|
ARUA DIOCESE WEBSITE>> THE CHURCH IN AFRICA
- SECOND SPECIAL ASSEMBLY OF BISHOPS - LINEAMENTA
SYNOD OF BISHOPS
SECOND SPECIAL ASSEMBLY OF AFRICAN BISHOPS
LINEAMANTA
The Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and
Peace
CHAPTER V
THE SPIRITUAL RESOURCES FOR THE PROMOTION OF RECONCILIATION,
JUSTICE AND PEACE IN AFRICA. NOS. 82 – 90
Rightly the conclusion of the previous chapter says “The
solution to this situation requires a spiritual transformation”.
To be a peacemaker, one must possess peace interiorly. Peace
in the world passes through personal conversion.
5.1 – The Basic Character
of a Christian’s Way of Life in the World
This is the fundamental vocation of every Christian in the world:
to make the Light of Christ inside shine forth into the world.
Light leads to action; it produces works, good works. Such action
calls for a full spirituality of Christian involvements in politics,
the world of work and professional life. Such spirituality has
its basis in the priestly ministry and Baptism of all faithful.
No.82.83.
5.2 – The Liturgical Life
as the Focus of Christian Spirituality
From faith in solely one God, the Trinity of Persons, a Christian
draws the conviction that all are brothers and sisters, without
distinction of race or sex, social class or culture, and that
the mystery of every human being’s identity lies in relation
to this. Jesus, who was sent as the supreme presence of the
Father’s love for the whole of humanity, expresses and
totally realizes in the Eucharist this logic of self-giving,
acceptance and listening. (84)
Christian witness is not only coherence, but also the anticipation
and realisation, in time and space, of God’s gift, transforming
the world. Therefore, the diakonia (service) which the Church
must exercise in the world is first of all a service of welcoming
and listening to the needs of all, particularly those who have
no voice to make themselves heard or no political significance
to assert themselves.
The Eucharist, on one hand, gives a believer the conviction
that he is plunged, as it were, into a universe of gratuitousness:
everything is grace, because everything is a gift of the Father
of all that is good. On the other hand, the believer is aware
that he is called by the Father to bring forth the positive
values contained in everything he has received, so as to give
witness to, and make perceptible, the goodness and gratuitousness
of the divine gifts. Eucharistic spirituality gives rise to
humanity where all are seen as brothers and sisters. The renewal
each day of the appeal of the Eucharist is not intended to bend
the divine will through the insistence of our request, but rather
to patiently open our intelligence and hearts to gradually understand
the real gift, Christ, the Fullness of Life, and to commit our
will to love and want what God loved and wanted in Christ. (84-87)
5.3 – Towards a Spirituality
of Commitment in the World
In summarising the patristic tradition, St. Thomas Aquinas states
that the sacramental character received in Baptism and Confirmation
is to be seen as a sharing in the priesthood of Jesus Christ
and the ability to offer worship. For St. Thomas, worship is
not a question of exterior ritual or structures but of leading
a truly Christian life. To bear witness based on his relationship
to Christ which, in turn, determines what is said and done.
(88)
5.3.1 – A Spirituality of Work Done Well, Deeply Grounded
in Love of God and Neighbour.
This feeling of gratitude is also expressed in a person’s
care of creation through work which is done well, ongoing, industrious
and arduous. In fact, God made the world as a thing of great
beauty for Adam, so that he could work in it and be its steward
(cf. Gn 2:15). In this way, professional work becomes a light
illuminating those around us and those whom we meet, and giving
savour and joy to those who partake of the fruits of our work.
Therefore, each Christian is called to learn his trade well
and practice it with care; the sanctification of work consists
in this. Pope Benedict reminds us:” They must be persons
moved by Christ’s love, persons whose hearts Christ has
conquered with is love, awakening within them a love of neighbour”.
(89)
5.3.2 – Christian Freedom and the Sense of Family as the
Distinctive Signs of this Spirituality
The best service the Church can offer is an adequate formation
of conscience and formation in the faith. We become Christians
only through union with other Christians in the great Communion
of Saints. No one is saved alone; Christ saves humanity as a
whole so as to make it the family of God united in his Body
and Blood”. (90).
5.4- Conclusion
In Africa today, spiritual movements and Small Christian Communities
provide a source of hope for the Church. We know that difficulties
still exist in transforming small Christian Communities into
vibrant instruments of reconciliation, justice and peace. Nevertheless
they are still tremendous signs of the presence of the Spirit
of God, Spirit of communion. They are small centres from which
the gospel emanates into the world and its realities. Africa
should be equipped to form and propagate these living communities
and spiritual movements in the whole church as a sign of its
spiritual maturity and of its attentive listening to what the
Spirit is saying to the Churches. Africa, these words are for
you today and tomorrow; You are the salt of the earth and light
of the world. In the diversity of your vocations you are workers
of reconciliation and peace, you are promoters of Justice ready
to bring forth a new Africa. Reject selfishness, sin and violation
of justice and peace, work vigorously for reconciliation with
God and brethren. The African synod has just begun.
[TOP]
|
