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REFLECTION ON LUMEN GENTIUM, DOCUMENT OF THE CHURCH.
NTENSIBE GYAVIRA 11040T
Lumen Gentium begins by
explaining the Church as a “mystery”, being a mystery, it is the visible body
of the great mystery of the incarnation of Christ, the son of God, whom the
Father sent to inaugurate the kingdom of heaven on earth, and the coming
together of individual members as one in a mystical body of Christ, the visible
representation of the great invisible goodness of God. After the work, the
Father gave to the son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was
sent to continue sanctifying the Church, thus, believers have access to the
Father through Christ in the Spirit. Christ is the head of the body, the “image
of the invisible God” in which all things come into being. Christ loved the
Church as his bride and the Church recognizes her relationship with Christ as
being modeled after a man loving his wife as his own body. Therefore, the
Church is described as “people of God”.
It also speaks of the “common priesthood” of the faithful and
distinguishes it from the ministerial priesthood. It makes it clear that, all
the faithful belong to the common priesthood, while only those consecrated by
holy orders belong to the ministerial priesthood. Within the common priesthood
of all the faithful, it spells out the reality of the universality of the
Church and the acceptance of cultural diversity and pluralism. The nature of
the hierarchical Church was also dealt with, a structure dating back to Jesus
himself who drew to himself the twelve apostles from whom one was called
forward and named as leader. It gives an explanation of how this hierarchical
nature of the Church has been transmitted through the apostles, who were
endowed by Christ with a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit coming upon them
and by the imposition of hands.
On the relationship of the
bishops to the pope, the document describes the unity between them, and also
describes the relationship between priests and bishops as “prudent co-operators
of the Episcopal college and its support and mouth piece, called to the service
of the people of God”. it also gives the ministerial duties pertaining the
office of deacons, such as administering baptism solemnly, being custodian and
distributors of the Eucharist, they may assist at and bless marriages, among
others, and also discuses the vocation
of the Laity. it also “calls to holiness”, as it states, “it is therefore quite
clear that all Christians in any state
or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the
perfection of love and by this holiness, a more human manner of life is
fostered also in earthly society. In the
document, it is also clear that, religious are deeply appreciated and respected
by the church, this comes out when it states “mother Church rejoices that she
has within herself many men and women who pursue more closely the saviors self
emptying [...]”. it continues that, Mary mother of God holds a special and
exalted place in the Church and the faithful are called upon to honor her
within the context of the true doctrine and teachings of the Church regarding
her. In addition, the document also encourages the clergy to promote Marian
devotion (devotion to Mary).
REFLECTION ON WOMEN DISCRIMINATION IN THE CHURCH.
NTENSIBE GYAVIRA 11040T
Though there are certain roles of men
and women in the church, the church has continued to overlook women and favored
men. It cannot go without mentioning that, the Church has continued to oppress
and suppress women, the church can not be absolved from the evils of inflicting
lamentable injustices on women, this has been happening through its
hierarchical structures which are predominately and essentially male. It has
also been so through some implementation of its traditions, doctrines and
various magisterial teachings.
The fathers of the Church came from
patriarchal societies that viewed women as subordinate to men. There fore in
quoting the scriptures, the fathers chose passages and texts, which confirms
their cultural views on subordination of women. They focused on verses that
provided a rationale for restricting women rather than on those, which called
for liberating women[1]. The
fathers quoted passages such as Gen 2:21 and Gen 3:1-7 to legitimize women’s
subordination.
Another aspect in which
the Church is seen discriminating women is the area of “men and women of God”
it is in matters concerning unquestionable obedience, chastity, and exaggerated
celibacy. It is to our awareness that the ordinary(Bishop) decides for the nuns
how to run their congregation, they promulgate tough conditions for the nuns,
saturated with male patronization, such women religious congregations under
such bishops sometimes receive harsh oppressive instructions to abide by under
ecclesiastical obedience. Apparently, such sisters cannot do what they would
like to do without being nice and pleasing to the bishop for approval,
censorship and ecclesial blessing.
The Church which preaches equality of
sexes before God and among people is the self same one that denies women
ordination into the ministerial priesthood, for this reason, why should women
be refused ordination to ministerial priesthood? Is it not this sacramental
oppression of women? This are the question still puzzling many, this is
because, in some Churches, women are ordained priest. Why some Churches do not
ordain them?
There is also an argument that, if
God Himself as Jesus of Nazareth could entrust Himself to Mary the woman
without male intervention, how come the Church, which is after all Christ’s
body, refuses to learn and understand women’s power and capability? Why confine
and limit women to inferior passive ecclesial roles? Can it not validly be
contended that the salvation of creation and creatures rests on women through
the woman Mary? When it comes to decision making on vital matters pertaining to
the Church, men in the hierarchy exclusively decide for women. Why should the
Church do this while emphasizing equality of men and women? We come to believe that,
the root of the failure of the Church’s recognition of women as human beings no
less than men but with equal rights and ecclesiastical roles than men appear to
be the Jewish traditions the Church inherited.
REFLECTION ON THE KINGDOM OF GOD
NTENSIBE GYAVIRA
11040T
It is clear that the kingdom of God kingdom
of God
The God of the kingdom proclaimed by Jesus is a God who
invites all to share in His life, a God who forgives, a God who urges us to
call Him “Abba, Father”. A Father who is grace, love and compassion. A Father
prodigal with His mercy and forgiveness, a God who breaks down barriers, who
wants to include all within his embrace, sinners and just, the poor and the
rich, Jews and gentiles, slaves and free. For that reason, the kingdom
proclaimed by Jesus has a profoundly universalistic tendency, a universalism
that tends to destroy the obstacles posed by hatred, enmity, exclusion. For
Jesus, the “people of God” is the “remnant” of the Pharisees or the Essenes but
are the whole people, the “twelve”. All are invited to the joyful banquet of
the kingdom. Nobody except those who themselves refuse the invitation, is
excluded from it. Jesus some times praised the response of those who were
thought to be outside the people, as for example, the centurion (Mt*:5-13) and
the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman (Mk 7:24-30). Jesus emphasizes that,
what is important is sincerity, authenticity and mercy.
****
The Role of Women in the Church
The question forcing the Church to
rethink about the roles of women examines the attitudes that ascribe
inferiority to women. Women are reflecting on their experiences in the light of
the Gospel message. All women who lived in the patriarchal systems experienced
oppression and alienation, they were excluded from decision making positions
both in the Church and in the secular world, because of that, there was need to
underline the roles of women in the Church.
Women have a role of active
participation in development plans and efforts, during the first decade of
development; most development was centered upon male roles. The discovery led
by the UN declaration of the second decade of development, which duly included
women discovered that, any initiative in development that left out women or
failed to give them an equal share and responsibility would be reduced to
underdevelopment. From that moment, women began to mobilize themselves, broke
their tradition silence and loudly voiced their denunciation of their
oppression by men and men created structures and programs
It is the role of women to form
clubs in which they can be educated on ways of improving their problem and how
to generate income within their homes. More so, through clubs, women can be
sensitized to analyze there potentials and their problems, this clubs can serve
to bring together women from different background, find out what they have in
common, consider their problems and how to solve them. Once these clubs are
formed, it is also their role to join them
In 1Timothy 2:11, 12, it is said “a
woman should learn in quietness and full submission, no woman is permitted to
teach or have authority over a man, she must be silent”. Despite the above, a more
socially appropriate role for women is a role in which women are free to speak
publicly, women may make announcements, teach, lead singing and perhaps preach
during the public assembly as long as these activities do not disrupt the
relation between men and women and do not lead women to a superior, domineering
role over men. Christians are to serve
God in the persons of the needy and are called to use their gifts for the
benefit of others, the Holy Spirit has bestowed particular gifts upon each and
every member of the Christian community, and these gifts are to be used for
others. Women being members of the Christian community have a role to serve in
any capacity in the Church and may use their Spiritual gifts in every way that
any non-elder man may serve, except that, women may not shepherd
Women are also assigned the role of
preaching the good news about the reign of God, of teaching and healing and of
prayer. This refers also to sharing life with God through Christ and with other
members of the body of Christ. Women are also assigned the role of instructing
the younger women as indicated from Paul’s letter to Titus 2:3-5. Women play a
vital role in helping the next generation of young to be godly. Women’s role in the Church is closely connected
to her unique role in the home. Women alone can give birth to children; woman’s
willing submission to her husband is most likely to call forth the best of his
care. In order for there to be the greatest amount of happiness in the home,
God has established different roles for men and women in the home; this
difference is like wise to be reflected in the church. Christ accepted women as
his followers on the same basis as men, although he appointed no woman apostle,
women were among the earliest members of the Church and an important part of
its life. They were outstanding in their abilities to extend hospitality, to
help provide for the needy and to express serving love, which is to
characterize the Church as the family of God. In God’s sight, men and women are
to accept each other as being of equal value because God respects both equally.
****
Africa Munus is an encyclical letter of Pope Benedict XVI, and is a continuation of “Ecclesia in Africa” a letter of Pope John Paul II. The document suggests that all the members of the Church in Africa are to promote peace and justice in the Church and society as well, and that reconciliation should be at the heart of Christianity. The Church should emphasize on the need for justice as a means for true and lasting peace and make it clear that even charity must be done in justice; more so, the Church should bring the message of the Gospel to the heart of African society. It should lead people to the vision of God, this message given by the Church should make those who live by it authentic witnesses so that they may become capable of being reconciled in Jesus Christ so that they may become sources of light for their brothers and sisters.
However,
despite the aim of African Munus which outlines the pastoral programme for
evangelization of Africa which includes reconciliation, justice and peace.
Justice and peace still remains critical issues to the church in Africa despite
of the Church’s effort to promote them. The Church is facing challenges in its
work of promoting justice and peace for the contemporary world is full of
problems, pains and sufferings. The world today is facing a lot of problems
although some are serious than others, there is a thinking that no body is safe
in this cruel world not even innocent babies, poverty has hit many people,
tribal conflicts are common almost every where in Africa, corruption very
rampant thus familiar to people, abortion and killings of innocents is not
history, many people in Africa are dying because they cannot get something to
eat, HIV/AIDS continue to tear Africa into pieces leaving orphans and widows.
Ignorance and stupidity being a major challenge, due to the fact that, today
one preaches the kingdom of God in the Church, the following day he goes and
molest a kid sexually or does other bad habits. People have lost the sense of
thinking and reasoning as human beings and limits peace and justice to flourish
in the church. More to that, I do believe, abortion is bad and suppose most
people agree with me, but how can the
issue of justice and peace come in when we listen to issues of women who ask
for legalizing abortion, should they be given a right to decide for themselves
what is best for them? Look at the issue of legalizing prostitution and
homosexuality, look at the issue of women ordination among other issues. How
can the Church offer justice to all these? All these issues bring troubles to
the Church in promoting peace and justice which the document advocates for in
the process of evangelization.
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