Church without Walls to PLWHA: A call to inclusive and transformative presence

Church without Walls to PLWHA: A call to inclusive and transformative presence 

INTRODUCTION: Despite efforts to reduce the prevalence and impact of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in India through prevention and treatment programmed, reports continue to show a significant increase in PLWHA prevalence. The current estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS is at least four million in India and probably rather more – with a national prevalence level of 0.8 per cent. In the World since we have no cure for the PLWHA. The Church and each individual must focus on caring for the psychological and mental welfare of PLWHA. And this is the duty of the believers to look after and to care and to love such kind of people and the Church must also take part without a wall to all kinds of people and should look after with love since all are the children of God. The church must become proactive, not to hide its light under bushel. Romans 2:17 says that “For God has no partiality” and Romans 15: 5-7 says, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together we may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God”. Church without wall means C- Community of compassion or Community of concerns towards peace, love, equality, justice and dignity. H- Community of Holiness or community of humbleness. U- Community of Unity. R- Community of Repentance or community of Restoration or Community of Response or community of Reflection. C- Community of Commitment to serve for the needy not be served. H- Community of Healing.

 

Walls- What does it mean? We have to break down the following wall in order to build the Church without walls. Wall of corruption. Wall of discrimination. Wall of division. Wall of ego. Wall of power. Wall of greedy. Wall of caste, colour, gender and class ets 

THE CHURCH WITHOUT WALL TO PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS

 A frequently asked question is: What does the Church say about AIDS? Other questions often stand behind this one: Is AIDS is a form of God’s punishment? How should we response to a PLWHA? Besides suffering from AIDS, why do we suffer so much prejudice and rejection, even from other members of the Church? Can we do anything about this world-wide epidemic? This maybe the question asked by the people living with HIV/AIDS to themselves. The Church, in fact, has spoken clearly and powerfully about PLWHA. Based on the Bible and on the Church’s long tradition and especially on the life of Jesus, the Church’s teachings have stressed 1) the value and dignity of every person, 2) the rights and responsibilities of society, 3) the love and compassion of God. Human Dignity Firstly, if we take the statement of Roman Catholic in a Catholic conference held in Vatican AIDS conference, 1989 "Made in God's image and likeness, every human person is of inestimable worth. All human life is sacred, and its dignity must be respected and protected" "The Gospel demands reverence for life in all circumstances" “Discrimination and violence against persons with AIDS and with HIV infection are unjust and immoral” (Called to Compassion and Responsibility). “The necessary prevention against the AIDS threat is not to be found in fear, but rather in the conscious choice of a healthy, free and responsible lifestyle”(Pope John Paul II to a Vatican AIDS conference, 1989). The message is clear: every human being is created in God’s image, redeemed by Jesus, and called to everlasting life. Accordingly, all persons have worth and dignity, rooted simply in who they are (and not in what they do or achieve). This conviction about the preciousness of every life grounds the Church’s teachings about HIV/AIDS. PLWHA face discrimination which is dehumanizing and suffering which strips the person’s sense of worth and dignity. Of course, this worth also needs to be cherished and protected by all of us, by individuals and organizations, especially the Church. All forms of discrimination are wrong, whether in housing, jobs, insurance, health care, or religion. Solidarity The Church’s teachings speak extensively about the rights and responsibilities of society. “As members of the Church and society, we have a responsibility to stand in solidarity with and reach out with compassion and understanding to those exposed to or experiencing this disease. We must provide spiritual and pastoral care as well as medical and social services for them and support for their families and friends.” “A comprehensive AIDS education then has to place AIDS within a moral context; impart accurate medical information and challenge misinformation; motivate individuals to accept the responsibility for personal choices and actions; confront discrimination and foster the kind of compassion which Jesus showed to others; model justice and compassion through policies and procedures” Grace Everything the Church has said about HIV/AIDS has been stated in the context of faith and trust in a good and gracious God. “While preaching a Gospel of compassion and conversion, Jesus also proclaimed to those most in need the Good News of forgiveness. The father in the parable of the prodigal son did not wait for his son to come to him. Rather, he took the initiative and ran out to his son with generosity, forgiveness, and compassion” “The love of God is so great that it goes beyond the limits of human language, beyond the grasp of artistic expression, beyond human understanding. God loves us all with an unconditional and everlasting love” “The cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ shed light on the true meaning and value of human suffering. The Lord invites everyone to join him on the road to Calvary and to share in the joy of Easter”. “The threat of AIDS now confronts our generations with the end of earthly life in a manner which is all the more overwhelming because it is linked, directly or indirectly, to the transmission of life and love .It is all part of the difficult problem of the meaning of suffering and of the value of all life, even when it is damaged or weakened” The various Church statements about PLWHA always affirm the love and compassion of God. Jesus has revealed a God who loves each of us unconditionally, a God who forgives our sinful actions. God is not vengeful. God respects human freedom, calling us to love and responsibility, but not interfering even with destructive choices. HIV/AIDS is a human illness not a punishment from God. The statements are very clear about these points. HIV/AIDS causes great suffering and death. And so the Church teachings address this sober reality, helping people to stand before the mystery of suffering and to realize that even here God’s tender mercies can be experienced. The teachings neither downplay the immensity of the suffering nor promote a passive acceptance. Rather the teachings urge all Christians to model their lives after Jesus, trusting in God, bringing comfort to those in need, and confronting oppressive structures and situations. Church as Servant, Teacher and Prophet in Today's HIV/AIDS Crisis When Jesus had finished washing the feet of his disciples during the last supper, he gave them a fundamental commission and orientation: “you call me Master and Lord, and rightly – so I am. If Lord, then, your Master, and I have washed your feet, you must wash each other's feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.” (John 13: 13–15). The Church as Servant The church’s response to this challenge of the Lord is to be a servant, to serve the people of God in their needs. In India and many countries, the greatest needs of God's people today are those arising out of their experience of HIV/AIDS. They are suffering pain, grief and human loss on an unimaginable scale. They are coping, and coping magnificently, with orphans in numbers, which far exceed anything previously known in human history. In their sufferings, dignity, and patience, the people are showing that their joyous and hopes, their grief's and anxieties are not only those of the followers of Christ. They are the joys and hopes, the grief and anxieties of Christ himself among us today. In our bewilderment and puzzlement as to how to deal with the problems that HIV/AIDS brings, let us be grateful for the way the Church and its members have shown themselves so faithful to what the Lord asked of us, that we copy what he has done. And let us continue to examine how in our lives, our families, our small Christian communities, our parishes, our religious communities, our organizations, we can extend that response of service. The Lord also commissioned his Church to teach: “go, therefore, make disciples of all nations.... and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you.” (Matt.28: 19.20). The Church as Teacher The teaching role is inspired in part by the recognition of how the Lord himself worked with people. He did not hesitate to associate with prostitutes and sinners. He never rejected them, never spurned them. Following this example, the Church wants us to be always accepting of the persons infected with HIV, never to spurn the person suffering from AIDS. Because of the inspiration it draws from the life and practice of the Lord, the Church encourages openness about the disease. It acknowledges the brokenness and weakness of these members – clergy, religious and lay. It acknowledges that they may be HIV-infected, but it sees that this is a reason for service and compassion, never for condemnation. The Church also teaches that even though HIV/AIDS is something new in the experience of humanity, it is not a curse sent by God. It is not God's punishment on any human being for promiscuity or sin. God is every best loving instinct in is, magnified to infinity. God is the one who, like a mother, teaches us to walk, takes us in her arms, and holds us close to her face. God is the one who personally entered into our sufferings in the death of Jesus on the cross, so that we might know that God understands suffering and death from inside. Today, God still shows that mysterious, deep, powerful love by suffering in a person dying from AIDS, by grieving in a family that loses its loved one, by crying in an orphan left without mother or father. “God so loved the world that he gave his only son... that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16) The Church as a Prophet and Leader At the Last Supper, Jesus promised his disciples that he would send them “another Paraclete to be with them forever, the Spirit of truth whom the world can never accept” (John 14:17). Jesus promised them that as his Church they would understand things in ways that the world does not understand them and that they would be strengthened to proclaim these insights fearlessly. The Church has always exercised this prophetic, leadership role. It has pointed out new directions. It has resisted oppressors. It has sided with the weak and powerless. It has always taken to heart as we have seen in the scripture+ scattering the proud hearted, casting the mighty from their thrones, raising the lowly. The whole thrust of Church teaching and action in favour of the poor is expression of this. Its deep concern for justice, for an equitable distribution of the goods of this world, for the preservation of the world's ecological heritage, springs from the same prophetic charisma. At the same time, the church recognises its fragility and brokenness. It acknowledges that many times it has not spoken out fearlessly enough or strongly enough. It is aware that at times it has repeated the weakness of Simon peter: it has temporised, it has been too cautious and fearful, and it has been too silent. With HIV/AIDS it has been the same as with other areas. The Church has spoken and acted for the lowly, for the afflicted. It has reached out in prophetic gestures to those that are afflicted. A dramatic expression of this occurred in a nearby country when the local pastor to visit a woman who had AIDS because she had been a sex worker. When the church head heard about this, they made a point of visiting the woman regularly until her death and celebrated her funeral mass with solemnity in their church. We need more leaders like that pastor. We need more prophetic gestures of this kind. We need the church to come out now and use its powerful moral influence and leadership to break once and for all the choking silence that surrounds HIV/AIDS. This silence leads to stigma and discrimination, and all three – silence, stigma and discrimination – only serve to make it easier to transmit the disease.

The primary purposes of the ‘Church without walls’ begins with words of Jesus – ‘Follow Me’.

The Shape of the Church also begins with Jesus’ call to discipleship – ‘Follow Me’.

The Church without wall reform begins in exactly the same way - Jesus said, “Follow Me”. Church without walls is a ministry that reaches across typical social boundaries to create a community that is welcoming, nurturing and transformative. Church without walls is moving beyond the traditional boundaries. Church without wall is an attempt to look for fresh ways of encouraging and supporting congregations in the twentieth-first century. It invites all of us in the Church to think about where we have come from, where we are and where we ought to be heading. The Church without Walls does not seek to impose a single, detailed pattern on every congregation. It is our hope and prayer. These initiatives within the Church at present will stimulate the Church to face the future in faith and hope. Jesus calls us to follow Him. When the road is rough and steep, fix our eyes upon Jesus Be a friend to others & lead them to the greatest Friend of all, our Lord Jesus. If we are to help others to love God, we ourselves must love Him. Before we become leaders, we must become disciples. A life made up of praise in every part. Building on God’s Word and walking with God’s Spirit We become what God wants us to be as we build on the Gospel. Let us serve the Lord with gladness.

 

CONCLUSION The way we treat HIV/AIDS patients today is almost the same as the way persons with leprosy were treated in the time of Jesus. In the first century, when someone discovered that they had the chronic infectious disease called leprosy, they were immediately ostracized. They were kicked out of their homes, excluded from synagogue and Temple worship, had to live outside the city walls and were virtually banished from human society. People with leprosy had to shout “unclean, unclean” wherever they went, always remain at least six feet away from other people, and avoid all human contact with other people. However, Jesus followed none of these prohibitions against people with leprosy. Matthew tells us that, when Jesus came down from the mountain where he gave what we call the Sermon on the Mount, a leper came and knelt down before him and said “Lord, if you choose you can make me clean.” (Matt. 8: 2). But Jesus responded in a way that shocked them all. Rather than fearing the leper and keeping his distance, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched the man with leprosy saying, “I do choose. Be made clean!” (Matt. 8: 3). Immediately, the man with leprosy was healed. When others excluded, Jesus included. When others reacted out of fear, Jesus responded with compassion. When others avoided human contact, Jesus reached out and touched the excluded one with his healing hand. Just as lepers were excluded and avoided in the time of Jesus, so persons with HIV/AIDS are frequently excluded and avoided in our world today. People living with HIV/AIDS are in all of our communities, Church and around the world; so the only question is, do we banish them because of our fear and our judgments, or do we follow the example of Jesus Christ and reach out to them with love and compassion?

BIBILIOGRAPHY

1. Overberg Kenneth R.: What Does the Church Say About HIV/AIDS?, Xavier University in Cincinnati,1993

2. Kent M Millard: How Would Jesus Respond to Persons Living With HIV and AIDS, Abingdon, 2003

3. Michael J Kelly: Church as servant, teacher and prophet in today's HIV/AIDS crisis: http://web.peacelink.it/africanscribe/1_issue/p2.html (Accessed on 1/6/2015).