Father Joeker
By Fr Joseph Panabang SVD
Puti para sa Celebration
Hoping to motivate our candidates for baptism in my remotest village, I was telling the people that the best attire for occasions like weddings, ordinations, and baptism is white. True enough, during the baptism, almost everyone was in white and more beautifully, during the singing, they were waving in the air white handkerchiefs which according to their custom is a symbol of victory over satan; and of course, proud as a peacock, I was standing with my newly washed white shoes.
JuJu
Last year during Ash Wednesday, I gave the ashes to our parishioners. The line seemed endless which made me suspicious. After the Mass, I asked the catechist why there were so many people taking ashes. “Because even Muslims came believing that as is a juju” or anting-anting.
How to Terminate a Thermos
“If you want to serve your people long, take good care of your health,” advised an elderly Sister. That prompted me in my trek to bring a thermos flask for hot water. At the village, I told the cook, “please boil water for me” and handed her the thermos. A few minutes later, she came back, as if staring at me with furrowed brows and right hand pointing to the thermos, “shall I boiled water in it?” Good Lord, no,” and I explained. When the thermos came back, as if consoling a friend snatched from a gallows in the nick of time, I said, “you are lucky; what if the cook put you directly on the burning stove as she intended.”
Sobra Naman!
Like Asians, Ghanaians are so hospitable that if possible they would do everything for you. Once I was carrying a bucket of water to the bathroom which was just six steps away when my host who was just coming out of the kitchen saw me and said, “Oh no, please Father, let me carry you.” “No, thanks, I am too heavy,” I said. She laughed with me.
A Moment of True Sadness
It was a burial Mass in Soronoase but I did not know it was the first time such Catholic burials took place. The deceased was sick for quite long but kept his faith in god, an extraordinary feat among people who, when pressed against the wall or under severe pressure, would loose t heir faith in God and go back to old pagan practices. So, by way of an obituary, I was praising the man, touched so much by his faith and courage that I wept and could not talk anymore. At that moment everyone was crying in the church. Coming back from the cemetery I overheard people saying, “I thought a foreigner cannot cry for one of us.” Honestly, that revelation made me more sad.
Since December 1990, the mission was blessed with many roosters presented as gifts. Our cook of course has to give them justice over the pot. Then came January 2, 1991. Our cook fell down and sprained her ankle badly. She was limping and one old man who must has been observing our kitchen closely said jokingly to her, “you killed so many cocks that is why they punished you.” Watch out!