26/11/2024
Why Do Catholic Priests Eat the Chickens Brought To The Church Alone?
Someone who is drowning, as they say, clutches at anything. Those who leave the Church today seek to justify their decision by holding on anything they can reach. One of such hinge reasons for leaving the Church is that material gifts given in the Church is consumed only by the priests while in African Tradition Religion (ATR), the Priest (Atama) and the presenter of the sacrifice jointly partake in the eating of the sacrificial victim. So, when they want to insult the Christian faith, they resort to calling Christians the cheated ones (ndi eriri eri) based on the above insignificant reason. For the sake of the weak and vulnerable, let us explore below why material gifts are used differently in ATR and Catholic Church.
There is nothing we can give in the Church as sacrificial victims. There is only one Victim in Christianity who made one unrepeatable and completely satisfying sacrifice for the entire human race in all generation. So, our gifts in the Church are not to be seen as sacrificial victims. They are rather freewill offerings where we attempt to donate what we have for the course of God who gave us everything. God needs nothing as God because the Lord’s is the earth and the fullness thereof. But his Church is in constant need and whatever is done for the Church redounds to his honour . Our gifts/offerings in Church are not meant to appease God because appeasement has already been done by the blood of the Lamb. Giving in in African Traditional Religion (ATR), on the other hand, has full sacrificial intent. They sacrifice animals before shrines that the blood may atone for them, appease the god, satiate disgruntled spirits, lobby their way etc. No one makes this sacrifice and stands aloof. That is why one who makes the sacrifice must go the whole hug and eat the victim. In most cases, this eating of the sacrificial victim is a condition for the effectiveness of the sacrifice because it is believed that there is an exchange between the god and the consumers in the process. It comes close to the same reason we consume Holy Communion in Christianity. As goat, chickens, rams etc are not our victims as Christians, we may not eat them when we give them in the Church. But as they are the true victims for adherents of ATR, they need to take part in the meal just like we take part in our true meal, Jesus Christ in the Holy Communion.
Giving in the Church is a free act of faith, love and hope, but giving in idolatry is motivated mainly by fear and dictate of a diviner. Christians freely come with gifts to the Church as act of love and trust in God. Catholic priests do not prescribe to the faithful the items to come with for their prayers to be heard. Instead, giving in Christianity is mostly thanksgiving for occasions that unbelievers may regard as awkward sometimes. For example, coming with gifts to the Church after burial. In virtually all instance, Christians voluntarily decide when to give, what to give, where to give, how to give, whether to give or not according to their faith, hope and love quotient. On the contrary, giving by adherent of ATR is no act of faith, hope or love. It is rather decreed by the gods and dictated by their viceroys with threats that will follow non-compliance. It is mostly a joyless sacrifice either to appease the god, to fulfil a promise made under duress or desperation, or for worshipper to bribe his way through the god etc. Because the giver in ATR is often subtly threatened into doing so, and handed the list of items to bring, it is natural that he partakes of the sacrifice as a way of testifying that no harm lurks beneath those items forcefully taken from him. He joins to eat to show that whoever eats it is safe from harm. You will recall that after the gods, the palm wine brought for offering is first served the person who brought it for sacrifice even before the Atama will drink. This suspicion is real among idol-worshipper but not among Christians. Thus, eating with the priests of deities is a safety valve from mutual distrust.
For us Catholics, our gift is somewhat our holocaust burnt entirely unto God. Christians sacrifice something, goat, fowls, ram etc as gifts given in view of total charity to the poor, in support of God-driven mission and missionaries. Thus, they do not look back to what they have given in order to get a share; instead, they hope that their gifts may make them (in)direct participants in the work of the mission. They are fed when their gifts help the poor to feed; they are fed when their gifts help the priests to be fed and be more efficient in their ministry; they are satisfied when their gifts contribute to the enhancement of the Church’s mission, etc. They know something their counterparts in ATR do not know. Thus, they do it for their priests because of their God. The one who gives in our Church is often in need, nevertheless, he feels obliged to support the needs of the Church as a member of the family. On the contrary, the orientation of those in ATR is different. The idol they worship has no mission mandate outside the shrine or stomachs of the worshippers. Therefore, there is no need to support its missionaries that are non-existent. The worshippers understood that there is no obligation imposed on them to spend material gifts in order to promote belief in their idol beyond themselves. That is why when they bring any gift, they do not hope that it will be spent in serving another person other than themselves. They have no teaching on charity to the poor, no obligation to feed their priests, and no reason to propagate their idol like Christians do. Thus, traditional priests consume their sacrificial victims with the worshippers because their worship is self-centered and not wired to serve others or promote the common good.
ATR is a consumerist religion. It is largely built around eating and drinking more than teaching and evangelization. Those who convert to it are raised to look for what to eat and drink, but Christians are raised to look for what sacrifices they can perform in order to help the course of evangelization. Thus, adherents of ATR will be content with staying under a tree and eating beef, goat meat, muttons, and drinking to stupor from what they sacrificed unto themselves in the name of the gods. But Christians may do none of these from what they offered. No! They go home sober while their priests use them judiciously to meet the missionary needs of the Church, help the poor and feed himself in readiness for the Church’s mission. Catholic priests live solely on what God provides them through his believers, and when he receives that, he reciprocates by giving himself entirely and unreservedly for the work of God. Priesthood is their sole function, and if they do another work, it is still for the sake of their priestly ministry. Catholic priests belong to the Church and not the other way round. Thus, taking care of them is obligatory on the side of the Church as a labourer deserves his wages. Gifts made over to God in Church are ways of sustaining the priests and promoting the mission of the Church. That is not so with priests of ATR. The latter own themselves even though they work for the gods. In other words, they are at liberty to fend for themselves.
When you see Churches, Cathedrals, schools, hospitals, banks, etc springing with Catholic Church and none of such from the shrines of ATR, the secret is that Christians give for the sake of these and not for self-serving goal. As Christians, we choose to take care of our priests with our gifts thereby encouraging them to focus in taking care of the needs of our souls. We do not come to Church to spy for material things offered to God. Instead, we understand that God provides for his Church through us—the poor and the rich alike—who only give from what they have received. Our Christian faith has given us foresight such that our gaze is not on the visible things we give, but on the invisible things we will receive. That is why those who have not received the gift of faith can hardly make a gift in the Church. Catholic Priests do not receive offerings unto themselves. People give because of Jesus Christ and his course which priests represent. 'They are maintained by gifts because they live to prepare men for the greater Gift—God himself. If they make men open to God, then, they may be maintained by the gifts of the beneficiaries' says Thomas Aquinas. They eat not alone, but for the sake of the Church and with the rest of men.
