Light from Light has shone in the world with the Resurrection of our Lord! Light from Light shone here too, on the equator of Africa, so far from home. Christ is risen! This world-saving news is the truth, it is the good news that we live and carry. The Holy Light is an event that calls us to see the faces of others with the Light of Life and not with the shadow of death. As Christ was revealed to us after the Resurrection, so we reveal the Risen Christ in the practice of love. Only one, living here, can understand what it is like to exist in a community newly born in time, persistently seeking to escape the futility of the old delusion in which for centuries it has been chained. In these places, to be Orthodox is first of all a rebellion against the enemy of habit. When we say in Th. Mass of the Basilica, in these places, the phrase “you have separated us from the error of idols”, we are talking about something everyday, something that exists around us!
Under these conditions we arrived once again in the land of the Pygmies, in the joy of the week of the Passover. Pastoral visit to the northernmost tip of Congo-Brazzaville, on the border of our country with the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) and the Central African Republic. The serenity and beauty of the tropical nature is the first welcome, after the two flights required from the headquarters of the Holy Metropolis to here. After a short pilgrimage to the Holy Baptist-Saint Nicholas Parish Church, which has completed one year of its construction and inauguration, we ran with hearts filled with excitement to the bank of the Oubangui River. The twenty-two catechumens were awaiting Holy Baptism! Christ commanded throughout the ages. 28:19-20). Members of the two dominant tribes of the north, Pygmies and Bantu, receive Holy Enlightenment in the waters of their own river, which becomes their Jordan! Praise be to the Holy Name of the Triune God! “Going forth, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”
But baptism is only the beginning of the spiritual and redemptive journey that converts are beginning today. “Teach them to observe all that I have instructed you”! It is the turn of constant teaching, the evangelization of the faithful and the application of the Gospel imperatives in everyday life, the “good change” to form Christ-like personalities. Thus, on the morning of the Sunday of Thomas, we celebrated the Eucharist in the newly built Church, being born together and together brothers and sisters of Christ the Saviour, old and newly converted Orthodox! And with this power of unity in the Resurrection, we hastened to the settlement of our Pygmy brothers and sisters, in the rainforest, in their own native land. The Pygmies are a noble people. Although in earlier years they systematically avoided contact especially with the whites, having suffered from them during the years of colonialism, they are social with values, principles and secrets of the tribe that they strictly guard, consciously refusing to leave their ancestral homes and embrace the modern “western” way of life. They owe their name to Herodotus (5th century BC), who called them Pygmies (Pygmées in French) because they have a small body ‘the size of a fist’ (pygmy in ancient Greek). They were also known to the ancient Egyptians, who called them Aca. In other words, they were one of the oldest human tribes to survive to this day. They are considered the best trackers and the best hunters in the world. Consequently, they are constantly on the move following the herds of wild animals, depending on the annual migrations of game that take place in Africa during the rainy season.
To this people, then, the Light of Christ has already reached! Salt, soap, matches, toothpastes and toothbrushes, antipyretics and analgesics were our humble gifts, but the joy of the brothers was great, because they need them, they live with them. With salt they would preserve the meat of the hunt, with soap they would wash, with matches they would cook, light and warm themselves at night, with other articles they would take care of their health. And if with the above goods they are relieved practically, with Holy Communion they are shielded spiritually. This purpose is served by the construction of a hut in their own traditional way, which will be the orthodox “Chapel” of the forest! Our spiritual children listened to the pleading request of their Pastor a year ago and prepared their own holy place, so that the good and hard-working Chaplain of the North, Fr. Timotheos, to go every month near those who cannot for practical reasons move to the main Parish Church, to celebrate the Divine Liturgy there, to preach the Word of God constantly, to enlighten souls “teaching them to observe all that the Lord has inspired in them”.
My brothers and sisters, Christ calls us to a threefold process: soul-searching and the teaching of the faith (you who have gone on making disciples of the nations), baptism (baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit) and faithful application of His words (teaching them to observe all that I have inspired you). And after baptism has been effected and the teaching of the faith, catechesis and evangelism are ongoing. “I am with you all the days until the end of the age.” Yes, Lord, that is our ultimate goal, to meet with You! To meet and unite with You, without distinction of race, nation or language. Come, brethren, let us continue the Apostolic work! All together, united, offering practically and generously each one what he can give, whether it is a material good or a spiritual gift! The Lord, “who is the giver of heart and kidneys” awaits our good will!
† Brazzaville & Gabon Panteleimon
