Dertig jaar Afrikahuis in Amsterdam: Let us become saints!

All Saints Catholic Church

Zondag­mid­dag 2 no­vem­ber was ik bij All Saints Catholic Church voor de Eucha­ris­tie­vie­ring en de pa­ro­chie­ont­moe­ting daarna. Een fees­te­lijk gebeuren want de ge­meen­schap, het "Afrikahuis" vierde het der­tig­ja­rig bestaan. Sinds 2017 heeft All Saint een eigen kerk aan de Millingenhof in Am­ster­dam Zuid Oost.

Inwij­ding

Het der­tig jaar bestaan van de ge­meen­schap is gerekend sinds de inwij­ding door mgr. Bomers van het Afrikahuis, toen in de Van Ostade­straat in de Pijp in Am­ster­dam. Tijdens de mid­dag­bij­een­komst na de Eucha­ris­tie­vie­ring hoor­den we dat er ook nog een tien­ja­rige prehistorie is geweest: de ge­meen­schap van onder meer Ghanese en Nigeriaanse katho­lieken was in de tien jaar voor de ope­ning van het Afrikahuis op wisselende plaatsen bijeen geko­men voor de vie­ring van de Eucha­ris­tie.

Fees­te­lijk

Alles was heel fees­te­lijk: de pa­ro­chi­anen waren voor een groot deel gekleed in kle­ding gemaakt uit dezelfde stof met een speciaal feest­pa­troon en de naam van het Afrikahuis. Er waren mis­die­naars en de combinatie van twee koren van de pa­ro­chie zorgde voor fees­te­lij­ke zang.

Aanwe­zige pries­ters

Ver­schil­lende pries­ters con­ce­le­breer­den, aller­eerst na­tuur­lijk de pastoor p. Emmanuel Andoh SMA, ver­der de provinciaal van de SMA, p. Fabian Gbortsu, pater Henk Jansen WP, p. Frans Mulders SMA, p. Paschal Deo Agni SMA en pries­ter Peter Klos, terwijl andere pries­ters in de kerk hebben deel­ge­no­men, onder wie P. Gerard Noom SMA, P. Gerard Timmermans SMA en pater Patrick Ezeonwu CSSp. Vele pa­ro­chi­anen vervul­den allerlei taken om alles in goede banen te laten verlopen.

Middag­pro­gramma

In het mid­dag­pro­gramma waren er enkele toe­spra­ken, onder andere door de voor­zit­ter van het feestcomité dr. Justice Richard K. Kyei, en kregen pa­ro­chi­anen met bij­zon­dere ver­diensten een cer­ti­fi­caat uit­gereikt. Ook waren er enkele culturele uitingen, zang door het koor en een plakaat uit dank­baar­heid voor de SMA, de Sociëteit die de pas­to­raal ver­zorgt, het bisdom en mij­zelf. In de hal ont­hul­den we een her­in­ne­ringsplaquette aan deze dag en mocht ik de feesttaart aansnij­den.

Al met al een zeer fees­te­lij­ke dag. Van harte proficiat aan All Saints Catholic Church in Am­ster­dam!

Let us become saints!

ALL SAINTS 30 YEARS

Dear brothers and sisters,

Opening

I would like to congratulate you all on the thirtieth anniversary of Afrikahuis, All Saints Catholic Church. Thirty years ago, His Exc. Monsignor Bomers, who was the bishop at that time, came to celebrate the ope­ning of Afrikahuis on Van Ostade­straat. I watched the film of that event again, thanks to Father Emmanuel. Since 1995, your community has undergone quite a develop­ment. After years in Van Ostade­straat, you spent some time in the Boom­kerk (St Francis of Assisi), until your own church was opened and consecrated in February 2017. Today, we can thank God for the path He has taken with your community and for your own church buil­ding that was made possible. God is good; He has not abandoned you.

All Soulsday 

Today is 2 November, and on this day we commemorate all deceased faithful throughout the world. I would also like to remember and pray for your deceased loved ones and for all those who passed away in these thirty years. A special prayer and thought for the great pillars of support who made the Africa House possible and who have since passed away. May God in His goodness reward them for the many good things they have done for All Saints Catholic Church! May they and all our dear departed rest in peace!

Patron Saints

Today, however, we celebrate the liturgy of All Saints' Day because it is the patron saint's day of your community. All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day are closely linked. On both days, our thoughts turn to heaven and eternal life. On this patron saint's feast day, we feel a special connection with all the saints in heaven, and at the same time we pray for our deceased beloved ones and remember them.

Fond memories

Perhaps you yourself have fond memories of a loved one who has been a source of inspiration to you through his or her faith, through the love and warmth you have experienced from them. The good, faithful people we have met on our journey through life have set a good example for us. When you look back on their lives, you think: Yes, that's how I would like to be! And in this way, we can hopefully be a source of inspiration for others. Yes, let us strive to be saints.

Who is a saint?

When are you a saint? No, not necessarily when you have never made any mistakes, when you are perfect, have never done anything wrong, or when you look very pious and nice. Saint Benedict Labre was a vagrant and smelled bad. There have been great saints who have gone wrong in all sorts of ways. Just think of Saint Camillus: he was a fighter and could be very quick-tempered; or think of Saint Augustine: he had lived with a woman and had a child; think of Francis of Assisi: he was mainly interested in girls, beautiful clothes and figh­ting; think of Thérèse of Lisieux, who as a child was often angry and wanted to have her way. Or think of Saint Bartolo Longo from Naples, whom the Pope canonized last week: he had been a Satanic priest, comple­tely in the grip of the devil.

Turning point

But what do they all have in common? At some point, they were touched by the power of God's grace, they repented, they felt remorse and started living a different life. Camillus was touched by the life and example of the monks he met, he tried to control his anger from then on and went to care for the sick, doing humble work. Augustine was touched by the word of God and the sermons of Bishop Ambrose, he was baptised and began a new life; Francis was wounded in a fight, he had time to reflect and some won­derful things happened in his life, he had a won­derful dream, then his heart was changed and he comple­tely changed the course of his life: he went to live a poor, simple and peaceful life, without violence. And so I could go on...

Conversion

Sometimes we really have to go through a change in order to become saints. It can be something sad or something very beautiful, it can be anything: God can touch us in many ways, we just have to open our hearts. Oh, these saints still had problems after their conversion, certainly: Bartolo Longo, for example, remained depressed and often had suicidal thoughts. Many saints had something like that. And there have also been saints who always lived faithfully and quietly continued to grow in their calling. That can happen too.
They are all beautiful, special paths that God walks with a person.

How to become a saint?

What must you do to become a saint? Open your heart to God's love, to His grace. Try to live in the spirit of the Beatitudes that we heard in today's Gospel. Do not choose to make yourself great and important, to always want to be right, to always want to do only the fun things. No, choose to bring peace, to be merciful, to be meek, to serve, to be receptive to the guidance that God wants to give you. Blessed, blessed are you then! Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the merciful, blessed are those who bring peace... That is the way of the Beatitudes.

Don't get discouraged

Brothers and sisters, we are called to become holy and to be happy with all the saints in God's kingdom. The name ‘All Saints Catholic Church’ is meant to remind us of this.
Have you made mistakes, committed sins? Remain calm then and trust in God's mercy and His forgiveness, which you can receive again and again in the sacra­ment of confession. And remember the saints who also had to make a new begin­ning, who had not been so good always. Have you had a period when God seemed far away and everything was cold and dark? Seek the Lord, perhaps make a special effort, and do not be discouraged. And be patient. Even saints have experienced this. After a long dark period in his life, Saint John of the Cross spoke of the ‘night of the soul’.

Congratulations

I warmly congratulate you all today! Continue with hope and confi­dence! For you are accompanied by the prayers of the community of saints. Amen.