The desert is a place of great importance for the Jewish people. The desert is the Great School; it symbolizes the place for the highest learning, where God teaches his people.
It is difficult to arrange a retreat for the Igbo Catholic community of the Camden Diocese, due to the tight schedules of our members. It was in view of this need to seek out God in our own desert that I arranged a retreat for all Igbo Catholic members to enable them to hear God’s Word, a time to rediscover who we are before God and a time to say yes to God and say no to Satan, as Jesus did.
Father Emmanuel Iheaka is a seasoned retreat moderator, a priest from the Umuahia Diocese who currently resides in Pennsylvania. Some of us wanted me to bring a priest who is like us in culture, tradition, language, and to our great fortune, we found Father Iheaka is true to the Igbo identity.
Father Iheaka wanted to be known as a fellow traveler in the faith. He divided his talk into three stages: the African stage, the Eucharist, and humility. First, he reminded us to remember our roots. Most of us, who have come to Europe and America, realize after a while, that we have forgotten who we are. The retreat moderator told the story of the encounter of the two visitors, who were on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus, who recognized Jesus only in the breaking of bread (Luke 24:13-34). This gave him the opportunity to espouse the significance of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is both the source and summit of our faith. The Catholics believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This distinguishes Catholics from other denominations, who see the Eucharist only as a representation of Christ.
The personal life of Joseph was used to teach about humility (Genesis 50:15-21). St Augustine defined humility as the power of God. As Christians, we must be humble. We should see humility as a virtue that is greatly needed in our world which is overflowing with celebrity and an abundance of drama and extravagance. In the beatitudes, Jesus teaches that those who are meek should inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). In our world today, some people have ignored being meek. We should understand that meekness is not weakness but a strength shining in our personalities.
I am glad that I had the opportunity to be part of the desert retreat experience. The Eucharist is a meal within a meal. In the Mass, we share God’s love with one another. Yes, the Eucharist is also a thanksgiving; we express our deep gratitude to God for sharing his love with us. When I talk about the Eucharist, I am talking about the passion, suffering, death and resurrection of Christ. I believe that because of the inherited imperfection of mankind, human nature has a real struggle to do what is good. The sacrifice of Christ on Calvary assures us of Christ’s mercy and forgiveness of our sins (Colossians 1:13-14). The forgiveness of sins is given to us, but we must truly be repentant.
As Christians, we should create time to be with Jesus in prayers. Our tight schedules should not disconnect us from God. We need God in our lives. We need the Eucharist to help us in our journey. We all are pilgrims in this world. We need Jesus to carry us through the difficulties of this life.
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