you to help us to truly be a community like you want us to be. Let us pray to the Lord.  Lord, hear us!

2. God our creator, teach us to work together here in Zambia to meet the needs of justice, development and peace so that we all may live more fully our human life.  Let us pray to the Lord.  Lord, hear us!

3. Jesus, our brother, help us during this Lent to cooperate in our small Christian communities so that our Church may be a witness to everyone in Zambia of hard work, honesty and love.  Let us pray to the Lord.  Lord, hear us!

[Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, P.O. Box 37774, 10101 Lusaka, Zambia]