On our last full day in Ethiopia, Fr. Alexander, local superior of the Community of St. John, took us on an excursion up a nearby mountain overlooking Addis Ababa. It was the home of the Ethiopian rulers before the founding of Addis Ababa - a beautiful, cool height covered with fragrant eucalyptus trees. As we were ascending, we saw many women coming down carrying heavy loads of eucalyptus branches.
Woman carrying eucalyptus wood.
Situated in the midst of the eucalyptus forest on top of Entoto is the Ethiopian Orthodox Church of St. Raguel (Raphael), built by the Emperor Menelik II more than a hundred years ago. Prior to the construction of this building, the liturgy as far back as 700 years ago in a cave on the grounds.
St. Raguel Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Entoto.
The shape of Orthodox churches in Ethiopia is round. Just inside is a corridor that runs all the way around the structure. In the center of the building is the "Holy of Holies," where the actual liturgy is celebrated and only the priests may enter. This inner chamber is divided into three parts, one for the Father, one for the Son and one for the Holy Spirit. In the part dedicated to the Father is kept the tabot, the replica of the Ark of the Covenant. The walls of the Holy of Holies facing the corridor where the laity participate in the Eucharist are adorned with vividly colorful icons depicting scenes from the life of Christ and other events and personages from the Bible or Church history (see photos below).
The cave previously used for the Divine Liturgy. This portion was the "Holy of Holies," divided into three parts, one for each of the Persons of the Trinity.
As it turns out, almost at the same time that Jamie and I arrived in Ethiopia, Fr. Bernard and Br. Bonaventure (a newly ordained deacon) of our community also flew into Addis Ababa to direct a series of retreats and seminars for the Missionaries of Charity. Br. Bonaventure was able to join us for the outing.
An Ethiopian pilgrim greeting Br. Bonaventure.
Icon of the Theotokos, Mother of God.
The Last Judgment.
The Dormition ("Falling Asleep") of the Theotokos (Jesus is holding the soul of Mary, represented as a child).
Jesus appears to Thomas and the other Apostles.
The three young men in the fiery furnace - a very popular image in Ethiopian piety.
St. George and the Dragon.
St. Antony of the Desert.
The deposition of Christ.
Jesus healing a blind man.
The woman with a hemorrhage touching the garment of Jesus.
Some of the more than 200 youth who attended the Pentecost encounter.
We had a number of different activities planned for our just over one week stay in Ethiopia. We attended prayer meetings, met with Church and lay leaders, visited several significant sites in the greater Addis Ababa area, and even attended a presentation about an early Spainsh/Portuguese Jesuit missionary, Pedro Páez.
Jamie accompanying the joint choir in "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High."
The main event that was planned in conjunction with our visit, though, was a Pentecost Day encounter for the Catholic youth of the Archdiocese of Addis Ababa. Because the Catholic Church in Ethiopia follows the liturgical calendar of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Pentecost was celebrated one week later there, enabling Jamie and I to celebrate that great solemnity twice this year. The Brothers of St. John coordinate the office of youth ministry for the archdiocese, and organized the event with several of the larger Catholic communities in the capital. It took place in the Capuchin church of Holy Savior in the center of town. We had the pleasure of having lunch with those friars earlier that week.
Eritrean youth performing a skit.
The day was composed of a number of different activities, including songs sung by several different parish youth choirs. Jamie helped accompany the combined choir in an English-Amharic version of Lord, I Life Your Name on High. The Eritrean refugee youth group did an amazing job of performing a skit that depicted our creation, separation from God and our return to Him through Jesus. In a multi-lingual setting (the Eritreans speak Tigrigna). A few days later we got together with those same refugee youth to show them the Jesus film in Tigrigna.
Fr. Herald speaking about the Holy Spirit (photo of Uganda Martyrs in the background).
I was asked to give the main talk on the day's theme: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and then you will by My witnesses (Acts 1:8)." I tried to answer the question "what kind of power?" by using four symbols of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament: Fire from Heaven- the power of love, Living Water - the power of new life; the Breath of God - the power of the truth, and Holy Anointing - the power of freedom. Since that day, June 3, was also the feast of the Uganda Martyrs, it was a great opportunity to present them as an amazing example of the Holy Spirit working powerfully in the lives of Africans.
The day concluded with a prolonged time of Eucharistic Adoration followed by Benediction. At the back of the sanctuary in the crypt chapel of Holy Savior (where the event took place) is a map of the entire world, flanked by two images of St. Francis of Assisi. It was a great backdrop against which to meditate and pray. This kind of extended silent adoration is something new for the Ethiopian Rite Catholics, as were many of the other elements of the day. But all was extremely well received by the youth and others who attended, and was a small but significant step for Catholic youth ministry in the country.
Left to right: Br. Iovane, Jamie, Fr. Alexander, Bishop Lesamu, Fr. Herald, Fr. John
I'm sorry that it's been more than two weeks since my last posting. On May 29, Jamie and I flew from Entebbe (Kampala), Uganda to Addis Ababa. We were extremely grateful to be welcomed by the Community of St. John (based in France), who have been working there for about three years. Our friars have often served alongside the Brothers of St. John in YOUTH 2OOO retreats and at event like World Youth Day.
Painting of the Queen of Sheba visiting King Solomon (in the Ethiopia National Museum)
Once again I was deeply impressed by the beauty, complexity and antiquity of Ethiopian culture. There is a strongly held belief that the Ethiopian emperors were direct descendants of King Solomon through the Queen of Sheba, who is thought to have been from Ethiopia. Related to this is the conviction that the Ark of the Covenant was brought by Menelik (the son of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon) to Ethiopia, and is kept to this day in the Church of St. Mary of Zion in Axum, near the Eretrean border. This helps to explain the strong Old Testament influence in Ethiopia Christianity, and the mysterious presence of Ethiopian Jews who lived in the country for centuries.
Giant public statue of the Lion of Judah in downtown Addis Ababa
Haile Selassie, the last of the emperors was overthrown in the 1970s by the Communists led by Haile Marium Mengitzu, and the current government has been shaped by that socialist history.
Communist monument (topped by a red star) in downtown Addis Ababa.
Additionally, Islam has coexisted with the other elements of Ethiopian society and culture for centuries, and it's presence is growing.
Mosque in downtown Addis Ababa.
Despite the fact that historically Ethiopia has been somewhat isolated as a country, the influence of secular Western culture is increasing.
A modern commercial building, complete with a Pizza Hut on the third floor.
A new building with an ultramodern design.
It's interesting to see how developing countries view the US and our leaders.
One of the many colorful fruit stands scattered throughout the capital.
And yet Ethiopia continues to be a country with a "foot in each world," so to speak. There are a surprising number of homeless and even mentally ill people living on and sleeping in the streets, and the specter of poverty and hunger seems to be lurking in many corners.
A mentally ill man dressed in plastic rags.
In the midst of all these complex and convergent factors, Ethiopia is a country of deep faith, in which Christianity has existed for more than 1,000 years. While most of the country (almost half) are Ethiopian Orthodox, the tiny Catholic population of 800,000 (less than 1%) is surprisingly vital and frutiful. I was privileged to concelebrate Pentecost Sunday Mass (observed one week later than in the Latin Rite calendar) at St. Mary Church, Cabana.
St. Mary Ethiopian Rite Catholic Church, Cabana, Addis Ababa
Fr. John (right) and I (left) concelebrating Pentecost Mass in the Ethiopian Rite.
The main altar at the Catholic Uganda Martyrs Shrine.
Jamie and I finished our time in Kampala last Wednesday, May 23. All in all it was a full week for us in the Ugandan capital. All told we visited a total of seven different sections of the Ugandan prison system: Remand, Murchison Bay, Kigo, Maximum and Condemned - all men, and the women's sections at Kigo and Luzira. In addition, we assisted at seven Masses at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Matugga, four of them as part of their pre-Pentecost novena. In addition, we participated in the weekly prayer meeting at Christ the King Parish in downtown Kampala.
An outdoor sculpture depicting the martyrdom of St. Charles Lwanga.
A visit to Kampala would not have been complete, however, without seeing the Uganda Martyrs Shrine in Namogongo. We were able to stop at both sites: the Church of Uganda shrine where most of the martyrs gave their lives in witness to Christ, and the Catholic basilica built over the spot where Charles Lwanga, the leader of the Catholic martyrs, was immolated.
On Thursday, we headed north of the city to Emmaus Centre for Catholic Discipleship and Evangelization, to help lead the weekend Pentecost retreat that began that evening. We were collaborating with Fr. Stash who facilitated the retreat.
Jamie helping to lead worship.
The weekend consisted in several sessions each day, Mass and evening times of prayer and ministry. The themes, of course, all had to do with the Holy Spirit: His renewing and purifying power, the call to holiness and transformation, how He helps us to pray, His role as the Advocate, and the prophetic quality He imparts to the Word of God.
Reading the Gospel at Pentecost Mass.
The culmination of the retreat was Mass on Pentecost morning, presided by Fr. Stash. It lasted more than three hours and the congregation was exuberant.
Blessing small children after Communion.
The congregation praying for us at the end of Mass.
Fr. Stash and me.
I really liked this guy's jacket.
A special blessing for me and one of the reasons for the time at Emmaus was the opportunity to visit two youth from the Comboni group in Torit, Samuel Oryem and Elizabeth Pasquale, both of whom we are sponsoring in the nine-month discipleship formation program at Emmaus. They are part of a larger group of 11 youth which also includes Ugandans and Tanzanians. I was very proud and grateful to God to see how much they are learning and growing spiritually. I was also privileged to contribute to their formation by giving a morning of teaching on the role of the laity in the Church, referring to Blessed Pope John Paul's Apostolic Exhortation The Lay Members of Christ's Faithful. As Blessed John Paul reiterates, lay people are really on the "front lines" of the Church, especially now in the New Evangelization.
Samuel Oryem Paul and Elizabeth Pasquale from South Sudan.
James Murla graduated from St. Vincent
College in Latrobe, PA in 2005 with a BS in math and a minor in physics. He
currently works as a health physicist at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia.
What does a “health physicist” do? Basically he trains technicians to enforce
health and safety standards when dealing with radiation. But that’s just what
he does to pay the bills. Another big part of his life has been working in
youth and music ministry at Ascension Catholic Church in Virginia Beach for the
past seven years.
Jamie first met Fr. Herald in Honduras on
a mission trip in 2005. Since then, Jamie has traveled back to Honduras twice
for short-term missions, and worked together with Fr. Herald in leading several
retreats for the lay Catholic community Missioners of Christ. It was through
his involvement with Missioners that Jamie also met and started working with
Dr. Will Stallings.
Now the three of us have come together
for an exciting and unique opportunity to minister to, learn from and walk
beside God’s people in Africa.
Last Wednesday, May 16, Will, Jamie and I
all departed from the Juba airport: Will to Nairobi then on to the US, Jamie
and I (after a cancelled flight and an all-day wait) to Entebbe (Kampala),
Uganda.
We were warmly welcomed by the Polish
Conventual Franciscans who staff the recently formed St. Francis of Assisi
Church, located a few miles north of Kampala on the main road. The friars have
been there for three years and recently moved into their newly finished
residence. One of the classrooms on the ground floor of the
still-under-construction school serves as the temporary parish church. They
hope to begin construction on a proper church in the near future, after the
school is finished.
A quarry with a shallow pond and water lilies on the hill behind the parish.
The friary (orange roof, left) and school (red roof, center) from above.
The school, still under construction.
The temporary parish church on the ground floor of the school.
A good part of the outreach we’ve been
doing in the Kampala area has been in conjunction with a Franciscan prison
ministry team. We’ve been joining them in visiting a different section of the
prison system each day. So far we’ve hit remand and Murchison Bay; later this
week we’ll visit maximum, condemned and women’s. The visits include praise and worship, led by Jamie, a
talk about Easter and the Holy Spirit, sometimes Mass and finally praying with
and over the inmates. The prisoners have been amazingly open and responsive,
and the sessions have been exceptionally blessed. Unfortunately, because of
prison regulations, we haven’t been able to take any photos of these activities.
Jamie teaching a song at an outdoor Mass for small Christian community.
Fr. Herald preaching while the catechist translates into Luganda.
Fr. Wojtek receives a chicken as part of the offertory.
One evening we also had the opportunity
of celebrating Mass for the owners and employees of Delight Uganda (producer of
Cheers juices) in Kampala on the site of their production facility. This is a
company that has gone out of its way to provide jobs for those in need of
employment, as well as having invested economically in South Sudan. Again, the
enthusiastic response was overwhelming.
Fr. Simon and altar servers at Sunday Mass.
This past weekend we were very happy to
plug into activities with the friars at St. Francis Parish, joining Fr. Wojtek
for a small Christian community Mass in one of the outlying areas of the
parish, and concelebrating and preaching with Fr. Simon at the two Sunday
Masses at the school.
The Sunday collection, including potatoes, matoke (green plantains) and two chickens.
On Sunday afternoon it was a special joy to catch up with Agnes Kiyimba, and meet her daughter Mary Nicolette. I married Dennis and Agnes in Kampala in December 2010, and their daughter Mary was born last November. I worked closely with Dennis in South Sudan while I was stationed there, and we just saw him in Torit last week. Their daughter is a beautiful, peaceful, joyful baby who has the special blessing of having two faith-filled, committed Catholics for parents.
