After watching his interview over his autobiography with Oprah Winfrey, I decided to patronize Trevor Noah. The book is titled, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (London: John Murray, 2016). I must confess that I have not had the time to read the book until today. Witty! Brilliant! I want to share the content of pages 85-87 with you. And I would like to know if it raises any questions in your mind. If so, what are the questions, the concerns and your reactions. I would please love to see those in the comment section. Here we go:
When it came to discipline, Catholic school was no joke. Whenever I got into trouble with the nuns at Maryvale they’d rap me on the knuckles with the edge of a metal ruler. For cursing they’d wash my mouth out with soap. For serious offenses I’d get sent to the principal’s office. Only the principal could give you an official hiding. You’d have to bend over and he’d hit your ass with this flat rubber thing, like the sole of a shoe. (Trevor would comment that the principal was not good at hitting, and that he (Trevor) would be laughing when receiving the lashes).
The rules about communion at Friday mass, for example, made absolutely no sense. We’d be in there for an hour of kneeling, standing, sitting, kneeling, standing, sitting, kneeling, standing, sitting, and by the end of it I’d be starving, but I was never allowed to take communion, because I wasn’t Catholic. The other kids could eat Jesus’s body and drink Jesus’s blood, but I couldn’t. And Jesus’s blood was grape juice. I love grape juice. Grape juice and crackers – what more could a kid want? And they wouldn’t let me have any. I’d argue with the nuns and the priest all the time.
“Only Catholics can eat Jesus’s body and drink Jesus’s blood, right?”
“Yes.”
“But Jesus wasn’t Catholic.”
“No.”
“Jesus was Jewish.”
“Well, yes.”
“So you’re telling me that if Jesus walked into your church right now, Jesus would not be allowed to have the body and blood of Jesus?”
“Well…uh…um…”
They never had a satisfactory reply.
One morning before mass I decided, I’m going to get me some Jesus blood and Jesus body. I snuck behind the altar and I drank the entire bottle of grape juice and I ate entire bag of Eucharist to make up for all the other times that I couldn’t.
In my mind, I wasn’t breaking the rules, because the rules didn’t make any sense. And I got caught only because they broke their own rules. Another kid ratted me out in confession, and the priest turned me in.
“No, no,” I protested. “You’vebroken the rules. That’s confidential information. The priest isn’t supposed to repeat what they say in confession.”
They didn’t care. The school could break whatever rules it wanted. The principal laid into me.
“What kind of a sick person would eat all of Jesus’s body and drink all of Jesus’s blood?”
“A hungry person.”
I stop here. Of course, there are many things to fault in this story, particularly from the point of view of any Catholic who understands the issues here. But take a minute to get into the mind of this kid. For him, some aspects of Christian division do not make sense. Does the story make you reflect on what the Gospels tell us about the mind of children in relation to the Kingdom of God (cf. Matt 18:2-5, Mark 10:14)? Is division among Christians or peopel something that is learned? Can division be unlearned? Where are the boundaries? How hospitable should we be towards non-members of our Christian community? What is the state of church inter-communion (of either ‘communio in sacris’or ‘communicatio in sacris’) in a place like Nigeria?
I look forward to your take-away from the story.
Alongside One Another 
While reading through, I was beginning to think his question about Jesus walking into the catholic church and not receiving his own body cause he’s Jewish made a lot of sense but then again, we catholics are not totally saying don’t receive jesus but we are saying, this body is holy and should be kept holy, however if you must receive it you should be prepared to do so and also understand what it’s all about.
I think in essence the aim is to prevent persons who do not understand the doctrines and teachings of the church especially about the eucharist to abuse its privilege and essence.
Again, I think Catholics generally do not discriminate, we let everyone participate during mass and every other church programme.
Coming from the other side too, it’s not only non Catholics that are prevented from receiving it, even Catholics who are not in the state of grace are cautioned to hold back from receiving.
I know there’s is a verse of the bible which says if you receive it in sin you receive death unto yourself…can’t exactly remember but I know its something similar to this.
Even christ at the last supper washed the feet of the apostles which to me signifies humility and purity.
The Jews always washed themselves before eating. So it makes sense we wash ourselves spiritually before eating the spiritual food.
I think the eucharist is where Catholics draw their lines and keep their boundaries not only to non Catholics but even to Catholics who desire to receive christ. There’s never a limit to God’s grace and blessings however, if we must experience God we have to be prepared to do so.
On the issue of viewing christianity from a childlike view, it’s a perfect way to practice christianity, love without boundaries and accommodate all be it Christian or non Christian, old and young etc.
However in doing so we must not mock God, the essence of the eucharist is to make us whole and if you do not understand or believe in it, you cannot be made whole.
Even kids are not allowed to receive it until they attain a certain age because it is believed that they are not capable of understanding its importance and impact in one’s life.
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Thanks a lot Chezeey for you comment. I find them very much on point. In the commentary after Noah’s narration, it is stated that the story is a bit problematic for Catholics who really know what is required. But the main question is to know if division is learned and how some aspects can be unlearned. Thanks and God bless and keep reading, sharing and commenting.
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To me division is thing of the mind even though at times it can be learned.
We as Christians need to accept everyone and their religious practices with an open mind. If we are worried as to their practices, the proper thing to do is to ask questions and seek to be properly guided. If in the end it doesn’t concur with what you believe in, its is an option for you to choose to practice such or not but in doing so, we should accord due respect to one another.
I also think we should unlearn/refrain from forming an opinion about other people’s traditions or practises without fully understanding the essence of it all. If one approaches life/issues with an opinion it will be tough to convince otherwise and that makes it difficult for one to truly learn despite the amount of teachings given in respect to such issues.
In essence, we should all all learn to approach the issues of life with the mind of a child that way we can have different opinions about these issues which enhances informed decisions thus giving one a better attitude to life.
If only Noah wasn’t asking his questions just to fault the church or ridicule its practices, he may have understood and probably learned why it is done the way it is.
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My first question would be if he was actually at that level of thinking during the time he’s talking about?
The Eucharist has to do first with belief. Catholics believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist which this have great powers – healing, reconciliation, strength etc. From his words I saw no faith rather I saw someone ready to ridicule others’ faith.
On the other hand, the story may not be complete. Was there no proper catechesis for the children? The confession story may not also be true because no one would want to report another’s crime at the confession.
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Thanks a lot James. Your observations are in order. There is always a bias when narrating events of the past. While I will not go into interpreting his mind, I recognize that there are some problems in the story as I indicated in the commentary below the narration. However the main question is whether division is learned or not. If so, what aspects can be unlearned. God bless you and keep reading, sharing and commenting.
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Why reading through, I was beginning to think his question about Jesus walking into the catholic church and not receiving his own body cause he’s Jewish made a lot of sense but then again, we catholics are not totally saying don’t receive jesus but we are saying, this body is holy and should be kept holy, however if you must receive it you should be prepared to do so and also understand what it’s all about.
I think in essence the aim is to prevent persons who do not understand the doctrines and teachings of the church especially about the eucharist to abuse its privilege and essence.
Again, I think Catholics generally do not discriminate, we let everyone participate during mass and every other church programme.
Coming from the other side too, it’s not only non Catholics that are prevented from receiving it, even Catholics who are not in the state of grace are cautioned to hold back from receiving.
I know there’s is a verse of the bible which says if you receive it in sin you receive death unto yourself…can’t exactly remember but I know its something similar to this.
Even christ at the last supper washed the feet of the apostles which to me signifies humility and purity.
The Jews always washed themselves before eating. So it makes sense we wash ourselves spiritually before eating the spiritual food.
I think the eucharist is where Catholics draw their lines and keep their boundaries not only to non Catholics but even to Catholics who desire to receive christ. There’s never a limit to God’s grace and blessings however, if we must experience God we have to be prepared to do so.
On the issue of viewing christianity from a childlike view, it’s a perfect way to practice christianity, love without boundaries and accommodate all be it Christian or non Christian, old and young etc.
However in doing so we must not mock God, the essence of the eucharist is to make us whole and if you do not understand or believe in it, you cannot be made whole.
Even kids are not allowed to receive it until they attain a certain age because it is believed that they are not capable of understanding its importance and impact in one’s life.
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I love this write up…..thank you
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Thanks Cherish. Keep reading and commenting and sharing.
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Well, the issue here is that the priest shouldn’t have exposed what he heard at the confessional. Yes, the guy was very wrong to have stolen but I don’t think what he stole was actually the Holy Eucharist because that would mean he attacked the tabernacle and broke in. It would have been Sacrilegious and what he narrated would have been different.
I think the priest broke the seal because the guy was not a catholic. And that act encourages serious Division and a such teaches the young ones in that school to discriminate. Division here is learned. The guy says he was not allowed to receive communion because he was not a catholic but I think he should have been thought that there are conditions for receiving holy communion in the catholic church. Not being a catholic is one of the conditions because not all catholics are qualified to receive it.
We can unlearn division.
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Thanks a lot Ejike for that well informed comment. Of course, as a Catholic, there are lots of issues with the story. I guess the kid just ate the unconsecrated host and wine. I think that the problem is the inability of the school to enter into conversation with this kid rather than just telling him that he can’t partake just because he is not Catholic. While it is important to protect what each of our traditions present to us, it is important to develop a culture of dialogue. As for the confession, could the priest have handled it in another way? Maybe. If a non catholic goes to the confessional, having in mind to receive forgiveness of sins, does the priest have the right to break the seal?
Thank you once again. Please keep reading, commenting and sharing.
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