Jo Tok Chuma!







There is this old woman; let’s call her Magdalene, who has an intrinsic belief that every prayer she says has its relevant position in the church. For instance, during the Mass, at the time of the entrance antiphon up until the end of the Liturgy of the Word, she strategically put herself in the sixth pew. This is to ensure that she follows well the sermon which will culminate with her participation in the prayer of the faithful.

 

When the Liturgy of the Eucharist begins, she moves towards the western direction, where the portrait of Blessed Virgin Mary is put. It is from here that she actively participates in prayer. She will be once again noticed moving around towards the eastern side during the sign of peace and by the time for communion she will have reached the communion site.

Well, she ‘competes’ the priest in mobility, for the latter is the only faithful who is canonically allowed to make moves during the Eucharistic celebration. He moves from the pulpit to his seat, from the seat to the altar, from the altar to the Tabernacle and lastly to distribute the Holy Communion. And as a matter of fact, I have never seen Magdalene receive Holy Communion from any lay-distributor. She always opts for the clergy. This might be the reason why she always makes it to the Parish despite her old age. She is indeed one of the many Christians spotted to be active during the Eucharistic celebration.

 

There is also this lot of the faithful who are active. Theirs is an obligation to usher in and ensure the well being of the congregation. They have to ensure that everyone is comfortable during prayer session, and collect the offertory at appointed time. In some places they have St. John Bosco as their patron saint while in others they are merely known as Church Directors. Of course they direct the church hence have to be fully awake just in case there is loss of direction.

Deeply imbued with the spirit of the Liturgy forms another very active lot in the Mass, without which many people would find Mass a boring exchange of hallowed words and actions. This is the sacred choir. 

Ever imagined the Eucharistic celebration devoid of singing? At least the entrance and the exit hymns. St. Augustine had it right when he subscribed to singing as a twofold prayer. Attend Mass which there is no singing and immediately notice the participants and the presiding minister. They might be of the same age, the pre-Vatican II by-products.

Yet there is this interesting lot in the community of the laity during Mass. Yes they literally attend Mass and do not participate. They get tired walking up to the middle of the church let alone up to the front pews even if the church is neither half full nor empty. They are the back benchers. I branded them jo tok chuma (behind bars folks). This is because at Kibuye Parish, in the Archdiocese of Kisumu, where I grew up, there is the bar that demarcates just before the main church’s door. After this demarcation there are few pews. Just as the perimeter bar suggests, they seem to be cut off from the rest of the faithful. They neither respond to the beautiful words of the liturgy nor sing to the beautiful tunes of the famous choruses.

 

Most of these faithful never finish the Mass. Immediately after receiving the Communion they exit. Their Mass ends with the consummation of the body and blood of Christ. Most of them have no time for the announcements and the final blessings. It is none of their business!

Funnily, this lot almost behaves in the same manner at least in the Churches I have been to for prayers. This tok-chuma spirituality seems to be universal. At a particular point I was considered a persona non granta in this spirituality. I found myself doing the contrary in the occasions I have joined them.

(This article was published in the Seed Magazine)