Bring People in with Shared Cups of Tea

by asiel · September 20, 2016

By Fr Anthony Ndang Ndichia MHM – In many churches the custom of drinking tea or coffee after Mass has grown significantly. Why do people drink tea after Mass, instead of dashing to their cars and going home? Is there something more than just drinking tea?

Sometime ago in one of my parishes, I sat with some parishioners for a pleasant cup of tea after Mass. In the course of our sharing I learned a lot about them and they also discovered certain things about me. At the end, I realised that whenever people gather together something happens as we hear in the scriptures: “For where two or three have gathered together in my name, there I am in their midst” (Mt 18:20).

Over that cup of tea we discussed many things: family backgrounds, culture, faith, traditions, politics, poverty, achievement and successes of people, current events, health, life problems, the sick and elderly in the parish.

I realised the presence of Jesus in our shared woundedness, in our brokenness, in our stressed life, in our past, in our futures, in our families, in our friends, in our church, in our society, in our country.

Even today, our sitting down has drawn each of us together to bonds of love, closeness, mutual concern, support, communion, friendship and family spirit.

This reminds me of what happened in the early Church. The first Christians met in their homes for the breaking of bread (Acts 2:42-47), the first Christians were united in heart and soul (Acts 4:32-37), the Church grew as a community (Rom 12:2-13),

Jesus and the first Christians teach us: “Love your neighbour as you love yourself” (Mt 22:39). “Live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Eph 4:1). People brought their gifts “time” to the community (Eph 4:1-6). “Faith without deeds is useless (Jm 2:20)

When people sit around the table for a cup of tea they are brought together. We live in a world where technology is widening the personal and physical contact between people. It is now easier to relate to people who live far away from us through mobile phones and the Internet.

But some people feel anonymous or unknown in the community. They would like a warm, supportive human community.

There is a need for the Church to bring together personal bonds of love and communion. Catholics in South Africa and elsewhere are finding support and strength in gathering around the cup of tea. People are getting to know each other better, strengthening friendship ties.

In parish communities, people are fed by the Word of God and the Eucharist as they try to live the Christian life in the best way possible. However, parishioners often do this as individuals. They do not see the need for relationships with other people. In fact, some of them are quite alone.

People today are longing for a sense of community, for a sense of belonging — after all, “no one is an island”. This is where sitting round a table with a cup of tea can breathe new life, new energy, and reawakening.

In community with others, what was weak in us becomes strong, what was doubtful becomes hopeful, what was poor in us let us become rich, and what was ugly in us turns to beauty.

Our family is a community and we would feel lifeless without our family bonds. The same is true for the Church. God wants us to be a community of Christians, not of individual disciples. That cup of tea after Mass provides a way of being a community — all are one family in faith.

During this Year of Mercy, may the grace of baptism which unites us as brothers and sisters in South Africa be reawakened in us to so we can begin to relate faith to work, family, daily life struggles, health, society and other life situations.

Through the ritual of drinking tea together, may we come realise that face-to-face contact is possible in our parishes and that everyone can come to know each other better.

Fr Anthony Ndang Ndichia is a Mill Hill Missionary working in the diocese of Kroonstad.