The Catholic Leader - 22 April

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The Catholic Leader, April 22, 2018
News
By Sr Elvera Sesta
THE signs everywhere were telling us that the
Commonwealth Games 2018 were being held at
the Gold Coast.
Early in the piece, the streets and the traffic
seemed to be just like any other day.
It was only when you actually hit the “hot
spots” that you realised that something momen-
tous was afoot.
Some spectators are local; some come from
far away as the many buses parked on the
streets tell us.
The competitors are also from far and near.
Some competitors will leave on a high; others
not so jubilant.
My mind travelled back about 2000 years to
another shore.
Paul of Tarsus was a Jew, but he grew up in
a city that was dominated by the Greek culture
of his day.
To these ancient Greeks the male human
body was the ultimate in perfection.
Their many sculptures that have been left to
us from that period attest to this. Paul was a
man of his time.
What better image could he have of a per-
son’s striving for a perfect Christian life than
that of an athlete participating in these Panhel-
lenic games.
The prize for winning was not monetary, but
was a wreath of bay leaves, of pine leaves or of
wild celery.
Paul uses the imagery of his time and place.
The Olympic Games were held every four
years, the Panhellenic games every two years.
The athletes, just as they do today, had to
follow a strict regime – a disciplined diet, rigor-
ous training, self-control, concentration and
determination, if they wanted to win the wreath
of leaves.
It was a temporary prize that most probably
lasted as long as the life of the leaves in the
wreath, but self-control and determination were
needed.
Paul likens himself to the recipient of such a
prize.
When he writes to his dear friend, Timothy, he
has already endured many tribulations and trials;
he has been thrown into prison on numerous oc-
casions; he has been flogged and shipwrecked.
Truly, he can say “I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the
faith.”
Again, he writes to the community of
believers in Corinth, a seaside port. Under the
Romans, Corinth was rebuilt as a major city in
Southern Greece.
It had a large mixed population of Romans,
Greeks and Jews.
It seemed to be an ideal place for Paul to
begin his missionary work early in the piece
about 49-50 AD.
Today, there is a new Corinth and an Ancient
Corinth.
Ancient Corinth was a busy, cosmopolitan
city where ships would often dock.
It was to the people of this ancient Corinth,
where the Panhellenic games were held at nearby
Isthmia, that Paul addressed two of his letters.
Today, one can stroll through these ancient
ruins past the stoa where the ruins of different
shops are clustered, past the ruins of the temple
where Paul would have preached from the
bema, a raised platform.
There was also an arena where horse and
other races were held.
Paul is said to have lived in Corinth for about
18 months and supported himself with his trade
of tentmaking.
He worked closely with Silas and Timothy.
It was in Corinth that Paul decided that he
would preach mainly to the Gentiles and would
no longer preach to the Jews there as they did not
seem to be at all interested in his new-found cult
– Christianity, as it was later called.
Again, in a city that often participated in the
Games he uses the imagery of the arena where
both cultural and athletic activities took place.
“Do you not know that in a race the runners
all compete, but only one receives the prize?
Run in such a way that you may win it.” (1
Corinthians 9:24)
We may be situated 2000 years on from these
games but as we have seen either in person
or on our TVs, there is much that is similar
between those games and the Commonwealth
Games of today.
If we are sufficiently motivated to seize a
prize, then we must be prepared to make the
sacrifices needed to attain that prize.
But here there is a difference.
It is not by our own effort alone, that we are
able to win this race.
Faith is also a gift from God, freely given and
freely received.
As well there is more than one winner.
No one is forced to accept God.
If a person was so coerced, then we would
not have the gift of free will.
It is almost as if God were the shy giver who
waits for us to accept his gift.
Sr Elvera Sesta is a Presentation Sister
who teaches at St Rita’s College, Clayfield.
Following Christ: “It was in Corinth that Paul decided that he would preach mainly to the Gen-
tiles and would no longer preach to the Jews there as they did not seem to be at all interested
in his new-found cult – Christianity, as it was later called.”
Running the race and keeping the faith
Congo’s ‘humanitarian disaster’
unfolds as gunmen murder priest
THE latest shooting death of a Catho-
lic priest in the Congo has highlighted
the dangers in a country described
by a leading Australian aid advocate
as “one of the world’s worst human-
made humanitarian disasters”.
Fr Etienne Nsengiunya, a priest in Kitchanga,
was shot at point-blank range soon after celebrat-
ing Mass on April 8.
Vicar of the parish in Kitchanga Fr Emmanuel
Kapitula said an armed man entered the room
where Fr Nsengiunya was eating with parishioners.
“An armed man entered his house, pointed a
gun at him and shot several times, killing him
instantly,” Fr Kapitula said. “Those who were
sharing the meal ... could not believe it.”
Fr Kapitula has asked the government to pro-
tect the people.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a brutal
conflict between tribal militias and the govern-
ment armed forces has spilled over to claim
civilian lives.
A food crisis is a direct result of the armed con-
flict and corruption, and is affecting an estimated
13 million people.
Sexual violence has been widely used as a
weapon of war in the DRC, and efforts by the
Catholic aid agency, Caritas Australia have
focused on supporting thousands of women and
girls raped by the armed groups, as well as child
soldiers, and communities affected by conflict.
World Vision, Save the Children, Oxfam,
CARE, and ActionAid are urging the Australian
Government to make a strong donor commitment,
in a country the United Nations has declared as a
Level 3 emergency crisis – the highest emergency
classification – reserved for only the most urgent
crises.
“If we’re serious about addressing one of the
world’s worst human-made humanitarian disasters
then Australia must do its fair share,” World Vi-
sion Australia chief advocate Tim Costello said.
“It’s unforgivable to turn our backs on people
desperately in need of our help.
“The humanitarian consequences of the DRC
conflicts are devastating but preventable.
“Yet every year, aid agencies must plead with
governments to fund the most basic needs of
those in crisis.”
Save the Children, working in the Congo for
many years, said there had been a serious esca-
lation in humanitarian needs in the past year.
“Our health centres and malnutrition clinics
are inundated with cases, but there is a lack of
donor funding to scale up our response,” Save
the Children Australia’s director of policy and
international programs Mat Tinkler said.
“Clearly, more needs to be done to avert a
major loss of life.”
The murder of Fr Nsengiunya occurred three
days after a second priest abducted on Easter
was found unharmed.
Villagers from Bunyangula found Fr Celies-
tin Ngango blindfolded, although he appeared
otherwise unharmed.
Fr Ngango was the sixth priest abducted in
the eastern Congo since 2012 and one of the
few abductees in the region to be released.
Analysts say competition for mineral re-
sources is the key factor fuelling the violence,
but recently succession politics added to the
troubles.
Challenging what they termed as an “illegal”
third term for President Joseph Kabila and
recently moving to broker a deal between the
government and opposition parties, the Catho-
lic Church has found itself targeted.
Churches, convents and Catholic schools
have been vandalised or looted by armed
groups.
Survivor: Rachele-
Ngabausi, 2, who
was injured by
militiamen when
they attacked his
village in Tchee,
Congo, looks at
the photographer
at a camp for
displaced people
in Bunia. Civilians
in eastern Congo
have been bru-
talised by militias,
rebels and military
units.
Photo: CNS