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Christmas Message By Bishop Kukah by Sunglass20(f): 3:02pm On Dec 25, 2015 |
Our Hope Does Not Disappoint Us (Rom 5:5)
Christmas Message by Matthew Hassan KUKAH,
Bishop of Sokoto Diocese
1: A Fractured World:
Amidst so much pain, injury, war and death, what
can we say today about Christmas and its
message of Joy and Peace to a fractured world?
Everywhere we turn, blood is being spilled in the
name of God and Religion. There are no more
grey areas. We believers all seem to be at a total
loss as to how to explain the clouds of doubts
that hover over our horizon. Last year, I issued an
Easter Message titled, Do not let our enemies ask,
where is your God? We might be tempted to say
things are worse today. However, as Christians,
we are men and women of Hope and we know
God is on His throne.
2: Struggle for Power:
Today, the path to peace is still littered with so
much debris of human pain. The excesses of Boko
Haram still haunt the landscape. The Chibok girls
are still not found and we will still spend another
Christmas without any hope that their laughter
will soon return to our homes. The engine of
political change has still not gathered the steam
we had hoped for. The political calendar continues
to shift as we witness a domino effect of
overturned elections across the States. All in all,
new anxieties, new battles for power among the
elites will likely lead us to loss of more innocent
lives and blood. The contest for power continues
to take its toll and yet we continue to pray for the
stability of the ship of state. We call on our
leaders to use the power in their hands for
service.
3: Has Religion Failed Us?
Amidst so much pain, injury, war and death, what
can we say today about Religion? Some people
think that Religion has failed and others claim
that Religion is to be blamed for the woes of the
world. Neither of these positions is correct.
However, we believers cannot turn our eyes from
the fact that we must take a substantial part of
the blame for where Religion finds itself in our
society. What has gone wrong? For us as
Christians, what has become of the messages of
Jesus Christ, Our Lord and our Saviour?Where is
the Laughter, the Joy, the Peace that was
promised in the words of the different Christmas
carols we all continue to sing year in and year
out? Where is the light that Jesus brought and
entrusted to us to drive darkness from the world?
Today, more than ever, we Christians must rise
up and take full responsibility for what we have
done or not done in our societies. When we
Catholics confess our sins during the celebration
of the Holy Mass, we accept and plead with God
to forgive us our sins for; what we have done and
also what we have failed to do. Often the sins of
omission can be as serious as the ones we
commit by actions. Let us not be bystanders. We
must all commit ourselves to doing some good
today. This is why Pope Francis has asked
Christians to wake up the world.
4: Blame Government but take responsibility:
We have learnt to blame the government for
everything as an excuse for our own sins of
omission. True, we have not been the luckiest
people in the world with the quality of leadership
we have had. But that is not an excuse. How for
example is a government responsible for men
whose irresponsible lifestyles lead to their children
being sick or out of school? How is government
responsible for men who decide to marry and
bring children into the world when they have no
means of bringing them up? How is government
responsible for domestic violence? How is
government responsible for the collapse of family
values? How is government responsible for
students who decide to cheat in their
examinations? How is government responsible for
men who choose armed robbery rather than hard
work? How is government responsible for women
who decide to choose a life of prostitution?
Government can and must create conditions, but
we must all become instruments of change. If we
take our responsibilities seriously, we can compel
government to serve us better.
5: Christians, Show the Way and Be like Christ:
Like the Greeks who approached Philip, the world
is saying to Christians, We want to see Jesus
(Jn.12: 21). However, increasingly, many of us
have shielded Jesus by our arrogance, blind quest
for power and worship of new but false gods. I
am reminded of a poor man who kept coming to
Church on Sunday but each time the warders
would not let him in because he oozed some
ordour and looked unkempt. The Warders feared
that his presence could offend some of the big
shots in the Church or dirty their clothes. The
poor man got fed up with trying and, sitting in his
shack by the roadside one Sunday, he cried to
Jesus: Lord, I heard your message and have tried
to enter the Church to worship you, but the
people in the Church will not let me in. Please,
forgive me but kindly accept my prayers and
worship here on the streets where I am since I
cannot enter the Church and this is my home.
Jesus whispered to him: Sorry, my son, my fate is
not different from yours. Even I too have tried to
enter their Church, but they have refused to le me
in!
6: Religion is not for Profit:
The word of God and its living blessings are free.
Isaiah said that much when he said: Come all of
you who are thirsty, come to the water and you
who have no money, come and eat. Buy wine and
milk without money and without cost (Is 55:1). St
Paul reminded us: What is my profit? It is this:
that in preaching the word I might offer it free of
charge (1 Cor. 9:18). This is what led Jesus to
express His only visible show of anger and
violence when he whipped the moneychangers
and accused them of; turning His Father’s house
into a den of thieves (Matt. 21:13).There were
times that the Catholic Church was guilty of this
abuse known as Simony. It was one of the
reasons for Fr Martin Luther’s revolt. But, so
much has changed now. Prayer for our people is
the duty of all ordained ministers, but today, it
has become subject to abuse. The embarrassing
billions being committed to spiritual matters is an
act of outright criminality and nothing to do with
the Christian faith. This is one of the damning
betrayals of Jesus Christ.
7: The Political Economy of Christmas:
As the years have rolled by, Christmas has tended
to lose its moral compass. This is a danger and a
threat that we must address. The Chinese who do
not believe in God have made the most out of
Christmas by focusing on its economic value.
There is nothing wrong with this in principle.
However, in reality, we must return to the spirit of
what we are really celebrating. Jesus gave us a
model in the circumstances of His own birth and
life on earth.He was born into the most absolute
expression of poverty, in a dirty and smelling
stable with animals. In real life, the Lord of
Heaven and earth had no place to lay His head
(Mt 8: 20, Lk. 9:58). He ate His last supper in a
borrowed home (Lk 22; 7ff). He rode to
Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey (Mt. 21:3, Lk.
19:31, Mk. 11:3). In death, He was buried in a
borrowed tomb (Mt. 27:57). In the light of all this,
it is difficult to understand how we have come to
equate success, prosperity and blessings of God
with wealth. Had riches been the essence of the
mission of Jesus, He would have handed His
ministry to bankers and economists such as
Matthew or even Judas. Had healing been of the
greatest importance, perhaps, Luke would have
been the head of the Apostles. Rather, he chose
Peter who doubted and was rather fickle minded.
When He asked them to take the Gospel to all the
ends of the earth, He stripped them of all forms of
insurance. He warned them against relying on
prosperity by enjoining them to carry no money,
no belt, no sandals (Lk. 10:4). Money is very
good but it must not become an idol for us. Thus,
Jesus warned that we cannot worship God and
mammon (Mt. 6:2)
8: Called to be Witnesses of Jesus Christ:
At the end of His life, Jesus asked us to become
His Witnesses. This is the most important point
in our Christian life. Witnessing is doing, acting,
and behaving like Christ did. This is not easy
especially in a fraudulent world like ours. Yet, as
St. Paul says, to confront these realities, we must
be in the world but not of the world (Rom. 12:2).
Our life must be a constant struggle for higher
goals. Jesus did not ask us to become famous
healers, wonder workers, miracle hawkers,
fortunetellers, money doublers, stargazers, or
prayer warriors for the rich and the powerful. As
Christians and leaders, our thunderous prophetic
voices should warn of the fact that the mighty
could be cast down from their thrones and the
lowly exalted (Lk. 1:52). It is this true witnessing
that enabled the non-Christians of Antioch to call
the followers of Jesus, Christians (Acts 11:26).
9: This Hope does not Disappoint Us:
These are trying times for our country and they
have always been. Just when we seem to be
climbing out of the pit, something pulls us back.
The tragic incident in Zaria is an antithesis of
Christmas because Christmas should be about the
celebration of life not death. The only Change
that is urgently needed now is a clearly defined
agenda for genuine reconciliation among our
people. We do not have any other options. In
hope we must turn the corner and take the
highway. This hope does not disappoint us. God
heal our country and merry Christmas to us all. |
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