One time I visited a certain religious community, which was celebrating its day of their founder. From the look of things, everything was well prepared, and it was clear that everyone had offered themselves to the fullest to prepare the feast of their founder. When however, the superior of the community stood to talk, we were left in shock.
By Jonah M. Makau *
He said, “it is with great sadness that I announce to you that someone in our community is siphoning money from the accounts of the community. He has even sued me and the Institute for certain flimsy claims”. As you may have guessed, we who had been invited, were stunned. The members of the community were ashamed. There was a sudden silence in the dining room, followed by whispers as people tried to guess who the superior was talking about. People could be seen throwing suspicious glances at one another, each trying to read the face of his neighbour for betraying signs.
The silence of the superior complicated the matters, as shock got transformed into anger. The whispers turned into real speech. People could be heard asking, “but why did the superior say such a thing in this event?” Some were annoyed that someone who had been in the community could do such a thing as steal from the community and decide to destroy the image of the superior. Others were annoyed that the superior had chosen to speak like that during such an important day. As you might have predicted, the joy of the feast was ruined. The happy faces suddenly became pale and the smile faded as fast as they had appeared. To avoid further embarrassment, I excused myself saying that there was a place I needed to go. That was however after one of the members of the community left the room down casted, followed by telling whispers from his confreres.
The episode you have read is the episode we read a few days ago. Of course, I have just fabricated this story to express a message. The fabricated story mimics the episode of the last supper. As they were eating, Jesus said, “In truth I tell you that one of you will betray me”. On Palm Sunday and on Good Friday we read how the atmosphere changed after Jesus said that statement. There was a confusion, as each began saying “is it not I lord?”. The episode ended with the departure of Judas Iscariot, probably annoyed that his plan seemed to have leaked to his master and victim. Some of us were left asking, “but how could Jesus speak like that in such an important day?” Some of us remained annoyed that Judas Iscariot became a betrayer after benefiting from Jesus and the apostolic community. It was clear evidence that he was an ungrateful opportunist.
Today, a week after the event, and after the emotional turmoil, we can calmly and objectively go back to the episode and try to deduce why Jesus chose particularly that day to give that message. A keen look at the event shows that Jesus wanted to wake up the apostles into the events that were approaching. Although Jesus had spoken three times about his death, some of his disciples were still aloof. This explains why they were arguing about who among them was great. And that was happening precise and exactly at the same event of the last supper (Lk. 22:24). It was not the first time that the disciples were quarrelling and competing for attention and greatness (Mt. 20:17-28).
In short, Jesus wanted to reveal plainly the truth that his disciples had not understood up to that moment: only through death that life would sprout again. It was one thing to be around Jesus, it was another thing to understand him. Even for us today, it is one thing to be a consecrated person, it is another thing to be a true disciple of Jesus. Like Judas Iscariot, it possible to live in the religious communities, and yet have many hidden plans and ambitions, that most of the time go against the goals of the Religious Institute and the will of God. This is an invitation to evaluate ourselves and to conform our lives to that of Christ.
Finally, the words of Jesus in the last supper are a lesson to all of us. At least we have seen how words can favour or destroy the atmosphere of a community. Jesus being God, was sure of the resurrection after three days. Through the resurrection it was possible to reverse any “damage” his words may have created in the lives of the apostles. Even for Judas Iscariot who ended up committing suicide (Mt. 27:1-10), Jesus as God had a way of sorting out the issue from the other side of life.
For us who are mere human beings, we should be very careful of the words we use in the community. They may seem harmless, and even useful, but any misplaced word can alter the atmosphere of the community forever, or destroy forever people’s faith, reputation and self-esteem. We, who have no “resurrection after three days” must learn the weight of our words and the consequences of our utterances. Any wrong word can destroy what the Lord has constructed in the history of the Institute through the sacrifices of the lives of many confreres. May the easter season be a period of constructing what we have destroyed through our reckless talks. I wish you a happy Easter season.
* Fr. Jonah M. Makau, IMC, is taking a course of postulation in the Lateran Pontifical University in Rome.
