"Moni Nonse": A Belief That Transcends Differences.

I am back in Seattle now, trying to recover from jet lag, and am still downloading pictures and sorting out the contents of my suitcase. However, I did want to post here the homily I gave last Sunday at the main Mass at Namitembo.

I wanted to speak with everyone about our relationship. Any time anyone from St. Bridget comes to Namitembo, we are royally welcomed, and profusely thanked -- so much so, in fact, that I think often that those visiting are a little embarrassed! I wanted to make sure that the people of Namitembo knew how much WE appreciated THEM. This homily was written with that in mind.

I had written the homily word-for-word, for the benefit of the man translating my homily into Chichewe. I would read a couple of sentences in English and then pause for the translation. I had to let my inflection and body language speak far more expressively than my words, which were not understood until the translation came a few seconds later. It was an interesting exercise in communication. I was surprised and delighted that the community was so very attentive in following both my English words and the translation.

2nd Sunday of Easter; Namitembo, Malawi

Moni Nonse! Nonse, Muli Bwino? Ndiri Bwino, zikomo. I sincerely wish I could speak more of your language than that; please forgive me.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to visit with you, and to share a few words with you today. I am also especially thankful to Fr. Owen for allowing me to give the homily today, to speak about our scripture and apply this gospel to the circumstances of this visit. Zikomo, Owen.

Our gospel today comes from St. John’s gospel, and it is very special, one of the Resurrection stories. As you heard, it takes place as Jesus appears to his apostles on Easter Sunday evening. The apostles are very afraid, and they have locked all the doors out of fear. They have heard that the body of Jesus was no longer in the tomb, and they have heard from Mary Magdalene that she saw Jesus alive, raised from the dead. All of a sudden Jesus himself appears to them, and they are filled with wonder and rejoicing, and while they are rejoicing, Jesus gives them wonderful gifts. He offers them the gift of the Holy Spirit; he offers them the gift of forgiveness; and he offers them the gift of peace. In fact, three times, he gives this gift of peace to them.

But one of the apostles is not there – Thomas. The rest of the apostles are filled with joy and excitement, and when Thomas joins them again later, they tell him, “We have seen the Lord!” But Thomas just cannot believe it – you heard the gospel. He says “Unless I place my own fingers in the nail holes in his hands, and place my own hand in his side, then I cannot believe he is alive.” Thomas could not believe. He knew Jesus was a powerful prophet. He even saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, so that he knew Jesus even had power over death. He heard and saw the excitement from his fellow apostles when they told him Jesus was alive. But still, he could not believe.

This scripture passage is about faith – faith in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is about our belief that Jesus still lives today – that he lives in the Eucharist, that he lives in the Holy Word, and that he lives “wherever two or three are gathered” in his name. But this scripture can also teach us about other beliefs; and I would like to speak with you today about one belief in particular.

I know at first that there were people in both your community here at Namitembo, and in my community back at St. Bridget in Seattle who did not believe that our friendship could be possible. After all, we are nearly 20,000 kilometers apart. We are separated by a great ocean. And our lives – our lives are different in many ways. I know that Fr. Owen himself was not sure that this would be a good idea. He knew that this idea of friendship might just become one richer parish sending a gift of money to the poorer parish once or twice, with nothing more to the friendship. He did not want a relationship based on money, and he did not want us to start something that would fall apart after a year or two.

In Seattle there were also those who found it difficult to believe. When our pastor, Fr. Quigg, first presented this idea to our Pastoral Council over thirteen years ago, the Council did not approve the idea right away. Do you remember what they did? They insisted first on meeting someone from Namitembo, because they had so many questions, starting with the simple question of “Where is the country of Malawi?" … but then there were more important questions, such as: “Who are the people of Namitembo, and what are their lives like?”

In our gospel today, when Thomas finally meets the risen Jesus, Jesus is very gentle and loving to him. Jesus does not scold him for his lack of faith. He simply wants Thomas to believe, and so he calls on Thomas to place his fingers in the nail marks in his hands, and then his hand into Jesus’ side. Jesus obviously loved Thomas very much, and helped him to believe. And so Thomas then makes that wonderful profession of faith, saying, “My Lord and my God.” And in this same way, Jesus has helped our two communities to grow closer together, to know one another, to share in each other’s lives. He has guided us every step of the way.

Now our gospel also talks about gifts: the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the gift of forgiveness, and the gift of peace. And so that raises, for us here today, a subject that perhaps you have wondered about. Perhaps you sometimes feel that the people of Namitembo have received more gifts from this friendship of ours, than the people of St. Bridget have received. For example, yesterday we celebrated the dedication of the Namitembo Trade and Agriculture School. It is an excellent school. I can confidently say that any student who goes through this school and works hard to learn those skills will be able to find a job that will support himself and his family - or herself and her family. Education is a great gift. Education opens the doors of hope to the future. And it has been a great honor for us at St. Bridget to be your partner in helping to provide this gift for the future of your young people, for the future of your community.

But I must quickly and solemnly tell you that you have indeed given us great gifts as well. It is especially clear when I look at the lives of those from my parish who have come here to Namitembo. The other night I tried to add up the number of those visits… and I lost count, at around 65 visits! Those visits included first our pastor and our Pastoral Council president, at the very beginning of our relationship. Some of those many visits brought here people who were so touched by your lives that they became generous donors. Many of the visitors were our youth, starting in 2002 with a visit by a group of 5 young people. One of them was Colleen Mallahan, sitting over there, visiting with you now for the 3rd time. There have been at least nine visits where parents came here with their children, including Jim Mallahan, his wife and all his children, and including my own visit with my wife Joan and daughter Janice in 2004, and again a visit with my son John four years ago. And some of these visits were completely, absolutely delightful – I am thinking of Bob Leong and his wife Diane, who came here to Namitembo to be married! Were any of you there for that wedding? I saw pictures – what a joy-filled day that was!

I remember several years ago, something that Jim said to Fr. Owen after Colleen’s first trip here. Jim said, “What have you, and Namitembo, done to my daughter?!” I’m sure that either one of them would be happy to tell you his meaning. You see, every one of these visits has changed our lives deeply. We have been touched by your warmth and welcome, and by your spontaneous and generous hospitality. We have been witness to how difficult everyday life is here, and yet, how easily you are generous and joyful; and this has caused us to look into our own lives, and become more grateful to God, and more open and generous. We love that our two peoples can come from such different backgrounds and yet enjoy simple things together, like a meal, or a football [soccer] game, or singing, or worship. You make it easier for us to be drawn outside of ourselves, to become better people, and for this, we are deeply thankful to you. There is no amount of money that could repay you for what we have learned from you. I can honestly say that you have given us much more than we have given you.

And finally, I must add that you have also given so much to many, many other people who have never met you, and probably never will. At the end of the gospel Jesus says, “Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are they who have not seen, and have believed.” Those of us who have been to visit Namitembo have seen, and believe; we believe in our friendship. And we have not kept this good news to ourselves. Every time we go back to St. Bridget, we are your witnesses to our families, our friends, and our parish; we tell the stories of our visit with you. There are many others who have not seen, and yet have believed. You have made us a better parish, and our parish family is grateful for it.

God Bless you all! We pray for you whenever we worship! Zikomo!

Deacon Denny Duffell, April 11, 2010