Experience of God in the Ordinary (Tangaza)

Group 1

Majone Romao

5. Have you had the opportunity to forgive someone in your life for some serious harm inflicted on your or your family, and have you forgiven him/her? How did you arrive at that state of forgiving that person?

Have your in your life went against ’public opinion” (What will others think? Syndrome), peer pressure, and did what you felt in your conscience….

Reached at number 5 of our Sharing, Discussions and study one member shared that he had an opportunity to forgive someone, in that case was his classmate accusing him for have stolen his flash disc in class, but was not him really founded guilty, so became annoyed, anger and have decided to separate him forever, but during that moment another friend intervened advising him by showing the values of Christian life, and rather seminarian should have a virtue of forgiveness because his  been training himself to became a person who will preach about forgiveness’, so it will be fortune to start now the art of forgiveness’-so it was an occasion for forgiveness.

And at the point of going against” public opinion” one member shared that it was very painfully and quite irrational having to drop financial work to join Seminary to became a priest and have to live without a woman, children – it was awful  going against cultural value. For the first stage felt insecure, if was really taking a better decision or not, but at the time being he is happy because is convinced answered the will of God.

And one member shared have helped someone without waiting any expectations given an example of one beggar on the street and someone else secondary the idea saying have helped a woman by given her some money to take his child to hospital.

Finally and as result of reading the text “Experience of God in the ordinary” some comments comes out:

-Hope, Courage and Faith are work and gifts of Spirit and act in us sometimes when did not notice. As matter of fact the examples mentioned below shows that the Holy Spirit had intervened in that friend by given light to advice another friend for the importance and value of Christian values, and had open the heart of the accused one to understand that by forgiven his brother is more close to his dream of became a person answering the call of God.

Members: Majone Romao-12052T (Secretary).

.Andrianoromandimby Herve-12111T

.Nsa Charles Ndibowl-12054T

.Martin Mwenda-12046T

.Ssekweyama Rocco – 12146T


Group 2

Sr. Elizabeth

Members shared their painful experiences and how they had to go about forgiveness.

Some shared with lot of pain recalling the experience while others shared that they have not forgiven and are not ready to do so.

A group member shared how he had a misunderstanding with his father and how it disturbed him for too long and he thought he would never forgive him.

Another member shared about her misunderstanding with her mum and how that has made her not to trust her mom though she forgave her.

One member shared how he was injured intentionally by someone while playing football and he sustained serious internal injury at the same time the one who injured him was also hurt. In the process, they were admitted in the same hospital and in the same ward. During there stay in the hospital, they kept malice for one week, it was a great silence! He broke the silence and told the one that had inflicted the injury on him that they should forgive one another. After the reconciliation they become very good friends till today. They cherish other as best friends.

Those who forgave shared how it was not easy for them to do so; they said that it took a lot of energy from them to forgive.

The following are some of the experiences most of the members went through to forgive those who had hurt them or caused their pain both physically and emotionally.

ü  Struggled to forgive

ü  One can forgive but never  forgets

ü  One has to recognize the mistake or the cause of misunderstanding

ü   the  first step to reconciliation is forgiveness

ü  The desire to let life prevail was there big desire

ü  The question “what do I gain by not forgiving?” haunted them.

ü  After keeping malice for long, then came forgiveness.

ü  Forgiveness Begins by an individual.

B PART OF THE QUESTION

All the members are victims, we all have gone against public opinion especially as religious, by joining religious congregations we went against the opinion of our families and community. Our cultures do not understand the type of life we embraced, even after ordination or profession; they are still waiting for us to finish whatever we are doing and marry or get married. All the members felt that it was the right thing to do at the same time it was the will of God who has created us for a purpose.

C PART OF THE QUESTION

The group shared that they have always helped people with the intention of receiving something in return. Some have helped very poor individuals. Even though they did not receive anything in return but they still hope on the reward from God. as the saying goes “blessed be the hands that gives then the hands that takes”

We also shared that love is reciprocal, it is more interesting when you receive from each other, it makes life more interesting.

Man is to err but forgiveness is Divine.

Sr. Elizabeth Okoth (Secretary)

Group 3

Cipriano Sapalo

Concerning on forgiveness the group were divided into two ; the one who have not yet forgiven someone because nobody has seriously wronged them, but instead they have been forgiven by someone for theirs wrong doing. For these members of the group they claim that forgiveness should be immediate, as soon as someone wronged us we should be ready to forgive.

For the other members of the group, they said yes, they have forgiven and they felt in flesh and bones the price of being Christians. They said that, when you love, you do not allow wrong doing being paid by wrong doing but yes by love. Therefore love is claimed to be the reason why we forgive. And that forgiveness is not immediate, but it comes after long time. The time helps us to forgive truly.

In short, all of us we agreed that to forgive is a Christian duty.   

Another issue we shared was “going against public opinion”. We were united in thought by saying that as far as we have peace in mind, clean conscience, we do not bother what the others say, because majority sometimes do not reflect properly.

Members of the group three

1.       Respiius kweyamba; 2.       Benjamim Ivana; 3.       John Michael; 4.       Akagiva Ognojina John; 5.       Cipriano sapalo; 6.       Rainu Ram

Written by Cipriano sapalo


Group 4

Josphat Okemwa

1. One of our group members remembered the incidence in which he was requested to give a help in donating blood to one of his relative in order to save life, the act in which he voluntarily did, then after finishing, somebody unknowingly uttered a word “have you come to peak the body?”  this gave him some concern, and thereby later he came to realize that the patient claimed to be helped had past on, on the night before but since the hospital was in need of blood, particularly rhesus ‘O’ and had a plan to sell to someone who was in need, they had no other otherwise other than to commit that selfish and inhuman crime. At first before the truth was revealed he engaged a physical fight, then after dialogue and the making of the confession, and then he decided to forgive the offender.  Many of his colleagues came to push him to take the case to the cordors of justice but he said no.  

2.Another brother also shared of being approached one time by a drug addict lady for some monetary assistance, but due to some pre-consumed   ideas about the badness of people of that kind, first before taking some moment to rethink and reconsider the request, the easy answer to come out was no, then he went on to do his own  businesses, but the conscience kept on haunting him and it never went off until when he came out and went back to that lady just to listen what she wanted and to see whether the request was genuine. This is the time that lady told him that actually she needed that money just to buy food for her child, and to approve this, they had to go together to do the shopping. After finishing that lady looked at him with tears coming out and she said just thank you and be blessed. He didn’t say anything but he kept to himself and he went home relieved and thanking God in allowing him to do that right act!

3.On the same note, one of us also quoting from the Bible that you were given free and you should give free, he echoed an incidence where he was coming from apostolate, then by good luck he came across a friend in Anglican Church playing a keyboard but according to him, his friend seemed not to have attained the knowledge of playing it up to standard, so as assign of concern he requested to know whether his colleague can accept if he can give him some more knowledge about the organ; although his friend admitted, but he thought that he was to pay him some money. When knew how to play the keyboard very well, he decided to pay for the service given, then that is the moment, he told him thank you this knowledge I was given free and I also give it free.

4. Some trend has come that due to the availability of wine or alcohol in most of our religious communities, some members who before never used to drinking or they were not drinking at all, now some of them are more than the expertise in that field or some still are in a training of trying to test and know which wine is actually the best.  One of our brother revealed out that despite all the pressures he has been getting from his confreres, he has firmly stood to his conviction that he has had never taken any liquor and he cannot do it. Despite him being called coward but still he believes that his convictions are enough and good to make him going.   

           Therefore, at times it better to listen to some of the voices from outside sometimes it is God who trying to communicate something to us. Life is afield of assisting one another not only to be on the side of being helped but also to participate in helping the other however little it may be, since it is through doing the light and small acts that big miracles do happen in other peoples’ live.

NB:

On behalf of my brothers that who kindly hoped so that this work were to be sent on the very day, I do apologize for its delaying since the whole of yesterday in our house the network was off. So, I Josphat Okemwa do committing myself before you in requesting your abandonment. Thank you and have a blessed moment.

GROUP MEMBERS

Maralf Jimenez; Machai Sandoji; Joseph Owori; Aisaac; Andrew Nyongesa; Josphat Okemwa (Sec)

Group 5

Christian Mumpa

Have you had the opportunity to forgive  someone in your life for a serious harm inflicted on you or your family, and have you forgiven him/her? How did you arrive at that state of forgiving that person?

All of us had the opportunity to forgive for according to the whole group, we have to forgive for our own good. But forgiveness is a process, it does not come abruptly   but slowly. Sometimes it requiers support from a qualify person who can assist us to forgive. Forgiveness is more an intention than an action means we have to forgive first  from our heart and mind before taking action. It is important to know that sometimes you can forgive but still feel pain in heart and in this case, we have to ask for God's assistance since forgiveness is divine.

Our religious life is already an opposit public opinion since to live evangelical counsel is madness for many people who will desire to have a family rather than living alone.

As far as assisting a person with no expectation of receiving anything in return is concerned, the whole group did agreed that the they do assist but  we wonder if we do it because it is good to do so or it is because we expect God to bless us in return for every action is for a self satisfation, even for a simple satisfaction of good. whichever good we do it is for a certain satisfaction....

Leonard G. WAMBUI; Justus NUWAGABA; Chanikia KODATI; Daniel KABUYA; Rono NICODEMUS

Sec: Christian MUMPA

Group 6

FORGIVENESS

Bartholomew Senewo shared his experience as regards forgiveness. He reminisced of an event that happened in Nigeria after his temporal profession. He tells us that he was put to be an assistant to a perpetually professed friar. Their work was to help facilitate manual work for their Carmelite community by allocating each friar his working area. However, one day this friar forgot to paste the list on the notes board, consequently the friars did not do the general cleaning of the friary. When asked by the formator why this was so, the older friar found a scape-goat by saying that he told Bartholomew to write the list. The community victimized Bartholomew and his formatter labeled him as irresponsible. He felt betrayed and his vocation was at stake. He was bitter that he was suffering for another person’s mistake. To make matters worse the older friar was indifferent. This problem affected many aspects of his day to day life. So in order to have his old life back, he took courage to bear with the failings of this friar and with hope start building his image again. This he did without expecting an apology. This act according to him gave him back his inner freedom and peace of mind.

GOING AGAINST PUBLIC OPINION

Joseph Mmasi shared of how he courageously went against national loyalty for the sake of objectivity. He recounts that in the formation house he lived in his native Tanzania, Tanzanians outnumbered Kenyans. During community meetings, however, most decisions followed the will of the majority even when this was not for the best of all. Joseph felt this was unjust and a betrayal of the Christian brotherhood he strongly believed in. His conscience thus made him openly oppose his fellow Tanzanians who abused their numerical superiority. He was seen as a betrayer by his fellow Tanzanian confreres and was thus sidelined by many of them.  He however felt, it was good to suffer rejection in order to make another person’s life better.

HELPING WITHOUT REWARD

            Christopher Nkole shared of how he helped a sick man in the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia. This man was brought in at the casualty section. He had just survived a road traffic accident but broke an arm. This injury demanded that he changes sleeping positions every few minutes so as to ease the pain. However, the nurse on duty was not at hand to make this happen. While at his father’s bedside, Christopher heard this man cry out of pain. His cry was a cry for help. Moved with sympathy, he took up the job of turning him to find a less painful posture. This he did every few minutes. The middle aged man at some point vomited and Chris cleaned him. Finally the man was moved to the operating theatre and that was the last the two saw each other.

 COMMENT

            Having heard the sharing of the different group mates and read the text, it is clear that forgiveness, sympathy or altruism and the following of one’s conscience are all supernatural actions. All are drawn from the person’s spiritual element than the corporeal. Therefore, it translates that each of the brothers transcended physical discomfort to be charitable to their fellow men. According to Karl Rahner, such experiences as the above make the person involved in them participate in the transcendent divine spirit. The act of doing something out of unconditional hope is an act of faith guided by the Holy Spirit. Thus, whether the brothers realized it or not, the times that courage and freedom made them do what they did, God revealed himself to them. This is so because we cannot do something supernatural without the help of supernatural power. In a nutshell, absolute courage and hope are a sign of the divine in us

Group 7


No REPORT!