Church and State

As an American, I am not used to religion having as public face as it does here in Botswana.  Religion is a private affair.  Imagine my surprise Friday morning when Fr. Sylvester and I visited a government school (what we would call a public school).  Father asked me to wear my alb (actually, he asked me to wear a cassock...but I don't own one lol).  There was no missing me as I walked around in my white robe, and of course I'm probably one of the first Americans they've ever seen in person.  I could hear them all whispering "lekgowa" as I walked by (which means white man haha...and is pronounced lay-koa).  They assembled outside and after singing a song, Father introduced me.  He asked me to present to them on the 8th Commandment, "You Shall Not Bear False Witness Against Your Neighbor."  So I talked to them about lying and gossiping and making fun of people and how hurtful it can be.  I decided to throw in some incluturation and tell them the story of the Boy Who Cried Wolf.  I only talked for about 10 minutes, then Father closed with the Lord's Prayer and blessed them all.  This was all in a public school.  Can you imagine what would happen if a priest went into a public school assembly and even just said "May Almighty God Bless all of you"??  There would be lawsuits galore!  I couldn't believe when Father told me that it wasn't a Catholic school, and more, that he had been invited by the principal to do this.  It gave me pause for thought.

That night, we visited the local hospital to take communion to some parishioners.  You only have 30 minutes to visit, so we had to move fast.  The rooms have up to 6 beds...I'm fairly certain I would be miserable.  After giving communion to the patient, Father then said aloud "Let Us Pray."  All of the patients and visitors stopped talking and bowed their heads as Father said a prayer and blessed them all.  When he made the sign of the cross, some crossed themselves and many others didn't.  I was astonished.  This is a government hospital after all.  Even the non-Catholics were respectful of the prayer and thanked us for taking the time to bless them.  Father told me he needed to go to another ward, and asked me to do as he had in the other rooms that he was not able to pray in.  Needless to say, I felt SO self-conscious.  Imagine you were asked to walk into a stranger's hospital room, without invitation, and just announce, "Let us pray" and then lead everyone there in prayer.  Lol, yeah, that pang of discomfort you just felt? That's how I felt hahaha.  I wasn't very courageous, so I didn't pray quite as loudly as Father did, nor did I try to stop the conversations.  I stood in the middle of the room and prayed quietly.  Those who heard me acknowledged the prayer, and others didn't.  Maybe next time I'll feel more brave and I'll try to do it the way Father did.  Maybe lol.

In addition to all of this, EVERYONE here calls me "Father" or "rara."  They bow when they meet me or when I walk by.  One elderly woman I visited even called me "My Worship."  (How do you respond to THAT?! Lol.)  The first week here, I tried correcting the people and told them I'm a seminarian, not a priest, so they don't have to call me Father.  But to no avail. I've given up now; if they call me Father, they call me Father lol.  The Sister told me it's simply a reminder of how I'm seen.  The people trust me enough to call me their Father and want to honor me.  Yikes.

All of this has just given me pause about the public role of priesthood.  People pay attention to us.  They care about what we say and how we act toward them.  There's no 9-5, and then I'm not a seminarian or priest anymore.  I walked down to the store the other day, and people recognized me.  I heard, "Hello, Father!  Hello, Father!" and it took me a minute to realize they were talking to me.  This is a precious gift, not something to be abused.  People take great comfort in us and have placed great trust in us.  Let us pray that our clerics, whatever religion they may be, may be worthy of that trust and may not abuse and mislead the people who are given into our care; who we are called to serve.

Peace.