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Once Upon a Time in Africa
Stories of Wisdom & Joy Compiled by Joseph G. Healey, M.M. |
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 Fr. Joseph Healey, a Maryknoll priest, has worked in Kenya and Tanzania for many years. These tales come from every part of Africa and range from South Africa and Kenya in East Africa to Burkina Faso and Nigeria in West Africa. In collecting these stories, Fr. Healey hopes to "...shed some light on your own spiritual journey. For, after all, once upon a time and for all time, the journey is one."The following excerpts are from Fr. Healey's book, Once Upon a Time in Africa. |
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Your Mother Wants To Greet You When I returned to my parish in Tanzania after a journey to the United States because of my mother's serious sickness and death, the local Christians gave me plenty of [i]pole[/i], the Swahili equivalent of sympathy or condolence. My good friends Robert and Maria, at whose marriage I had officiated, came to express sympathy and show me their new baby, born when I was away. "Padri," Thomas said, "in our African tradition, when a person dies, he or she does not just disappear but remains part of our community. We often name the next child after the deceased to preserve this ongoing memory. We want to baptize our newborn girl with the name of Virginia to continue your mother's presence among us." At that moment, Maria put little Virginia into my arms and said, "Your mother wants to greet you." Tears came to my eyes, but I was very happy. True story, Father Joseph Healey, M.M., Iramba, Tanzania You'd Better Be Running Every morning in Africa, when a gazelle wakes up it knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, when a lion wakes up it knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running! Popular story, Africa, collected by Father Ted Hayden, S.M.A. An African Prayer May you, Lord, be for us a moon of joy and happiness. Let the young become strong and the grown man keep his strength. Let the pregnant woman be delivered, and the woman who has given birth suckle her child. Let the stranger reach the end of his journey, and those who remain at home live safely in their houses. Let the flocks that travel to feed in the pastures return satisfied. May you, Lord, be a moon of harvest and of calves. May you be a moon of restoration and good health. Amen. Prayer, Africa, used by CAFOD. "The Living Spirit" (The Tablet, 3 October, 1998) |
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 To Order Once Upon a Time in AfricaReturn to Orbis Page Go to Maryknoll.org |
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