Our Lord Jesus Christ says to St.Thomas: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20,29b)
The first Sunday after Easter: Quasimodogeniti (“As newborn babes: desire the sincere milk of the Word…”) has the watchword from 1.Epistle of St. Peter 1,3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead“. The new creation brought about by our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ comes only through the rebirth by water and the Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism.
The propers of this Sunday underline the salvation of our God. The Introit is from Ps. 116,3.8-9.13: “The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish…For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living… I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD”
The readings from the Old Testament is from the prophet Isaiah 40,26-31. He points to the ability of the almighty Creator, who is powerful to save and empower the weak and faint making them fit and strong: “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God”? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
The reading from the epistles is from the 1st letter of St. Peter in the first chapter verses 3-9: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, as was necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
And the gospel reading is written by St. John in chapter 20 the verses 19-29. Here we read of the appearance of our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ amongst his disciples and how he commissions them into his wonderful office of the ministry of proclaiming the forgiveness of sins in his name, but also how he leads St. Thomas from disbelief and doubt to a living faith and sound confession: “My Lord and my God!” Read more here: “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The sermon for this Sunday is based on the reading from the epistle to the Colossians 2,12-15: “Having been buried with Jesus Christ in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
Read here the sermon by Rev. Kurt-Guenther Tiedemann in both isiZulu: Zulu Sermon on Col.2,12-15 by Rev. K-G. Tiedemann and thanks to the translation by my father Rev. E.A.W.Weber DD in seTswana: Tswana Sermon on Col.2,12-15 by Rev. K-G.Tiedemann
The ANC majority – our constitution – domination and democracy …
THE F W DE KLERK FOUNDATION RESPONDS TO RECENT COMMENTS OF MINISTER BLADE NZIMANDE REGARDING THE RIGHT OF THE MAJORITY TO RULE
The F W de Klerk Foundation has read with interest the latest views of Blade Nzimande relating to the principle that “the People Shall Govern: The principal and supreme foundation of our democracy.”
Mr Nzimande is very critical of the media, opposition parties, the courts and NGOs ‘like the F W de Klerk Foundation’ which he believes are trying to subvert the right of the majority to govern. In support of his views in this regard he cites the declaration in the Freedom Charter that “the people will govern!” He says that the Freedom Charter “constitutes the fundamental basis of our democracy.”
Well, of course, it doesn’t. The Freedom Charter is the mobilisation document of the ANC – and as such has played an important and generally respected role in our recent history. However, the foundation of our democracy is our Constitution which was negotiated and adopted by parties representing a large majority of all South Africans and of all our communities. It belongs to all of us.
Our Constitution makes full provision for government by the elected representatives of the majority of our voters. It endows the government that they elect with all the powers that it needs to carry out the mandate it receives from the electorate. The people do, indeed, govern. However, because our new society is based on the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law, the Constitution requires that all laws and executive conduct must be compliant with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Mr Nzimande cannot be opposed to this because, as a Minister, he has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution which places reasonable restraints on the ability of the majority to do as it pleases.
In this manner, the Constitution protects the rights of individuals and minorities however defined. Mr Nzimande should understand that in multicultural societies like our own, such safeguards are particularly important in assuring that the reasonable rights of minorities – whether they are political, economic, cultural, language, or sexual – are not violated by an unrestrained majority. International conventions to which South Africa is a party also require respect for the reasonable protection of the cultural, language and education rights of minorities.
Such protections are clearly necessary when a senior minister feels free to express the racially hostile sentiment that “the overwhelming majority of the white minority were deadly opposed to majority rule.” In fact, at the urging of President De Klerk, almost 70% of whites voted in the 1992 referendum in favour of the continuation of negotiations which everyone knew would culminate in majority rule.
Mr Nzimande’s understanding of the role of the courts in our democracy also appears to be less informed. In a recent judgement of the Supreme Court of Appeals in Democratic Alliance v President of the Republic of South Africa & others 2012 (1) SA 417 (SCA), the court held: “Section 1(c) of the Constitution proclaims the supremacy of the Constitution and the concomitant of the rule of law. In fulfilling the constitutional duty of testing the exercise of public power against the Constitution, courts are protecting the very essence of a constitutional democracy”. Simply stated, our courts have an imperative role to play in keeping the legislature and executive true to the Constitution.
Of course, the Constitution can be amended, subject to the constitutionality of such amendments. In this regard, our courts have an important role to play in reviewing the amendments effected by the legislature so as to control public power premised on the Constitution and the rule of law. Ordinary provisions can be amended with a two-thirds majority but the founding values – which encompass the essence of our non-racial democracy – can be amended only with a 75% majority. All constitutions must evolve with time – but it is generally accepted that such amendments should be considered only in special circumstances and after the broadest possible consultation.
There is one section of the Constitution that we believe should be changed if we really want the people to govern. Perhaps, Mr Nzimande will join us in a campaign to do so? It is section 47 (3) (c) which provides that a person loses membership of the National Assembly if that person … ceases to be a member of the party that nominated that person as a member of the Assembly…” In other words, the people, through their representatives do not govern. The party bosses govern. There is virtually no accountability of members of parliament to the electorate between elections. How, then, can they govern?
Mr Nzimande expresses amazement at what he terms “a huge outcry, manufactured in the media and the ranks of the opposition that there is a threat to our constitution.” Yet , it was the ANC itself – and not these “anti-majoritarian” formations – that stated only last month that the constitutional compromises in “our first transition” have “proven inadequate and inappropriate for our social and economic transformation phase.” It was the ANC’s own constitutional guru, Adv Ngoako Ramathlodi, who last September launched a comprehensive assault on the Constitution.
Let us make it perfectly clear: We fully accept the right of the elected representatives of the majority to rule within the framework of the Constitution.
However, while we are considering this critically important right, we would like Mr Nzimande to inform us how it could have happened that a President was dismissed and national policies were changed after the Polokwane conference in 2007 with no mandate whatsoever from the electorate?
We would also like to know how it happens that his party has some 80 members in parliament – who were not elected under the banner of their own party – but who nevertheless give their prime loyalty to that party? If he is so enthusiastic about the right of genuine representatives of the majority to govern, why doesn’t the SACP stand as a separate party in elections? Also, how does Mr Nzimande reconcile the view of SACP/COSATU that “the dictatorship of the proletariat is the only guarantee that there will be a transition from NDR to socialism.” How would the will of the majority be ascertained under a communist dictatorship – and how would the people then be able to govern?
ISSUED BY THE F W DE KLERK FOUNDATION
CAPE TOWN, 13 APRIL 2012
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