Throughout the history of Christianity, it has been a practiced ideal to make room for the stranger until that stranger is not only a friend but, indeed, a member of the family. Apostle Peter had an apparition that God does not discriminate but loves Jews and Gentiles who love and who are in awe of Him. As he was directed in the apparition, Peter went to Caesarea to the house of Cornelius the Centurion.
Cornelius was a devout, God-fearing, and generous man. Peter addressed Cornelius and the crowd of his family, relatives, and friends gathered at his house. To begin with, he reminded them what they already knew: that it was not proper for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or to have dealings with him. However, this would cease to be as the message he had for them from God made clear: “that no one should call any man unclean or impure.” He explained to them that God is impartial, that people everywhere who fear God and are upright are acceptable to Him through Jesus Christ.
As Peter was still speaking to them, the Holy Spirit descended upon every-one listening and they began speaking in tongues. Witnessing that, Apostle Peter had Cornelius and all the people baptized with water. For God granted life-giving repentance even to the Gentiles, hitherto referred to as unbelievers or pagans. In keeping with this development, the Church was established in Antioch, in modern-day Turkey (formerly in ancient Syria), where the disciples were called “Christians” for the first time. Christ, obviously, is the eponym of the name “Christian.” As Pope Paul VI remarked, the Church reminds and admonishes us as Christians to be conscious of our state, consistent, faithful, and strong. Precisely, the Church tells Christians to be Christians who do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God.
Recall that Moses was standing before the burning bush when God told him: “…remove the sandals from your feet, for the place you stand is holy ground” (Exodus 3: 5). I couldn’t agree more with Fr. Blessed Ambang Njume that “God is holy and His presence is holy, because wherever He is, His holiness sanctifies the place.” Muslims, for this reason, wash their feet, arms, and face for purification before prayer and remove their shoes before entering the Mosque, a holy house of God, in obeisance to God (Allah). “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst” (Matthew 18: 20), in prayer and church. God’s presence sanctifies the Church as a holy place.
As a Catholic, decades of observation of behaviors of people at church services in Nigeria and the United States provided the impetus for me to ask why people go to church in God’s own holy abode on Sunday. On Sunday we touch the holy water, usually in the lobby, and do the sign of the cross to cleanse and purify ourselves before entering the Chapel. Why is the holy water there and why do we do that? According to Fr. Njume, “We sign ourselves with that holy water, as it were, to cleanse ourselves, to purge ourselves of all the bad things we would have seen, we would have talked, we would have heard, the bad places we would have entered.” How then do we behave while in the pews with others in God’s holy presence? Does going to church on Sunday feel like an obligation, the same obligation we have to mow our lawn to get it over with? Some seem to be making a fashion statement being scantily cladded in God’s holy presence. Some sit close to their friends in church only to reminisce about recent experiences that absolutely has nothing to do with the liturgy. Some are engrossed in playing with their cell phones, watching or doing something that distracts them from the ongoing mass service. Sometimes we avoid a particular pew because a person who looks different is sitting there. Some of us in standing positions put our hands in our pockets instead of showing reverence to God. We let our minds wander, looking pensive, starring into space and day-dreaming. Getting out of that trance occurs just in time to realize it’s the end of mass.
Once out after church service, what do we do when we see someone who, by all indications, is hungry or poor? Instead of looking down on them and regarding them as lazy, instead of asking them if they want to eat or need money, do we offer them food or money and let them preserve whatever is left of their dignity to accept or decline? For “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25: 40).
Just so we know, anyone who claims to love God while holding hands with the devil, is a liar. As we depart from church, do we bear Jesus in our hearts and let Him influence us and how we treat our neighbors, the people we meet at grocery stores, gas pumps, restaurants, department stores, farmers markets, gymnasiums, in the community, and beyond? Sometimes we forget that Jesus exists and resume business as usual to hate, cheat, deceive, gossip, disdain, hurt, belittle, humiliate, slander, malign, sabotage, undermine, and betray. Most of us seem to be nominal Christians who only remember Jesus when we find ourselves in trouble. In fact, some of us Christians are so unlike Jesus Christ that a Hindu, Mohandas Gandhi, remarked thus: “I love Christ, but I despise Christians because they do not live as Christ lived.”
I am a member of a Catholic Meditation platform where members share daily mass and homily by Fr. Blessed Ambang Njume of the Diocese of Kumba, Cameroon in West Africa. One thing that has become clear to me about our current epoch of mendacity, alternative facts, and hyperbole is that the truth has become allergic to many, and those who speak it are often vilified and impugned. But I have also learned that people will misinterpret you and what you do; they might even call you names. Whatever they say, do not be perturbed or deterred by being misunderstood, disparaged, or ignored; know that the only people who are never misunderstood are those who never stand for anything. Being afraid of being misunderstood can only lead to mediocrity. I am cognizant that failure to speak out against and oppose evil is failure to obey God. As has been said before me, every day is an opportunity to get better; don’t waste it. Let’s make use of every opportunity to be good, and decline every offer to be bad. A stitch in time saves nine. Lest I forget, in God’s judgment there’s no appeal.
Anthony Akubue, St. Cloud, MN, USA.
