BLOG 5: ECCLESIOLOGY, JOHN BOSCO ODONGO, CM, 11041T
Sin of Disunity and Present Day Christianity;
a Principle of Catholic Ecumenism (From
Class Lecture)
Today, there
exists disunity among Christians hence, the relevant question to ask is; could
one be right to blame it on the present day Christians? The answer is no, no
Christian of the present day can be blamed for the sin of disunity that now
exists among Christians of this time and age since all of these denominations
are just but accident of birth or history. One finds himself or herself born a
Catholic, Anglican, Pentecostal, to mention but a few. This means that when I
find myself a Catholic, I actually have no reason to boast at the expense of
the others who are not Catholics since it is all by the grace of God and not
out of Merit.
However, all
Christians are obliged to work tirelessly towards the achievement of visible
unity. We may achieve a visible unity by conversion, prayer, charity and
dialogue among the different Christian denominations. What is then required of
each Christian now? Each Christian is to work out a way of contributing their
share towards this visible unity. It follows that; Christians may have to be
genuinely converted to be Christ-like. By this, gradually disunity would
disappear since each person’s integral life would be guided by the values and
the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ especially that of love, which includes
love of God and love of neighbor. In addition, through prayerful life, each
person will be assisted in the process of conversion and equipped with the necessary
gifts that include the gift of unity in the church. The gift of unity is only
granted by God to us hence the reason for us Catholics and Protestants having
the week of Christian unity so that God can grant it to us in abundance. Only
God knows though how long we shall take to attain Real and Perfect Unity.
Charity is yet
another way of working towards visible unity.
Here we talk of Ecumenism of charity, where we create the bond of
affection with leaders and members of other Church (es).Every parish priest
ought to work out a way of ensuring that he relates well with other Christian
denominations while keeping the principle; there is real communion but imperfect.
He should try as much as possible to break the cycle of prejudices evident among
us for the betterment of the gospel of Jesus and Evangelization among peoples.
This can be done by creating healthy friendships, collaboration, and
cooperation in ministry while being clear about the reality of the real and
imperfect communion that exist among us. In a situation of grave danger like
death, a Catholic Minister can give an Anglican Christian the Eucharist or any
of the sacramentals if the Christian in question asks for it explicitly.
Ecumenical
dialogue is also another significant instrument towards achieving visible unity.
In this case, we ought to tell people about what we believe. For example, why
we pray the rosary, venerate the saints, and celebrate feasts like, the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and so on. However, we also have to allow our
listeners say what they want to say and actively listen to them and their ideas
about our faith with respect and openness as they genuinely search for the
Truth.
Therefore, if
the above is done, we may attain the visible unity that we so yearn for among
the different Christian churches and denominations. It is a high time we work
together for this visible unity among Christians even if we the present day
Christians may not be blamed for the current sin of disunity among Christians.
*****
BLOG 4:
ECCLESIOLOGY JOHN BOSCO ODONGO, CM, 11041T
The Basis for the Oneness of the Church (From class Lecture)
In the Roman
Catholic Creed there is a point in time when each of us; the Catholic
Christians, in the process of professing the faith says; “I believe in the one Church”. This point stands very vivid in our
profession of faith. However, it is worth asking a question; what makes the
church one? What really brings about this unity or communion or fellowship in
the church? In the New Testament writings, the following may be discerned for
the basis of the Oneness of the Church.
The Pauline
letters for instance, indicate that there was oneness of the Church in the New
Testament times. It is important to note that the Churches were aware from the
very beginning that they were one Church belonging to Christ, even if they were
not located in one physical location during the time of Paul. However, the
question still remains, what then underlies their oneness? Two important
conditions underlie this oneness that existed in the Church during the time of Paul.
Firstly, the Gospel which Paul proclaimed, that is, the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
the message of faith in Jesus Christ especially that, Jesus died for our sins
and rose from the dead. This message was based on the person of Jesus Christ.
It was one of the reasons that rested at the foundation of Unity or Oneness
that was in the Church by then. Another important reason to talk of is the
practice of Charity between members of the churches that existed by then. Paul
himself realized the importance of Charity for the keeping of Oneness of the
Church and he did organize the collections to help the Judean Church which was
poor by then. The intimate help given to the poor Churches was a practice of
charity which helped to keep the rich and poor churches as one people of the
One Lord, one faith, one Baptism as stressed in his letter to the Ephesians.
Paul also emphasized the Oneness of the Church in his letter to the Galatians.
For Paul, the oneness of the church could be realized and expressed in sharing
of the same faith in the same gospel message which is not to be contradicted in
any way or else accurse on the one who contradicted it ( Cf. Gal. 1:6-9;
2:1-10)
According to the
acts 2:41-45, the basis of the Oneness of the church was; one Baptism they received,
one faith, one fellowship, one Eucharist, and sharing possessions among
Christians in their own life situations. We can still learn from this as
members of the church today especially in our religious communities and
formation houses.
In Johannine
literature, the basis of the oneness of the church is Love. Our Love for God
should be seen in our love of neighbor. If we cannot love our fellow humans
whom we see physically, how then, can we relate genuinely with the God we don’t
see physically? It is food for thought.
In the Patristic
times, the Oneness of the Church was based on the One Faith, One in Sacraments,
and one in ecclesiastical governance. They kept the church in status of oneness
sometimes through the councils of bishops dealing with issues that could tear
the church apart.
Therefore, one
may conclude that the church that we now believe in is One. And this one Church
acknowledges one Lord, Confesses one faith, born of one baptism, forms only one
body, and is given life by the one spirit of Christ Jesus the Lord. Today,
members of the church ought to follow the examples laid above for Oneness to
continue existing in the present Church.
****
BLOG 3; ECCLESIOLOGY, JOHN BOSCO ODONGO, CM, 11041T,
2B
The Frontiers of the People of God According
to LG 13-17
It is important
to ask ourselves a fundamental and deliberate question; who are the people
belonging to the group we are calling; “the people of God”? And in what sense
do they belong to this very important group named; “the people of God”? To
respond to the above short questions, one has to take into consideration the
four ways through which the belonging to the people of God can be made possible.
These four ways are; full membership, imperfectly incorporated membership,
defective communion membership and the membership of all people of good will.
Let us discuss these four forms of membership;
Full membership
of the People of God. Here the members are those who possess the faith,
sacraments, juridical communion (where there exists the communion between each
Bishop and the Bishop of Rome) and the spirit of Christ. Those who possess the
above stated realities are considered full members of the people of God. They
are indeed, fully incorporated and they belong entirely to the people of God.
An example of this may be found in the Roman Catholic Church.
Imperfectly
Incorporated Membership into the people of God. This form of membership has got
people who belong to the people of God but imperfectly incorporated into the
group because they lack communion with the Bishop of Rome. Examples of this
kind of members are; the Orthodox and Oriental churches.
Defective
communion membership. There are also members of the people of God with a
defective Communion. They do belong to the people of God but lack valid
Eucharist hence their communion with the people of God is said to be defective
and a good example is the protestant communion.
All people of
Good will. This is another form of membership into the group we are calling;
the people of God. All the people of good will are said to belong to the people
of God since they are related to the people of God. They are all those people
who sincerely seek the Truth but may not believe in God. They have the tendency
to do Good. A good example of this is a
man living in Austria and sponsoring some African seminarians in their
formation to the priesthood in a Ugandan Major seminary of Ggaba, and yet he is
a non believer, he literally says he doesn’t believe in God but he believes in
helping poor humans achieve their goal in life.
Conclusively, we
may say, the frontiers of the people of God has full members, imperfectly
incorporated members, members in defective communion with the people of God,
and all people of good will. It is therefore, important to be aware of this, so
that we can always be sensitive to reading the signs of time. When we relate
with our separated brothers and sisters we know how far we should go with that
relationship bearing in mind that there is Real communion but imperfect. There
are things we can do and there are things we cannot yet do together and this
should be clear in our hearts and minds as future ministers in the vineyard of
the Lord God.
****
JOHN BOSCO ODONGO, CM., 11041T
TOPIC: THE VOCATION OF THE CHURCH IN AFRICA
(From: Tangaza Journal of Theology
and Mission, Pages; 20-23; 31-32)
The Church in Africa is called to proclamation of
Jesus Christ, his gospel ad gentes. This calls for an openness and adhesion to
a person: Jesus Christ the incarnate word, who alone posses the words of
eternal life (Cf. John 6:68).
Benedict XVI affirms that, an essential task of the
Church is to bring the message of the Gospel to the heart of African societies,
to lead people to the vision of God. The Church in Africa is called to a
commitment to Evangelization, to the Missio ad gentes, and to the new
evangelization. This is to enable African continent be increasingly be modeled
on the ever timely teaching of Christ, the true light of the world and the
Authentic salt of the earth.
With the whole Universal Church, the vocation of the
Church in Africa is to evangelize. Thus, she will make a difference not only by
carrying out developmental projects or by a political action but through the
faith lived and shared. The Church’s Mission is not political in nature but to
open the world to the religious sense by proclaiming Christ. Hence, the Church
becomes a sign and safeguard of the human person’s transcendence. She must
enable people seek the Supreme truth regarding their deepest identity and their
questions in order to get just solutions to their problems. To this extent, the
synod fathers emphasized that evangelization essentially consists in bearing
witness to Christ in the power of the spirit by one’s life, then by one’s word
in a spirit of openness and respectful dialogue with others, while holding fast
to the Gospel values. And so by accepting Jesus, Africa can receive
incomparably effective and deep healing.
Personally, I appreciate the fact that the Church in
Africa; the family of God (AM 7-9) ought to focus on proclaiming Jesus Christ
to the wounded world of tribalism, nepotism, corruption, and all sorts of
forces of evil that dehumanizes us. Emphasis should not be exclusively put on
building Church structures, parishes, residence for ministers, hospitals,
formation and support of political parties, involvement in negative ethnicity
at the expense of formation of conscience of members of society, services,
governments based on gospel values. For it is in Jesus that, individuals in
families, societies and governments will be authentic witnesses of Christ Jesus
by living out the Gospel truth everyday of their lives. The teaching of Jesus
Christ ought to permeate all aspects of Christian life in Africa and if
possible, the world at large. Moreover, an openness and respect of dialogue
will facilitate establishment and sustenance of peace, justice and
reconciliation among Christians themselves, and between Christians and non-Christian
religions that live in African society. So, we ought to treat each other fairly
with respect. To this far, it may be worthwhile considering the act and habit
of ensuring equity and equal distribution of resources in our world and Church
since we are members of one family. Each of us within the Church in Africa
individually and collectively, are being
called to live a life of witness to Jesus and the gospel values by our very way
of life in this time and age. We can do so in classrooms, homes, religious
houses, apostolic sites, small Christian Communities, markets, in vehicles when
travelling and etcetera.
We may also need to consider looking at the lives of
the saints and the glorious and holy Martyrs, some heroic Christians still
living among us in our religious houses, homes, offices and works. Their lives
actualize the message of the gospel and presents Jesus Christ fresh to us in
our own human limitations and strengths, hence evangelizing us within this time
and age. Let us give Jesus to the next person by our way of life dear brothers
and sisters
****
JOHN BOSCO ODONGO CM., 11041T
TOPIC: THE CHURCH AS GOD’S FAMILY
(From: Africa Munus 7-9)
The Synod fathers
stated that, the Church as God’s family is an expression of the Church’s nature
particularly appropriate for Africa. This image stressed; care for others,
solidarity, warmth in human relationships, acceptance, dialogue and trust.
Consequently, Christian families in Africa are called to be domestic Churches,
thereby creating awareness within the Christian communities that they belong to
one single body. This image is not only important for the Church in Africa
but for the whole Universal Church especially in the face of challenges of
those who want to banish God from our lives, a thing which would lead to death
of African continent which holds God as her very soul. The Church as the family
of God is therefore a bearer of the Good News that every human person is a
child of God. And so; her vocation is to transmit this very noble message to
all humanity by proclaiming salvation won for us by Christ by celebrating our
communion with God and by living in fraternal solidarity. However, the notion
of the family of God, the Church, is highly challenged by Africa’s painful memory
that resulted from fratricidal conflicts between ethnic groups, slave trade and
colonization which still exist but in different transformed ways. This is why
one may talk of marginalization of Africa. Nevertheless, hope is to be found in
Jesus Christ understood in African Tradition as the Good Samaritan. Clement of
Alexandria said Jesus is the only physician who took pity on us when the
princes of darkness mortally wounded us by fears, lusts, passions, pains,
deceits, and pleasures. We therefore, have many reasons for hope and gratitude
in life.
Personally, I think,
yes, the Synod fathers are most probably realistic in what they postulated
because, just as we live in our families in Africa today and probably in the
past, there were (and maybe today, there are) strong communal bond in families.
This was and still to some extent now, evident in times of sorrow and of joy,
peace and conflict, hence, in good and bad times. A family is therefore not
devoid of challenges. In fact, during challenges, like death, sickness, conflicts
and so on, people come together to find
out solution to the challenge in question as members of one family. However,
there would always be hope in the better future coming up with the blessings of
the ancestors who would have pity on us, for they are interceding for us with
the divine being in their hereafter. For this, we have reason for hope and
gratitude.
Conclusively, I find
this image of the Church as family of God very meaningful to us in Africa.
However, since Africans are human, I guess others within the human family find
this significant in their respective situations and places as well. Moreover,
life lived within the realm of Christian faith ought to be in union with God
and fellow humans hence, vertical and horizontal dimensions of relationship is
very relevant for Christian families today. Challenged by many scandals in the
Church and previous reality of resignation of our Pope from office we in Africa
and the entire Catholic Church may have to come together and support our newly elected
Holy Pontiff Francis and continue to celebrate our faith in love, communion
with God and fellow humans with good sense of; direction, humor, focus, care
for each other, fraternal correction and, to crown it all, live with hope in Jesus Christ and give thanks to him(Jesus Christ) who died for
us and for our salvation. We are also challenged as members of one family of
God to embrace the spirit of dialogue, justice, and peace and reconciliation
especially in individual hearts and collectively as members of the same family and
live as one people of God.
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