MISSION IS FUN

Special collection

BY Fr Konrad Nefzger | MCCJ

THERE WAS an old tradition at Maria Trost that after lunch the Fathers and Brothers would pay a short visit to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament before recreation. One day, as they were on their way to church, the sacristy door opened and the little collection bag appeared, together with a long stick, and eventually Sr Anastasia appeared, holding the bag with a firm grip. “Now what?” was their first reaction, because neither the Fathers nor the Brothers were used to putting something into the collection, not even on Sundays and certainly not during the week. But, as it turned out, Sister had already taken the collection. And now, she emptied the bag, but out of it came, not money, but a frog, followed by a stern command: “Hamba, wena!”

MISSION IS FUN

Kidnapped by baboons

BY Fr Konrad Nefzger MCCJ

Bro. Otto and Bro. Stang were busy building in Spelinyane, Mpumalanga.. One Sunday, they decided to visit the Game Reserve on foot. It was no problem in those days because there were no fences and Spelinyane was very near the Reserve, so off they went.

After some time, they came across a troop of baboons. One of the Brothers was foolish enough to throw a stone at them. The counterattack came immediately. Luckily for the Brothers, they were able to retreat into a cave and in this way shortened the line of defence.

The baboons besieged them, sitting in a circle and watching the two captives from a distance. The two had ample time to talk and to think while they waited for sunset. At last, the baboons decided to call it a victory and retreated. The prisoners were free to go, a bit wiser after the experience.

MISSION IS FUN

RIDING AT THE AGE OF 70

BY FR LUIS ALBUQUERQUE MCCJ

THE PARISH of Yanahuanca in the mountains of central Peru had several communities. The missionary had to go to one of them to celebrate the feast of the patron saint. He took with him a Monfortian Sister and a young girl.

When they arrived at the place where the road ended, they saw a man with two horses. They tried to go by car through the mountains, guided by the illustrious horseman, but it was difficult for the car. So, they decided to go on foot, because the priest had never ridden a horse. After a while, he encouraged himself to ride on the animal and he felt comfortable. They were able to reach the place for the feast. When they arrived they were surprised to see that there were two chapels next to each other, one for the Catholic Church and the other, for another church.

They also noticed that the beer had arrived at that place. Everything went smoothly and after praying and singing, strengthened by a good lunch, they returned in the same way. The priest was already a master at riding, but at a certain point, he felt sorry for the Sister, who was already 70 years old and tried to give her his horse, so that he could go on foot. At first, he didn’t manage to convince her because she had never ridden a horse before but finally, she agreed. Riding was easy for her and she was giving glory to God saying that it was necessary to reach that age for the chance to use such an animal for transport. Everything was going well, but then the priest invited the Sister to share the horse with the young girl so that she could also take a rest from walking.

“Now that I was doing so well and enjoying it, why should I ever dismount? Oh well!

They arrived at the car and descended from 4 000 m to 3 000 m where the parish was.

MISSION IS FUN

FR JORGE IN THE KRUGER NATIONAL PARK

BY FR MUSEKETERI MKOTOKOTO

FR JORGE was very fond of visiting Kruger National Park and sightseeing while filming with his video camera. The mission
where he was stationed, Waterval, is situated 30 km away from one of the entrances to the Park.

One Monday, commonly considered a day off for the priests, Fr Jorge decided to spend some time in the reserve, contemplating the beauty of its scenery and tracking animals armed with his camera.

A few weeks earlier, a catechist’s husband from one of the villages served by the mission, employed as a guard in Kruger, had been fatally charged by an elephant while riding on his bicycle in the Park.

As Fr Jorge spotted a herd of elephants crossing the road ahead of him, he alighted from his car—something absolutely forbidden by the Park—to record the view. A traffic police officer arrived and stopped his car
behind Fr Jorge’s and started recriminating his behaviour. As the priest was of quick temperament, he loudly replied to the officer: “How
do you dare reproach me for this when your employees are exposed to dangerous wild animals as they ride on bicycles in the Park?”

The police officer—not involved in the management of the animal reserve—was taken aback by Fr Jorge’s response and let him
proceed without issuing a fine but warned him not to repeat such an imprudent action.

NB: The names of the characters have been changed.

MISSION IS FUN

Language challenges

BY Museketeri Mkotokoto

FR GEORGE arrived at Waterval Mission, Mpumalanga at a mature age. In his first years in the mission, he made a great effort to learn the Northern Sotho language of Sepedi and he reached a certain level of proficiency, which allowed him to celebrate Mass and even to preach in Sepedi. However, quite often, when the faithful started to interact in fast conversations he would easily get lost.

One day, Fr Jorge had a meeting with the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) and several issues were discussed. At the end of the meeting, Mr Ndlovu, then chairperson of the PPC, addressed the parish priest privately saying: “Fr Jorge, I think you did not understand much of what was discussed today”.

“Why do you say that?” Fr Jorge replied.

“Because when you were supposed to say ‘Yes’ to our proposals you were answering ‘

No’ and when we were expecting you to say ‘No’, your reply was ‘Yes’”, said Mr Ndlovu. They both had a great laugh and life continued.

NB: The names of the characters have been changed.

mission is fun

Lonely victim of the earthquake

BY Fr Nazzareno Contran | Monterrico, Lima

In the community of Monterrico, in Peru, Fr Peter—the name of our protagonist—is well known for his fine hearing and light sleep. Both qualities are most useful in this seismic zone of the Pacific.

Fr Peter, as a good Comboni missionary, takes the anti-seismic recommendations of the Civil Defence very seriously, and has long since identified four areas of refuge: under the desk, under the doorframe, outside, on the terrace. However, he invented refuge under the bed.

During the last earthquake, Fr Peter chose this as his shelter, believing it to be the safest. He jumped out of bed but, unfortunately, as it was night and the bed was very low, he bumped his nose, and he soiled the floor with blood. The next morning, he appeared with the obvious signs of his tragic night. The newspapers spoke of an earthquake of normal intensity and no victims. False. To be fair, we must rectify this misinformation, if not in Peru’s national press, at least in the international Comboni Press!

MISSION IS FUN

The rain dance

BY Fr Nazzareno Contran | Namokora, Uganda

FR TARCISIO Pazzaglia has always believed in the usefulness of mass media in catechesis. Over time, he brought himself up to date and, with his video camera, filmed cleverly and tastefully recreated scenes that mediated messages of belief and morality. One day he had organised the famous ‘rain dance’. To make it more real, he had asked the dancers to present themselves in the traditional way: raffia petticoats, beads, ostrich feathers, drums, etc. Weeks of preparation ensured that no detail was missing from the colourful choreography. The dance was performed superbly and the numerous spectators were granted an encore.

As if to take everyone’s goodwill seriously, the sky moved and two days later a violent thunderstorm hit the area, with water never seen during the dry season. The wind carried away the rooves of many huts, the market and the dispensary.

The village chief came to Fr Tarcisio and without the usual compliments said to him: “Did you see what your unplanned and unauthorised dance did? Did you see the damage it did?”

Fr Tarcisio responded: “Yes, but it also did some to the mission. Look at the metal sheets it tore off the roof of the school!” Having ascertained that the heavens had spared no one, the chief left it at that.

MISSION IS FUN

A Merciful Trap on the Road

BY Francesco Rinaldi Ceroni MCCJ

I WENT to celebrate Mass in the chapel of Nyele, Duru (north of Democratic Republic of Congo), where the Garamba National Park begins. After the Mass I took, through woods and savannahs, my way back to the parish; bicycle, portable altar on the luggage rack and the Eucharist for the sick around my neck. Suddenly, it began to rain heavily. I looked for a shelter. I saw a hut nearby, but after riding a few metres through the small path full of grass, I felt the ground disappear under my feet, or rather, under my bike and I fell into a deep hole. I tried to straighten the bike, and by climbing on it, to get out, but the wheels slipped in the mud and the bike fell back. It was almost evening. I stood on the luggage rack of the bike and looked out towards the larger path to see if anyone was passing. Fortunately, I saw the catechist coming home. I shouted: “Prospero, come here, help me!” He approached me and, not believing his eyes, exclaimed: “What are you doing down there?” He cut a branch from a bush and held it to pull me out together with the bike and the little altar. Once out, I went to the hut to clean and warm myself by the fire.

Shortly afterwards the owner of the hut and of the hole, Matthias, appeared. He hastened to apologise: “I’m sorry, Father, but you should know that I didn’t put any spears in it!” Ironically, I replied: “We needed those too!” The next day, the village chief put Matthias in prison for digging a trap in the road. I took pity on him and wrote to the chief: “It is true that Matthias has broken the law but, thank God, he has not caused me any harm. Besides, he has five small children to support, so please, release him”. The chief accepted my request. Full of joy and gratitude, Matthias came to the mission with a dozen eggs. From his words of apology, I realised that I had been lucky twice: not only had he not placed spears in the hole, but if he had placed them, he would have poisoned the tips first, to kill the prey quicker!

MISSION IS FUN

Faith or jail

BY Vittorio Turchetti | MCCJ

NOT LONG ago, relations between Church and State in Mexico were very tense. One of the laws was the absolute prohibition on clergy to wear ecclesiastical clothes and to perform religious functions outside the church. On Ash Wednesday I was invited by the parish priest of a poor and densely populated district of the capital to administer ashes in one of the various chapels of the parish. On such an occasion, more people are seen in church than at Christmas or Easter, including infants. Towards dusk, the number of people attending the rite grew disproportionately and I began to worry about the crowd at the church door, especially the safety of the children who risked being trampled on. So, I decided that everyone should go out, I closed the church door and I began to distribute the ashes, in an orderly manner, to the people standing outside on the pavement.

It was almost dark when a police car with all its lights flashing stopped in front of the church. Two policemen in uniform got out and hurriedly approached me. Naturally, my first thought was: “Oh, my God, they’re going to take me to jail this time!” Instead, the policemen took off their hats and asked me: “Please, Father, give us the ashes”. Receiving the ashes with devotion, they thanked me with a bow. There was a smile of relief among the faithful and the ashes procession continued into the evening.

I thanked Providence, even if my dinner was cold at home, but at least I did not have to sleep on the filthy straw mattress of a prison.

Mission is Fun

Mind in the Fields

BY Efrem Tresoldi | MCCJ

PROFESSOR OF philosophy, Fr Archie has been lecturing for years at the city’s Theological University. Esteemed for the vast knowledge in his field of studies, he is also known for his proverbial forgetfulness.

One day he is travelling by train, quietly seated among other passengers, holding a book in his hands. He is deeply absorbed in his thoughts when he hears the voice of the ticket inspector: “The ticket please!” Fr Archie begins to search in the pockets of his trousers first, then in the jacket—but nothing. Next, he looks thoroughly in his briefcase. In vain, there is no trace of the ticket. He becomes rather frantic, rousing the attention of fellow travellers next to him. Seeing his embarrassment, the ticket inspector looks kindly at him and with a reassuring voice says, “Father we have no doubt that you bought the ticket. Do not worry, you will find it”. “No! this is not the problem”, replies a rather distressed Fr Archie. “The problem is that I do not know where I have to alight”.