September
30, 2007
Liturgical Year C - Cycle I
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Andrew Moyo
Topic: Introduction
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I am Fr Andrew Moyo. I come from
Zimbabwe and I belong to
the Archdiocese of Bulawayo. Bulawayo is the second largest city in
Zimbabwe.
It has a population of about 1 million. In the city, we have our
Philosophy
Seminary where Fr Joshua is Rector. I arrived in New Mexico on the 27th
September and I was met at the airport in Albuquerque by Fr John.
As soon as he saw me he shouted, “Fr Andrew
!” and I responded. “Yes.” “Welcome to America” he said.
He gave me a very nice and warm welcome and
continually assures me that I am going to enjoy my stay and that I will
be
loved and welcomed by the people. I was born on the
21st April 1973. This makes me 34 years old. I was ordained on the 28th
November 1998. For the past 4 years, I have been in Rome where I did a
Licentiate in Sacred Scripture. A Licentiate is a degree that one gets
from a
Pontifical University. It is almost like
a master’s degree. Pardon me if I speak English with a
strong Italian
accent. I hope by the end of my stay and
experience here that I will be speaking American. It is my first
time to be in this great and
beautiful country. I am really happy to
be here. I first met Fr
Joshua in the Major Seminary in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1992. Though
we came from different dioceses, it was
very easy to get along with him because though he is Nambia, he speaks
Ndebele,
which is my mother tongue. In the
seminary, we got along very well. We
have the same passion for books and reading.
Know that when Fr. Joshua travels, half of his luggage are books.
It’s the same with me. I have always looked
upon him not merely as friend but more as my big brother. Thus,
he rightly addresses me as Mafana -
which means small boy or younger brother.
When I went to Rome in June 2003, he was there to welcome me and to
help
me to acclimatize. I am from a family of 10.
Seven are still alive and 3 have preceded us to the other world. My
family lives in Bulawayo. My father tragically died in 1978. I was only
five
years old. May he rest in peace. My
mother is still alive and she is 70 years old. She lives in the city.
She is very much affected by the present
political and economic situation in the country. I am sure you know
from Fr
Joshua, what I am speaking about. I am what I am today thanks to love
and hard
work of my mother, who though widowed, bore the brunt of raising a
family of
10. She is my angel. She is the queen of
my life. In this family of 7, I am the fifth born and the last boy in
the
family. My 2 elder brothers are both
married. The first, who is also the first-born in the family, has 3
children,
all girls. Beautiful! My second brother has three children
also -
two boys and a girl. Of my four sisters,
one is married and has three children – two girls and a boy. My
other two sisters are at home and they
stay with my mother. Both are not working. It is hard to find a job in
Zimbabwe
now. We have 80% unemployment. My other sister, Patricia by
name, is in
South Africa, which is one of the neighboring countries. She is
part of the millions of Zimbabweans
who have left the country in search of greener pastures. She is
engaged and has now a 6 month
daughter. As for me, I am here. I completed my
studies in Sacred
Scripture in Rome in June. I studied at the Pontifical Biblical
Institute which
is a well renowned university for Scripture in the world. I have been
away from
Home for the past four years. I did my
studies in Italian. That was very tough. Please God all went well.
In my first year, I had to study the biblical
languages, that is, Hebrew and Greek in order for me to qualify to
begin the
Licentiate programme. The failing
percentage is not 50% but 60 %, so, you can imagine how tough that was
really. What makes it tough is the fact
that you are only given two chances to pass after which you are asked
to leave
the University. Having made it, Please God,
I continued among other courses
to study Hebrew for a 3 semesters and
Greek for 2 semesters. In addition to
the Hebrew and the Greek, I did a semester Biblical Aramaic. I
also did a year of Coptic. In addition to these ancient
languages, one
has to show competence in two modern languages. These can be chosen
from
English, French and German. Since I already new a bit of English, I
chose to
study German. In the summer of 2004, instead
of going on holiday and resting after a tough year of Hebrew and Greek,
I had
to spend the whole summer in Germany, studying the language. Oh,
by the way, I had to re-do Latin. Please God, there are no Latin
masses in this
Parish. All together, one has to know a
minimum of seven languages to get the Licentiate in Sacred Scripture.
Oh, by the way most of the classes were in
Italian. I really had a tough time in
Rome. But thank God , I am done with my studies! After completing my studies, the
bishops were very eager
to get me back to the country to teach or lecture in the Seminary in
Harare.
However, I told my Bishop that I need a
break. I explained to him that I really had no time to rest, as my
holidays
were spent either studying of preparing for exams. Thank God , we
agreed that I
will only begin lecturing in the seminary towards the end of February
2008. Now the thing was, where would I
go for my holiday. I talked with Fr
Joshua and he said to me, “Don’t worry
Mafana, I will sort out that for you. I will send you to my
parish in the States. It is a typical
American Town. The priest is lovely and
the people are nice. They will take good care of you. They will
feed you and you will enjoy.” So, here I am thanks to Fr John who
accepted
my request to come over and to Fr Joshua who made the arrangements.
My dear friends, I am really happy and
excited to spend my holiday here amongst you. I am here to relax. I am
on my
honey moon. I do not have to do any
serious reading and research. I am also
hopeful that this is going to be a wonderful and enriching experiencing
in
serving the universal church. I also want to use my time here to learn
yet
another language, namely, Spanish. In spite of the tough time with my
study, I had really a
pleasant experience in Rome and I enjoyed my stay. The most
memorable year was 2005. I witnessed
the death of one of the greatest Popes of your Time, namely Pope John
Paul the
Great. I was at in Peter’s Square that
night when the news of his death was announced. I was part of those
millions
who filed past the body of Pope John Paul II as he lay in state in St
Peter’s
Basilica. I also witnessed the election of the new Pope. Even
though I missed the white smock coming
from the Sistine Chapel, I was at the St Peter’s Square when the
Annuncio Vobis was made. I was part of that cheering, emotional and
eclectic crowd. It was really wonderful
to be in Rome. After my stay here, I will pass by
Rome , collect my
diploma, and then fly home. I will be with my family for sometime and
then I
will go to the seminary in Harare to take up my new job as a lecturer
in
Biblical studies. Once again, I am very happy to be in
this great country
and to be amongst you, its lovely citizens. Let me end by quoting St
Augustine
of Hippo. Addressing his Christians he said: For you I am a bishop but with you I
am Christian”. In my four-month
stay here, I will be for you a priest and will be with you a Christian. Thank you so much for your attention.
God bless!