Where are the prophets ???

I hope - in the meantime - all Sisters + Brothers + Fathers of every religious Congregation has taken up my "proposal" for a good meditation: poverty for "universal sharing"; obedience for "honest cooperation" chastity for "multiple relationship" - quite interesting thinking - pls discuss it!
But nobody must be scared - change in our Church is slowly; we are still more like a rock than like water.

Today (26 Sun B) Moses don't like to stop prophets - the contrary - "if only the 
whole people of the Lord were prophets and the Lord gave his Spirit to them all" (Numbers 11.29). why not as a prayer of the people ???
But today most baptized people have forgotten the call to be a prophet. And also in the Church there is no school to learn it and not much encouragement
(because - as history shows - prophets bring troubles).
What is a prophet? My first answer today: "A prophet is a person who knows what's going on". After you see and listen to the world - you may discover "new
ways" into the future... and some have the courage to speak out.

Like Jesus today (Mk 9.38-43.45.47-48): Jesus knows: to be handicapped (one arm only; one eye only etc...) is not easy... and healing is good. But Jesus sees deeper: As a handicapped person don't be afraid... you have the chance like everybody else to enter the Kingdom of God, to participate with the fullness of Life. You are not lost - in no way!
The real problem starts if you have no faith, no hope, no love. Such people are more than handicapped - they are on the way to get really lost. Therefore people pay attention! The real criminal is the one "who brings down one of these who have faith". Faith-loss is the problem. Some prophets of today are convinced: not Cathedral-Church or Tree-Church, not Holy Communion for re-married people is the ground-problem... the evaporation of faith in God is the scandal. This evaporation we have to discover - if people don't come to Church anymore - maybe they are on the way to loose their faith. Now what is your reaction ?

Consecrated Life 2015 / part 2

Part one has put a ? ? ? behind the vows. This was a first step. Part two brings now a proposal; it's only a draft. But it's up to the vows-people to make changes. They know how urgent is the situation. We wait for actions. 

The vow of universal sharing. 
To share what I have, what we have - and to empower people to share. We are convinced: we are rich - rich in blessings, rich in skills, rich in knowledge,
rich in Life-essentials, rich in Grace ...
The whole Nation would be glad about such people, the Church likes sharing people, really. It's a real contribution to poverty-eradication and much more:
a sign for many ! ! ! 

The vow of honest cooperation.
What we need today is team-work. We sit together to find the best solution. Is this nothing for our Church? Is the modern family team-work or a dictatorship,
exercised still by a patriarch? And the modern learning-process too needs to become a team-work. To accept as a group a goal and then go the way together; every one contributing his best and be acknowledged. Could also be a new Parish-structure.

The vow of multiple relationship.
Some people don't like to choose one partner for the whole life. They don't like to go as deep as possible, they like to go far. They like to go many ways - different grades of relationships; they like to be open for as many as possible.
Not the experience of sexuality and of children is their goal - they have chosen "something else". They don't take into consideration "the starvation of sex".
They are at disposal of many...  reaching out for other goals.

Resume.
This "call-up" asks every brother and sister and father of any "congregation" to explain more clearly for what the religious vows are taken for. We in the Church have our own language - look at the Eucharist, the Sacraments - look at the Missal, the Catechism...  but we also know more and more people are unable to understand our "mysterious" language. We have a message, but the message must be clear; somehow understandable if not attractive. Many young people are strongly in favor of "universal sharing" of "honest cooperation" of "multiple relationship". And never forget: the Eucharist is exactly that: We are in relationship with God and with the believers, now and here; we sing and listen, we offer and change together; we share "bread and wine".

The year of consecrated Life 2015.

"God consecrated life" means you profess three vows: poverty, obedience, chastity.
I insist: people of today will not or misunderstand these vows.

Poverty today means: not have enough to live. Food is daily unsecured, housing is poor, your power is minimal, you have a bad image and a painful existence. There is no hope
of development. Mostly: paid is the helper, not you.
The Namibian State and the society and the business etc... All like to eradicate poverty.
cf. "Poverty: history"  cf. New Ministry
But in the Rom.Cath.Church - there is a group of people they like poverty...  more: they profess a vow to live in poverty - very strange. But they only make a vow. In reality they never live i n poverty. Their lives are secured, not painful. They live a moderate  life.

Obedience. As we now  it's a military discipline. The commander orders you to shoot and you have to do it; without any objection. Your will is not asked for... Sometimes it's the same in business; there is an order; you have to do it. And as a pupil -you have to do the home-work; you like it or not. And in traffic - there is a stop-sign; you have to stop. Sorry - life is not going without obedience. And your God is the great Commander cf. dekalog etc...
But in public and at home we educate people to use their won thinking and to decide to do what you see is right to do; only if you are not able to grasp the intention of the order - do what is ordered (it is supposed the order knows better than you).
In the Rom.Cath.Church some people don't like to see by themselves what is right. For them: right is obedience. They don't strive to discover what is to do; they don't develop a own will - it's better to be obedient. The Bishop, the Superior knows better.

Chastity means: not to be sexually active. The abstinence may be for some people a good choice; we hope a healthy one. We know everybody is called to build up good relationships, friendships - "love each other" is a biblical call. The vow of chastity came under suspicion because of the Church-Image: to be against sexuality. The Church has framed sexuality into the marriage and is well known about homophobia. Can we not find a name, a word better explaining the well-intended purpose? Chastity is also under the suspicion that you have chosen Jesus Christ as the bridegroom (cf.  the history of Mysticism) or the famous belief "God is my all", underlying the old dualism: God or humans. No trace of Incarnation.

I'm not against the vows - please - but we should find a better word; a word explaining more clearly the ground-intention...
                                                                                              to bring a solution soon...

Okakarara FRUST / I'm angry...

The facts: for Sunday 06.09.2015 / Sun 23 B / I'm on the plan for the Catholic Community of Okakarara at 09h !! On this Sunday Namibia changed at 02h/am the time from (yester-day) 09h to (today) 10h.at 08h55 (new/today-time) after 100km I'm before the church; the gate closed.at 09h25 (today-time) Mr. D arrived arrived (yesterday-time 10h25!!)
                                   He opened gate and church.at 09h35 (today-time) Mrs Cty-leader arrived  (y-time 10h35!!) Mr. D + Mrs Cty-L claim: they didn't get from the Parish the liturg.Sunday-plan
/ they don't know about my coming...  at 09h55 Mrs A came...  at 10h (today-time) 3 people present! Where is the Cty ??? we should start at 09h...

At 10h15 (today-time) after waiting for 80 minutes I decided to go...I felt pity about the Cty; too lame or refusing to show up...  but why ???

Causal-Analysis-Remarks:1. The time-change is not the problem; if they have missed the time-change,
they would be present at least at 10h !!!
2. "No liturg. plan" is not the problem. Everybody knows: at 09h is every Sunday Holy Service / plan or no plan.
3. It's not an action against Vic. Leu / they didn't know I'm on the plan !!!
4. I suspect: The Community lacks leadership ! Responsible for a good leadership in the Cty is the Parish-Priest.
I fear in the Seminary they have learnt how to pray, how to live a pious life,
how to celebrate - but they didn't learn how to build a Community.
Do you remember: COMMUNITY SERVING HUMANITY !!!
They are convinced the Holy Spirit will do the pastoral work if they pray only enough. Therefore my proposal:
We should organize the 4th Sun of January every year as an all-priest-meeting to give over officially the pastoral care into the hands of the Holy Spirit...
then priests would be free to do on Sundays what they want most...  Holidays,
Priest-meetings, Excursions, Holy Mass... it doesn't matter: the Holy Spirit is in charge; priests don't count.The Rom.Cath.Church in Namibia will blossom
like now the nature in Spring-time.

CARE for CHRISTIANITY

Dear highly respected Mr. Rambler  / THE NAMIBIAN  Fri  14.08.2015
Believe me, I'm a Fan of your column; reading every edition! But the edition 140815 has offended me...  me as a theologian and psychologist, as a Priest of the Rom.Cath.Church.
I felt you delivered me a deep-beat (destructive), not a high-beat (awakening).
I'm a table-tennis-player; may I beat the ball back...

A) Do you attack Christianity or some Form of Christianity ???
1. Your column shows me again the fact: Christianity as a whole and in all its realization is incomprehensible! Such a sentence inter-weaved into your text would be a high-beat... thank you! Let me bring in a picture: For a Namibian, the Ocean is like a miracle and in fact incomprehensible. But if I like to touch the Ocean, I have to decide: go to Swakopmund, to
Luederitz or Terra-Bay...  I also have to decide the time: I like to touch the high tide or the low tide. I'm never able to touch the Ocean as such. My personal touching is by nature highly fragmentary; the Community-touching is middle fragmentary; the touching of the whole Church is great fragmentary; all our understanding is limited, framed. It means: The teaching and the behaviour of the Church during all the 2000 years is incomprehensible,
to understand only fragmentary; it's in the nature of the matter. Therefore every temporary form of Christianity (Church) has strong and weak sides; I'm glad you open the eyes of the readers for this fact: touch the Ocean means "practicing Christianity in your own situation with all the given conditions" and more: always to re-form.
cf. Cornel West: "The fire of a new Generation ".

2. "Christianity is dangerous". How true! (This is a high-beat). "Love each other..." what
a challenge for everybody!!! for the rich and the poor; for the politician and the business-people, for the teacher and the girl... for the pastor and the atheist... "Whatever positive spinoffs Christianity ever brought us have been largely outdone by the immense misery it brings". It means: the Christians, declared as holy during the last 2000 years have caused the misery of today! - incomprehensible. "If only their intention were to really rid their Communities of the scourge of the Christian belief". This is hope for a Namibian without Christianity - good luck!  "Christianity promotes a culture of violence, even today" - if true, our State (Mr. Hage Geingob & Co) has the duty to forbid Christianity.

3. The "non-existent deity, who sits and eat ice-cream on a cloud next to is father, who is also him, who was born of a women never had sex" (Church-language: Jesus conceived
by the Holy Spirit) - this is incomprehensible (esp. for people thinking only in the frame of biology). Until today: some Christians have decided to change the narrow frame of understanding and to believe: every human being is conceived by the Holy spirit (Child of God) - such a "believe" is incomprehensible; it's a healing decision. And the Jesus-story is only the start of such a belief.

B) The discernment of the Spirit.  Again a picture: I like T-bone rear. The bone I don't eat; the fat I cut away. The Christianity "rear" I like it; it's of today - on the way to search for the future shape. But I'm convinced: Christianity is incarnated into Churches. Churches are the different collective Forms of Christianity; due to Culture and Nature. The indispensable bones - hard conservative churches of yesteryear - not to digest. The fat of the T-bone: - churches of Mercedes / "evil organizations" (in your language) / "economy-churches" / "pay to me for God's intervention" - are a deviation of Christianity. But the nature shows us: deviation is happening quite often. The title of your column "Shut These Damn Churches" asks to much. I propose: wake up the main-Churches... purify the branches. I under- stand: Your column is targeted on "these branches" - but your language tells me more: away with Christianity.

C) CCN !!!  Come-on Cheat Nobody...    a proposal
1. No Christian Church without registration with the CCN.
2. CCN has to create criteria for new Churches.  
3. CCN must be consulted by the State in all Church-matters.
4. CCN has not to foster "I believe" (it's the work of the Churches) but to empower people
             to think... ("Unthinking masses being the biggest of its [the the Churches] footprint" -                                what an offence if not true!).
5. CCN must propose a Confirmation-curriculum: "The management of our Life-style".

I wish you a lot of readers - able to extract a real profit out of your social engagement.
Otjiwarongo 03.09.2015                                                                   Vic. Hans Leu