Little Monika sat contemplating her mother’s beauty until she could not contain herself any longer, and turned to her mother: “Mama, why are you so beautiful?”
“It is because I was always obedient and good when I was a little girl like you,” the mother said. “Ah”, said Monika as she turned and fixed her father with a long menacing look. “As for you Papa, I can see clearly that you must have been a very stubborn and naughty young boy.”
So too goes the story of an old man from a remote village who came to town to visit his son. “What are those numbers that are written in front of all these cars?” he asked. “Those numbers Papa,” the son replied, “are called immatriculation numbers, so that each car can be easily identified.” “I see,” said the old man with evident relief written all over his face, “I thought the numbers showed how many people the driver has killed.”
And Pa Simon was not to be outdone:
He was walking back home in the evening with his parish priest seeing him off in what had now become their daily routine. As was his habit, he turned toward a disreputable neighbourhood bar just at the junction where the priest usually turned back to the mission compound. But this time, the priest, who had been meaning to talk to Pa Simon about this habit, decided that today was as good an opportunity as any other.
He took Pa Simon by the arm and whispered urgently: “My dear friend, don’t go into this place again. The potions you seek in there are not fit for any good Christian.” But Pa Simon was no longer listening to the priest, intent only on quenching the burning thirst that he had contained since noon that day. He hurried along without further regard to the priest, who thinking that he should make a last appeal to his friend’s Christian upbringing, shouted after him: “Don’t you know that when you go in there the devil goes with you?
Without missing a step, Pa Simon shouted back, “If he does, he pays for his own drink,” and disappeared into the dark interior of the bar.
I would like to get the contact information for Fr. Antoine de Padou Chonang.
I commend L'Effort for a job well done.
God bless you and Happy Easter.
Fr. Maurice Akwa Mei
St. Mary's Seminary & University
5400 Roland Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
Tel 410 864 4076
Posted by: Fr. Maurice Akwa Mei | March 23, 2005 at 03:24 AM