By Fr Joseph Panabang SVD
Father Joe would like to thank all those who sent him letters and greetings. He doesn’t always get around to answering everyone but assures you of his gratitude.
Dreaming
Joseph Kojo Baffoe, a four-year-old child, is very talkative and inquisitive. He lost his father. He was bought to Kintampo by his mother and left to his Aunt Yaa. He woke up one morning and asked, where is my father? He brought me to a far far place last night.” Knowing it was a dream, his aunt said, “Oh Joe, it means you were dreaming.” “What is dreaming Mama?” he demanded and poor Aunt Yaa was completely at a loss.
Calculating Remark
At Dawa Dawa Village, I was using the calculator to balance our parish accounts. “You have a nice calculator” remarked one of the villager. “Yes, I have a nice calculator. But I have very little to calculate,” I counter remarked.
Day becomes Night
“How is your prayer life?” asked an excited Holy Spirit Sister during our sharing. “Not so bad. In fact. If often say my morning prayer in the evening,” I replied to her confusion.
Wooden Bed
Sr. Wilfredis Jacob, SSpS and Sr. Juliana Conterius, SSpS from the Philippines and Indonesia were in Kintampo for a drop-in visit. Looking at my bed in the corridor, they remarked, “Oh, you are rich, Father, Imagine you have two beds; one here and the other one in your room.” “You should be very grateful Sisters that there are still missionaries today who still find it meaningful to sleep on wooden bunks,” I quipped. The two Sisters looked at me intently and suspiciously as if to say, “This time you are not joking.”
Getting Old
Fr. Martin Wells, SVD and Fr. Clement Hotze, SVD both elderly priests were among the participants in our On-going Priests Formation at Nsawam Catholic Conference Center, near Accra, capital of Ghana. During coffee break, both were struggling to open a biscuit. Each however was overjoyed when they succeeded, unaware of what happened, I joined them at the table, took a biscuit, opened it easily by following the arrow as indicated on the wrapper. Surprised, Fr. Martin Wells, in his gentle voice asked, “How did you do that, Father? Fr. Clement and I both had to struggle to open them.” With respect I replied, “It is very easy, Father. But at a certain age, you simply forget how to open it.” How sweet but how funny too to see old people smiling from ear to ear. (By the way, have you ever seen a toothless smile? It is contagious for it generates more smile.)
Prayerful Ducks
Trying to help ourselves, we started a poultry with ducks at the back of our mission house. To protect the ducklings from being pecked, we enclosed them separately; one mother duck and its ducklings in each screened enclosure.
An SSpS Sister and a Novice Mistress were so curious about the procedure that she asked many questions. Then I explained to her, “You see, we put, them separately in small cottages so it will be easier to teach them how to pray. she just looked at me with steely eyes as if to say; “Fr. Joe, stop pulling my leg.”