An Unforgettable Moment of Grace upon Grace
By Festo Mkenda, SJ
In my village home at Mkuu in Kilimanjaro, 26 January 2024 started with a special calmness. My living three brothers and three sisters had travelled from different parts of the country to be with my mother as she marked her first 100 years of life. Mamma had insisted that it be a quiet family affair rather than a village party, and had herself selected only twenty close relatives and friends to join her for lunch on that day. Even then, we realized it was going to be a busy day and the morning calmness would quickly change to sundry activities and spontaneous jubilation. For this reason, we decided to begin the day with a family Mass.
As predicted, the day was full of activities: slaughtering, cooking, serving, etc. After the shared meal, mamma gave a rosary to every person present. A friend had brought a fittingly decorated cake, which was presented to mamma with jubilation and shared with all present just before she retired to her room for a well deserved afternoon rest. The celebrations lasted until Sunday, February 27, when Fathers Jerome Manyahi and Valerian Shirima from Ricci Community in Moshi came to see mamma and presented to her a beautiful gift of a warm blanket. A friend in Nigeria wrote to propose that one celebrating a century of life should probably be called a centurion, a biblical title that added to the centennial fun.
Despite all the colourful activities that filled the whole celebration, the high point of my mother’s 100th birthday was a brief moment during our simple family Mass. I had brought with me a certificate of special apostolic blessings, which I presented to her just before the final blessing. As I did so, one of my sisters intoned mamma’s favourite song, which we had always known since childhood. Rafiki yangu Bwana Yesu, tegemeo langu la milele, siku zote za maisha yangu, wewe nami tuungane, says the song, which could be loosely translated as “My friend Lord Jesus, on whom I depend for ever, in every day of my life, may you and I be united.” As we all joined in the chorus, mamma had a moment of rupture and, from her tears, told us that Jesus was the only friend who had never left her in the 100 years she had lived.
I had come home just for mamma’s birthday celebration. On January 29 I left for Addis Ababa, where the Tafari Makonnen School Alumni Association (TMSAA) had organized a launch of my recent book, A Splash of Diamond. The launch, which was also a commemoration of 100 years of the late Father Roland Turenne, SJ (1926-2024), took place on February 1st at the formerly Jesuit-run school, now called Entoto Polytechnic College. In attendance was the Archbishop of Addis Ababa, Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, CMA, who lauded Abba Turenne and more generally the work of the Jesuits in Ethiopia since 1945. Also present were several Jesuit companions working in Ethiopia and many more TMS alumni and their friends. The event was colourfully Ethiopian, complete with fresh grass on the floor, a coffee ceremony, and the cutting of a cake amidst lit candles. A few guests were offered dinner at the Notre Dame Jesuit Residence—a fitting end to a deeply satisfying day. On the following day, TMS Alumni had planned for me to present copies of A Splash of Diamond at Addis Ababa’s newly constructed state-of-the-art Abrehot Library.
We are currently finalizing plans for the printing of A Splash of Diamond in Ethiopia to respond to a huge local demand for the book. In the meantime, I have continued to discuss the Jesuit experience in Ethiopia with various audiences. The next online discussion opportunity will be on Wednesday April 10th, for the Archives of the Jesuits in Canada (AJC). Scheduled to begin at 5:00 pm East African Time, the event is planned to coincide with the AJC’s ongoing exhibition on the Canadian Jesuit mission in Ethiopia. More information and registration details can be accessed through this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lr8EHduhSBGszjUuJZl6AQ#/registration.
The celebration of my mother’s 100th birthday and the reception of A Splash of Diamond in Ethiopia and elsewhere have constituted for me an unforgettable moment of grace upon grace in the last few months. Now, the prayer I request and offer is that all may be for the greater glory of God, without whom everything is indeed vanity.
