By Fr Joseph Panabang SVD
Catholic Dog
Before every Sunday Mass in Kintampo we usually have confession. But one Sunday I had been waiting for a long time but no one came. "This is unusual,” I told myself. Then I heard someone saying, “Oh Rex is also going to confession?” I turned around and saw our big dog Rex sitting behind me. People were afraid to come to confession. "Okay, Rex, you are forgiven. Go” Obediently the dog left to the relief of the people who wanted to go to confession.
Half-Baked
When our local oven in the parish was assembled completely, we were all excited watching our cook do our first baking. But we did not succeed in our first attempt. The bread was too white, obviously half baked. So we heated the oven again and placed more wood. This time when we took the bread out of the oven, it was black! Over-cooked, literally burned. The cook blamed Rex, our big black dog, as the problem because he was always causing delay. Our cook went to observe other bakers in town. Then she tried baking again all by herself. I decided not to go near her while she was doing some baking for fear of being made the next scapegoat. The bread turned well. Lucky I stayed away. (P.S.) I thought it was unfair to blame Rex since he had just been to confession.)
Vida and Ophelia
A little girl was crying terribly, trying to unloose herself from her mother’s grip. She threatened to roll on the ground. Her mother was worried the little girl might soil her white dress. I asked the mother what was wrong with the child. The mother explained that the child prefers the name of her sister ‘Vida’ that the name given to her which was ‘Ophelia’. No amount of explanations could convince the little girl to like the name ‘Ophelia’. Then finally I explained to the child how much more appropriate the name Ophelia was to her—it suited her good looks! She ran to her sister and said, “You take Vida, I’ll take Ophelia.” Simple as that for two happy children.
No U-turn
A Ghanaian driver making a U – turn at a NO U TURN junction was caught in the act by the policeman. The policeman pointed to the driver the NO U TURN sign and asked, “Did you see that?” “Yes, I did not see you,” the Ghanaian driver smartly replied.
Definitely No Piranhas
A Polish tourist and his son stopped for a night at Kintampo. He was sharing with us one of his experiences in the Amazon River in South America. Before deciding to swim in the Amazon River, he asked their guide if there were Piranhas in the river. The guide assured him that there were no Piranhas. After a good swim, they ate and threw their leftovers into the river. Thereupon from the bank were they had been swimming, two big crocodiles started swimming their way gracefully to feast on the scraps. Shocked, he berated, the guide, “How could you allow us to swim?” the guide retorted back, “You only asked about Piranhas not crocodiles.
Missionary Express
A number of our villages are inaccessible by car during the rainy season. So I visit them by foot. I leave the parish early in the morning and start walking my way to the villages with my native haversack hanging at my back. I would reach the villages just before the villagers go to their farm. Because of my style in visiting them, the people call me, “Osofo trotro” meaning priest-bus or Missionary Express.