By Fr Pat Amobi Chukwuma
Three years ago, I attended the burial Mass of a woman in one of the parishes where I worked in the past. Her husband died when I was still in charge of the parish. The family was very poor and thus, benefited from our parish corporal works of mercy. The deceased couple left five children behind. One of them was a thorn in the flesh for the family when the mother was alive. Now, as orphans, they must learn how to face the realities of life.
Immediately after the burial Mass held in the parish church, one familiar woman who was as tall as a grown-up palm tree came and greeted me with mixed feelings of joy and sadness. After joyfully offering me a handshake, she asked me about a certain priest related to the deceased woman who did not come for the burial Mass. I told her that he was unavoidably absent.
Instantly, I saw sadness walking all over her face. Then I enquired why she felt so sad. She vehemently narrated to me how the deceased woman used the name of the priest in question to borrow huge amount of money from her with the promise of repaying as soon as possible. Having known the dubious character of the deceased woman, I told her that the alleged priest surety did not know anything about the huge debt.
To assure her of the truth of the matter at hand, I called the priest in question on phone there and then. The priest washed his hands off the borrowed money. Instantly she broke into tears. Then she sighed and shouted, “If this is true, surely the deceased woman can never rest in peace!” All my efforts to console her were fruitless. She glanced at me sorrowfully and departed in tears. I shook my head sideways and exclaimed, “Betrayal of trust! God have mercy!” Can debtors go to heaven?
My Igbo people say, “O bughi onu e jiri biri aku ka e ji akwu ya.” This means that borrowing is very simple, but repayment is hard. Personally, I have been a victim of indebtedness many times and in different places. It is really painful. Once upon a time, I attended the burial of one of my debtors.
During the funeral oration, the son nearly beatified his late father as he read out the litany of his achievements. When he read, “Indeed, my late father lived a life worthy of emulation” I nearly interrupted him. By the grace of God I controlled my emotion. I told my friend standing beside me how much the deceased man borrowed from me without repaying. My friend laughed and asserted, “Don’t worry father. He will repay you on the Day of Resurrection.”
We laughed it over. During the dust to dust rite, as I poured sand over his remains, I prayed in inaudible tone, “I hereby cancel your debt. Do not be a debtor over there again. You can now rest in peace.” A popular bird called elekenti says that since men have learnt to shoot without aiming, it has also learnt to fly without perching. Experience is the best teacher. I have learnt how to deal with borrowers of all grades. I cannot divulge the secret here.
Whenever someone dies, the next thing you will hear is: “May he (she) rest in peace!” What happens if the deceased was a troublemaker or evildoer when he or she was alive and died unrepentant? Would he or she rest in peace? Saint Paul did not mince words when he said, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7). There was the story of a wealthy but very wicked man who mesmerized everyone when he was alive.
He did not even spare his wife and children. He cared only for himself. He was stingy to the core. The wife and children were begging for food and money to buy their necessary needs. He forbade his wife and children from entering into his room. All his properties and money were hidden in his room. Eventually he went to bed and did not wake up the next day. Everybody was afraid to knock at his door in order to ascertain his condition. After three days, a deadly stench started emanating from the room.
Some close family members were contacted. They came and broke the door by force. Lo and behold, the rich stingy and wicked man’s remains have started decomposing. They rushed to the nearest market of the dead and bought the cheapest casket. With the aid of superior face masks, they collected the decomposing body from the bed and inserted it carelessly in the coffin.
They buried him instantly and unceremoniously in a shallow grave. No tears dropped from any eyes. The widow and her six children were happy that their agony has ended. With one voice they exclaimed, “Wicked man, rest in pieces! If there is reincarnation, never you come back to our family.” He was buried like a stubborn dead dog. Afterwards, the widow and her children rushed into his room and carted away the huge sum of money he stored in a big plastic container.
Numerous tubers of yams rotted away in the room. Likewise some bags of rice there have already been destroyed by moths while the widow and the children nearly died of hunger. Later, the eldest son hired a mason to seal his deceased wicked father’s tomb with hard concrete cement and rods so that he may not rise on the resurrection day. Over the hard concrete grave was inscribed in bold letters, “THE EVIL THAT MEN DO LIVES AFTER THEM.”
Some time ago I clarified that R.I.P has two denotations. It can be Rest in Peace or Rest in Pieces. Each depends on how the deceased lived. If he or she lived a good life, then he or she can rest in peace. But if otherwise, he or she rests in pieces. Only God knows who is resting in peace or in pieces. The three last things awaiting each and every one of us are death, judgment, reward or punishment. There is no appeal after God’s judgment. Appeal Court only exists in this physical world.
The Supreme Court here, is inferior to Divine Court. Miscarriage of justice can only be obtainable on earth, especially here in Nigeria. Human judges can be bribed, but God cannot be bribed. A certain hopeless billionaire was at the point of death, stupidly he inserted his cheque book and packets of the highest money denomination into his big inner pockets with which to bribe God on his judgment day.
He instructed his next of kin to bury him without removing anything from his lifeless body and there should not be anything like the bathing of his corpse. He vowed to deal treacherously with anyone who dared to contradict his last will. Eventually, he died after violent struggle with death.
Do you know what happened? His next of kin removed the cheque book and huge sums of money the deceased father tied with rope around his waist. Next, he ordered that his late father should be buried naked as contained in his will. Vanity of vanities, says the Scripture, all is vanity!
A popular pastor was standing at the pulpit and was reeling out the minor and major atrocities that can prevent human beings from attaining eternal salvation. At this, intense murmuring filled the church. Courageously one elderly woman stood up and shouted, “Pastor, it seems only God will stay in heaven because no one is free from all these iniquities!” The congregants broke into laughter.
The pastor shouted, “Shut up! This is not a laughing matter. As you make your bed, so you lie on it.” In fact, if God does not temper justice with mercy, heaven will be empty. Saint Paul says that God’s grace is enough for us (2 Cor. 12:9). However, grace works on nature. Let us not despair. Struggle continues.
