The year of faith that
we have begun last October should have been a time of renewal of our faith
rather a time to know more about our faith. Various occasions like prayer
services, talks, and retreats would have enriched our faith. My experience of
faith during this intense moment of learning more about faith was different; it
was a living experience not with the scholars of faith but with the simple
people who are unknown to the world. It was in a hamlet called ‘Roman Morjong’, in the hillock of Karbi
Anglong district in Assam with the tribes of Karbi and Tiwa where I went for my
mission experience.
The village ‘Roman Morjong’ is a very small and a
remote village in Assam. The total population would not be more than 800. The
catholic presence in this village crosses 95%. Another interesting fact is that
it is believed that this village was the first one to receive faith in the
North-East India. I had the chance of
going for Easter blessings as part of my mission experience at North-East
India. Since this village is situated on
the hills the journey was adventurous and was a journey of faith.
The very first gesture
that caught my attention was their attitude towards the clergy. The moment they
saw people with religious habit these simple people perceived us, religious as
the representatives of God. In fact, at the end of the Eucharistic celebration
these were their words of gratitude, “thank you for bringing God’s blessings
for us.” This questioned my task of being a religious on the way to priesthood.
I was waiting for the people to come for the Mass as I was in the church where
few people continued singing for a long time. But almost the whole village was
standing outside the church. My curiosity led me outside and I was astonished. The
whole folks were standing in line to make their confession. I was told that it
was their custom to receive the Lord with pure heart. These people remind us of
the publican in the parable that Jesus spoke of. Nevertheless to say about
their prayerful and joyful participation in the Holy Sacrifice, even the children
were very devout as they are brought up in that atmosphere to partake in the Eucharist.
It is a lesson for us to learn from this simple Christians.
After the Mass, we continued
with the blessing of the houses which were either thatched or made up of
bamboos. Although the houses were very small they kept a place for prayer where
they kept the holy articles. At the end of the prayer in each house they would
offer something according to their ability. Their offerings were very simple
like eggs or some kilograms of paddy from their fields. Later it was told that these offerings were
the first fruit of that season which they would offer God first and only then
they would start selling.
The simple lesson that
they render us from these incidents is, I feel, that God gets the prominence of
life. Faith is not a theory to be memorized or only to quote in necessary
instances rather it is a fact to be lived out. The gestures of these faithful
may be simple but they have profound meaning. The message or rather a challenge
that these people pose us is to live the faith and be the bearers of faith.
