Useless Gift

I've just come back from Zanaki Parish, our mother parish, from which Kiabakari, Butiama and Nyamuswa parishes were born (the old Mama - Zanaki Parish giving birth to three new parishes in the spread of a few years in the nineties). The parish priest is on vacation, so I give a helping hand once a month there, and there is another priest from Musoma helping also once a month. The remaining two Sundays each month are covered by a resident catechist. It is so tough to get substitution in our diocese in times of long holidays. We do try our best to secure services for every Sunday while away, but it is not always possible. There are still very few priests in this diocese and things if improving, they improve in a snail's pace... New priests are being ordained every year, but others are dying or getting sick or simply finishing their service and going back home...

There is one thought I wanted to share with the communities I celebrated Holy Masses with today - here in Kiabakari the first Mass at 7 am , then in Zanaki at 9 am, then in Chief Ihunyo Girl's Secondary School in Busegwe at 11 am.

The keyword for today's readings was humility. But not humility in modern world understanding. Rather in God's understanding as presented in the Holy Scriptures. Being humble means to look at myself in the whole naked truth, discovering who I am, to whom I belong, who brought me to this world, who equipped me with my soul, mind and body, who gifted me with numerous charisms and talents. Humility is all about acknowledging and enjoying my place in the world. Humility is all about acknowledging my strengths and shortcomings and understanding that I am dependent on God and other people in my life. Humility is putting on proper perspective, like putting right size shoes, not too big and not too small...

Humility enables me to know my true value and to comprehend that in order to grow and show gratitude to God who made me who I am, I have to accept the truth that I am gifted person, but I need others' gifts to be perfect. When God created man, He created a man and a woman - together they become a perfect human being... joining together and sharing what's unique in each person. That is why God said that it was not good for a man to live alone... I need others to make my gifts alive, to share them with others and benefit from others' gifts to come to perfection...

And yet our families, communities, parishes, neighborhoods resemble locked storerooms full with unwrapped gifts. If I am selfish and living on my own, hiding my gifts and not sharing them with others for my own growth and for the glory of God and the genuine profit of the community I serve, I am nothing else but an unwrapped gift. This gift may be huge, wrapped in beautiful gift paper, decorated with shiny ribbon... But it is just a useless gift... I may spend my entire life sitting on the shelf of the storeroom,  idle and refusing to share and enrich others with my content... I may look pleasant, interesting, famous, but I am useless...

What good in  a heat of the day is a bottle of pure water on top shelf I cannot reach? What good is a marvelous cake behind a closed glass cupboard I cannot taste? What good is a selfish Christian who claims that his faith is his own private business and he or she knows only Jesus, but his followers, especially those in need? What good is a parochial community made of useless gifts, unwrapped, sitting idle?

And if we take under consideration that some of our gifts come only with certain stages of our lives (gifts unique to our childhood, youth, adult age or when we are old and retired), contrary to permanent gifts that stay with us always in the whole life, we should be worried as we will be asked at the end to present the balance spreadsheet to the Lord who gifted us with all this wealth of charismas and talents in us...

So, off with ribbons, off with wrappers! Open up to God, to yourself and to others. Give and you will be given, share and your own gifts will grow and mature 'at work', be humble to make space in you for others' gifts...

Nobody is perfect except Our Lord and His Mother... I need you and you need me. Together we can  achieve much more, together we can change the world. Together we may become perfect human beings, as intended by God since the beginning of times...