LE LEADER POLITIQUE A LA LUMIERE DE L'EVANGILE

Le candidat democrate Obama et le senateur Edward Kennedy


LE LEADER POLITIQUE A LA LUMIERE DE L'EVANGILE

(Ce texte a ete ecrit au second semestre de l'annee 2005. Je le poste pour me souvenir simplement et continuer de penser plus radicalement....).

"Si quelqu'un veut être le premier parmi vous, qu'il soit votre serviteur; et c'est ainsi que le Fils de l'homme est venu non pas pour être servi, mais pour servir et donner sa vie en rançon pour la multitude" (Mt 20, 27-28). Ces sont les paroles que Jésus adresse à ses disciples. Lui, le Roi des rois leur a montré comment diriger dans un esprit de service désintéressé. Il a nourri les foules, guéri les malades et consolé les affligés. A ses contemporains, il disait:"Je suis au milieu de vous comme celui qui sert";"Jje suis venu sur terre pour que vous ayez la vie en abondance". Par sa vie totalement donnée aux autres, il a posé les fondements d'une société de justice et d'amour. Contre toutes les théories politiques du pouvoir comme domination, il a fait du pouvoir un service.

Aujourd'hui, nous vivons une période de transition politique vers la troisième république que nous voulons être dirigée par des hommes responsables. A la lumière de l'exemple de Jésus, il est possible réfléchir sur le profil du leader à la hauteur des problèmes actuels de notre société. Quels sont les problème actuels ?

Remaniement ministériel et violence à Kanyabayonga: une crise de leader ?

Il y a quelques semaines, deux événements ont marqué l'actualité politique de notre pays: le remaniement du gouvernement de transition et la guerre dans la cité de Kanyabayonga. L'opinion se souviendra de la récente déclaration de Mgr Monsengwo, Président de la CENCO, qui constatait alors la menace de la guerre et la passivité du gouvernement face à l'imminence du danger. Il réclamait alors un gouvernement plus responsable. Aujourd'hui, nous avons un nouveau gouvernement né des arrangements de diverses composantes qui sont loin de refléter les aspirations du peuple. A l'analyse, cet événement politique interpelle notre compréhension du leadership.

Au même moment, que se passait-il dans le Nord-Kivu ? La population de Kanyabayonga, Kasando, Kayina, Kirumba continuait à subir les affres de la guerre. Dans cette tourmente, un prêtre oeuvrant dans ce milieu embrasé nous écrivait la veille de Noël (le 15.12.2004): "C'est dans la fièvre de guerre et d'humiliation, d'incertitude et de colère que les populations du diocèse de Butembo-Beni se préparent à commémorer à Noël la venue du prince de la paix dans le monde. Une paix pourtant qui semble s'éloigner de l'horizon à mesure que les populations s'éloignent de leurs maisons et terres vers un avenir de plus en plus noir et incertain". C'est le cri d'alarme d'une population sans leader, errant dans les forêts en quête de sécurité et de pain. Où sont les leaders politiques à la hauteur des défis actuels ? Telle est la question qu'elle se pose.
Les évêques congolais ont déploré la médiocrité de la classe politique congolaise. Le ministre belge des affaires étrangères leur a emboîté le pas. Et la population soupire après les élections dans l'espoir de renouveler cette classe politique congolaise. Ainsi, tout le discours à ce propos tourne autour des qualités requises pour tout gestionnaire du pouvoir dans la Troisième République. Chacun à sa façon tente de décrire le profil du politicien à venir au regard de l'incurie et de la prévarication observée.

Des mécanismes de contrôle du pouvoir

Mais ce faisant, on n'oublie vite qu'il y a un fossé entre ces critères et la réalité. N'avons-nous pas vu des discoureurs sur la démocratie qui, une fois au pouvoir, se sont transformés en autocrates redoutables ? N'avons-nous pas vu des théoriciens sur la transparence économique qui, une fois aux commandes, sont devenus des gestionnaires malhonnêtes ? Pourquoi ? Parce que probablement il manquait, dans les institutions politiques, des mécanismes appropriés pour contrôler cette gestion du pouvoir et du bien public. Ainsi, l'impunité qui y a élu domicile a transformé même les candidats élus en fossoyeurs du bien public. Par conséquent, pour en finir dans le cas de figure, le limogeage des ministres ne devra être qu'une étape d'une affaire à suivre: le justice doit poursuivre son cours. C'est un principe de l'Etat de droit auquel tous les citoyens congolais aspirent.
Ainsi, les élections ne sont pas en elles-mêmes une solution-miracle à la crise d'homme que traverse la société congolaise. Elles sont un moyen plus sûr vers une société des hommes plus responsables de la vie les uns des autres.

Partant, ce qu'il faut retenir à travers cette culture démocratique des urnes, c'est plutôt le pouvoir réel des citoyens non seulement à se choisir des dirigeants crédibles mais surtout à les contrôler régulièrement dans cette gestion du bien public et dans cette tâche de construire une société conviviale et prospère après les élections. La démocratie ne peut se réduire à un simple jeu de domino ni à une ponctuelle liturgie électorale; elle est un exercice contraignant d'accountability auquel gouvernants et gouvernés sont soumis.

La maîtrise de notre destinée nationale: quel est notre projet commun ?

Il ne faudra dont oublier cette dimension importante. Car le drame des citoyens congolais est d'abord dans la perte de leur pouvoir de diriger leur destinée nationale en tant que citoyens libres, capables de concertation et d'action à la mesure de leurs ambitions républicaines. Nous réapproprier notre destinée nationale suppose que nous sachions vraiment ce que nous voulons. Quel est notre projet national ? Quelles sont nos attentes en fonction desquelles nous pourrons évaluer l'action des hommes politiques durant la transition et au cours de la troisième république ? Sommes-nous un peuple uni et travaillant ensemble pour les mêmes objectifs ?
Car nous ne pourrons choisir les leaders qu'en fonction de ces objectifs que nous voulons réaliser. Dans ce contexte, les leaders que nous voulons ne seront pas des sauveurs de qui nous attendrions des solutions miracles à nos malheurs. Ces leaders devront être des citoyens capables de cristalliser nos énergies pour restaurer la paix et réunir nos efforts communs d'engager le pays dans la voie du développement. A la manière de Jésus, ils seront ainsi des hommes au service du peuple. Leur force ne sera pas dans les armes mais dans leurs capacités managériales de faire des Congolais un peuple libre, debout et dynamique.

Nous sommes capables de réussir par nos forces

Cette approche du leadership suppose que la population comprenne qu'elle n'est pas totalement démunie pour réaliser ses objectifs. Au contraire, elle a les ressources pour affronter les défis actuels de paix et de stabilité sociale, pour recouvrer ses droits et sa dignité. Le sens des élections ne se comprend que dans cette reconnaissance du pouvoir du peuple comme communauté politiquement organisée, du peuple comme source unique de légitimité et de légalité, du peuple comme agents autonomes de transformation sociale.
En réfléchissant sur le leadership politique, il faudra distinguer deux types de leaders: d'une part, les leaders transactionnels qui donnent à leurs électeurs les miettes de leurs fortunes pour le besoin de la campagne électorale. D'autre part, il y a les leaders transformationnels qui proposent un projet cohérent en réponse aux problèmes des citoyens et qui entraînent les électeurs à l'action au nom d'un programme à évaluer au jour le jour.

Face au silence de la communauté dite internationale, devant l'attitude ambiguë des observateurs, en réponse aux atermoiements du gouvernement, la population congolaise devra comprendre que rien n'est perdu: elle reste l'architecte de sa destinée, elle est responsable de ses choix politiques et économiques pour l'avenir. Il n' y a pas à se lamenter. Malgré toutes les lenteurs et difficultés dans la préparation de ces élections dont la tenue semble être renvoyée sine die, les citoyens congolais sont libres de se décider, avec détermination, à aller jusqu'au bout de ses aspirations vers un Etat de droit. L'Histoire montre que la liberté et le droit ont toujours été conquis au prix de sacrifices. Dans cet Etat de droit à venir, le leadership sera un service de promotion de la liberté et de la dignité humaine.

Il nous faudra juger les politiques non en fonction de ce qu'ils promettent de faire mais en fonction de ce qu'ils ont fait à long terme et de ce qu'il font aujourd'hui pour la population en terme de promotion de la liberté, du droit et de la justice. Ainsi, pour une bonne sélection par les urnes, il faudra insister sur la mémoire qui permet de se souvenir de ce que nous avons vécu et de ce que nous vivons présentement. Cette connaissance du passé lointain et immédiat permettra de juger les candidats non à partir d'un profil théorique ou à partir des promesses mirobolantes mais à partir des services rendus dans la construction d'un Etat de droit. Les Congolais pourront alors élire des hommes dont la grandeur politique se mesure par leur aptitude à servir ce peuple de qui ils détiennent le pouvoir.

Karma-Yoga

THE PRAXIS OF LIBERATION

Training for Leadership in the Seminaries

I taught some classes (Metaphysics and Cosmology) in two major seminaries: one in the eastern part (Murhesa) and another in the western part (Abbe Ngidi- Boma) of the country. I visited the major seminar of Kisangani (in the Province Orientale) and the major seminar John XXIII in Kinshasa. I had time to talk with students about many questions related to their studies and ministries in their home dioceses. Among the biggest challenges they are facing are poverty and a “ratio studiorum” to update.

In the diocese, many priests are almost needy. During the summer holidays, those who can afford it go to Europe to find some money. Others have to struggle on their own to run the parish. In the seminaries, classes resume only when the academic staff receive money from Rome (OPM). And so, Christians and their pastors live in mentality of beggary. In many dioceses and parishes, it is just an economic disaster.

Even theology can’t prepare them to be the leaders people need in these times. They are far from being agents of social transformation. They can repeat very well Thomas Aquinas’ theology but they can’t survive by their own means. The content of their formation does not make them leaders able to face the concrete situation of the people they are supposed to lead. What to do?
As we know, the Sapientia Christiana determines the profile of studies in the Catholic institutions of higher education. In the seminaries, they study the history of philosophy intensely. This information is useful since it enables the priest to understand the right orthodoxy and all the heresies over the ages. But, it is not enough. In the DRC, we are facing a great crisis of leadership. We want pastors who can bring change into lives of the people. They must know the political and economic situation and face them. They are not politicians but they are ‘elders’ in the community, and the kingly ministry places them in the position of rulers. Therefore they have to be trained to be leaders and not beggars.

For the program of courses in Congolese major seminaries, it is not enough to give some notions of accountancy, conflict management, human rights etc… Rather it is time to develop a theology of work, of human rights, of political power, a philosophy of the person and community, an ecological ethics and so on… African teachers must be as creative as their colleagues are in America and in Europe. The freedom of research, creativity and productivity must be the criteria of a sound teaching in those seminaries. Exodus requires an intellectual move. They must form priests called to be these channels of abundant life in small Christian communities.

Abundant Life in the Small Christian Communities

Immediately after my ordination, I was attending evening prayer on Thursday in a small Christian community. I was disappointed to notice how people prayed with borrowed words and ought by proxy. My first concern was to know how can we bring a social commitment to these gathering. I stated some simple truths in the way of thinking and praying. Among them there are the three following points:

-Outside of the world, there is no salvation

We have been trained in a Platonic dualism: where salvation was supposed to be for the soul en route to heaven. Political and economic matters are profane. Catechesis and spiritual matters are holy and for heaven. We go to church to talk about heavenly issues, ‘holy business” (sacraments, prayers, bible reading and so on…). There is a great need to understand the meaning of the Incarnation and so to consider economic and political matters as part of God’s plan. Every situation in our daily life is part of our history of salvation.

Therefore the trade in coltan, copper, and diamonds can be part of the Church’s business. Instead of begging in Western churches, African churches must learn to do business with their own resources and so to become self-reliant. Exodus requires a change in the way of considering wealth. The time has come to stop begging and to start finding other ways of sustaining our lives. For that we must give a new meaning to the concept of stewardship.

-Stewardship as ownership and nothing else

From the history of the country, we may notice that the common good has never been the main concern or the rulers since King Leopold II. They just oppress people and plunder the resources. The Congolese have never claimed his right of ownership over these natural resources. Every day they become more and more poor. When other countries are reflecting on the environment, global warming, OGM, we all think how to protect the mother earth. The theology or stewardship has developed to understand better how man is a steward and not the owner of God’s creation.

When these Western theologians talk about it, they embellish its meaning by demonstrating how ancestors of indigenous people relied on nature, the natural world. All of these green NGOs fight to preserve nature that industrialized countries are destroying. That is nice! But when a ship dumped it toxic waste in Abidjan in September 2006, they kept quite. Again, that is nice! Knowing that, let us introduce now a new view on stewardship. The stewardship we are talking concerns the way we must possess our riches. To stop the plunder of Leopold II, Belgium, Mobutu, multinational companies and neighboring countries, people must develop a culture of accountability; they must know how much the government receives from the multinationals to invest, how much tax they pay for social contribution and so on...

The Mining code must be translated into the four national languages. Each Commission of Justice and Peace in each diocese, parish and small Christian community must help people to understand what the government is accountable to them for every single dollar spent or invested. In a country where people are unemployed, there is a need to develop a theology of work (Dominique Chenu), but one from what people feel and live in the context of anthropological poverty. It is a theology where fair distribution is the component of that work shared by owners.

-Social justice and not solidarity

We have been told how African people stand together. And we may see how in our villages the family seems large in number and people are mixed up. That way of sharing life is amazing. But we have to be careful when people start to use these depictions of African life to show its difference from Western life. It becomes just a mere ideology of difference, full of contradictions and lies, when we look closely at the economic injustices in these African societies. That solidarity is only nepotism, corruption, favoritism and so many social evils which destroyed African societies.

Moreover, the way our ancestors lived is no longer ours. We may praise the tradition of Africa (Bujo, Bimwenyi), but that tradition is also the source of our misery. We don’t need a myth of solidarity: people can help each other as we do without claiming any kind of solidarity.
What we need is social justice as participation and fairness (John RAWLS).
In the DRC, we saw how our small Christian communities work. They gather every Thursday to share the word of the Lord. Everybody shares how he understands that word. We have to change. Christians must first read the signs of the times in their daily life and then find its meaning from the Bible and their own thinking. They have to become the subject of their own history, to read the Bible from below (Musa Dube). Small Christian Communities must be places where Christians practice that pedagogy for the oppressed (Pablo Freire) to develop strategies to combat corruption, mismanagement and conflict.

Karma-Yoga

VENERATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT

SOCIAL AND INDIVIDUAL FUNCTIONS THAT ARE NOT YET MET TODAY

Congolese believers don’t think about material agent causal which can be defeat by scientific means (medicine, army etc…). Determinism, Baconian method, Cartesian evidence do not speak to them or do not have an immediate impact in their way of thinking. . . They are surrounded by all walls of darkness. They intend to keep open eyes at night. The modern society with urbanization, industrialization and a new religion have change lifestyle but did not transform as well the way of giving meaning to the events and of reconstructing reality. The symbols have changed the color but it has kept its meaning. They did not rationalize their beliefs[1]. Congolese went back to the traditional practices.

1. The rationality of paranormal phenomena

The phenomenon of sorcery, bewitchment, bilocation, telepathy etc… were real but put in a dark corner of the church. In African tradition, the priest could talk with the ancestors, chase away bad spirits and tell God’s will. The spirit could bewitch someone and makes him speak (Mbikudi) to the community. He may prophesy, heal or be that the bridge needed between the world of God and the world of humans.

The rational-dogmatic churches considered the paranormal reality as external to the Christian doctrine. When the inculturation process took place, some aspects of African religion were left behind. In some aspects, the process was a reception of a Christian inculturated in Europe. Belgians Missionaries brought in Yombe region the Latin mass, the use of rosary, the cult of saints, the statues and images of saints, the novena, the liturgical calendar made from some pagan feast etc… “Rural Europeans populations succeeded in incorporating into their Christianity a considerable part of their pre-christian religious heritage which was immemorial antiquity... Becoming Christians, the Europeans cultivators incorporated into their new faith the cosmic religion that they ad preserved from prehistoric times (Eliade, p. 164).In Africa, the inculturation has to be an interculturation as a symbolic exchange. African has to stop going to church in the morning by social habit and yet seeing the ‘Nganga’ at night by personal conviction.
African theology must not be an offshoot of western theology considered as universal. It must take into account the African anthropology (with its threefold conception of human being), an African pastoral sacrament (which consider the therapeutic system of African religion), etc…Salvation is more a question of meaning and authenticity than a mere conformity to a set of ecclesiastic propositions. To move on from the ground, we must consider the real need of healing in DRC. How can the BS help to reconcile divided communities in DRC.

2. The healing process at the national level

Human beings usually consider the divinity as the source of everything on earth. The places visited by gods are holy and things representing gods are sacred. A world without epiphany is a world chaotic. Alone the action of gods brings form, harmony and order because gods creates and recreates the world. In front of them, human beings develop an attitude of reverence, fear, devotion, trust. This conception of religion has changed with time. Today Christianity distinguishs religion from other aspects of life. The separation between State and Church is one of the characteristic of secularization. In African religion, priest and leader of the clan work together for the good of the community. One of the main functions of the religious system is to reconcile people with the ancestors and people among themselves in the community.

Today, one of the challenges in DRC is the urgent need of national reconciliation and a moralization of public life. People are so divided that there is no nation but only a patchwork of tribes in the same territory. The discrepancy is so big between the devotion of people in the church and the political chaos in public sphere that can continue to pretend to pray.
How priest can tackle the political evil of mismanagement, quarrel, division etc…

It is a reconciliation process of the all society: reconciliation between the population and the politicians, reconciliation between religion and politics. For that we may consider how we can take some religious symbol and put them in public sphere as did the Fathers of the Church in western Christianity: “The fathers of the Church did not fail to exploit certain pre-christian and universal value of aquatic symbolism, although enriching them with new meanings connected with the historical existence of Christ” ( Eliade, op. cit., p. 132). We may think how the adoration may help to heal social wound, trust in people, how we may organize the reconciliation of people. Like a flag which raise a state of emotions from patriotism to pride, the tabernacle from its owns side raise a range of feelings and beliefs related to the nature of God.

Conclusion

In its various processes of inculturation, the current adoration of the Blessed Sacrament took its elements from African tradition, from Catholic Christianity, and even from Pentecostal Churches to bring healing and meaning in a deceptive world. At the margins, between a tradition falling apart and a modernity suffered rather than assumed by yombe Christians, it is a work of creation and fidelity. Our analysis of the transition has focus on the trajectory from the traditional adoration to the current form. It has allowed us to see the difference between the two types of adoration and the similarities with the Yombe cult. Only in these two types of adoration we may find a transition with some elements of continuity and discontinuity.

What makes successful the practice of adoration is its ability to respond to the need of worshipers. It has transformed a religious practice into a therapeutic system like in any African religion. It does not emphasize primarily on the orthodoxy of the doctrine –which is necessary to avoid error, deviance, heresy- but it induce people to pray and to relay on God acting in their life. Their faith increases with the testimony given during the prayer and not with the theological explanation of the preacher. In the case of adoration, people want a salvation more effective in daily life. Thus their religion is a therapeutic system in which people, threatened by any kind of danger, find secure in God adored in the Blessed Sacrament.

[1] Clifford GEERT, The interpretation of cultures, New York: Basic Books, page 181-189.

Karma-Yoga

THY WILL BE DONE ! WHERE ? ON EARTH

Sept. 28, 2008: “He changed his mind and went”

Every day of our life we face many challenges. Every time, we are called to improve our life and we strive to make progress despite failures. We are asked to change, to adapt ourselves to situations or to change situations. There is no change without hope but also fear. There is no change without promise but also uncertainty. There is no change without relief but also anguish… What will be the future when there is no clear and positive sign at first sight or when we can’t handle properly the situation? As Christians and believers, we try to find God’s will in the small or big events of our daily life. We measure our fidelity to his Word. We discover with humility the gap between our desire to observe his commandments and the limits of our human nature.

Today’s Gospel does ask us to make a choice of trust, a choice of obedience to God’s will. It is a story about two sons called to do their father’s will. They both changed their mind in different ways. The first said “I will not do your will’ but afterwards changed his mind and went. The second replied with enthusiasm: “Yes, Sir” but he did nothing. We have two changes: to accept with lips but to refuse doing the task. To refuse but to accept doing the father’s will . It is a conversion for a better life in tune with God’s will. As said the prophet Ezekiel: “by turning from wickedness, a wicked person shall preserve his life.

What is the meaning of these behaviors? Let us call in mind that Jesus is talking to Jews: Pharisees, publicans, priests, tax collectors, prostitutes etc… Among these listeners, some –like the Pharisees and the priests- consider themselves as pure, good, excellent, perfect. They accepted God’s call. They know the Torah. They pray every day. To God, they reply: “Yes, Sir”. But they don’t want to change their life. They are comfortable in the statu quo. Their “Yes, Sir” was just a polite refusal. They did not believe John the Baptist. Challenged by Jesus message, they are really moved and they can say “Yes, Sir”. But they are not able to move on. They fear to leave their zone of comfort and to face Christian of Christian life. Among the other group of listeners there are publicans, prostitutes, tax collectors etc… In public life, they do not have good reputation. They are known to have said ‘No, Sir’ to God’s will. They collaborate with the Roman occupant. They lead a life of lustfulness and so on. But in their private life, they are people in search of salvation. They struggle with their conscience. They need change but they entangled in the trap of need, vice, or darkness. When they hear Jesus preaching about God’s compassion, they are touched and they are relieved from the anxiety of doing wrong. They are ready to do God’s will in their life.

For sure we are no longer dealing with Pharisees and Publicans. We are not dealing with two brothers whose words and acts don’t match. But it is the same Jesus message we are hearing right now. It is the same call to change our heart, our mind in order to do God’s will. Do we want to evaluate the impact of God’s word in our daily life? For sure we are delight with God’ Word and we always reply ‘Thank be to God’. But if it is easy to hear God’s word, it is not always easy to discern his will in our life. Let’s pray that we may be steadfast to do his will. We need to ask God more love. Only when we love that we may do something good. We need to ask the grace of discernment because sometimes in some difficult situation of our life, we struggle to find the right decision. Let us pray that the desire to serve God may prevail against any selfishness and hesitation.

Karma-Yoga

THE RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT OURSELVES ?

These arms flowing in the continent...





INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY: IN WHICH BORDERS?



We want to reflect on the gap between the edifying principles in official documents in New York and the contradictory reality on the field of suffering and death in Darfur. The principles are known but to implement them is not easy because they are many interests involved and a lack of will to really protect people. What can be done in that case?



1. Principles and Norms: A lack of political will?



Usually the UN documents on Human Rights, moral responsibility of the international institutions and other resolutions are well written and good intentions. During these sessions, the members of this world parliament (UN) can argue and push a vote on delicate issues. But when it comes to execute a resolution, the will of people and the means of the institutions run suddenly short.

And so, there is a difference between the norms, the actions and the practices. The situation in Darfur requires the intervention of the international community. But the international institutions are more visible on the papers; in reality, there is a society of states with divergent agendas. On 31 of August 2006 the Security Council of the NU adopted the resolution 1706 authorizing a joint force of USA and of the UN to be sent in Darfur and asking the Sudanese government to respect that proposition. But can this resolution be effective where people are acting according to their interests?



2. International Community: a battle of interests?



At the surface, there is an apparent refusal of the Sudanese government –backed by China- to cooperate with the international community. Darfur is not Kosovo. The region is considered not in terms of people dying but in terms of economic ties with other countries of international community. Sudan‘s oil reserves has generated revenue through billions of dollars of international investment. With that money, the regime of Karthoum has bought guns and fueled the killing in the South as well now in the West.

Only one great power (USA) had made a continuing pressure on Sudanese government[1]. Meanwhile other members of the international community were reluctant to cooperate: “The initial international response to these “crimes against humanity” was anemic, and later action dilatory. From the beginning of the crisis onward, the United Nations failed at critical junctures to act against the regime, while the Chinese poured in oil investment, the Russians provided weapons, the European countries expanded trade, the Arab League offered solidarity, and African nations even helped elect Sudan to the UN Human Rights Commission” (The shame for Darfur).

Therefore the Military Humanitarian Intervention has to consider the fact that saving people’s life may include losing benefits and business for the companies and lobbies which are powerful enough in the governments and international institutions. This economic reason may explain partly the lack of will of the international community and allows different ways of intervening. It may also require the option of setting the responsibility to protect at various levels[2].



3. The responsibility to protect at the African level



According to Madeleine Albright, the problem is not a lack of mean but a lack of will to use force: “Over the past decade, a sporadic, pointless, and inconclusive war in the Democratic Republic of Congo has led to the deaths of more than 3 million people. In the Darfur region of Sudan, as many as 300,000 people have died in genocidal violence. The outbreak of killing in these countries –unlike Rwanda –was gradual rather than volcanic, giving the international community ample time to respond. It has responded, however, only slowly and feebly. The problem is not a lack of moral indignation – the violence in Darfur was widely publicized- but a failure to use force effectively”[3]. And so, we may understand the discrepancy between the indignation of the crowds shouting ‘Never again’ and the apparent inactivity of the international institutions. The responsibility to protect must be enforced by the capacity to protect people and the willingness to do so (Albright, p. 102). In other words, there is a need of having a strong army ready to protect[4].

With regard to the lack of common purpose for the members of international community, at least a consensus may emerge to provide a modicum of security by an expanded African Union force with U.S. logistical support and a mandate sufficient to deter attacks on civilians. Up to now, deployment of African Union forces has been agonizingly slow. The International Crisis Group estimates that a plan for extension to fifteen thousand troops must be done.



Conclusion



The United Nations Security Council is the right authority to take the right decision for any situation which needs a military humanitarian intervention. Their members must transcend their interests and make a right decision to vote[5]. When they could not agree, it is wise to entrust continental institution. In concrete case, it is appropriate to give a logistical support to African union forces and to allow them to intervene military whenever there is a threat to civilians in Africa. Today in Sudan a military Humanitarian Intervention is needed. It may come from the United Nations or from the African Union supported logistically by the United Nations and the United States.





Notes
[1] “Though belatedly, the United States has done the most to respond to the catastrophe, providing the lion’s share of humanitarian aid, securing corridors, declaring the atrocities genocidal, and pressing (though mostly unsuccessfully) for tough UN action against the regime. But the Bush Administration has also lauded Sudan’s cooperation in the war on terror and allowed the CIA to fly Sudan’s intelligence chief, Salah Abdallah Gosh, an architect of the Darfur atrocity, to Washington for consultation. Concerned that further sanctions on Sudan might upset the southern peace process, it also got the House to scotch tough “Darfur accountability” legislation passed by the Senate in April. To date the administration has not mounted a broad strategy to protect civilians and enable them to reconstruct their villages” (The Shame for Darfur).

[2] In the case of Darfur, evangelical publications and advocacy had forced China national Petroleum Company and many other investors to reduce their investment from ten billion dollars to seven billion dollars with the argument that the ‘blood money’ is used to eradicate people. This kind of campaign shows probably a different way of taking an international responsibility at different level. It does not affect only Karthoum; many others actors are involved in the business.

[3] Madeleine Albright, The Mighty and the Almighty. Reflections on America, God and World Affairs, New York: Harper Perennial 2006, p.
[4] “A force intended to prevent genocide must be s a serious military enterprise; it cannot be cobbled together from the bits and pieces of underfunded armies, detailed for brief periods, and assembled at the last minute. Countries must be asked to identify capable personnel who will be dedicated to the job of humanitarian response and prepared over a period of years to excel in that function”. (Albright p. 102).

[5] Their veto power must not be used, “in matters where their vital state interests are not involved, to obstruct the passage of resolutions authorizing military intervention for human protection purpose for which there is otherwise majority support”.

Karma-Yoga

LA GUERRE DU SENS: REFLEXIONS SUR LES MEDIAS ALTERNATIFS

Stand for what you believe

La Guerre du Sens: Reflexions sur les medias alternatifs
A propos de la region des Grands Lacs, des informations de tout genre sont données sur tous les espaces médiatiques. Leur provenance est aussi variable que les options à partir desquelles ces événements régionaux sont lus. On peut ranger ces médias sur plusieurs catégories: il y a les médias occidentaux avec ses clichés et ses poncifs sur les conflicts ethniques, la faillite de l’Etat et tant d’autres vérités déjà entendues. Il y a les médias Congolais et Rwandais. Les premières évoquent la thèse de l’agression, de l’ingérence et élaborent un discours à la limite de la complainte. Les autres brandissent l’argument de la sécurité et évoquent à en perdre coeur la thèse du génocide. A coté de ce 'mainstream', il y a des organisations internationales de droits de l’homme ou de conflict management qui tentent de donner la version de faits selon leur schema d’analyse. Dans ce babel d’informations,le lecteur se perd dans la dédale d’explications. Mais cela ne suffit pas. Par la magie des médias, il existe de plus en plus des sites et autres liens donnant les nouvelles avec une liberte offerte par ce boulevard d’informations mais parfois au détriment de cette profession dont le mérite dépend du respect de sa déontologie.
Cette dernière catégorie d’information a attiré notre attention. Au-delà des critiques qu’elles offrent, au-dela des exces, du radicalisme et du parti-pris qu’elles affichent, elles semblent etre soit une aberration soit un genre nouveau d’information dans un contexte où la quete de vérité en théorie comme en pratique ne semble pas aller de soi. Nous voulons bien porter un regard critique sur cette dernière catégorie d’informations.

1. Guerre du sens et sens de la guerre.

Les criteres ethiques du journalisme professionnel sont bien vrais. mais sont-ils suffisant pour rendre credibles une information aujourd'hui en RDC ? Car il faut bien prendre conscience que nous sommes dans un contexte d'anomie sociale. Nous ne disons pas qu'il faut accepter tout ce que les medias ecrivent. Nous pensons plutot que dans la situation exceptionnelle du Congo (contexte de guerre), les concepts de verite, de realite, de norme sont a construire. L'objectivite des faits que tu evoques n'est pas donne d'emblee; elle est est un horizon de sens a approcher par diverses voies. Un fait est ce qu'il est. Mais pour le dire, il emprunte plusieurs mediations langagiaires selon la position des interlocuteurs. Et c'est alors que les ideologies, les 'intentions' cachées orientent les discours. Et c'est ici que la guerre de sens prend son ampleur On crée des concepts tels que rwandophone, minorite, genocide, femicide, delit de facies etc… Leur sens varie selon la charge emotionnelle qu'ils charrient.

On evolue ainsi dans un contexte ou les referents culturels, les instances legitimatrices 'begayent', perdent leur pouvoir d'accreditation et invitent a debroussailler dans un maquis de sens. Nous avions ete pendant une annee a Bukavu a la radio diocesaine Maria Malkia pour une petite emission de samedi ('Congo Forum) avec Mr Eric Kajemba. Nous nous souvenons de toutes ces theories de la communcation dans un contexte de conflit (cognitive dissonance, projection bias, selective attention, bullet theories of effects (les effets de sens, si l'on veut) etc...

Plus simplement, voyons comment autour des annees 90, la radio-trottoir a Kin a remplace les medias officiels devenus caisse de resonance du regime mobutien a la derive: ils ne mentaient pas sur toute la ligne malgré la faiblesse 'scientifique' de leur information; les parlementaires debout donnaient l'information peu objective mais ils repondaient a une urgence sociale d'eveil democratique. Un militantisme que l'on peut condamner mais l'important c'est de percevoir a temps ces innovations sociales et ce qu'elles apportent.

2. Vigilance critique.

Ces medias alimentent l'espace public et n'apportent peut-etre que des commerages. C'est fort possible. Il est evident qu'il manque de bureau, de reporter etc… Il est evident qu'ils versent dans un catatrophisme alarmiste qui fatigue et suscite plutot le doute et la mefiance. Encore une fois, il faut le placer dans le contexte de collusion et de collision. On comprendrait alors la dimension psychologique de leur texte (toute la difference a faire entre le 'soft news' d'un show de Oprah, la depeche militaire d'un General au front, les discours d’un Ministre de l’Information en pleine periode de guerre en aout 1998 etc...(Framing theory etc...). Caton l'Ancien finissait tous ses discours par un paragraphe 'alarmiste' avec ces mots :'delenda carthago'. L'exemple vise simplement une chose: la politique editoriale d'un organe de presse oriente ses analyses malgre la variete des 'journalistes'. Apparemment, il y a des organes qui tentent d'eveiller l'attention des Congolais sur ces questions de nationalite, de pillage, de patriotisme, de nationalisme etc... Comme les differents sites des compatriotes Congolais de la diaspora... On peut les accuser de raconter des salades, ou de manipuler l’opinion des internautes ou de tomber dans des derapages a denoncer. S'il est admis qu'ils ne mentent pas sur toute la ligne, alors il ne faut pas jeter le bebe et l'eau du bassin.

3. La verite est une question de pouvoir.

Collin Powell a lu un texte bien redige, avec des chiffres impressionants sur les armes de destruction massive en Irak. Son serieux aidant, il a pu convaincre le monde, a quelques exceptions près. Qui pouvait croire que c'etait des mensonges ? La CIA ne manquent pas d'investigateurs 'professionnels', des specialistes de l'information, de l'espionnage et du contre-espionage, des strateges de tous bords. Il ne leur manquent pas de bureaux, d'antennes, des agents visibles ou invisibles etc... Encore une fois, nous sommes dans un contexte de conflit international et du role que l'information donne aux decisions politiques. Les trois 'tamis' y perdent leur pertinence epistemologique. La manipulation ideologique echappe superbement a ces criteres.

L'opinion publique se cree. On a donc vu des journalistes 'professionnels' maquiller les faits, proferer des louanges sur la democratie au Rwanda avec des sources exactes, des chiffres economiques vraisemblables, des interviews impressionnantes et dans tous les sens etc...Nous pouvons analyser la maniere dont le genocide rwandais est presente. Et a cote de ce battage mediatique reussi, les analyses pertinentes, le journalisme d'investigation d'un independant comme Charles Onana, Keith Harmon ou David Barou etc... ont peu d'echo. Pourquoi ? Ils ont sans doute des adresses exactes mais peut etre pas de bureau, ni de budget consequent. C'est sur des blogs, des 'mini-sites' que nous recevons de portions de verite, des revelations qui nous laissent desempares. Ceci n'est pas dit pour credibiliser tous les textes des coupagistes . C'est juste pour attirer l'attention sur cette forme d'information facilitee par l'internet et ravivee par ce contexte de violence. Si l'on y est attentif, on y decouvrira, outre l'anatheme qui la condamne, des "heterotopies" (M.Foucault) souvent produites par d'autres manieres de dechiffrer les evenements.

En des mots plus simples, il s'agit de considerer ce journalisme comme une forme de discours inedite mais qui est porteuse de sens.Citez moi seulement un seul Etat en ce 21 siecle qui a eu 4 vice-presidents. C'etait une monstruosite juridique pour certains et pour d'autres une innovation politique par la force des choses. Il en est ainsi de ces organes.Nous sommes a un tournant historique ou des nouvelles pratiques sociales prennent jour. Il faudrait plutot theoriser ces formes d'architecture verbale ou 'scripturale' pour evidememnt en mesurer les limites mais peut etre aussi pour saisir la productivite poetique de leurs contradictions, de leurs lignes de fracture, de leurs exces.

Mon objection semble theorique.Mais en fait, elle pose la question non pas de savoir ce que font les ennemis ou les amis du Congo mais celle de notre capacite de transgression epistemologique cad de changer les criteres, de forger des concepts, de re-enchanter notre imaginaire social pour liberer la parole, debloquer l'inventivite sans sombrer dans la folies des langages. Quand allons-nous faire admettre au monde entier les 'genocides' ou les 'femicides' congolais auquels nous assistons impuissants ? Quand allons -nous theoriser l'holocauste congolais de Leopold II avec ses dix millions de morts ? Ici, on bute aux vocables; on tombe dans le piege de la comparaison; on soupese les maux et selon les affinities electives on noircit un tableau pour donner plus d’eclat au linceuil blanc de l’autre.

Il y a bientot douze ans (1996) , les medias favorables aux rebelles annoncaient la chute des villes bien avant l'arrivee des troupes de l'AFDL. A Kinshasa, nous nous interrogions sur le sens de cette guerre de l'Est. Nous balayions du revers de la main les informations 'bizarres' sur des accords de Lemera, sur des rebelles erythreens, lumumbistes, tutsi... un melange du tout. Plus tard, nous comprimes que nous etions bien deja dans une guerre de sens comme signification et orientation. Cet organe 'confidentiel' avec ses mythologies et ses 'revelations' sensationnelles' nous invitent simplement a prendre conscience de l'envers de la realite.

Karma-Yoga

NEPAD: UNE AUTRE TROUVAILLE DES LEADERS AFRICAINS ?

Mr Wade et Mlle Rice

NEPAD: UNE AUTRE TROUVAILLE DES DIRIGEANTS AFRICAINS ?

Hier, après les cours, je suis allé retirer quelques livres à la bibliothèque. En jetant un coup d’oeil du coté de JFK Jr Forum, je constatais que l‘Institute of Politics’ organisait un ‘public address’ sur le “SENEGAL’S EXPERIENCE: A LESSON OF DEMOCRACY’. L’orateur était bien le président sénégalais. Le speech n’était pas vraiment un ‘lecture’ mais la ‘passion’ de l’homme d’Etat était palpable. Il a évoqué l’histoire politique de son pays depuis l’indépendence jusqu’à son combat pour la démocratie et les efforts de son gouvernement pour le redressement économique du pays. Les auditeurs ont apprecié la liberté de ton et l’humour de l’ancien opposant au régime de Senghor (puis de Diouf). Je voudrais vous faire part de quelques questions soulevées et les re-poser autrement.

1.L’UNION AFRICAINE: De l’Union Africaine vers les Etats-unis d’Afrique, ou en sont les Africains ? Me Wade se dit fier d’etre un heritier de Nkrumah. Il estime que cette union peut commencer avec 15 ou 20 pays. Les autres pays n’auront qu’a suivre progressivement, la contrainte economique de la mondialisation aidant. En l’ecoutant, je pensais a mes anciens etudiants seminaristes de Muresa (Bukavu) et de Ngidi (Boma) avec qui nous conversions sur ces questions lorsque vers midi l’attention se relache, l’esprit se fatigue a suivre les meandres de la metaphysique et les sinuosites de la cosmologie. Une evasion ? Me Wade revait a haute voix. Pour les Congolais qui refusent le reve, il faudra s’appliquer a penser a l’education universitaire, a defaut du futur synode africain. Ou en sommes-nous ? Au fond, qu’est-ce que l’Afrique ? L’Eglise, l’Etat, la Glocalisation (global-local) ?

2.Le NEPAD: il a fièrement présenté son Plan Omega (en 18 objectifs) bien semblable au “Millenium development Goals” bien cher à J. Sachs. Dans la salle, je pensais aux chantiers de Joseph Kabila (à lui seul ou à tous les Congolais ?). A la difference de Me Wade qui a reconnu l’echec du Nepad, JK et consort ne sont pas prets a evaluer annuellement leurs performances politiques et economiques. Revenons a Me Wade. Avec Mr Mbeki, il compte relancer le projet en decembre. Mais la question demeure: que signifie ce ‘partenariat’ sinon une forme larvee de dependance ? Peut-on fonder le developpement sur des prets et sur l’aumone etrangere ? Sans donner dans le panneau de la theorie de la deconnexion, on ne peut pas ne pas penser a la cooperation interafricaine si vraiment on croit a l’integration economique indispensable a ces futurs Etats Unis d’Afrique. Que sont devenues ces communautes economiques regionales ? Qu’en est-il des marches interieurs ? Je voudrais bien etaler mon ignorance et mon scepticisme ici. En tous cas, dans la salle, Me Wade brandissait joyeusement la maquette de la statue de la Renaissance en construction a Dakar. On veut bien croire a cette Renaissance Africaine. Mais il y a si longtemps que nous avons ete sevres des mots et gavés des monuments… a defaut d’emoluments. Que represente la production africaine dans l’economie mondiale ? Il semble que c’est moins de 3%…

3. RELATIONS AVEC L’EUROPE: Me Wade se dit plus enthousiaste a cooperer avec la Chine parce que c’est plus rapide et moins couteux. Apparemment le Congo semble s’engager dans la meme voie. A-t-on reflechi a long terme aux ‘effets collateraux’ de cette cooperation sino-congolaise ? Les Congolais ont-ils suffisamment pense aux petits entrepreneurs ou ‘debrouillards’ congolais que le geant chinois avalera en inondant le marche congolais des chinoiseries ? Je pense par exemple, aux petits vendeurs des oeufs (a Kimwenza) que les enterprises chinoises ‘phagocyteront’ a bas prix en quantite justement industrielle. Et cette main d’oeuvre importee de Chine face a la maree montante des chomeurs kinois ou congolais ? Beneficier d’un hopital ou d’un stade construit cle en main est-ce cela le developpement ? Les retombees sociales sont elles rellement visiblement positives ? Du trompe-l’oeil. Mr le president, sur les relations avec l”Europe ou l’Inde, c’est echanger bonnet blanc contre blanc bonnet.

4. L’IMMIGRATION CHOISIE: Me Wade a litteralement pouffé de rire lorsqu’un auditeur lui a demande son opinion sur le discours de Mr Sarkhozy a l’universite Cheikh Anta Diop. Il a reconnu que les Chefs d’Etat lisent bon nombre de discours qu’ils n’écrivent meme pas. Sarkozy serait plus raisonnable que les propos qu’il a debités a Dakar. Me Wade, qui affirme etre son ami, a dit lui avoir propose l’immigration concertee et non pas choisie. Jeu de mots ? La vraie question c’est de savoir comment arreter le flux migratoire, comment aider les Africains a etre vraiment chez eux. Je vois encore ces journaliers kinois qui travaillent huit heures en ville pour un salaire de 1600 FC. Concertes ou choisis, les Africains finissent par partir, parfois au peril de leur vie, traversant la mer sur des freles embarcations et finissant dans les geoles espagnoles ou marocaines. La guerre, la misere, le chomage… Je pensais aux refugies congolais rencontres au camp de Tongogara au Zimbabwe. A quand leur retour ?

5. LE ZIMBABWE: nous avions suivi le discours enflamme de Mugabe a l’ONU. En reponse a la question, Me Wade estime que Sir Mugabe a raison. Mais il y a une maniere sage de proceder pour ne pas retourner l’opinion contre soi. Car on ne peut pas, du jour au lendemain, deposseder les proprietaires Blancs de leurs biens. Dans la salle, je pensais a la fameuse zairianisation et a la Commission des biens mal acquis. Ou sont ces Congolais qui, a la CNS, promettaient, la mains sur le coeur, de restituer a l’Etat tous les biens spolies ? Et ces contrats revisites, allons-nous fermer les yeux sur les prebendes empoches par les ‘commissionaires’ et mandataires ‘ vereux ? La democratie c’est plus que de la calligraphie sur un bulletin de vote; c’est aussi la rigueur de la Loi qui rend un pays gouvernable.

La séance a dure une heure. Le public etait environ 300. Constat: les questions provenaient des Europeens et des Americains tandis que les applaudissements inattendus fusaient du cote des Africains, notamment des Senegalais comme sur un terrain de football. Une division continentale du… spectacle !

Karma-Yoga

COMPASSION: BETWEEN LOVE AND RULE ?

Stand for what you believe






COMPASSION: BETWEEN LOVE AND RULE ?

September 21, 2008: “Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Eph.4:7)

This evening, we have come to worship the Lord. How does he speak to us? What is he telling us now? God wants to tell us that he treats us with a love that we could never have deserved. He is near to all who call upon him.

From the first reading,the prophet Isaiah: “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near”. Does he mean that God wants to play blind man’s buff : sometimes he disappears and then he appears again, back and forth? In fact, the prophet is responding to Jewish people living in exile in Babylon. In the nightmare of deprivation and suffering, the Jewish people start to question the presence of God in their life: “where is God who pretends to protect us? Why are we suffering so much? Why God has abandoned us? Why God is indifferent to our situation? Why God is so far from us?”

In our journey on this world, some troubles may happen to us and shake our faith. We may be tempted to doubt. We start to think: “maybe God is upset. Maybe God does not hear my prayer. Maybe God wants to punish me for this and that. Maybe maybe…”. These negative thoughts about God can undermine our relationship with Him. The prophet Isaiah wants to tell us this simple truth: when we doubt about God’s presence, we chose ourselves to stay far from him. Our human thoughts always keep us in a position of victim: we judge ourselves, we condemn ourselves, we try to justify our behavior and so on…. This way of thinking may affect our relationship with God.

Today, God wants to tell us that his thoughts are not our thoughts, his ways are not our ways. When we doubt, God always continue to trust us. When we condemn ourselves, God always shows mercy: he is generous in forgiving, slow to anger and of great kindness, good to all and compassionate towards all his works. Today God wants to welcome us with open arms. Let us forsake our old way of thinking and accept his offer with gratitude.

Today’ gospel emphases about God’s measureless generosity. The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. At the end of the day, he gave equal wage to all of them, despite their different work.

Once again, we may think about our own way of proceeding: we are paid according to our work. We are rewarded according to our merit. But with God, it is not a human justice of business; it is an abundance of love, compassion and grace. In a relentless way, God goes out himself to find laborers (five times).He shows his willingness to hire the “rejects’ and his desire to pay them a full day’s wage. The love of heaven takes the initiative in seeking us out. The love of heaven chooses us despite our utter unworthiness. The love of heaven is lavish in its self-gift to us (Magnificat September 2008). “Every man, whoever he is, whatever he possesses and whatever he is capable of doing, owes all this to God the creator of the universe” (Maximilian Kolbe). The prodigal son and the good son, the publicans and the Pharisees, the pagans converted, the last thief on the cross, all of them are God’s children.

Therefore, what do we expect from God? More love. And so, let us pray that God may strengthen our faith and give the wisdom to discern his actions of love and compassion in our daily life. Let us pray that he may help us to serve him with generosity.

BEING MYSTIC AND 'POLITIK' IN AFRICA

Stand for what you believe







WITH TERESA OF CHILD JESUS, BEING MYSTIC AND POLITIK IN AFRICA

Today is the feast of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. From the readings of today, what can we say with regard to our identity of Muntu and to the spirituality of St Therese? This is one of the responses: we are called to be more and more mystic and politic. Being mystic like Therese and doing politics like any Jesuit trying to see and to love the world as Jesus did. This passage from the GC 35 can epitomize that particular Jesuit way of proceeding: “Being and doing; contemplation and action; prayer and prophetic living; being and completely united with Christ and completely inserted into the world with him as an apostolic body: all of these polarities mark deeply the life of a Jesuit and express both its essence and its possibilities”. “Our lives must provoke the questions, ‘who are you, that you do these things’. Because “our deep love of God and our passion for this world has set us on fire” (Decree 2, 8-9). Brothers, Therese had a deep love for God. With her help, we can evaluate our great passion for God in Africa.

She lives a life of obscurity in the convent of Lisieux (France). Her preference for hidden sacrifice did indeed convert souls: “I prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifice to all ecstasies. To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul”. She never left her convent but today she is the patron saint of missionaries. Her love was greater than the entire universe. One day she wrote: “I want to spend my heaven by doing good”. Despite these wonderful graces she received, she had terrible moments of dryness in her life: “I see a wall. It is painful. Where are you Lord?” It is like Job who, in the first reading, repeatedly confesses about God: “Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him”. But, at the end of his journey, Job said: “I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you”(Job 42,5). Like Job, Therese did not give up. It was a long journey of search, trial, but with love and confidence. The encounter was wonderful. Therese decided to spend her heaven by doing good. Similar experience with other mystic. Ignatius decided to go to Jerusalem. St John of the Cross started to write about the vivid flame of love. St Augustine exclaimed: “O Beauty, late I loved you…”. Yes, it is an emotional love and a practical wisdom. It is a fire. The only fire which makes us able to leave our family and to follow Jesus.

Brothers, they are many interpretations about the gospel of today. Do you remember one of them in the Noviciate. During the first week, we were asked to read the general exam of the Constitutions: “They will learn to say they had a mothers and a father etc…Even more: we used to joke that we are ready to follow Jesus even in the cave of Ossama. But today, I would like to draw your attention on our real motivation as Jesuit following Christ. Why do we have to follow Him? It is because of his message of the Kingdom. I know how Alfred de Loisy mocked that notion, how some revolutionary thinkers misinterpreted the notion, how the fastidious study of exegesis or lengthy speculation has paradoxically stuffed up our creativity and enthusiasm about that reality. But still I invite you to consider the Kingdom not as a metaphor but as an existential truth we live for. It is more than a dream; it a good news that gives us the courage to leave our family and to set a fire of love throughout the world.

Brothers, the Kingdom of God is a promise which can gives us the strength to live. In any continent, people share this Kingdom story in different ways: a civil religion, grand narrative, concrete utopia for which they live and die. In Africa, there is a black hole and a dark sky without any brilliant narrative to enlighten our future. We need a radiant project to shape more clearly our expectations. We have to turn the page of afro-pessimism by bringing the great vision of this kingdom and the kind of leadership that Jesus offers to us.
The kingdom of God gives us the grace of being in motion from God and for others. It calls us to trace the footprints of God wherever we are, to appreciate the value of daily life, the power of truth, the consistency of regular tasks, the grace of being human and of seeing the reality with the lens of love and hope.

What can we learn from Therese of the Child Jesus? It is to be with ordinary people and to give them value, to let them know that they have the power of light within them, they can encounter God in their daily life, that God “will never ask from them sacrifices above their strength”. Do you remember when Mandela rose his arm and sang “Nkosi Sikeleli Africa? South Africans believed that a new day has come for them. Today we have more than Mandela. Jesus is telling us: stand up and move on… Set a hand to the plow… Don’t look back… Don’t go back to what is left behind… The future will be bright with me because I am the Light. Brothers, God never lies. His Kingdom is not a metaphor. The question is: “Do we believe that? How do we live that reality in the small details of our daily life like Therese? Are we all fired up and ready to go with Jesus Eucharist? Let us pray for that.