Our Chapel

By -

Remove your sandals... You are standing in a Holy place... The lord says (Exodus 3:5-6)
As far as I know most of the religious seminaries and formation houses have a chapel where seminarians, sisters or other people interested do come, go and pay reverence to God. Here in Lavigerie community, we have a small chapel located a few meters from the main gate opposite the parking car yard. One will quickly note that at the main entrance there are two rooms facing one another. On the left, it is a small store where we treasure all liturgical instruments while on the right side it is a sacristy. Inside the chapel there is a beautiful Altar erected at the epicenter while on the right side there is a Tabernacle. The Tabernacle and the Altar are made out of Africa indigenous tree signifying the blessing God has endowed African land and its resources; the resources, which have potency to actualize something beautiful, like this Tabernacle. 

The same resources have actualized a beautiful statue of our Lady of Africa located on the left side of the altar. We, M.Afr. members, owe devotion to her. One will note that she is holding her Son, Jesus on her arms, presenting her to the world and we as children of Mary, she calls each one of us to present her son to all people whom we encounter in our daily lives. The triangular windows in the chapel have different colors: green, yellow and red. On a beautiful morning the rising sun overflows in our prayerful chapel with a  contemplative light reflecting God's work in creation.

A Chapel is a holy dwelling place of God, which you and I should be aware. We are called to remove the sandal of unreverence, disrespect, dishonor, undervaluing, confusion, unforgiveness, condemning, disagreement from our feet in this case from our heart. It is in this perspective that Jesus, who is our master, tells us that before we gets into the dwelling place of God, we must leave everything we have against one another and reconcile so as to be acceptable people to God (Matt 5:24). The response of God to Moses should be addressed to us today “I am the Lord your God who is speaking”... remove the sandals from your feet. Jesus himself took the house of God as a holy place and that is why he never advocated people to do what was not expected there by chasing them in the temple. It is worth noting that it is in our chapel that the species of bread and wine are made sacred in the altar (Matt 23:19). To respect the temple of God is to respect Him who dwells in it and to disrespect the dwelling place of God is to disrespect He who dwells in it, as Jesus would remind us (Matt 23). Now guided by this message of Christ; my brothers in Christ let us always remember that St Paul reminds us that one who is being instructed in the word like the way I am instructing you should share all good things with others (Gal 6:6). The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.


Muli Joseph

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE ONE AND THE ONLY POGORO CULTURE

By -
Image
It was an honour to the Tanzanians having the privilege to present and share more concerning one of the cultures in the motherland, Tanzania in the cultural evening. Happiness and joy was vivid on every members’ face in the community, some hours before the event commenced. We all enjoyed listening to our two brothers, Evodius Lihiru and Aloyce Libongi , who shared about the Pogoro Culture. Historical background and culture teachings about Pogoro People were well narrated and I can bear witness, it was fabulous . Here is a short history about the Tanzania, the country and the Pogoro culture. Tanzania is a rich country which has many natural resources like Gold, Tanzanite, Diamond, Iron Ore, and other minerals. It has also got tourist attractions such as the Norongoro Crater, Mount Kilimanjaro, Serengeti and Mikumi National Park, as well as Zanzibar Island. The natural resources enable the country to earn a lot of money to run the government programs. Tanza...
Read more

THE ITESO PEOPLE

By -
Image
Iteso is the name of the people speaking Ateso language. The man originating from the Teso land is known as ‘Etesot’ and a woman on the other hand she is known as ‘Atesot’. Background They are believed to have come from Alexandra in Egypt. They are the descendants of the Biblical Joseph, a Hebrew, who is said to have married a black Egyptian woman. She gave birth to Ateker speaking people who include: Jie, Turkana, Maasai, Karimojong and Iteso. When the Israelites left for the promised land, the black Egyptian woman left with her children towards South West where they claim to have had their promised land as promised by Abraham to Jacob his grandson; the land surrounded by the rivers. When this group reached Ethiopian highlands, they claimed it and looked at the South West, where they saw their promised land and they said ‘Ite so’ meaning, ‘we have seen’ which gave rise to the name ‘Iteso’. Areas Occupied Basing on the 1980 statistics, the tribe is the second largest i...
Read more

Brother Tobie Kizza

By -
Image
Evaristo, Collins and Yago at Tobie Kizza burial's site (Ibanda Parish)                              As a saying goes that ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ, it indeed spoke to me. It was after I had taken a step to read about Bro. Tobie Kizza, who also happened to be the first Muganda brother of the society of the Missionaries of Africa not only that but also the Patron of Tobie Kizza Team here in our community Lavigerie. Being born from the pagan background in 1872 in Burigi, this did not hinder him from achieving and discerning his call to discipleship. The man, who ate, worked, loved and lived with the famous martyrs (our fathers in faith) in the year 1886. Inspired by their lives, and their willingness to die for Christ, this gave Tobie more zeal and increased his commitment to Christ (rooted in Christ, we venture with hope). Despite the hard ships under the rule of the king, Tobie did...
Read more

The Karimojong, their Beliefs and The Supreme (Spirits and God)

By -
Introduction I will base the discussion of this essay on some of the basic aspects or features pertaining to the Karimojong tribal life, in relation to the supreme reality from which their life flows. The Karimojong are the Central Plains Nilotes who currently live in the North-eastern part of Uganda. Karamoja consists of different groups of people, which in this case I refer to as larger clans. From the northern part, are the Dodoth, Jie, Teuso (Iik), and the Labwor; in the central are the Matheniko in the same district with the Tepes who originally belong to Kalenjin group of people.  Within the same vicinity of the central are the Bokora , and Nyakwai (originally of Luo origin). In the south are the Pian (which includes Chekwii of Namalu), and the Pokot at the extreme boarder to Kenya. Nature has blessed Ngikarimojong with a semi-arid climate; it is therefore for this reason that the Karimojong do not practice agriculture in a large footing like the rest of the ...
Read more