THE POWER OF HUMILITY
GOSPEL READING : Mark 7. 24-37

Jesus Christ the humble leaves the crowds of Gennesaret and moves to the Mediterranean coast where He hadn’t preached the Gospel before hoping that He wouldn’t be seen nor discovered by the very busy traders of these thriving cities of the Antiquity. He enters a house, certainly a humble one and makes no publicity, no TV shows, nor appearances in newspapers editorials, anything to gather attention around him. Silence! While there, a foreigner woman, a Greek woman, a humble mother who had certainly heard about Jesus ‘miracles in Galilee and Decapolis, was also informed about his entry in the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon. Her little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit. She certainly could no longer sleep for nights. Pharisees in their Synagogues had certainly no solution to help her. She suffered solitude, was abandoned, humiliated, rejected, stressed, hopeless, but on that very day she believed Jesus could put end to her ordeal as He has done with the man with an evil spirit in the region of Gerasenes (Mark chap. 5). So, she decided to go on searching Him until she found Him and fell at his feet begging Him to drive the demon out of her daughter.

Unfortunately, “First let the children eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs”, She was told by the One She had taken as her latest hope! “Don’t you know you are a dog?” Anybody could imagine himself going through such a disappointing experience losing consequently all hope but this tough woman hero didn’t. “Yes, Lord, you’re right; I am a dog, a big dog! She replied. I am not allowed to sit on a chair next to the children and share their delicious meal. I know where my place is: under the table! And, please do remember that none of the children has ever been and will never be seated under the table and eat crumbs. Lord, Lord, give me my crumbs. I am here to beg for crumbs! And the miracle was accomplished for her daughter. THE POWER OF HUMILITY!

In 1972 during the horrible massacres of the Hutus in Burundi, I was also targeted just like the many other students who were savagely killed. The Kibimba Quaker High school I attended was located in the mountains of Gitega 80 km far from my home in Bujumbura. We left school on June 28 and yet en route, some of our schoolmates were extracted from our van by the police and taken to the execution site. As I got home, my mother said I couldn’t spend the Summer holiday there since all my friends around had already been killed. So, early the next morning, Mum took me and we walked more than 35 km on foot to reach the border between Burundi and the D.R. Congo. She had helped me to put on rags and carry on my head a worn basket containing some cassava pieces as to distort myself and appear like a poor person going to the market. We reached the little village of Gatumba at the border with the Congo and fortunately I met a friend of mine who had escaped from being killed at a high school in Bujumbura. He had also distorted himself. We went through a plantation of cotton where we met the state milicia. They looked at us and said, “You, dogs where are you going? We replied humbly that we were poor farmers going to sell our cassava to the little Congolese market there at the border. They allowed us to continue and we could cross the border safely.
While refugees in the D.R Congo, we had nothing to eat. Every morning we decided to go at a market rubbish dump where we found various peelings to eat. People finally called us “The dogs from Burundi” and we were so happy to bear that humiliating name. The essential for us was to get something to eat. Yes we were humble big dogs who could survive that way in a strange land. Praise God! I recently met again my friend with whom I shared this long journey as refugees to the Congo. He has been the Burundian Ambassador to Egypt since 2006. He said “Justin, do you remember our story in 1972 in the Congo?” THE POWER OF HUMILITY!

May the peace of God be with all of you !

Bishop Justin BARANSANANIKIYE, DD, DMin
President,
CHRISTIANS STRENGTHENING CHRISTIANS
http://iprayforyou.worthyofpraise.org
http://christiansstrengtheneingchristian.doodlekit.com/blog