Missionaries From Africa? Bring It On!

Thousands of Irish Catholics left Europe for the wilds of Africa, braving heat and disease to bring the message of Christ to heathen animists. But today's missionaries are working in the opposite direction. They're native Nigerians who talk about healing the secular sickness of the West. And these Catholic Africans are crossing the oceans in unprecedented numbers to return the favor Western missionaries once paid them.

"They have a saying: 'Africa has AIDS, but North America has theological AIDS,' " said Philip Jenkins, a professor of religious studies at Penn State who studies Christianity in developing nations. " 'Our continent's being devastated by one thing. Yours is being devastated by another.' " ...

"The Europeans came to evangelize us, and we thank them for it," said Casimir Osigwe, who is nearing his ordination as a Catholic priest. "Now it is our turn to evangelize them. We have something to give."

The Dallas Morning News has been running some stories about the vitality of Africans' Catholic faith and I thing we could use it. That analogy about theological AIDS sure hit home to me. Bring it on. We could use some passionate evangelism to remind us of the joys and promise of our faith and sweep us out of the everlasting discussions about following or not following Church teachings. I think we are suffering a Holy Spirit drought and that new blood would remind us of our true Christian roots. And that is not the only thing they could bring us.

The biggest adjustments are often ceremonial. Nigerian Masses can feature hours of singing, swaying and dancing. Western services are, well, dull in comparison.

"When I came here, I asked: If I was a layperson, would I be going to church at all?" said the Rev. Ernest Munachi Ezeogu, a Nigerian-born priest who now works in Toronto.

"The answer was no. There is no life, no joy. People come to fulfill a duty, not because they want to celebrate Christ."

In this story from Saturday's DMN Religion section, I read about 4 and 6 hour Catholic services held in African churches. That thought filled me with amazement. Who could stand it? Were the people's lives that boring to make such long services a welcome distraction? Then after reading the above quote it occurred to me that maybe the people are there because they actually enjoy it, because they are getting joy out of worshipping. Wow! What a concept! The idea of looking forward to a 4 hour service of praising God? I'd like some of that. Bring it on! This brought me naturally to what Steven Riddle had written about changing churches after finding one that filled him with the joy of worship. I was jealous when I read about it then ... and then again this morning when I read what he wrote today, in the middle of a discussion of country music.

Not your traditional Latin Mass, but it sent me out of Church on fire and alive. Don't ask me why, but the music lifted me up and brought me into His presence in a way few things have done in a long time. I'll be among those who praise the glories of the diversity available in the Mass. So long as you don't mess with the prayers, I can take in a wide variety of Masses. I've been to a Calypso Mass, a Creole Mass, a Mariachi Mass, an African Drum Mass, and several Asian varieties of the Mass, and each was beautiful in its own right. Now, I'm not sure I'd want a steady diet of any of these--but the Youth Mass at our Church is just fine with me. Late enough in the day that I can actually sing, and giving praise to God at my "peak time" is surely worth the time and energy.

Steven Riddle at Flos Carmeli