Articles
By Fr. Jean-Marie Nsambu
To many, it does not matter how long you spend away from home; the attachment on return is always exciting. It has been the same for me whenever I take a vacation in Uganda, from mission work abroad. The dusty potholed roads, the crazy vehicular and human traffic on the roads and streets in the city are welcoming. It is home again! Now and then, you still have to grope around in the dark, with our load shedding or sporadic blackouts. And pipe-water still runs dry in the house for one or more days. This is something we should tell tourists to brace for as they visit.
But Uganda is still the number one destination I would rather be for my holidays. The friendly people, in spite of the depressing politics and pitiable economics, do afford to smile the country’s fate away. You will notice their desolation, however, when they engage you! Many of those you will offer a ‘hi’ on the street or wherever, will want to vent out a frustration. And they will want to wind it up by asking for a favor.
A smiley nation turned into a bunch of begging citizens! A very hardworking people reduced to mainly street urchins, if not providers of cheap labor in the Arab world. Many elite energetic young people are gearing themselves for politics. Few of them because they want to change what’s going on. But, so they too can get a living; dishearteningly, grab what is left for poor Ugandans. That we have reduced our homeland to something so base, still boggles my mind. How much more should those with access to power and resources grab, before they feel for the millions alienated? What will it take to restore our country, if the leadership and Uganda’s natural resources are but additional unhelpful statistics? Moreover, it seems even that our prayer is so dry of intention and resultant content.
Is there room in our hearts to draw us to the basics? Do we have the strength to return to wherever we may have lost Him? It is sad for majority of us to believe we are for God. That we belong to the Father, through His Son, Jesus, by the grace of the Spirit. Yet, we disregard our own brothers and sisters. And indeed, we are part of collapsing our nation. The Catholic Church in her wisdom helps us to begin the New Year with celebrating the great mystery of Mary Mother of God, who helps us reflect on what we can do to make our homes and our country better.
I had the honor to celebrate Mass at Our Lady of Africa Mbuya parish, on January 1st, 2019. My reflection centered on the Blessed Virgin Mary and I challenged myself, as well as my fellow congregants, what our treasure is today. That, where our treasure is, then there as well, will our hearts be!
To have fruitful storing of any treasure to transform our lives, Mother Mary is our ‘model par excellence’. She can point us better to Jesus, our savior and redeemer, that we may render good to others and to Uganda as a whole. As the Holy Father, Pope Francis has reminded us, humanity, which is the love and care for fellow man, is built upon mothers. He articulated in his homily on the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God: “A world that looks to the future without a mother’s gaze is shortsighted. It may well increase in its profits, but it will no longer see others as children. It will make money, but not for everyone. We will all dwell in the same house, but not as brothers and sisters.”
His words couldn’t be more challenging for our country. Beneath the smiles on the streets are the bleeding hearts of hypocrisy and/or sheer misery of many Ugandans. Sometimes these manifest in the most cruel of ways. But the beauty of welcoming a new year is always to find opportunities to better ours and other people’s lives. If this be done in the most descent of ways! So, here again is a chance to make this home the best of places, ‘for God and our country’.
