Chika: Father, I am very angry.

Fr. Kelechi: What is the problem my daughter?

Chika: My teachers are always disturbing me for having the rosary around my neck. In fact, they have warned me never to put it again, and even had to flog me the last time I did so. They do this because they are not Catholics and they are always saying that Catholics will not go to heaven. Me … I am very angry ooo. In fact, the other day I had to insult them too. They also will not go to heaven!

Fr. Kelechi: My dear, they really do not understand that is why they act that way. But then, you should also not insult their belief just because they insulted yours too. In everything, we should act with tolerance and love. By your actions towards them, you will convince them of the power of the rosary.

Chika: But, Father, why would they say that Catholics won’t go to heaven?

Fr. Kelechi: Dear Chika, it is only God who gives heaven. Just live by your faith, say your rosary daily, and always show love even to those who disagree with you. That is what the Bible tells us. With love, we learn how to live together with one another.

Chika: Thank you Father. I feel relieved.

Fr Kelechi: God bless you Chika.

Christian life is often described as a pilgrimage. A pilgrimage to the eternal city, the final rest of every created being. The powerful visions of heaven and hell within Christian narrative puts before us the destination for the journey we have embarked upon. Heaven as the glorious destination of the faithful is an abode of rest, a state of perpetual dwelling in God. St. Augustine’s affirmation that our restlessness finds its end in God, confirms that the Christian journey is a matter of restlessness. However, it is not a restlessness that is caused by lack of focus or purpose. Rather it is one that is caused by the tensions that we face in our journey, the trials and temptations, the uncertainties and lures of this life, and including the tension of our Christian division.

Ecumenical dialogue becomes therefore a way of journeying alongside one another as Pope Francis would aptly put. Let us hear the pontiff: “We must never forget that we are pilgrims journeying alongside one another. This means that we must have sincere trust in our fellow pilgrims, putting aside all suspicion or mistrust, and turn our gaze to what we are all seeking: the radiant peace of God’s face. Trusting others is an art and peace is an art” (Evangelii Gaudiumno. 244). Commenting on this metaphor of pilgrimage, Annemarie Mayer, a German-born professor of Systematic Theology at the KU Leuven, states thus: Depending on the circumstances of the pilgrimage route, fellow pilgrims can be essential for survival. During such a pilgrimage trust not only in God, but also in one’s companions, is indispensable. Taking the metaphor of the companionship of pilgrims seriously, does this mean that, potentially, all of us can be on the right path together or likewise, all of us can commonly go astray? Is there a guarantee that we are proceeding together on the right way? For Francis, unity is by no means a static state, but an event, a process, because it comes about by journeying together on a common path.Thus, unity is not just an aim or a point of reference; it is, rather, an indicator that we are on the right way. The aim of this pilgrimage is, according to the Pope, that ‘we are all seeking the radiant peace of God’s face’ (EG 244). Thus, intra-Christian ecumenism is placed in a worldwide, historical and salvation-historical context and interpreted as ‘a contribution to the unity of the human family’ (EG 245).(Annemarie C. Mayer, “The Ecumenical Vision of Pope Francis: Journeying Together as Fellow Pilgrims – ‘The Mystery of Unity has Already begun’,” International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church17, no. 3 (2017): 156-172; 159).

For Pope Francis, the dynamism that defines life also defines ecumenical dialogue, because dialogue is part of what it means to be living. As members of different churches who confess Christ and the Trinity, our spiritual life is founded on a fairly common ground, and as such our dialogue with one another invariably implies a walk together. Walking together does not imply that we agree on everything, it does not mean that differences have been obliterated, rather it points to the fact that we recognize the fact that we share a common heritage, each pursuing the goal and witnessing to the Gospel from their own understanding. Also, this is not to validate the claim to the truth by any one group, but to say that the mystery of the Christ continues to unfold as we journey together with Him and with one another just as the disciples on the road to Emmaus: “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”(Luke 24: 32. Emphasis mine).

The agenda of this blog is simple: To tell the stories of encounters among Christians in their day to day lives as it happens in Nigeria. Highlighting these narratives is aimed at promoting co-existence among Christians irrespective of our differences. That we believe differently does not mean we have to eat up each other.

Therefore,

Let us learn how to tolerate each other.

Let us love as Christians ought to.

Let us learn how to walk alongside each other.

Let us re-learn how to live and let others live too.

From there, we can progress to learning from each other.

God bless you!