HEALING BORDER CONFLICTS BY FAITH

HOMILY FOR THE 20^TH SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Communities and countries of the world are so interested in boundaries, and even time and again fight over them. The war fought between America and Mexico between 1846 and 1848 was as a result of a conflict over border. This war was refreshed and stretched between 1910 and 1918. Between the years 1879 and 1883, three countries, Chile, Bolivia and Peru were also in war, which is now known as the war of the pacific. The Chaco war was fought between 1931 and 1935 by the countries of Bolivia and Paraguay. There was a battle over the lake of Khasan between the Soviet Union and Japan in 1938. Recently, there was a lingered conflict between Israel and Lebanon over the Shebaa farms during the years 2000 to 2006. India and Bangladesh had conflicts in 2001 over the Bangladeshi border. In 2012, Sudan and South Sudan experienced border conflicts, while between the years 2012-2014, Syria and Turkey had clashes over border. Down here in our country Nigeria, we all are aware of the Bakassi Peninsula case. 

Today, Bakassi Peninsula is governed by Cameroon, but before it all happened, there was boundary dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon. The long border area between Cameroon and Nigeria, extending from Lake Chad to the Gulf of Guinea has been a bone of contention between these two countries dating back to colonial period. In the early 1990s, there was a break-out of military confrontations between the two countries over this area. It took the intervention of the International Court of Justice to settle the case on the 10^th October 2002. Ever since, there had been uprisings around some portions of that area. In 2006, when the Bakassians threatened to seek independence if Nigeria renounced sovereignty, the Nigerian President, Olesugun Obasanjo sent Nigerian troops to calm the area. This is to show us that the conflicts lingered. There were interventions both from UN secretary then Kofi Annam and the Nigerian senate over this same peninsula, until it was finally handed over to Cameroon on 14^th August, 2008. The question comes: why this thirst over lands?

There is a paradigm that really does not recognize and fight over boundaries –the paradigm of faith. That is, the faith in Jesus which extends to all the earth. No one is excluded. Faith breaks all boundaries. In my one-year experience as a Catholic priest, one of the confirmed understandings I have made is that in faith, everyone has got an equal chance to believe and be saved by his/her belief. Faith knows no boundary. Faith assures acceptance of one in another distant land. It is as a result of faith that the Pope travels out of Rome to pay visits to various countries regardless of the colour and culture of the people. Faith is the background behind the pastoral visit of every Bishop to the parishes within his diocese but in different villages. One lives his/her nation and goes to another nation, and yet finds a community of believers, and within a twinkle of an eye is so comfortable in their midst without fear of being sabotaged or relegated; faith does it. In faith, there is but one culture.

In the First Reading (Isaiah 56:1.6-7), we hear the Lord giving equal opportunity of salvation to the people considered as foreigners in Jewish land. The salvation and the justice of the Lord are not for a particular clan or culture. These divine opportunities are for all. Foreigners living within Palestine were granted limited rights and protection (cf. Exod. 22:20, Deut. 10:19), but Isaiah proclaimed a message that broke these bounds extending full privileges to the foreigners, and more extensively to those living outside Palestine; the nekar. Everyone is welcomed and fully admitted into the community of God’s people. And so, the Prophet Isaiah unequivocally proclaimed salvation to foreigners; and that means to all. The whole of Isaiah 56 is regarded as “salvation for foreigners.” Inasmuch as the foreigner has faith in God and does his duties, he has an equal chance with the person considered as ‘son of the soil’ who has faith in God and does his duties too.

In the Gospel (Matt. 15:21-28), this message was sounded so clearly by Jesus to his disciples in a dramatic way. This event foreshadowed the spread of the Gospel worldwide and God’s own desire that all barriers are broken down. A Canaanite woman came to Jesus for help. The son was possessed by a demon. Jesus gave the impression of sending her away. The woman insisted even when her importance was undermined. Jesus then passed his message: O woman, great is your faith. Jesus meant to tell the disciples that faith breaks the division existing in the mind of almost every Jew. This woman cried not for herself but for her daughter. She loved so deeply that she considered her daughter’s problem her own. Her love was more than the normal love and sympathy. We come to ask ourselves: how many of us can do same for our children? Many of our children are simply living under the influence of Satan, sin or shame of the devil. We are obliged as parents and friends to report the matter to Jesus. We must seek the Lord while he may be found and call on him while he is near (Isa 55:6).

Imagine how many of us would have our needs met if we interceded for one another as this woman did. This woman was not a Jew and yet recognized Jesus. She believed in the power of the Messiah. Her insistence (which manifests faith) proves it. As much as faith is involved, acceptance has to follow. We must be aware that this woman was a Canaanite, and the old Canaanites were the ancestral enemies of the Jews. One can imagine with what eye the disciples looked unto this woman coming for help. We must recall the fight for the land of Canaan, which was over land acquisition and possession. The message is clear. Faith heals boundary conflicts. Faith heals ancestral enmity. Faith heals the mind that projects hatred. It was not merely the healing of the girl that mattered, but there was also a healing of mentality in the disciples. For the Gospel of Jesus to be extended to the whole world, the disciples who would be the agents of this message must undergo a purgative exercise that would make their minds to accept every person. That is what Jesus achieved with this. It was all about faith.

This woman had faith. The encounter with Jesus made her faith to grow stronger. She began by calling Jesus Son of David which was somewhat a political title. This title looked on Jesus in terms of earthly glory and power. She ended by calling Jesus Lord, which was a title which looked on Jesus in terms of heavenly power and glory. Her faith was persistent. It was undiscourageable. She came to Jesus because Jesus was her hope. Her faith was cheerful and patient. Even in the midst of trouble, she was passionately in earnest, and yet could smile. God loves a cheerful faith, the faith with a smile which can light the gloom. Remember that there were only two people whose faith Jesus commended and pronounced to be great: this woman’s and the centurion. It is worth noting that both of them were Gentiles. We all are connected by this same faith. But what is a great faith? It is a desperate cry of need (v. 22). It is a persistence that will not quit (vv.23-24). It is a spirit that worships Jesus as Lord (v. 25). It is a spirit of humility and surrender to the Lord (vv. 26-27). It is a faith that receives its request (v.28).

As human beings and as Christians today, we tend to build walls around ourselves to demarcate ourselves from others. We create boundaries even by ourselves and exclude others because they are not ‘like us.’ We pride ourselves with the ‘son of the soil’ syndrome which eats deep into the fabric of unity that is characterized by the Christian faith. We give others names to show their non-belongedness from us. In our domestic families, we tend to create divisions that only serve to erode the morality of our homes. Children tend to let go the faith handed down by their parents to follow theirs, and in a fanatical way create tensions in homes. We as a community must work to allow our common faith to break the boundaries the human society and culture in different strata has created. We pray our common faith helps us to achieve a common humanity built on a common goal. Amen. Happy New Week. God bless you.