Posted by The WORD in other words (2006) by Fr Florencio Lagura SVD – New Jersey, USA
Friday 1st Week in Ordinary Time
That year’s Holy Week in the Ramu River village of Madang, Papua New Guinea was really special as the people prepared for the reception of practically all the sacraments, except ordination. People felt elated in as much as a priest could visit the marshy and mosquito-infested place only once in a great while. During the Easter Vigil people confessed, got married, had their children baptized and confirmed, received communion and some of them even brought their sick with them for holy anointing. All in a space of three hours.
The local catechist did his best to instruct and prepare these people of God for the reception of the various sacraments. Bold and assertive, the villagers would not accept any of their members being refused the sacraments on account of having missed a session or two of preparatory classes or seminars, for some had to be absent to fish, hunt or till the fields.
As for the slow-learners the rest of the tribe claimed that on their own and by the light of the bonfires they lit, they held lively discussions on the faith where everyone in the clan and families had better chances to understand. The tribal leaders vouched for the preparedness of their members to receive with some degree of understanding and, of yet greater importance for them, with sincere appreciation of the sacraments which for them are truly encounters with the Lord.
While many from the Western world stress personal, individual profession of faith in the Lord, the good people of the Ramu River take the sacraments as a communitarian act. As bands or tribes of believers professing their faith according to the age-old Nicene tradition by saying, “WE believe in One God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth…”, they meet the Lord, not so much as individuals, but as a community bound by faith in the most important events of their lives, ranging from birth to sickness and death.
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