By Demetria Banda
The Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Officer (CPLO), of Episcopal Conference of Malawi Fr. Henry Chinkanda has requested the Malawi Catholic Members of Parliament to distribute Government resources equitably in the country.
Fr Chinkanda said this on Wednesday 30 June 2021 at the parliament building during the Holy Eucharist celebration for Catholic Parliamentarians who ended their budgetary seating session.
In his homily Fr Chinkanda said that it is only when there is equitable distribution of the resources in the country that all can have life and have it to the full.
Reflecting on the Lord’s words from Numbers 26:53-54 that state; “Divide the land among tribes, according to their size. Divide the land by drawing lots, and give a large share to a large tribe and a small one to a small tribe,” Fr. Chinkanda reminded the Members of Parliament that they too are invited to embrace the wonderful gift of God by being merciful politicians hence distributing government resources equitably.
“When we look at the New Testament, the book of Acts provides an outstanding example of how the equitable distribution of resources became an important characteristic of the early Church. We have heard in our first reading that “All believers continued together in close fellowship and shared their belongings with one another. They would sell their property and possessions, and distribute the money among all, according to what each one needed.” (Acts 2: 44-45). Today the same principle should govern our financial decisions, we believe that this budget will be shared equitably so that each Malawian citizen should benefit – not equally but equitably. It is impossible that all people should have equal share of resources on earth. Human beings are equal in dignity but quite different in many regards. This is why we are talking of equitable distribution of resources and not equal share of resources” articulated Fr Chinkanda
He further asked the parliamentarian to recognize the fact that, in God’s economy he equips some with more so that they can bless others who have less.
“The majority of poverty is a result of some form of human sin and error, not necessarily their own sin that causes people to lack provision or wealth. Poor people are victims of other people’s sin such as poor government, corruption, xenophobia, greed, factories exploiting vulnerable workers by paying below legal wages yet they are pocketing millions of Kwachas, etc. It is reckoned that about 1.4 billion of the world’s population live in extreme poverty, meaning that, they lack the basic necessities of life and live at subsistence level, on a kind of “hand-to-mouth” existence. This is why the passage found in 2 Corinthians 9:11 tells us that God makes us rich in every way so that we can be generous on every occasion. He added
Fr Chinkanda continued with the story of Lazarus and the rich man in the bible that warns of rich people falling into temptations and being trapped by many senseless and harmful desires.
“For the love of money can breed all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains (1 Tim 6:10). The consequences of such greed are often more than just a damage to our own spiritual state but they also deprive others of the much needed resources in life. This is why it is important for Members of Parliament to believe in God because the rebellion of the first humans (Genesis 3) had a catastrophic effect on all of creation, not just their relationship with God, but also their capacity to draw provision and create wealth from the land. The Fall demonstrates that when we break our relationship with God, we create economic problems, along with all sorts of other evil. Because God is the source of blessings, if we are not close to him, humanity’s ability to find provision and wealth gets undermined”. He Concluded
The event was held at Parliament Buildings under the theme “Equitable Distribution of God Given Resources”. In attendance during the holy mass were parliamentarians from all political parties from all parts of the country.