Last Sunday, as I do most of the time, I went visiting the communities for the celebration of the Mass. This time I was at Ingwavuma Mission. Frs Mthembu and Ngwenya sent me to celebrate at "Lindizwe". I had been there on my first visit to the Mission two years' ago.
Lindiziwe is a very special community.
They are on top of the mountain on the very border with Swaziland. There's no electricity in the area, probably no signal for the cellphone and the condition of the road makes it difficult to drive over 20 km/h.
After years of celebrating Mass at the house of one of the families they decided to build their own chapel and they did so without any help in 2008. Visiting them they will tell you "who did what" to make it possible and what the plans are for the future (after fencing and putting a gate, they are now planning to build a creche).
Being the fourth Sunday of Lent when we read the Gospel of the man born blind, I thought of preparing the reading in the same way we do it for the passion. I made copies, underlined the different parts and, arriving there, I asked for four people to help me reading. I explained to them what we were going to do.
I had arrived late and wanted to start the celebration. I was happy to see that they immediately understood me and everything seemed very clear to them. They made no comments and went back to their places to start the celebration.
I was happy thinking I was doing some "original" that might be repeated by them in future on Sundays.
Then, when the time for the first reading came, I was surprised seeing five adults and two children standing to read. I thought it was "a choir" that would then sing the responsorial psalm. Instead... they had prepared the first reading in their own way. While some would be reading, others would be representing it. There was Samuel indicating the different children of Jesse, which one God had chosen and annointing him.
What I thought it could be something "new" for them... was instead something they are used to do.
I told them at the end of the Mass I was happily surprised by the way they celebrate the Eucharist and promised to let others know what I had seen. Even more! I told them I'd invite the other communities of the Mission to join them in the celebration of the Mass and "learn" from them.
