GOD’S VOICE IN AN IRISH ACCENT – THE STORY OF MY VOCATION
When the planning committee for my ordination (2012) asked me to choose the Scripture texts for the Ordination Mass, I had little difficulty in doing it. In the course of my formation, I had long reflected about the origin of my vocation. It is deeper than I can remember. Thus, I could not think of any other story in the Bible which reflect my personal experience other than Jeremiah 1:4-8: “Before I form you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you, I ordained you a prophet to the nations….” However, unlike Jeremiah, I did not have the privilege of a tête à tête with God. I believe at a very tender age God spoke to me through an Irish Missionary; still, not directly but profoundly in the simplest way one could ever imagine. It all began as child’s play.
When the SMA Fathers arrived in Shendam in 1907, most part of the Middle Belt of Nigeria was still largely unevangelised, including Kwalla (some 80 km from Shendam) my little home town and other surroundings. With time, more missionaries poured in. In the early1980s when I was a little boy, we were lucky to have a tall, saintly looking Fada (Father O’Neil, SMA) who used to visit our area quite often to celebrate the Sacraments: Masses, Marriages, Penance etc. We liked this only white man in our midst, and would curiously hang around him. Fada spoke in a language we only understood as “nose nose nose,” for his words seemed to be coming from his nose instead of the mouth. We could not understand anything being celebrated or preached; but thanks to a local catechist who was always beside Fada to do the translation, we could pick one or two things. Nonetheless, we loved the “nose nose nose” way of speaking. It excited us. We were happy seeing and hearing him, we looked forward with joy to his visits. In his absence, as kids, we decided to imitate, re-enact and mimic everything we watched during the Mass.
A little boy called Kangpan (now Father Jonathan Kangpan Malong, SMA) used to act as Fada O’Neil during the dramas. He would speak like Fada O’Neil, “nose nose nose” then another little boy would translate for others to understand. We used some fruit juice we could find as wine, some leftover food as bread for our mock Mass. We could celebrate even weddings, choosing playmates to act as husband and wife. We would laughed at ourselves and even adults enjoyed our little dramas of mimicking Fada O’Neil. I grew up and had almost forgotten this pivotal divine contact until towards the end of my High School when the question what to do with my life became crucial. Fortunately, the voice of God in an Irish accent had not die.
Even though I had interest in many other areas of life before completing my High School, the desire to be a missionary priest became more ardent and even stronger. I decided to join the SMA Fathers in 2002 and by God’s grace was ordained a priest in 2012. On the day of my ordination, the childhood drama of imitating Fada O’Neil was re-enacted by some family members who knew my story quite well. My entire family wept on the ordination day as we recollect the mystery and gift of my vocation. I remain grateful to God for having called me to serve him. I pray someone was inspire or will be inspired by my little missionary life to serve the Lord as well. May Fada O’Neil join the league of heavenly intercessors and pray for abundance of labourers in the Lord’s vineyard.
FR. MALONG JONATHAN KANGPAN, SMA
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