Fr. Francis OYETUNJI

 

The situation of things in this country can be likened to that of the Israelites while in Egypt before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ours in Nigeria is more complicated anyway, because we are more or less like strangers in our fatherland, being tortured by our fellow citizens. We have in this country inter-tribal suspicion resulting to disagreement and violence.  This has aggravated to a stage in which particular set of persons in a region in the country is indirectly claiming the ownership of this country. 

Today, we have abductors, bandits and so-called religion fanatics causing unrest for the citizens generally. Hence, everyone becomes a suspect because we know not for sure who the persons beside us are. Amidst this chaos the first reading of today says that we should eventually be good to one another.  The second reading says that this can be achieved by having pure intention towards others and the gospel of today says that we should not  see ourselves as the righteous ones but to say to ourselves, “mea cupa, mea cupa, mea maxima cupa –

A song sang in Yoruba language by Beautiful Nubia becomes very useful here. It goes thus,

1. “We value material wealth over good character This paucity of good values is why our society is in trouble, Slaves to the superficial, easily deceived by what we see, And that is why we are cursed with bad leadership.

2. Behold a prodigal setting fire to the roof, And yet the people’s council keeps quiet. Where is the saviour to redeem us from this loss? We will have to lift ourselves. Dishonesty and corruption create chaos, Neglect and lack of planning destroy the community. So, who will rescue us from backwardness? We will have to save ourselves.

3. See a killer walking freely on the street in broad daylight, While the blood of the innocent cries for justice. Who will extract us from this mourning? We will have to do it ourselves. A wise soul only needs the tiny seed of a suggestion. He internalizes it and produces wholesome action. Who will free us of these chains? We will have to liberate ourselves.”

The commemoration of the advent experience invites us to do what the patriarchs and prophets did to see what we now see out of God’s grace. Having gotten the true teaching from our Lord Jesus Christ, we as parts of the body of Christ must use the teaching to heal the world by solving the present problem facing this country. We can learn from the example of Simeon, one of the patriarchs who was opportuned to see Jesus. He prepared for it and life afterwards by being a man of prayer and good deeds. We too have to ensure that we practice the two acts.

Following from the Readings for today’s liturgy we may ask, ‘Can Christians and God’s fearing people in our society today co-exist with bandits, abductors, and terrorists  like  it was said in today’s First reading concerning the weaned child playing over the hole of … ‘.  The answer is yes. We might dispute this by using our wisdom to evaluate this truth. This truth is about  the way of God, not man’s. (John 14:2).  The unfortunate thing that happen among us Christians is that we are abandoning the best weapon given to us by God Himself (Jeremiah 33:3) desiring the same weapon that the persecutors use, the one that speaks of evil (death) and not renewal, forgetting that obedience to God by the Israelites set them free from the land of the Egyptians into the Promised Land (Exodus 12); ‘We will have to save ourselves’. How many of us spent time with God in prayer especially for this country and our leaders during Corpus Christi procession? Most of us were there playing and buying snacks during the procession.

In this season of advent we are called to become like Jesus Christ just in the same way the saints did while they were on earth by being people of prayer and holy deeds. Firstly, we must allow Jesus to renew us and then like Jesus go into the whole world and proclaim the good news, starting from our respective homes, treating the present situation of things in our country with objective mindset, by trying to see the good things that our leaders are doing and pray for their success in them all. We are to also pray to God to bless our leaders with all the graces they need to know the other thing they have to achieve and the grace to do them without any hindrance. We must complement our prayers with sincere support of our leaders especially when they are doing things that will make every citizen experience the presence of God in our country. May God lead us to the truth and help us to practically embrace it and that God should touch the heart of the persecutors. Amen