Bible
Study: Philippians 2, 1 to 11. And Matthew
13, 31 to 46.
In our Gospel
passage this morning, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a field that
contains a lot of precious treasures which a man finds, goes and sell all his
has just to buy it. The kingdom of God is not cheap, it demands a lot from us,
it demands all we have, our time, our entire resources, our total loyalty. We cannot
get to heaven if we are trying to be average Christians. If we are concerned
only about doing the minimum, then we cannot buy this treasure field.
It takes
trust on our part to believe that giving up everything for the sake of the
kingdom is worth it. People may accuse of you taking religion too seriously,
they may call you names and laugh at you like a man selling all he has, all his
possessions just to buy a small piece of land. People are like, “What did you
see in this land for which you are willing to incur poverty on yourself?” You don’t
need to explain because you know that heaven is worth it.
Today is
the Feast Day of Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, a man whose life gives us
an example of deep trust in God. Tansi was always accused of taking his Christianity
too seriously. First a secular priest, he went on to become a Trappist monk
because he wanted to completely live out his piety in close communion to God as
much as possible.
Born to
non-Christian parents in September 1903 in Aguleri, Anambra State, Nigeria,
Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi was sent to live with his uncle at the age
of seven. It was his Christian uncle gave him an education. He was baptised at
the age of 10 by Irish missionaries. Tansi was a diligent student with a
precocious personality and deep piety. He worked as a teacher for 3 years and
later served as a headmaster of St. Joseph’s school for one year in Aguleri.
In the
movie about him, there is a particular scene that inspires me so much. When Tansi
expressed his desire to become a priest, his uncle arranged for a very
beautiful lady to visit him with the hope that she would make him think twice
about becoming a priest. But despite several attempts, he reached a conclusion
that Tansi only talks to two women in the world; his own mother and the Blessed
Virgin Mary. In 1925 against the wishes of his family, he entered St. Paul’s
Seminary in Igbariam and was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of Onitsha on
19 December 1937.
For a time
Tansi worked tirelessly in the parishes of Nnewi, Dunukofia, Akpu/Ajali before
discerning vocation to be a Cistercian monk at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey,
Leicester, England. He lived this vocation at the abbey for 14 years. Father
Tansi used to say, “If you are going to be a Christian at all, you might as
well live entirely for God”.
He died on
20 January 1964 and was beatified on 22 March 1998 by Saint John Paul in
Nigeria. The Pope said of Father Cyprian:
He was first of all a man of God: his
long hours before the Blessed Sacrament filled his heart with generous and
courageous love. Those who knew him testify to his great love of God. Everyone
who met him was touched by his personal goodness. He was then a man of the
people: he always put others before himself, and was especially attentive to
the pastoral needs of families. He took great care to prepare couples well for
Holy Matrimony and preached the importance of chastity. He tried in every way
to promote the dignity of women. In a special way, the education of young
people was precious to him.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, teach me to trust more and live entirely for you. Amen. Blessed Tansi:
Pray for us.
God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is
well with you.
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