PURITY OF LIFE: A LIVING SACRIFICE!
MBAISE: WHO WE ARE
A REFLECTION ON UCHECHI’S SELF-DONATION
(15)
LIFE AND ORDER
PURITY OF LIFE:
A LIVING SACRIFICE!
In most Religions of the world, the idea of Sacrifice is at its center.
Even in Jewish Religion, Judaism, from which Christianity emerged; Sacrifice
was at its focal point. Thus, so many ritualistic sacrifices were observed in
the worship of Yahweh in the Old Testament. In the entire sacrificial code for
the Israelites worship of Yahweh in the Temple, there were mentioned several
forms of Sacrifices- holocaust sacrifices (This entails burnt offerings in which
the victim was completely burnt up.), Communion Sacrifices (Here the victim's
body and blood was shared, God's own part was burnt up on the Altar while the
priest received his part in eating some in order to establish a bond between
God and the people.) and sacrifices for reparation which were expiatory sacrifices
(Lev.1-7).
From the Old Testament practices of offering God ritual sacrifices we are introduced
into the New Testament practice of spiritual sacrifices. Thus the Catechism
of the Catholic Church writes “Outward Sacrifices to be genuine, must
be the expression of spiritual sacrifices:”The sacrifice acceptable to
God is a broken spirit [Ps.51:17]. The prophets of the Old Covenant denounced
sacrifices that were not from the heart or not coupled with love of neighbour
[Amos 5:21-25]. Jesus recalls the words of the prophet Hosea: “I desire
mercy, and not sacrifice”[Mt.9:13]. The only perfect sacrifice is the
one that Christ offered on the cross as a total offering to the Father's love
and for our salvation [Heb.9:13-14]. By uniting ourselves with his sacrifice
we can make our lives a living sacrifice to God” (CCC.2100). Hence in
our Lord Jesus Christ, we encounter a presentation of a new form of sacrifice
in a new Temple that is totally spiritual. In the first place, Our Lord Jesus
Christ reveals himself as the new Temple when He said:” 'Destroy this
Temple, and in three days I will raise it up' [St. John the evangelist explained]…
But he was speaking of the Temple that was his body, and when Jesus rose from
the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed
the Scripture and what he had said” (Jn.2:19, 21-22). From here, we understand
that our Lord Jesus Christ prepares and presents his risen body as the focus
of worship to the Father, in spirit and truth, the new shrine of divine presence
(Jn.1:14) and indeed the ne spiritual Temple. Little wonder, Christ told the
Samaritan woman, and tells us: “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming
when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You worship what you do not know; for salvation comes from the Jews. But the
hour is coming- indeed is already here- when true worshipers will worship the
Father in spirit and truth: that is the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.
God is spirit and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth”.
(Jn.4:21-24).
Interestingly, Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple of his body has offered the one perfect sacrifice that saves us, thus, abolishing the old form of sacrifices. This is what the Letter to the Hebrews recapitulates thus: “ Bulls' blood and goats' blood are incapable of taking away sins, and that is why he said, on coming into the world; You wanted no sacrifice or cereal offering ,but you gave me a body. You took no pleasure in burnt offering or sacrifice for sin then I said, Here I am, I am coming,' in the scroll of the book it is written of me, to do your will, God”. He says first, You did not want what the law lays down as the things to be offered, that is; the sacrifices, the cereal offerings, the burnt offerings and the sacrifices for sin and you took no pleasure in them; and then he says: Here I am ! I am coming to do your will. He is abolishing the first form to establish the second. And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ made once and for all. Every priest stands at his duty every day, offering over and over again the same sacrifices which are quite incapable of taking away sins. He on the other hand, has offered one single sacrifice for sins, and then taken his seat for ever at the right hand of God, where he is now waiting till his enemies are made his footstool. By virtue of that one single offering, he has achieved the eternal perfection of all who are sanctified “(Hebs.10:4-14). The book of Revelation says it all: “I could not see any temple in the City since the Lord God almighty and the Lamb were themselves the temple” (Rev.21:22).
From Our Lord Jesus Christ whose body is the Church today and
whose members we are, the Church, the Christian community, becomes the new Temple
of God and we, also, as members of Christ's body are the temple of God called
to imitate God in offering ourselves as living sacrifices. Through the Holy
Spirit we received in our lives, through baptism and the Holy Eucharist, through
which our souls and bodies are nourished, we are made living temples of God.
We are called then to act like Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church
hence exhorts us further:” As a result, communion with Jesus has become
, a way , more intense: By communicating his spirit, Christ mystically constitutes
as his body those brothers of his body who are called together from every nation
“. The comparison of the Church with the body casts light on the intimate
bond between Christ and His Church .Not only is she gathered around him; she
is united in him, in his body. Three aspects of the Church as the Body of Christ
are to be more specifically noted; the unity of all her members with each other
as a result of their union with Christ, Christ as Head of the Body ; and the
Church as Bride of Christ.(CCC.788-789). Sacred Scripture bear enormous witness
on how we are invited to worship God in Spirit and truth in ourselves as living
Temples of God. We are called to make of ourselves, through the lives we live
and our activities, living sacrifices for God in the temples of our bodies.
St Paul tells us:”Do you not realize that your bodies are members of Christ's
body; do you think one can take parts of Christ's body and join them to the
body of a prostitute? Out of the question! Or do you not realize that anyone
who attaches himself to a prostitute is one body with her, since the two as
it is said, become one flesh. But anyone who attaches himself to the Lord is
one Spirit with him”. In this intimate configuration which St Paul illustrates
challenges every Christian to keep intact and pure that ontological and earlier
union we have made with the Lord in our Baptism, consolidated and empowered
the more to bear fruit in our confirmation, and nourished to be alive through
the Eucharist we receive.
Can There Be Division Within The House Of God?
“If really our little faith can convince us that, all of us created on
earth by God are His children, it means that we must hold him on the same faith”.
If our Christian faith tasks us to the injunctions and revelation of the virginal
conception of Christ in Matthew 1:18-23, it means, we should re-think of the
division in Christian (Christian fold) in the world.
The faith holds us firm as we proclaim the visit of the magi.
In chapter 3 of the same gospel, we are told about the baptism and “son
of God” which holds all Christians on the same boat built by Christ. The
starting of His Ministry was the formation of the apostles as a family (Matthew
10:1-5). Christ over-ruled by commanding them and their successors that “any
one that listens to them, listens to him, any one how rejects them, rejects
him (Lk10:16). He went further to confere a permanent power of teaching on he
chair of St. Peter as the He said, - “John art Peter, and upon this rock,
I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,
and I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; and whatsoever they
shall build on earth, it shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever that
shall lose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven (Mt16:18-1)
Jesus knows how weak the world is and so, he promised to send the holy spirit
(Jn 16 :-13)
That will strengthen the Christians in their faith certainly, god is spirit, but the word was made flesh (Jn 1: 14) the source of his flesh (human nature) was the blessed virgin Mary. Jesus Christ himself knows the principal of the only way to reach our heavenly father which made him ministry. (this is to fulfill the purpose of God for human salvation.” in the fullness of time, God sent his son to be an atoning Sacrifice for the sins of the world (1Jn 4:10) in accepting the challenge, Christ himself said “you wanted no sacrifice or cereal offering, but you gave me a body, you took no pleasure in burnt offering, or sacrifice of sin, then I said, here I am coming, in the scroll of the book, it is written of me to do your will o God (Heb 10:56)
By this statement, Christ has abolished the whole existing way of worship in the first and established the everlasting covenant with the sacrifice of his own body and blood to the eternal father as a perpetual sacrifice (Jer 13:31,) N. 11:31, DN 12: 11, Mt 26:26-28, Mt 11:22-25, Lk 22:19-20, 1 cor v: 23 -26.). “ if Jesus himself would say this, those who believe in him as Xian should bund themselves together not minding any observations.” Human beings should not allow their little intelligence given to them by God to deceive them in using it to challenge God and after his plans. This is seen in the formation of churches in the name of Christians. This is contrary to the wish of God.
The aim of these people is not necessary to promote and propagate the gospel, rather to make profit financially; otherwise, they would have come with their ideals and knowledge as contributions to the loud-down guide Jesus gave his apostles.
Pope Lao xiii observed in his (encyclical letter, “satis
congritum ) thathrist disowns any other church that violets his injunctions
of regarding his guidance as “heresy” he noted the cause to be pride
and lukewarm it is observed that the coming of the wicked ones will be marked
by Satan being at work in all kind of counterfeit miracles and signs and wonders
(Rev 3: 16) (11 these.2: 9-2) it is observed that the wicked spirit is being
poured to people by the antichrist (the world Pentecostal )
-how can the people who have rejected the articles of faith defined by the apostles
(apostles creed ) still chain to be followers of Christ whereas the bible said
that our faith was built upon the foundation laid by the apostles (Eph. 2: 20)
Theologically, we can see the church to be apostolic in the sense that God liberated the Israelites of old from Egypt and the covenants made them, choosen people of God. He asked Moses to summon his brother Aaron and his sons to be priest in his service. (Ex 28:1) the anointment of God to this chosen can be traced to the one of Aaron and his sons (28:43). It must be noted that the call to priest. Hook belongs to God alone on those he has desired. “No one takes this honour on himself. It needs a call from God as in Aaron's case (Heb 5:4) when this is done, the spiritual life will flow among the members and brotherly life will take over people's plans as Psalm 133 testify.
A lot of distractions people put to themselves make the deviate from the way God wants Him to be worshiped. The unity he set out has been abandoned and differences continue to rule people through their thoughts. It is better for a child to emulate his father than to oppose him. This crates invisibility of things. And this is the problem that is existing in the house of God which exposes the so answered members to differences in faith.
These problems enhances the creation of fundamentalism. There is no way man can change God or His ways, “no matter how and what”. “What is expected is for man to know himself and control his senses. To know the existence of the Anti-Christ and their mission on earth-ie to destabilize the unity Christ harded over to the apostles. Personal reflection on people's activities can only solve this. To subdue what one is, demands a lot and it is only through personal encounter with God that will solve this. The devil is clever and intelligent and therefore he pulls people ups and down with the worldly desires.
One hidden fact that eludes people is that at the end of our
mission on earth, we will give account of our stead warship on earth when everything
will e exposed. Therefore our activities should be morritoved by self. God is
transparent and he aspects mourn to know that, our knowledge of Him is a key
to know His demands which are revealed in the ten commandments and beatitudes
(Ex 20, Matth 5:1-10).
After-all Jesus who is God-Himself knows the important of humanity which those
demands. He further explained it more to the Pharisees when they demanded the
greatest (Matth 32:34-40). Just to compound the value of unity as children of
one father (Christians) the apostles who saw Jesus in person did not divide,
united they gathered and had all things in common.(acts 2:43-4?, 4:32-35) the
apostles had many different gift yet they united and lived a common life. If
those who gather in the name of Christian should join their gifts of knowledge
together and reason as one body, more progress will be made- off the apostle
worked as a team except Judas that betrayed the lust given to him (Matthew 26:14-16,26.47-56)
whenever one is aiming to kick out, having a second thought is very necessary.
It is very easy humanly to fall- into the trap of the human weakness.
-The church which is the house of God, has supreme identity which cannot be
ever looked
“ The lord Jesus, after praying to the father and calling to Himself those who would continue the job asked them to be lose thee and preached the word if salvation to the end of the world. (Mk 3;13-19, Mt 10;1-42) .
By Rev. Fr. David Asonye Ihenacho
Box 140, Nkwogwu P.O.Aboh-Mbase LGA, Imo State, Nigeria
0803-731-6411
Davidihenacho@hotmail.com
[Reactions to this essay are welcome. Send your reactions through any of the channels listed above. Include your full name, address and telephone number, please]
It is for this reason that we believe that it is possible to trace the autochthonous inhabitants of Amumara and most other communities in Mbaise. The mark of identity of Amumara people like their counterparts in Ahiara was in fact the Ofo-stick symbol. According to Ezengwa Isiguzo and Ujoatuonu Ugbaja, ancient Amumara elders gathered the Ofo-sticks in a lock-box after their weekly ritual at the shrine called Ugwu-na-Ala. Using a biblical typology, the Ofo-sticks in a lock-box was a little bit like a primitive ark of the covenant. The truth is the Ofo-sticks represented the consent and covenant of the people at different levels of interactions. To invoke the “Ofo” was tantamount to invoking the collective spirit to arbitrate in a situation of dispute or confusion.
Until the arrival of colonialism with its subsequent seizure of political power from the local people, the early community that served as the ancestors of the present Amumara, like its counterparts in Ezinihitte, was ruled by two arms of government - the village elders armed with the Ofo stick symbol and the police force provided by the Okonko group. The arm that is most relevant for the establishment of the origin of early Amumara people is the Ofo-stick-wielding village elders. These represented the villages in the comity of all other villages of Amumara. While every kindred in a village had its collective fate and destiny tied together in its Ofo-na-Ogu stick, whose custody was kept by the oldest of the kindred, the entire village had the collective fate and destiny of every kindred and every individual of the village tied together in its Ofo symbol which was represented in the Ofo-stick. This was kept custody of by the oldest among the elders of the kindreds of the entire village. This was how the fate and destiny of all the people, kindred and villages in Amumara were united and ensured. “Ofo-na-Ogu” stick symbol whether on the kindred or village level was a kind of a collective pact or covenant symbolizing a common fate and destiny. It was meant to regulate relationships between individuals, kindred, villages, etc.
There were twelve villages in Amumara and therefore twelve
Ofo-sticks representing the autochthonous villages of the community. Every Eke
Market day, the Ofo-stick holders of each village would converge at the shrine
of Ugwu-na-Ala to perform their ritual which was in fact both a return to the
origin of the community and a re-uniting of the fate and destiny of every village
with the others. It was kind of a communal pact through which mutual co-existence
and respect for people, their right and property among the villages and individuals
of the community were fostered and maintained. Ugwu-na-Ala was the premier place
of gathering of the Ofo-stick holders as well as the name of the deity that
supervised the collective Ofo-stick symbols. This deity was male. He was the
archetypal deity of Amumara community. The other deity of Amumara, Ifenanimeke
was a female or a goddess. She is said to have come late into Amumara community.
The story of her origin in Amumara is partially contained in the legend of the
arrival of the seasonable lake in Amumara called “Okahia” that hosted
her shrine until recently.
Non-autochthonous Deities: Ifeanimeke of Amumara
According to a legend which Mazi Ezengwa Isiguzo re-told to me in May 2010, ancient Amumara people did not always have the seasonal lake they have today called Okahia. Eventually the goddess of the lake, Ifeanimeke, decided to come and settle in Amumara. On her arrival, she met somebody carrying a calabash or pot of water and requested to be given a cup of it to drink. The carrier of the calabash of water readily obliged her and gave her a cup of the water which she drank. Going a little further the goddess, Ifeanimeke, met a palm wine taper carrying a jar of wine to the market. She requested to be given a cup of the wine to drink. But the man refused saying that he was taking the wine to the market to sell and buy some foodstuff.
Eventually the goddess came and settled in Amumara at a place called Okahia. And because she was treated kindly by the woman carrying water, she gave the people of Amumara the lake for them to get their regular drinking water. But in retaliation for the cup of wine she was denied, the goddess, Ifeanimeke, planted so many raffia palms at Okahia and forbade anybody to tap wine from it to drink. According to Mazi Ezengwa Isiguzo, until a few decades ago [40s, 50s and 60s], the place of the seasonal lake at Okahia was filled with wild raffia palms which nobody could tap for wine. A legend has it that some Amumara people who ventured to tap some of the raffia palms got blood instead of wine.
This is of course a legend that attempts to explain two strange phenomena, namely, a body of water that comes and goes according to different seasons and a “plantation” of wild raffia palms that do not produce wine. And such is usually the role of a legend. It normally makes available to a modern researcher the mindset of ancient people; how they handled difficult cases and what they did when they came face to face with a phenomenon whose origin and nature they could not explain. In ancient or pre-Mbaise period the process people undertook to try to comprehend a strange phenomenon was first to visit or consult an oracle or a fortune teller. The vision, prediction or pronouncement of the diviner would generate a legend which would eventually play a very important role in the history of the community.
The goddess, Ifeanimeke, had her animal totem as “enwe” or monkeys. And that is why some Amumara people do not eat monkey meat because monkeys are believed to be the daughters and offspring of their goddess, Ifeanimeke. Also the goddess was said to have had a daughter called “Ifeanim” who, according to legend, got married to a deity in Ife Ezinihitte. A saying attributed to Ifeanim of Ife which my father, Mazi Iheadiacho Onuohaegbulem, continued to repeat to us until his death was that Ifeanim of Ife told her mother, Ifeanimeke of Amumara: “Were nke gi mere odo mana nke m wu ahia”- “give your own away for free but mine is for sale.” The legend of Ifeanim is very important for both Ife and Amumara communities. For Ife community, it might be at the basis of the community's obscure name. It is possible that the name “Ife” ultimately derived from the goddess, “Ifeanim.”
The goddess, Ifeanimeke, though not autochthonous, exerted the greatest influence in the history of ancient Amumara people. It easily outclassed the ancient and autochthonous deity of Amumara, Ugwu-na-Ala, and took over as the spirit to be feared and respected in Amumara and all over the surrounding communities. Ifeanim was said to have wreaked havoc all over the place. Her priests were all slaves [Osu Ifeanim]. The Osu Ifeanim were always on call all over Igbo land. In Ngwa land in particular, the goddess, Ifeanim, was said to have shown her might in most spectacular ways causing all sorts of troubles as well as protecting Amumara indigenes as they traveled all over the place.
This was the main reason why Amumara indigenes always served as escorts to people traveling to Ngwaland especially the people that were labeled as Isoma [Isuama]. This was because their citizenship of Amumara procured them immunity from harassments by Ngwa natives. It was said that if anybody touched any Amumara indigene the goddess Ifeanim would go after the one and deal with him or her and family mercilessly. The Osu Ifeanim were always traveling to Ngwa land to placate the wrath of the goddess who always found favorable targets in the land because of their mistreatment of Amumara people.
According to many elders of Amumara from the 80s to 2010, the early Amumara elders had a policy of not allowing Osu Ifeanimeke to procreate and have offspring. They killed all their children at birth. This was to prevent them from spreading in Amumara. However, this policy would be visited with serious repercussion at the arrival of colonialism. According to Iheadiacho Onuohaegbulem and Ezengwa Isiguzo, when the British arrived at the beginning of the 20th century and got wind of the news that Amumara elders were killing the offspring of the Osu Ifeanim, they rounded many of them up and imprisoned them at Owerri maximum prison where many of them would eventually die. Autochthonous Amumara and its deity
Despite the prowess of the goddess, Ifeanimeke, “Ugwu na Ala” was the deity at the foundation of Amumara community. It was the deity of the autochthonous Amumara people. And the very first known place Ugwu-na-Ala had its shrine and market was at a place called “Okporo” [Ama] in Ubahi. In ancient time, the shrine of Ugwu-na-Ala at Okporo was about the last stop before one would leave Ubahi and Amumara and head towards Oboama community. The place is still called Eke Ochie till today by the elders of Ubahi village. The big “Apu” [cotton] tree symbolizing and serving as a landmark of the old shrine and market was only cut down in the 80s when Chief Emmanuel I.P. Kanu of Ekco Engineering Ltd fame and his brothers started to build their family home in their land beside the former Ugwu-na-Ala shrine at Eke Ochie [Old Eke Market as it was called by elders of Ubahi village till today].
All elders of Ubahi village from the 70s to May 11, 2010 when
I interviewed Joseph Ezengwa Isiguzo and Thomas Ujoatuonu Ugbaja unanimously
confirm that the original shrine and market of all Amumara people was at Eke
Ugwu-na-Ala that was formerly located at “Okporo” [way] in Ubahi.
It was there that the twelve Ofo-stick wielding representatives of the twelve
villages of Amumara used to meet every Eke Market Day. The road leading to and
across the shrine was called “Okporo” because in ancient time, it
was the major highway for pilgrims to visit Ihu Chileke at Orie-Ukwu Oboama
na Umunama.
However, some time in the pre-Ezinihitte period, the market and the shrine,
“Eke-Ugwu-na-Ala” at “Eke Ochie” had to be relocated
to another place. According to many elders from Ubahi, Eke-Ugwu-na-Ala and its
shrine had to be moved because of incessant wars between Amumara and Oboama
communities. At the last war that decided the fate of the shrine with its market,
Oboama warriors successfully burned the Ikoro [symbol of unity] that was strategically
planted at the market square. As a result, the elders of Amumara decided to
move the market inland to its current location which is also in the heart of
Ubahi village in order to provide the Ikoro and all other important cultural
symbols more security.
All the elders of Ubahi whom I interviewed in the course of my trying to understand the history of Amumara community testified that Ubahi elders of old served consistently as the chief priests of Ugwu-na-ala shrine. The ritual of the priests of Eke Ugwu-na-Ala consisted in their bringing out of their Ofo-na-Ogu symbols, placing them side by side, killing a fowl victim and pouring the blood on the Ofo-sticks after which they mouthed invocations over them. All this marked a kind of renewal of the community which amounted to a re-enactment of the peace, unity and brotherhood among the interacting villages. When this was finished, the Ofo-stick symbols were collected back and stored in a common lockbox.
What this analysis tends to suggest is that Ubahi village which
in ancient time provided the priests and served as the permanent custodian of
the collective Ofo-sticks of all Amumara villages as well as the keeper of the
Ugwu-na-Ala shrine, the custodian of Eke-Ugwu-na-Ala market, is in fact the
undisputable autochthonous village in Amumara. Any authentic history of the
origins of Amumara that refuses to go through the anthropological evidence available
in Ubahi village would be terribly illegitimate and fictitious. As we noted
earlier, the Ofo-stick symbol seems to be the number-one indicator of autochthony
in the Mbaise territory.
Supporting the claim of some Amumara elders that the name, “Amumara”,
both in spelling and pronunciation, is a recent coinage, which kind of corrupted
the former name of the town which could have been “Ama-e-mee-a-mara”
or “Ama-Ómárá, [either which is in line with the
wisdom tradition of the town], is the fact that the autochthonous Amumara is
older than the current channel of the Imo River, and therefore, Amumara could
not have gotten her name from any activity on the river. It is both a geographical
and historical fact that the course of the former Imo River passed through parts
of Ihitte, Oboama and Umunama into Chokoneze and Oko-Ovoro areas. The dried-up
valley which was the former course of the river is there today for everybody
to see.
However, at a particular point in the recent history of “Ehi-la-ihite” people, Imo River suffered what is called in elementary geography, a river-heading. This is a situation where a river or stream changes course abruptly and charts a new channel for itself leaving behind a dried-up valley that was its former course.
This seems exactly what had happened to our dear Imo River within the last five hundred years. The river suddenly abandoned its former course that ran through Ihitte and Oboama and Umunama and cut deeper into the eastern side of the territory. This change of course appeared to have happened quite suddenly thereby catching the people of the period by surprise. In response to what had happened, the “Ohuhu na Avuvu” people of the time came up with many legends which are still with us today. One of the legends that might have become popular around the time the beheading occurred was that the goddess of Imo River got married to her husband, the Ojii Stream, a male, and moved over to his place to live with him. This legend was an attempt to explain the fact that the new course taken by the Imo River was along an ancient black stream called Ojii which predated the Imo River in the area. Seeing that Imo River was now running side by side with Ojii stream, ancient people interpreted the closeness as a legendary marriage between the two bodies of water. The bigger and lighter Imo River was the wife while the more slander and darker stream [Ojii] was described as the husband.
The remnant body of water left behind when Imo River changed its course also gave rise to another legend. The elders of Ubahi village whom I interviewed both in the 80s and as recently as May 2010 recounted to me a legend that claims that Imo River first came to Ubahi when it was seeking to create a channel for itself. Mazi Joseph Ezengwa Isiguzo claims that his father, who was called Isiguzo, told him that the Imo River now flowing in a course between Ngwa land and Ezinihitte first came to Ubahi village in a place called Nda Ogwugwu [sacred forest of the deity Ogwugwu] and remained there for a while. The elders at that time inquired what it would take to make the river stay. And for it to say, the river demanded to be given two things, namely, “nwa ocha” [white child] and “nwa ojii” [black child].
The elders of Ubahi village searched all known places and diviners of the period in order to ascertain the meaning of the riddle. They could not decipher what the river meant by a “white child” and a “black child”. As the people could not meet the demand of the river, it left and went to the people on the other side of the town, the present Egbere Miri people and posed the same riddle to them. But the people promptly guessed what the riddle was all about and what the river was demanding. They immediately gave to the river “an egg” [akwa] for white child [nwa ocha] and a smelly black ant [a?ahie] for black child [nwa ojii]. With Egbere Miri people meeting the demands of the river, it decided to stay with them and chart her new channel across their territory. This legend tried to explain to the local people of the time the strange incidence of a body of water left behind after the beheading had occurred. The water had lingered for a while before it completely dried up, while a new body of water resurfaced at a new course outside its usual channel.
The story of Amumara origins helps in no small way in to illuminate
the origins of many other communities of the old Ehi-la-ihite area. It appears
that the communities of the old “Ohuhu na Avuvu” did not have a
common progenitor at all. Unlike what some modern amateurish or revisionist
historians would say, there was never a progenitor called “Ohuhu na Avuvu”
or “Ehi-la-ihite.” Rather the area of the present Ezinihitte was
made up of communities whose original ancestors traced their origins to the
original worshippers of Chileke Oha of Orie-Ukwu Oboama na Umunama. Some of
those communities lost their ancestral names in preference for the names of
the portions of land they were said to have inherited from Chileke Oha. Such
could have been the case for Oboama and Umunama. But others such as Amumara
have their ancestral names buried in the corrupted forms they exist today. It
seems fair to conclude that the progenitors of the communities of “Ohuhu
na Avuvu” were autochthonous worshippers of Chileke Oha of Orie-Ukwu.
A
REFLECTION ON UCHECHI’S SELF-DONATION (15)
Uchechi's Desire For The Possession Of The “Ultimate
Good” And Our Own Forms Of Desiring 13
The Virgin as Holy
In the writings of the fathers of the Church, the virgin is designated with the title of 'the incorruptible, that is one freed from the burdens of impurity and the stains of incorruption. This will then mean that the virgin is holy, for the unsoiled by the sins of the heart, nor those of the flesh. St. Augustine writes that virgins are inviolate in the heart and undefiled in the body' (De Virginitate) This brings the virgin to the status of the divine, for only God is holy.
Only God is to be seen as incorruptible, and as such only God
is holy, 'qadosh.' This holiness of God with which the term 'uncorrupted' as
appears in the writings of the fathers, tend to describe the virgin, is absolutely
peculiar only to God.
By this holiness of God what is wished to be said is the emphasis that God is
the 'otherness of God,' which makes him almost inaccessible. 'The holiness of
God is the inacessible centre of his eternal mystery.' (CCC. N. 2809) Thus because
He is holy, God is inaccessible, 'he who dwells in an inacessible light.' Because
He is inaccessible, and the Holy one, God is 'the totally Other,' 'the mysterium
tremendum' etc. Even the root word for holiness 'qdsh' originally expresses
the idea of separatiion and, by extension that of transcendence. Thus the continual
echo of this in the Scriptures: 'Your redemptor is the Holy One of Israel' (Is.
41:14; 43:14;47:4;48:17), '...your God I am holy' (Lev. 19:2; 20:7) or in the
concept of the sanctifier-God (Lev. 22:32), in the confessions of Moses who
took of his sandals and veils his face in the presence of God's holy splendour
(Ex. 3:5-6) and before God's thrice holy and glorious presence which caused
Isaiah to shout: 'woe is me! I am lost..for i am a man of unclean lips and my
eyes have seen the Lord Almighty' (65:5) and in Peter's confessions of unworthiness
before his holy presence, 'Depart from me, for i am a sinful man, O Lord.' (Lk.5:8)These
can only incite a transcendent reference to God as though he took a flight from
'this worldliness.' But this only means to say that God is radically opposed
to man, to sinfulness, to evil inclinations, to decay, to corruption, to violation
and the estraging motions of wicked passions etc.
Yet this apparently 'far-removed character of God as holy, is wished by him of his creatures. This is evident in some portions: 'Be holy as your heavenly father is holy' (Lev. 22:32; Mtt. 5:48), in his wish to make us completly his, 'perfect and holy' in the prayer of Paul that your spirit, life and body be kept blameless for the coming of our Lord jesus Christ' (1 Thess 5:23), in his benedictions of those who are pure in the heart(Mtt. 5:8) which is actually the whole treatise of the entire Scriptures. In a way too like God, it is a call to a radical flight into the desert of God's holiness, and immitation of he who is the Holy one of Israel.
But only in Sacred virginity is this celestial call realiseable. Only virginity, and no other, makes the transcendent holinesss of God immanent, concrete, visible, perceptible in the flesh, that is only virginity is capable of causing to rupture the chasm of transcendence between God and man, by making man like unto God. For only this virtue and counsel in life is designated the title of incorruption, that is of holiness. Thus the Church is designated as holy because she is a virgin and Uchechi recives this fervent acknowledgment of the title of holiness of incorruptiion from popular sentiments. The Church is a virgin because she guards her fith, scruplously preserving its riches and deposits, striving to remain untainted. So she guards her virginity in the purity of her faith. In this wise, the Churchh receives the blessed title of holiness. What the Church guards in the faith, Uchechi does passionately in the fles. We hear an echo of this in St. Augustine 'Whereas the whole Church itself is a virgin expoused unto one husband Christ, as the Apostle says, of how great honour, are its members worthy, who guard this even in the faith? (St. Augustine De Virginitate) Thus we meet a double purity for a little Uchechi who strove to preserve the purity of her faith by preserving the purity of her body. In her what is at the same time said separately for the Church and the virgin comes into a harmonious resolution: 'virgin in the faith' and virgin in the flesh.'
Thus by making transcendent glory of God and his inaccessible light of holiness present in her soul and body and furthermore perceptible in the hearts and consciousness of us all who read these composed lines, or by making the Holy tangible in human terms, by merging the incomprehensible diference of God into our modes of thought and imposing them on the senses, making the invisible power of God visible in human terms, Uchechi embodies for us this model of the Holy One. This qualifies her for a dignity which can only be humanly 'compared' with those qualities meant to be specifically God's. Thus in a bit, she now shares those qualities by participation. She belongs to a grade reckoned for the Angels for as St. Augustine wrote: 'But virginal chastity and freedom through pious continence from all sexual intercourse is the portion of Angels, and a practise , in corruptible flesh, of perpetual incorruption.' ( De Virginitate, n. 12) 'Heaven has no place for chastity of married life' for all in heaven are incorruptible. What Uchechi has become, an inmate of heaven or a celestial candidate, is what the incarnation of Christ which he chose through a virginal track and state, wished to divulge as secret: 'that purity is the only complete indication of the presence of God, and that no one can in reality secure this for himself, unless he has altogether estranged himself from the passion of the flesh' (Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity) Thus virginity has allowed Uchechi, the rare dignified state of holiness, for she has in reality become a little god, gaining by virginity the glorious splendour which the passion of the fall has washed away. Her virginal state has become wings for her desires to rise to the abode of God, to heavenly things; it has become that which binds her to a transcendent God.
From here appears a difficult impasse in the declaration which
our write up has made, to exhume the precious beauty of virginity. This then
appears as the greatest problematique in this direction, of the unworthiness
of the writer, to articulate such a sublime mystery of holiness, to describe
such impact of God's grace in a few chosen ones, with a peculiar specificity
in the life of the virgin Uchechi, to make immanent a transcendent and heavenly
reality in worldly words of laudation. This brings with it the pain of either
saying less, that is of depreciating the said magnitude of virginity as a divine
intervention in the life of the few who ardently desire it, or the superfluity
of using more words to express a reality, an experience of God's gratuity and
benevolence by the virgin because the writer himself finds a chasm separating
himself from this said reality of incorruption, holiness, a life without blemish.
The virgin is holy whereas he may not be. How could one then write what he has
not lived or become since the titles of the 'uncorrupted' and the 'holy' which
he is presumably not, are used for the virgin? Whether we say too little or
too much, virginity remains precious as silver and gold and what is said of
these do not make them less of what they are. It has to be noted that those
who use many words in order to extol virginity run a risk of being defeated
in their pursuits, and in this wise the composer of these lines might be running
a risk. This is the view of Gregory of Nyssa,'Many who write lengthy laudations
in detailed treatises, with the view of adding something to the wonders of this
grace, unconsciously defeat, in my opinion, their own end, the fullsome manner
in which they amplify their subject brings its credit into suspicion. Nature's
greatness have their own way of striking with admiration; they do not need the
pleading of words: the sky, for instance, or the sun, or any other wonder of
the universe. In the business of this lower world, words certainly act as a
basement, and the skill of praise does impact a look of magnificence; so much
so that mankind are apt to suspect as the result of mere art the wonder produced
by panegyric. So the one sufficient way of praising virginity will be to show
that that virtue is above praise, and to evince our admiration of it by our
lives rather than by our words' (Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity)
REV. NNAEMEKA DOMINIC EKWEARIRI
LIFE AND ORDER
Rev. Fr. Samuel Uzoukwu
(C.K.C. Alvan Chaplaincy, Owerri)
ARTISANS OF PEACE
ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI (3)
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where
there is doubt, faith, where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness,
light and where there is sadness, joy.” St. Francis of Assisi
During the 2002 meeting of various world religions leaders,
the late great pontiff, Pope John Paul II, said: “We are meeting at Assisi,
where everything speaks of a singular prophet of peace known as Francis. He
is loved not only by Christians, but by many other believers and by people who,
though far removed from religion, identify with his ideals of justice, reconciliation
and peace.” By this remark, the Pope is no doubt inviting all who admire
the good works of Francis to also follow the latter's footsteps.
“It is no wonder that in the yearning of humanity to promote a culture
of peace in this third millennium, St. Francis of Assisi has a special appeal
to people of many religions. He teaches them how to join hands to prepare for
a more peaceful world. Such a message, seriously believed in and authentically
lived, cannot but attracts the attention of Christian mystics, Buddhist ascetics,
Muslim Sufis, and Hindu gurus. It is no surprise that this medieval saint is
of such relevance today in encouraging interreligious initiatives for peace.”
(Francis Arinze, Religions for Peace, p.123).
Hardly can mankind resist the charm and fragrance of the authentic peace memory
of St. Francis, a man without the walls. And “for sure, the best contribution
towards this memory is to implement his principles in such a way as to make
humans happy and ensure their future against wars and bloodshed” (Dr.
Kamel Al-Sharif, “St. Francis of Assisi, Friend of Muslims”, in
Towards a Culture of Dialogue, pp.55-56)
St. Francis' actions illustrate that hatred can be conquered
only with compassion. His loving acceptance of those who were hatefully rejected
was his way of rejecting the world of dominion, fear, arrogance and death. We
need to emulate him so dearly to reject today the world of totalitarianism,
terrorism, kidnapping, misery, assassination and hunger in which we live; we
need to unleash the power he exemplified: the power of nonviolence, in order
to subdue the trends of militarism, violence and war that have characterized
both the 20th and the 21st centuries.
Francis strove to correct abuses by holding up ideals. This is true of his sincere
love for evangelical poverty, in an age of rigid capitalism. We need to look
up to such ideal in this era marked by much materialism, consumerism, excessive
thirst for power and wealth, which often incite hatred for God and for fellow
men and women. This is also true of his profound sense of the sacred and humility,
which informed his great reverence for the priesthood. Such ideal is imperative
in this era of anticlericalism, clero-phobia, secularism and godlessness.
His gift of sympathy for nature, which made him to be at peace with all created
things, calling them his brothers or sisters, finding in them some reflection
of the Divine perfection and admiring in them the beauty, power, wisdom, and
goodness of their creator, is greatly needed in the promotion of ecological
ethics (eco-morality), especially in this era of environmental pollution, ecological
hazards and aesthetic insensitivity. His is a call towards spiritual environmentalism
based on the recognition that between man and things pulsates the challenge
of ecological solidarity rather than the demand of mere domination.
In his pursuit of evangelical perfection, Francis showed clearly that we can
live free from worldly cares provided we trust entirely in Divine Providence.
(cf. J.F. Angalia et al, St. Francis of Assisi, p.125). “We all have to
fight against the lusts of the flesh. Many people also desire material wealth
and dream of money, but St. Francis teaches every one of us, whatever our social
condition may be, to fight against “the lust of the eyes”, which
is full of deceit and vanity. The wealth of Christian life does not consist
in money and all its cares and demands. To some extent it is necessary for our
very existence, but we must not lose our hearts to it.” (John XXIII, “Meditation
on St. Francis of Assisi”)
In his lifetime, this wise and holy man of Assisi bridged the chasm between
the aristocrats and the common people, between the rich and the poor. He taught
the rich how to serve the poor. We learn from him that “when providence
has enabled a man to possess more than sufficient for his needs, he is inviting
him to redistribute his wealth to help the poor, and to contribute to the great
works in aid of human brotherhood.” (Ibid.) His life, as John Paul II
remarked, has also taught all men and women about this wealth in poverty and
this giving in abundance.” (Homily on St. Francis of Assisi, 3 Dec. 1982,
n.4).
As a model in inter-faith relations, St. Francis' idea of religious diversity
as opportunity for dialogue and mutual respect; and, especially, his fraternal
attitude to Muslims, can inspire stronger and better interreligious relations
between Christianity and Islam, both of which are not only among the Abrahamic
religions but also mission-oriented.
In him, a saint of universal brotherhood, our world is drawn to one who remains
a major spiritual figure and a symbol of peace, love, forgiveness and religious
tolerance; one in whose heart all believers and peoples, especially the less
fortunate find refuge. In him, we continue to hear a pressing invitation to
spread peace and to “use peace”.
Above all, “Francis' practice of prayer invites everyone to discern God's
initiative, presence and action in every authentic struggle for peace, reconciliation,
and solidarity within the human family . . . Prayer is the primary source for
God's peace, justice and forgiveness, precisely because it makes the heart open
to God's presence. Yet prayer also opens the heart to the presence and needs
of the world. Francis' prayer did not allow him to escape the world; rather,
it compelled him to embrace and engage it.” (J.M. Hammond, Ibid.) With
St. Francis, the Seraphic father, the most watchful guardian of peace and concord,
we pray.
“Divine master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life”.
St. Francis, Patron of Peacemakers, Pray for us.
…..To be continued.