An imagined letter from Bishop Martin Munyanyi, written and delivered by Bishop Raphael Ncube (Hwange Diocese) at the funeral of the late Bishop Martin Munyanyi and Sr Bernadette Chabhongora SJI, on May 21, 2022. Driefontein Mission.
I tried to imagine what Bishop Munyanyi could have said, had he been given the opportunity to address us here today.
And I tried to put together my imaginations, and I came up with this.
It is in the form of a letter.
My fellow Bishops dear priests, religious and you all dear brothers and sisters thank you all for the send off you are giving me today.
To you all my fellow Bishops, Priests religious brothers and sisters my family members’ friends’ relatives and all the laity and even those who are not Catholic, and those who are non-Christians.
I worked and lived among you, in doing my work in many other occasions you came into an encounter with me, I might have hurt you here and there, I know as a person like all of you I was not immune to hating others even with the best of intentions.
In case during my goings and comings among you as your fellow Christian and your leader I might have hurt you without intending to and at times without realizing.
Now that you are here to commend me into the hands of the Lord after my completion of this pilgrim journey, I as I lie here, in your midst sincerely ask you to forgive me.
Your forgiveness will make my way clear in my building light, it will remove all the obstacles on my way and give me the courage and strength to approach the throne of the almighty
Brothers and sisters, those of you who were pained by one or more of my decisions, words, actions or attitudes, I sincerely stand here, as I lie before you to say I’m truly sorry, forgive me and commend me to the throne of the Almighty with peaceful hearts.
To all those among you who in one way or another once hurt me during my life here on earth I want to assure you of my forgiveness, celebrate my departure with conviction knowing that I have already forgiven you, yes you made me feel pain, yes you once let me down, yes you once despised me, yes you once disobeyed me, yes you once laughed at me but today do not be afraid.
I am not holding a grudge against anybody I have forgiven you, I want to go in peace.
I also want to console those who feel that I have deserted them by departing only aged 66, especially my family members and friends and relatives, I say to you God’s time is the best. Nguva yaMwari ndiyo nguva yakanaka
He who brought me into this world at his own time, has chosen to take me back at his own time.
Please do not withhold me, let me go, let me heed to the whisper from above as I hear it saying, Martin come back home.
I love you all, and I am not deserting you far from it, now I will have more power to watch over you from above by praying for you, in a short time you will not see me but in a short time later you will see me again because where I am going is exactly where you will be invited and you’re only waiting for your turn for your name to be called and soon you will follow me.
We shall smile together again, we shall laugh together once again forever, we shall praise the Lord together once again and forever, do not cry, it’s a goodnight for now, we shall meet tomorrow morning in the Messianic banquet were we shall all see him as he really is and we shall be happy.
Those of you whose faith was shaken and weakened by my suffering, my illnesses, my absence from public eye for the past few years and all the other eventualities I ask you to look at Jesus and believe that my sufferings were truly within the scope of God’s will and within the scope of Christ’s suffering.
My sufferings were by no means a punishment or God’s displeasure with me, my suffering was my opportunity to have a share in Christ’s sufferings.
I was given the opportunity as a Bishop to complete in my own body, what was left in the sufferings of Christ.
Please do not mourn, do not weep, I am watching you right now.
I asked you for this one favor, please be joyful people, please be happy people, please be men and women of prayer, please be men and women of integrity, please be men and women of faith, be men and women of hope.
Sincerely yours in Christ, the Bishop you are laying to rest
Bishop Martin Munyanyi.
My Lord, and you Sister Bernadette with all your sins forgiven as we pray in the name of the Lord, I exhort you, in the name of the Lord, I order you, in the name of the Lord, I command you to rise above the waves of death, above the torrents of destruction above the snares of the grave, above the traps of death, may you shine brightly among God’s angels for surely it says, in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, the dead will rise, all those in the grave shall hear the voice of the son of God and come out.
My Lord, Bishop Martin and you dear Sister Bernadette come out of the realm of death, you proclaimed a life here on earth embrace life today here in its fullness, go out yonder shine forth this is your time, Bishop Martin Munyanyi my Lord, and you dear Reverend Sister Bernadette go forth, take the courage across the throne of God
We love you, fare thee well.
English