Church leaders in Cameroon’s war-ravaged English-speaking regions have launched a campaign for children to go back to school, as the Central African country prepares for the start of the 2023-2024 academic year on September 4.

The campaign, dubbed “Stronger & Better Together- Back to School Message from Religious Leaders,” challenges parents to defeat fear and to send their children to school, but it also calls on the government to create a safe environment for the country’s children to study.

Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions have been embroiled in war since 2017, with separatists fighting to create a new nation to be called “Ambazonia.” According to many observers, education has become the war’s greatest casualty.

In a December 15, 2021, report titled, “They Are Destroying Our Future: Armed Separatist Attacks on Students, Teachers, and Schools in Cameroon’s Anglophone Regions,” Human Rights Watch describes attacks on schools as “systematic and widespread” which have left students and teachers dead or kidnapped and schools destroyed.

“These attacks, the resulting fear, and the deteriorating security situation have caused school closures, with two out of three schools shut across the Anglophone regions, denying over 700,000 students access to education,” the report states.

The rights organization documented 268 abductions of students and education professionals since 2017.

Clerics in the two regions say this can’t continue, because denying kids their fundamental right to education means denying them their future.

“I have said this in season and out of season. Accepted or unaccepted, persecuted or praised, children must go to school,” said Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda.

The archbishop, who also serves as the president of the Cameroon Bishops’ Conference, explained that “school is the only way to guarantee the future of our kids. School is the only way to guarantee the future of our nation. School is the only way to guarantee the goodness and the wellbeing of families. So, school has to go on.”

He encouraged parents to “do everything possible to leave no child behind come September 2023.”

The Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo, a flash point of separatist violence, called on those calling for a boycott of schools to desist.

“We are very concerned and interested to see that many more opportunities are given to our children to go back to school,” he said.

“Please, let our children go back to school,” Nkuo said. “Don’t block them from going to school. That means there should be no violence. Wherever the children are, they should find a place to go to school,” he pleaded.

He called on parents not to be “afraid” to send their kids to school.

Bishop Michael Bibi of Buea in the country’s South West region said that a fundamental function of the Church is also to foster the education of children.

“We don’t only preach the gospel,” Bibi said. “We encourage all our children to go to school.”

“As we prepare to begin another academic year, I will like to tell all our parents, all our brothers and sisters that education is important for each and every one of us and those of us who go to school, we are laying a future for ourselves,” the cleric said.

“If we deprive ourselves of education, it is not going to be of any benefit to us and the society but if we give opportunities for our children to be educated, that will go a long way to enable them to become responsible citizens in our nation,” Bibi said.

“It is with this in mind that I want to encourage all of you to facilitate a conducive environment for the academic year. I pray that God our loving Father will accompany us within the course of this academic year as we undertake our studies,” he said.

The Executive President of the Cameroon Baptist Convention, Rev. Dr. Charlemagne Nditemeh, added that there should be “a peaceful and enabling environment” in which children can study.

“No matter what we have as opinion, no matter what we have as differences or grievances, there is a very important need that in every context, we should create an enabling environment where children can go to school peacefully,” he said.

For the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, Rev. Fonki Samuel, the new academic year offers yet another opportunity “to change the mindset of children into responsible citizens.”

“I call on all parents to invest in our children for it is the best investment in life,” he noted.

He warned that “no one has the right to deprive our children the right to education. It is our responsibility as parents and government to make sure their right to education is respected.”

“I want to use this opportunity to plead with the government of Cameroon to grant free education to our children at the basic level,” Samuel said. “This will improve the literacy rate in Cameroon, for our nation’s development. If any society needs real growth, education is usually the magic. I pray that this academic year 2023/2024 will be a fruitful one for our children in this nation.”

Source: Crux

Catholic Bishops of Cameroon’s Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province have decried examination malpractice in the country’s 2023 session of the General Certificate of Education (GCE).

In their Tuesday, August 22 statement following a six-day meeting at Bishop’s House in Bamenda Archdiocese, members of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference (BAPEC) call for a collective effort of all education stakeholders to end the vice, which they describe as “alarming”.

“The alarming increase in the number and types of examination malpractices registered during the 2023 session of the GCE Examination is a subject of major concern to the Bishops,” BAPEC members say in the statement issued at the end of the 75th ordinary meeting that started on August 17.

They advocate for a collaborative approach, saying, “To adequately address this problem, we need the collective efforts of teachers, parents, religious denominations, and the Ministries in charge of education for the reinforcement of education in integrity, the establishment of discipline, and a culture of hard work and merit.”

The Catholic Church leaders further urge the GCE board to ensure “a better organization of the examination” and to adopt “measures that can reduce examination malpractices.”

In the statement that the Secretary General of BAPEC, Fr. Giles Ngwa Forteh, signed, the Bishops at the helm of Bamenda Archdiocese and the Dioceses of Kumbo, Kumba, Mamfe, and Buea also reaffirm their commitment to formal education as the Central African nation prepares to usher in a new academic year.

“As we approach the beginning of the 2023/2024 Academic Year, we reaffirm our commitment to education as a basic human right that works to raise men and women out of ignorance, poverty, and level of inequalities, and ensures sustainable development,” they say in their four-page statement following the meeting that concluded August 22.

Acknowledging with appreciation stakeholders’ efforts that made the 2022/2023 academic year a success, the Bishops make “a clarion call to all communities to work together towards the reopening of their schools during the new academic year so that our children are not left behind while the world advances.”

They caution those who have in the past prevented pupils and students from going to school urging them to reconsider their decision as they are “doing an irreparable damage to humanity and to their communities.”

In the August 22 statement, BAPEC members also express concern about the disrespect of human life and dignity in the West African nation following reported killings of civilians in the country’s Bamenda region.

They note “with deep regret the continuing and unfortunate situation of wanton killing, destruction of property and the attempt to manipulate and weaponized ethnic differences for the disruption of social cohesion.”

“No one should be misled; killing is a grave sin against the commandment of God: ‘Thou shall not kill’; stealing is a sin against the 7th commandment,” the Catholic Church leaders add in reference to the book of Exodus.

They call for “a fraternal openness that allows us to acknowledge, appreciate and love each other, regardless of physical proximity, regardless of where he or she was born or lives.”

Source: aciafrica.org

Catholic Bishops of Cameroon’s Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province have unveiled liturgical guidelines in response to lamentations about “aberrations” and practices that they have described as “foreign” to Catholic worship.

In their Tuesday, August 22 statement, members of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference (BAPEC) who include Local Ordinaries of Bamenda Archdiocese and the Dioceses of Kumbo, Kumba, Mamfe, and Buea provide five guidelines that they say are in line with Canon 835 § 1.

“For quite some time now, we have received numerous complaints about liturgical aberrations and the introduction of a wide range of practices which are completely foreign and even contradictory to Catholic piety and worship,” BAPEC members say in their statement following a six-day meeting at Bishop’s House in Bamenda Archdiocese.

The Catholic Bishops add, “As moderators, promoters, and guardians of the liturgical life of the Church entrusted to our care we, the Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda, acting in solidum, lay down the following liturgical guidelines.”

Offerings for Mass intentions

BAPEC members urge Priests to celebrate Holy Mass for the intention of the Christian faithful, especially the needy, even if they have not received an offering.

“The Church also instructs that Separate Masses should be applied for the intentions of those for whom a single offering, although small, has been given and accepted,” the Catholic Bishops say, making reference to Canon 948.

During the six-day meeting that concluded on August 22, the BAPEC members say they find it regrettable that the amount of 2,000 CFA Franc (US$3.30) that the Ecclesiastical Province established as offering for Holy Mass is sometimes not adhered to.

“It has been reported and verified that during retreats or meetings organized by some groups, this decision of the Bishops is changed,” BAPEC members say, and add, “The amount paid for Mass offering is reduced to 1,000 CFA Franc. This practice is manifestly wrong.”

They continue, “Those who truly do not have money can meet the Priest and ask for prayers; but if they intend to offer a Mass, they should make the sacrifice of paying the full amount of 2,000 CFA Franc.”

On Tithe, Catholic Bishops of Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province say that “the foregoing obligation will be fulfilled through the Christian Contribution Card System, which requires each Christian to pay 1% of their monthly income.”

They explain, “Priests are therefore not authorized to request or receive money as tithes or the ‘sowing of seeds,’ and Christians should strictly apply what the Bishops have laid down and be satisfied that they have fulfilled their obligation to the Lord.”

Mass Intentions at Funerals

“It is the serious obligation of the Pastor of the Parish to ensure that Mass offerings collected during funeral Masses for the purpose of celebrating Masses for the deceased are properly exonerated,” BAPEC members say.

They direct Parish Priests to “ensure that separate Masses are applied for the intentions of those for whom a single offering has been given and accepted (Canon 948).”

“This is not money to be distributed to concelebrating Priests,” the Catholic Church leaders clarify.

Collections in Learning Institutions

“In the understanding of our Provincial Pastoral Plan, the school or college is a Small Christian Community of and is pastorally dependent on the Parish within whose territorial jurisdiction it is planted,” BAPEC members say.

They go on to direct, “Money collected as Harvest Thanksgiving is part of the Thanksgiving of the Parish and should be forwarded to the Parish.”

Gifts in kind, cash

In their August 22 statement, BAPEC members fault prayer groups and individual members who donate some cash to the church during Eucharistic celebrations and follow up with directives on how it should be used.

“Such gifts are meant to contribute to the good of the Church and her works, and she has provided guidelines for their proper use,” the Catholic Church leaders say.

They add, “No one, not even the priest, can unilaterally dispose of such gifts as if they were personal property.”

Culled from aciafrica

Fr. Tatah Humphrey should most certainly be commended for his assiduous commitment to African scholarship. It is no small feat to have 25 books and counting under one’s belt. That is a number most scholars would envy. Though I am yet to get a copy of Studying the Faith of Our Ancestors: A New Approach to African Traditional Religion (it is not yet available on AMAZON), there are many statements that Fr. Tatah made in his August 12 Crux interview with Ngala Killian that faithful Catholic theologians would agree with. For example: Fr. Tatah asserts the historicity of the Incarnation of Jesus as the God-Man; he asserts the unicity and salvific universality of the Christ; he likewise asserts the mediatory place of the Church in the economy of the Christ-event. I very much appreciate the fact that Fr. Tatah highlights the necessity for inculturation rightly understood and implemented, which is mightily different from adaptation. Another strength of his interview is the case that he makes about Christianity not being a European religious expression. That Fr. Tatah decries what Engelbert Mveng famously characterized as Africa’s anthropological deficiency is also worth commending, for the African has much to offer global Catholicism, especially given the waning of Christian faith in large sectors of the Western world today.

In fact, I think the strongest part of Fr.Tatah’s interview could very well be these lines: “That God, historically, came into human history in the person of Jesus the Christ. We cannot deny that. That’s a historical fact. That Christ, at Caesarea Philippi, established the one holy Catholic and apostolic Church. That you can’t deny. That’s historical (…).”  And in another paragraph, Fr.Tatah says, “Christ is God and that is the only direction we lead people to. There can be nothing else, no salvation except through God and Christ is God made man.” These lines capture the center of Christology, Ecclesiology, and Missiology, and one could build a profound reflection on Christian discipleship and evangelization on these positions for today’s African Church.

The above being said, it is equally the case that a close reading of Fr.Tatah’sCrux interview leaves one with a serious Christological problem, especially in terms of the logicality and inner coherence of his religious claims of the enduring value of (African Traditional Religion) ATR, vis-à-vis the figure of Jesus of Nazareth as the God-Man. It is one thing to say that Godentered history in the God-Man, Jesus of Nazareth, as Chalcedon taught. However, it is entirely another to, for all intents and purposes, to relativize the wholly otherness of the Christ-event so much so that it becomes a part of the evolutionary process of the history of religion, perhaps in the sense of Comte or Hegel.

To me, the central nexus of the difficulty a dogmatic theologian must have with Fr. Tatah appears to be this: what is the salvific significance of natural revelation as opposed to, or different from, supernatural revelation? In effect, there appears a blurring or obscuring of lines in terms of the good, the beautiful, and the true that we find in ATR, on the one hand, and the wholly otherness of the Christ-event, on the other hand. Fr. Tatah himself appears to indicate this dialectic when he says in his interview: “So, if you are looking for religion as it has evolved, it has evolved from our own reasoning of how God is to God himself coming into our midst and from there everything goes on.” Now, is there a distinction between religion evolving from our own reasoning and religion as God himself coming into our midst? I believe Fr. Tatah would say, certainly, there is a distinction between the former and the latter. But is this distinction just an evolutionary process as Fr.Tatah appears to characterize it, or is this distinction really the beef of the matter? Along this line of reasoning, one can readily see other problems that the claims in Fr. Tatah’s interview leaves unresolved:

• Is Biblical Christian monotheism African, or (or even European)?

• Is there an ontological and an existential difference between the first article of the Nicene Creed, I Believe in One God, and the concept of the Supreme Deity or Being that we find in ATR?

• How does Fr.Tatah understand the Trinitarian character of Christian monotheism if, as he claims, ATR already had the understanding of Christian monotheism?

• Is the Supreme Being of ATR identifiable with the God, the Father of Jesus Christ, or is this reality of the Supreme Being in ATR an opening that should lead us to a deeper understanding of this God whom Jesus of Nazareth alone called Father?

• How does Fr.Tatah understand the metaphor of the seed and tree that he employs to explain that Christianity is the tree that has blossomed from the seed of ATR,  – a position any serious dogmatic theologian would find utterly problematic, – in the light of say, St. John Henry Newman’s teaching on the organic development of doctrine? If the Immanent Trinity was not present in the monotheism of ATR, would the Economic Trinity be present?

• In the TatahianWeltanschauung of ATR, is Christianity a qualitative or quantitative leap?

• Do the cultic rites/rituals of the stones, rivers, and mountains that Fr.Tatah alludes to in his interview have a salvific value from the Christian perspective? If they don’t, how does Fr.Tatah square these with this position that ATR is the seed for tree that is Christianity? And if they do, why burden Africans with Christianity?

• In addition, is there a difference between “seeds of the Gospel,” as used in inculturation theology in the understanding of the Second Vatican Council, and ATR as the “seed of Christianity” as espoused by Fr.Tatah?

• What are the limits to appropriating Rahner’s problematic concept of “anonymous Christianity” and applying that to ATR as Fr.Tatah does in his work? In effect,  does this appropriation of Rahner serve the urgent task of evangelization in the vast continent of Africa today?

In all, Fr.Tatah leaves us with an inner tension between fidelity to the liberating truths of Christianity, on the one hand, and a somewhat nostalgic attachment to ATR, on the other hand. While such an attachment is understandable, particularly when viewed from the perspective of a world that in many ways has lost its religious roots, an embellished proclamation of ATR does not only leave us in an anachronistic no-man’s land, but even more, it could unintentionally impede the urgency and necessity of living out the Great Commission of Mathew 28, which is more urgent today than when Jesus first gave it, especially as we prepare for the second millennium of the Great Commission of Mathew coming up in 2033. I happened to have taught a course Christianity in Africa at Boston College for some years now. Often times students would ask me to account for the reasons for the growth of Christianity in Africa. Amongst others, I would point to the liberating experience that the Christian message brings to many an African. Achebe seems to think likewise in the figure of Nwoye in Things Fall Apart. I do not see this liberating impact of Christianity in Fr.Tatah’s presentation of the relationship between ATR and Christianity.

In the final analysis, faith begins, as Ratzinger taught, when we move, like Abraham, from the clan to the unknown territory directed by God (Genesis 12). Faith begins when we go out of the city to the hill of Calvary with the Crucified One. For the Christian, Christ called himself truth, not culture (Tertullian). This is not to downplay our culture, but a gentle reminder that anthropology is not theology, and faith is not sociology, important as these are to the human reality. Christianity has a name and a face, Jesus of Nazareth. Everything else is secondary, even ATR.

By Maurice Agbaw-Ebai

During Sunday’s Angelus, the Holy Father Pope Francis prayed for dialogue and peace in Cameroon.

In his greetings following the recitation of Sunday’s Angelus, Pope Francis revealed that tomorrow on the eve of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a peace pilgrimage will take place in Bafoussam, Cameroon, a nation still suffering from violence and war.

“Let us join in prayer with our brothers and sisters in Cameroon so that, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, God may sustain the hope of the people who have been suffering for years and open ways of dialogue to reach harmony and peace” the Holy Father said.

At the same time, the Pope asked everyone to continue to pray for the battered nation of Ukraine, suffering greatly due to the war.

Source: Vatican News

Archbishop Samuel Kleda of Douala Archdiocese in Cameroon has called on the government to commit to resolving the protracted Anglophone crisis in the Central African nation.

Speaking to journalists Tuesday, July 25, Archbishop Kleda lamented that innocent people are being killed as a result of the crisis.

“The crisis in the English Speaking regions of Cameroon has not yet been resolved,” the Cameroonian Catholic Archbishop said.

He added, “The Cameroon government should profoundly reflect on this crisis and commit to resolving it.”

“It is the duty of the government to ensure citizens live in peace everywhere for we have a country where we can all live in peace,” the Archbishop of Douala said.

Cameroon’s English-speaking regions plunged into conflict in 2016 after a protest by lawyers and teachers turned violent. An armed movement of separatists claiming independence for the so-called republic of Ambazonia emerged following the government’s crackdown on protesters.

School boycotts have become common in these areas, as have enforced moratoriums on public life known as “ghost towns”.

In his July 25 address to journalists, Archbishop Kleda said, “The current crisis needs a serious analysis in order to get lasting solutions.”

“If what is needed is dialogue, then let it be convened so that parties can listen to each other, come to an understanding on the way forward,” the 64-year-old Cameroonian Archbishop said.

He added, “This problem is very serious and all Cameroonians know what the people are demanding.”

The Local Ordinary of Douala Archdiocese said, “Cameroonians must understand the need to resolve this crisis definitely.”

“We cannot say everything is alright because people at times go about their activities. Innocent people are being killed every day. We have so many internally displaced persons that we are assisting here in Douala,” he lamented.

Archbishop Kleda said, “If there was peace many of them would have returned home.”

Source: acia

Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea of Bamenda Archdiocese in Cameroon has described the Sunday, July 16 murder of civilians in his Metropolitan See as a “very painful moment”.

On July 16, unidentified gunmen reportedly killed 10 people and injured another two at Nacho junction in the city of Bamenda in Cameroon’s troubled Northwestern region, Reuters reported.

The assailants arrived in two unmarked vehicles and immediately ordered people to lie down with accusations of failing to back local separatists, and opened fire as some obeyed while others ran.

Speaking to journalists Monday, July 17 after a visit to the scene of the incident, Archbishop Nkea decried the loss of life in the Cameroonian Archdiocese and called for the respect of human life.

“Within this past week, we lost six children in this neighborhood and now again we have lost 10 people within this same neighborhood,” the Cameroonian Catholic Archbishop said.

He added, “That is why I came out of my house to come here to this place where it happened a couple of hours ago so that we pay our last respect to the people who died here.”

“It is a very painful moment for all of us and when the moment is hard and hot like this, we come out to bring consolation to the people, we come out to pray for the dead and to show that good will always triumph over evil,” Archbishop Nkea said.

The Archbishop of Bamenda who doubles as the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) further said, “Evil can never defeat good no matter how long it takes.”

The Catholic Archbishop who previously served as Apostolic Administrator of Mamfe Diocese in Cameroon’s Southwestern region continued, “Human life is sacred and we call on everyone, whoever they are, to respect human life.”

“Life is given to us by God; let us leave God alone to be able to take it back. That is why I came to encourage the people of this neighborhood and extend to them my solidarity. We are together with them in prayers and in spirit,” he said.

A manhunt has been launched for the “terrorists” behind the massacre, North West region governor, Adolphe Lele Lafrique, has been quoted as saying in the Reuters report.

“Investigations are on, and we will issue a statement on this later today,” the Cameroonian Governor added.

Cameroon’s English-speaking regions plunged into conflict in 2016 after a protest by lawyers and teachers turned violent. An armed movement of separatists claiming independence for the so-called republic of Ambazonia emerged following the government’s crackdown on protesters.

School boycotts have become common in these areas, as have enforced moratoriums on public life known as “ghost towns”.

In his July 17 address to journalists, Archbishop Nkea reiterated the need for peace, saying, “I have always said that love is better than hatred. I have always said that life is better than death. I have always said that living and loving one another is better than killing one another.”

“It is not right to take the lives of other people. It could have been any of us and there are people who were sitting here who were taken by bullets,” the 57-year-old Catholic Archbishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in August 2013 as the Coadjutor Bishop of Mamfe Diocese said.

He added, “I think it is high time that all this should stop. We want this violence to stop. Let people be able to go on with their normal lives again.”

“We condemn hate speech. We want our people to be able to live their normal lives. And that is why we say it is enough. Let this come to an end. We should stop killing one another,” the Cameroonian Archbishop emphasized.

Source: aciafrica

In the first part of our reflection on the topic of what difference Jesus makes that we published this past Easter, we ended on the position that the Temptations constitute, at their innermost core, a theological debate between Satan and Jesus. The hectic nature of my schedule did not allow for the completion of this reflection until now. I apologize to my readers for this belatedness. Now, let us return to where we break off this past Easter on this topic, namely, the challenge for Jesus to prove his identity as the Son of God. It is likewise important to keep the overarching question in view, that is, Jesus’ identity in the light  of the difference that Jesus makes in today’s world. In effect, if Jesus is who he claims to be, if Jesus is authentic – if you are the Son of God – as Satan threw at him, then there must be a difference in the world with the coming of Jesus. Within the context of the Temptations, Jesus does not take the bait put forth by Satan. He refuses to turn stones into bread, or to fall from the lofty heights of the Temple pinnacle. The Cardinal Inquisitor has it right in The Grand Inquisitor when he laments before Jesus: You refused the offer of the Mighty Spirit because you wanted men and women to follow you out of freedom! In other words, succumbing to the Temptations would have been an easier and faster part for Jesus to accomplish his mission. But the fastest and easiest do not always translate into the truly enduring, beautiful and good.

To Ratzinger, the Temptations are not only Christological, that is, pertaining only to the person of Christ. They likewise have an inherent Ecclesiological character, in that the Church down the ages has often faced the challenge to prove itself, to prove its credibility. If you are the Church of Christ, then demonstrate it in a more convincing manner. If you are the Church of Christ, then why is there so much sin and evil in your members? Why couldn’t Christ make you as perfect as he Jesus is? And this temptation to prove one’s identity and authenticity can be very overwhelming even for the priest of today, with all the media hype. In my own life as a Christian and as a priest, I am learning, with every passing day, the wisdom in Jesus’ refusal to take the bait. I am learning that the most meaningful response to the challenge to prove one’s identity and authenticity is to create time for more prayer before God, the all-knowing One. In prayer, the priest and the Christian feels the Lord’s closeness and support, and if my own limited experience in the spiritual life is anything to go by, there is really no substitute for prayer in the life of a priest and a Christian.

Fr Maurice with Gerhard Cardinal Müller, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Custodian of Ratzinger’s Theological Legacy (Meeting at Vatican City)

When one enters into an Ignatian contemplation of the Temptations of Jesus, one can discern, overtime, that the issue of the Temptations boils down to the question about the fulfillment of the human heart. What really satisfies the human heart? Wealth (bread), Power (Temple Pinnacle/the cities of the world)? I believe that to understand Jesus’ resistance to the seductive offers of Satan provides the definitive response to the central question of the difference that Jesus makes in our lives today. And a proper understanding of this question possesses a historical pedigree to it, namely, engaging Jesus’ identity and uniqueness from the living faith of Israel, specifically with the figure and mission of Moses.

With Moses at the helm, Israel left Egypt for the promised land. What shaped this journey in large measure was the sense of hope, for a promised land that would meet the aspirations and yearnings of Israel. The particular issues and demands met by manna and other nutritional and safety needs embodied the need for hope in an otherwise hopeless context. The question of difference Jesus makes appears in an antecedent format at this point: What difference does the God of Israel make, to the people of Israel? In a sense, the yearnings of Israel’s heart is captured in the request Moses makes to Yahweh: Show me your face. Some translations render  it as show me your glory (Exodus 33:18). God strikes a compromise with Moses that from the angle of a retrospective reading, lays the foundation for the difference that the coming of Christ makes in history. Moses will still have the privilege and joy of encountering, somewhat, the beatific vision while still on this side of human existence, that is, the Back of God, but no more, for the human being cannot see the face of God and live (Exodus 33:20). In the event of Moses, the light of faith (lumen fidei) and the light of glory (lumen gloriae) converge, a rarity, because the light of faith is meant to accompany us in this earthly life, while the light of glory is what enables us to see God in the next life. As I think further about this mysterious text of Exodus 33, this interpretation already much present especially in Eastern Theology occurs to me: the light of faith could correspond to the Back of God, and the light of glory, the Face of God, to the extent that only in followership/discipleship captured in the image of the back, would one eventually arrive at the longing that moves or drives the human heart, captured in the image of the face. From this incident of Moses, there emerged, in the consciousness of Israel’s faith and later on taken up in Christian mysticism, the theology of the Face of God as the fulfilment of the greatest longing of the human heart, as we see in the lives of the saints and Doctors of the Church.

Let’s remain a little bit more with the figure of Moses and the images of the Back and Face of God. In his The Life of Moses, St. Gregory of Nyssa offers a truly moving Christological  reading of this mystical event as narrated in the Book of Deuteronomy. Gregory asks:

What is his back which God promised to Moses when he asked to see him face-to-face? (…) But when the Lord who spoke to Moses came to fulfill his own law, he likewise gave a clear explanation to his disciples, laying bare the meaning of what had previously been said in a figure when he said, ‘if anyone wants to be a follower of mine.’ And to the one asking about eternal life he proposed the same thing, for he said, ‘Come, follow me’ (18:22). Now, he who follows sees the back. So, Moses, who eagerly seeks to behold God, is now taught how he can behold him: to follow God where ever he might lead is to behold God. His passing by signifies his guiding the one who follows, for someone who does not know the way cannot complete his journey safely in any other way than by following behind his guide. HE who leads, then, by his guidance shows the way to the one following. He who follows will not turn aside from the right way if he always keeps the back of his leader in view. (Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses, HarperCollins Publishers, 2006), 106 & 110.

Some spiritual insights from this engagement between Moses and God:

Firstly, as Aquinas beautifully expresses it – and as many Christians likewise get a glimpse of it particularly during moments of prayer, – only God can satisfy the human heart – Nil Nisi Te Domine. Augustine had said it best centuries before Aquinas: You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until it rest in Thee.

Secondly, notwithstanding all the material blessings that come our way in this life, there remains that longing that nothing corporeal is capable of filling. There is a void, what the French philosopher Maurice Blondel trenchantly characterizes as the wedge between the willed will and the willing will, in his philosophy of action.

Thirdly, because this quest for God is in the DNA of the human being, we are somewhat impatient for the beatific vision, for what Aquinas calls the light of glory. Even in this life, which is guided by the light of faith, we want to have the fullness that the light of glory brings with it. And this is quite understandable, for who wants to live with half measures?

But even more, we cannot deny that our brokenness and sinfulness, what Blaise Pascal calls our wretchedness, is likewise a motivation for our desire for the fullness that comes with the light of glory, the Face of God. I love Dante’s DivineComedy precisely because sin is not presented in a despairing form, but as a starting point for the journey to the Face of God, as the soul moves from the Inferno through the Purgatorio and finally, Paradiso. Too often, Christians get chained in the melancholy of their sinful past and present, forgetting to realize that our sins, my own sins as Maurice, is really the raw material that God uses to place me on the journey towards Him.

And this is the context in which Jesus Christ enters the scene, making all the difference, as particularly captured in the dual dynamisms of Deuteronomy 18 and Matthew 17. (To be continued…)

By Maurice Agbaw-Ebai