SCC Practicum: Celebration of Mass in St. Anthony SCC in Jericho Parish in Nairobi, Kenya

By Donald Zagoré, SMA

SEE

Mass celebration in St. Anthony Small Christian Community (SCC) at Jericho Parish in Madakara Deanery in Nairobi Archdiocese, Kenya. This specific mass was on Friday 1 January 2015 from 7 to 9 p.m. The Eucharistic celebration took place in the house of Mr. and Mrs. Maureen Wandjira, simple members. The language used was Swahili. The total number of the participants was 12 — eight women and four men. There were no children and youth. The readings of this mass were from the Third Sunday of Lent[A1]  (Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19:8.9.10; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25; John 3:10-16).  The Mass was celebrated by Fr. Anthony Korir, parish priest of Jericho Parish.

The beginning started with a usual gathering of members. The eucharistic celebration started at 7:15 p.m. because of those who came late. After the entrance song and the opening prayer by the priest, all sat. Everyone narrated their experiences most especially difficulties faced during the week. What was coming more frequently was the question of lack of financial resources to provide to the needs of their families and the cases of sickness of one of the members in their respective families. One family reported the jailing of one of their sons for having been involved in the drug business. After all the issues were raised, all stood up and proceeded with the mass. The intention is to liberate the people from all the heavy loads that they carry in their hearts to present them to God during the celebration as the sacrifice of their lives and expect to receive consolation through his Word that they are going to listen to. After the listening of the Word of God that was proclaimed by two members Irene Waruta and James Mwaura, there was a silence of six minutes and then started a sharing. The participants tried to share the kind of consolation they have gained through the Word of God in relation to the specific problems they have carried with them. After the sharing instead of a homily we had the Prayer of the Faithful where the participants thanked God for the gift of his Word in their lives and asked him for blessing and protection. After this the mass continued with the traditional mode of the Eucharist and closing part of the mass.

JUDGE

We have here a new liturgical celebration where the active participation of the faithful is really celebrated. The priest, apart from the major parts of the mass, is generally silent. The ordained ministerial priesthood is built on the common priesthood and theologically they are related. The common priesthood of the people is really exercised. The SCC members are the ones offering their lives to God. They offer their existential lives marked by pain and suffering to God through the mediation of the ministerial priesthood of the priest. The priest through his ministerial priesthood is really at the service of the common priesthood. He is not the “boss.” He presides at the liturgy together with the community of the people gathered around the table of the Lord. From this experience we realize that the Small Christian Communities are really a new mode of being Church. A new ecclesiology emerges where the faithful gathered are active participants.

ACT

The decisions taken at the end of this mass celebration were two. First, there is an invitation to be on time so that they can start the celebration on time. Second, a special rosary prayer will be organized next Wednesday at 7 p.m. for the family whose son who was jailed for drug trafficking. A member of the community has engaged himself to provide the son with a lawyer. The whole Small Christian Community will organize a special collection during the special rosary prayer in order to support the family materially. They also planned to visit him in prison with the participation of the parish priest.

Rev. Donald Zagoré, MM

Ivory Coast

Email: zagoredonald@yahoo.fr