Give your heart to god

trueBy Msgr. John Wynand Katende

At the heart of the city of Kampala stands a church in honor of Christ the King. The statue just outside the Church conveys the nature of his Kingship. He is a humble Servant King, appealing to everyone’s reception.

Jesus chose the reception of the poor because no one cared about them. He was born in a kraal by a simple woman from Nazareth. His royal entry into Jerusalem was in style. He washed his disciples’ feet just before offering himself in sacrifice to deliver humanity from evil and its forces.

Appallingly, human history has been characterised by attempts to be autonomous. Satan leads men to conceive God as a being against them; a harsh, exacting creditor and a severe judge. Man’s attempts to dethrone God are manifested in schemes like the building the Tower of Babel.

Rather than seeking to serve the rights of God, man seeks to serve his own rights, which rights are deduced from mere public opinion and debate rather than from natural law.

Ironically, the kingdom of man wants to control rather than serve people. Societies pursuing secularist liberal policies, for example, advocate the freedom of worship, but latently reducing religion to a merely individual sentiment, to be hidden away in private.

This setting engenders the dictatorship of secularism and intolerance against traditional institutions like the family (founded on the marriage between man and woman), religion and culture; replacing them with enslavement of the state. The crucifixion of Jesus was the most fanatical human undertaking to get rid of God.

God must be acknowledged as father and the author of everything that is good for mankind. Seeking the Kingdom of God necessitates rejecting humanistic counterfeits.

Liberty needs to be in harmony with the truth, natural law, the dignity of the human person and the common good of society. Liberty encompasses, among other things, religious, political, and the economy.

To achieve all these requires that society embraces strong moral restrictions as guardrails that protect the individual, the family and society as a whole. It also calls for on-going formation, so that it does not lose its way into egoism.

The Church has been instituted to witness the presence of the kingdom of God by acting as salt and light to preserve a healthy society.

Jesus is the gospel unto self. As he stooped lowest to save everyone, Christians must be witnesses of this gospel beyond catechesis and liturgy to address issues that pertain to integral development of society, inclusive of those who have been marginalized. Every person should be given space and opportunity to be productive.

There is urgent need to resolve political and economic policies and structures that impinge on human dignity and human capacity. We need politicians that can truly serve people and honestly address the root causes of evils in society.

Those engaged in business must be tuned to the meaning of human life and its real economic needs and ensure availability and affordability of goods and services. Farmers should be supported to ensure food security at home and for sale.

“Because God created us for himself our hearts cannot rest until they rest in him”, says St. Augustness of Hippo.

By meditating upon these truths, all people of good should gain strength and courage, enabling them to form their lives after the true Christian ideal. Despite our repeated attempts to disengage his kingdom in our hearts, he, on his part, patiently awaits our positive response.

The city of Kampala, hence, symbolically represents all who open their hearts to the reign of God (Revelation 3:20).