FROM BABEL TO A NEW PENTECOST

FROM BABEL TO A NEW PENTECOST

Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua

 

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and rekindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. OhGod, who instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, Grant that by the same Spirit, that we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation, Through Christ, our Lord. Amen! As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Pentecost, we pray for a renewal of the human person and the recreation of the earth that has been desecrated and polluted by human blood. Once upon a time, the human beings of the black race were perceived by foreign researchers as savages. Recently, the brutal words of Richard Smith, famous British Guitarist went viral on social media. Whether this is true or false, the current happenings in some countries of Africa callfor deeper reflection. We could even ask if Africans are really “poisoning themselves with everything that is edible?”Richard Smith says that Africans do not protect themselveslike civilized nations do. Is this true of the modern Africans?Is it true that Africans do not use their intellectual powers and that Africans will remain perpetual slaves given the way and manner they die in the desert and ocean to cross to Europe?

 

Some unfortunate Africans who are citizens in civilized and organised countries who have fallen victims to kidnapperswhen they visited their countries of origin have vowed never to visit home again. Some have willed that their corpses should never be taken to their ancestral homes. For this group of people, Africa is a jungle of human beings who have lost their humanity in the way and manner they prey on their victims. These diaspora victims have somewhere else to hide from the African kidnappers. How about those who have nowhere else to run to? The experience of Salisu Mu’azu, aKannywood Director, actor and producer, as well as the National Vice Chairman, Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) with kidnappers reveal that some of the kidnappers are young people of the ages of twenty and below. They aim to be millionaires before they could stop their criminal operations. They even dream of kidnapping the president and top government officials before they can settle for normal life. Mu’azu wondered how these young boys have access to AK-47(https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/our-captors-told-us-they-want-to-kidnap-buhari.html)

 

We call on the Holy Spirit to renew the face of the earth in Africa especially in Nigeria where the hearts, attitudes and orientation urgently calls for dramatic change. May God dramatically inspire in the citizens the courage to live normal human life. We pray that God may replace the beast in human beings with the Holy Spirit that inspires human beings to use reason and the intellectual powers that make them different from brutes. No rational human being would torture, strip naked a person, demand to rape a father, mother and daughter in an isolated forest. The victims wonder akin to civilized nations, how and why no security agents could discover the camps in the forest where organized army of kidnapersoperate for so long. They wonder if the Federal and State governments are not worried that citizens who casted their votes to put them in power are being killed and buried in the forest when they cannot afford the ransom for kidnappers. Could it be true that the savage life of killers would stop if there is employment for young graduates? Could it be that crime would be eliminated if there is functional welfare for the citizens? Come Holy Spirit and renew the hearts of our leaders and rulers.

 

Almighty God, renew the courage of the security agents to gather adequate security intelligence and situation report to discover the various camps of the terrorists and kidnappers in the jungles and forest of Africa. If human strength is not enough to deliver those who are still held captives in the various camps, intervene by yourself and prove to the victims that you have not abandoned them, oh God Almighty break through the forest to free the victims instead of allowing them to die with their corpses abandoned as food for wild animals. They are terribly shocked to hear from the kidnappers that they are working for some highly placed leaders in the society, Lord give us credible leaders who are willing to serve rather than preying on the citizens! How did Africa countries produce these savages in human form? May God renew the face of the earth! May those who have lost their humanity be renewed by the fire of the Holy Spirit! Oh, Spirit of the Living God come afresh on us and direct our minds to heavenly gifts. 

 

Babel is a symbol of human pride and vaulting ambition (Genesis 11:1-9). That the whole earth was of one language(Genesis 11:1) shows the unity in the human heart. Language here signifies common good and unity of purpose. The destiny of humanity is to journey together towards final union with God. The desire of human beings to build a tower that could reach heaven (Genesis 11:4) is the human pride to be like God. Human beings always want more of everything. The human insatiability and greed are illustrated in the narrative of the Garden of Eden when humanity was tempted to eat the forbidden fruit (Genesis 2-3). The unity in the language of human beings was negative hence God confused their language such that human beings could no longer understand themselves (Genesis 11:5-9). This situation calls for the restoration of the human person. 

 

Pentecost was a regular festival in the Old Testament. It’s a celebration of the first fruits and abundant life fifty days after the seventh Sabbath (Passover). The celebrants offer new grains, two loaves made of two tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of first fruits to God (Leviticus 23:16-17). On the Festival of Pentecost, the people hold a sacred assembly. There is no regular work on that day (Numbers 28:26). Pentecost in the Old Testament then implies labour, work and celebration of just remuneration. Pentecost teaches a person the value of labour given that sweat is sweet. Every first day of May, Nigeria celebrates workers day. This celebration would have been more meaningful if the number of unemployed persons is lower than those who are actually working. There is so much hunger in the cities and villages but this does not call for kidnapping, robbery, prostitution, ritual killing and terrorism that does not fall under the category of genuine work and labour. 

 

In Acts of the Apostles, Pentecost was celebrated fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was on the festival of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus Christ descended on the Apostles (Acts 2). The recipients of the Holy Spirit were renewed in a way and manner that Saint Paul could call them the first fruits of the Spirit who groan inwardly as they wait eagerly for their adoption to sonship, the redemption of their bodies (Romans 8:23). Those who receive the Holy Spirit become renewed creatures who would never again degenerate to the level of beasts and savages. The Holy Spirit thus purifies and unifies human life. The language that was confused in Babel is unified at Pentecost. “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them (Acts 2:4).

 

A new Pentecost should help us to build trust such that Arabic should not be perceived by some Christians as synonymous to Islam but a language that any religion can use in prayer just as there is rite of mass in Arabic. English should not be perceived as a Christian language. Copies of the Holy Qur’an are available in English. Present at the festival of Pentecost were Parthians, Medes, Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia,Judea Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, Cretans and Arabs (Acts 2:6-12). Let us pray for a new Pentecost in our nations to purify the human hearts, give us courage to live upright and make the world a better place for all human beings. May the same Holy Spirit guide our leaders and rulers to do the needful. May our leaders thinkof the common good more than their ego.

 

Rev. Fr. Cornelius Omonokhua is the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) (nirec.ng@gmail.com)

 

 

 

UNITY AND UNIFORMITY IN RELIGION

UNITY AND UNIFORMITY IN RELIGION

Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua

Our world is becoming more and more divided because of the deep division within the human heart. This intra-personal conflict could be the reason for the high rate of suicide in the modern society. The neighbour and the community around a person who is robbed of interior peace could be in serious danger with the attendant challenges of inter-personal and intra-community conflict. Some conflicts are ignited by people who have no interior peace just as most riots in schools are ignited by students who lack the capacity to pass their examinations. Some people who lack peace within them could be schizophrenic with divided personalities. What are the causes of these conflicts? According to Saint James, these conflicts come from the passions at war within a person who crave for what he does not have. This could lead to quarrel, fighting and killing (James 1:4-2). Intra-personal conflict is a human syndrome that can make any body a victim. It should not be surprising therefore if a Religious leader becomes a progenitor or agent of division that could linger for centuries. Peace builders should therefore strive to identify dividers and connectors in fostering unity and peaceful co-existence in the society,   

Jesus was fully aware of the division within the human heart that could lead to the division of the entire community of believers. He was aware that the division in the human hearts would lead to division in the Church so he prayed earnestly that the Church may be one and that through the mission of the Church the world would be united (John 17). He told his followers that the hour is coming when anyone who kills them would think that he is doing a holy duty for God (John 16:2). Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose (I Corinthians 1:10). To the Colossians, he wrote,“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace (Colossians 3, 12-15). “For just as the body is one and have many members, and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). Muslims are enjoined to be good to the neighbour who is arelative and to the neighbour who is not a relative” (Qur'an, 4:36). This shows that Islam should have great respect for the mutual rights and duties of neighbours. This is a clarion call to unity in diversity.

To promote unity, Christians from different denominations sometimes come together in the form of inter-denominational worship. Ecumenism implies that there is a rift in relationship. The Second Vatican Council proposed ecumenism as the effort towards full communion of the separated Churches for reconciliation and healing. Initially only a few Churches were separated by doctrine, history, and practice. The call by the Second Vatican Council for visible unity of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant Churches was not a call for uniformity but a call to unity in diversity (Unitatis Reintergration 13-14). This is because the different Churches may not be able to form a merger Church with the same mode and law of operation. What could not happen is for the different Churches to strive for a unity of purpose in the context of the one Mission of Christ who is the Good Shepherd (John 10:14-16).

Jesus came to give abundant life (John 10:10). Christians must ensure that no one irrespective of religion, tribe, colour, political affiliation is deprived of life. Jesus prayed that his followers may be protected. “Holy Father, protect those you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one” (John 17:11). Jesus had concern for those outside his fold. “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one” (John 17:20-21).He rebuked his disciples for stopping a non-member of the community who was performing miracles in his name (Luke 9:49). We must therefore be united like the vine and the branches. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5). 

We should not forget that every Church is unique just as every human person is unique. Every Church is unique with unique structures and organogram. Some Churches may be content with singing and sharing the word of God while others cannot survive without the word of God and the Sacraments. For instance, the liturgy especially the celebration of the Holy Eucharist is central to the Catholic Church. That the Catholic Church desires to celebrate the Holy Eucharist apart from inter-denominational fellowship and service does not mean that the Catholic Church is causing division. Even within the Catholic Church, unity does not mean uniformity. The same passages of scriptures are read in the entire Catholic world. The theme of the readings is the same but the application during the homily varies from one priest to the other. In the same Catholic Church, there exist different Religious Congregations of men and women like the Dominicans, Jesuits, Franciscans, Holy Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus, Eucharistic Heart Sisters, Immaculate Heart Sisters, Dominican Sisters, Sacred Heart Sisters, Notre Dame Sisters, etcetera with different habits to identify each congregation. Within the same Church, there are different pious societies like Legion of Mary, Sacred Heart, Charismatic Renewal, Catholic Women Organization (CWO), Catholic Men Organization (CMO), Catholic Youths Organization of Nigeria (CYON) etcetera. 

 

Some Muslims are not comfortable when you ask them the sect they belong to because they believe that just as there is only one God, Islam is one and every Muslim follows the Prophet of Islam. The unity of Islam is based on the belief in the miracle of the Holy Qur’an and the teachings of the Holy Prophet. For some Muslims, a sect that does not profess faith in One God and the teachings of the Prophet cannot be called a Muslim. The unity in diversity that Christians and Muslims seek is the faith in one God, Abraham as the father in faith and the promotion of human dignity. These are expressed in different ways. 

 

Faith is a gift from God. Many people did not choose the particular religion they practice. There are so many religions in the world but these religions are united in the belief in one God. However, their concept of God may differ in the way they relate to God. Freedom of religion is not a call to disunity and division of humanity. That we worship God in different ways must not stop us from common social actions in the form of dialogue of social engagement. We need to continue our dialogue of theological exchange, religious experience, dialogue of life, dialogue of love and dialogue of encounter to be able to understand our differences and accept our common humanity and faith in God. May God make us one in our diversity and turn our divisions to unity of purpose. 

 

Rev. Fr. Cornelius Omonokhua is the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) (nirec.ng@gmail.com)