Saturday 5 September 2015

Br. Joe (Bsp)




        It is true that when we are young we don’t pay much attention to youthfulness and when we see young people it doesn’t seem to matter. That was true for me until I met Bishop Joe in 2008. He was then the provincial of Malta. What was striking is his youthfulness. At first I asked Fr. Joe how come they have such a young provincial and Joe shouted facing the Bishop, “Hii ni Mzee hata ni mzee yangu, ako na nywele muzuri”. 
As usual, the bishop kept his smile lingering as he watched fr. Joe make fun of his youthful appearance. Well, I could hardly understand how it was possible for him to take so much chaffing until I stayed with him and realized how easy going he is. With so much ease, every evening he walked to my room before retiring to his and said, “usiku mwema”. Isn’t it that I am the youthful one here who should have walked to his room instead?  

2 comments:

  1. Miles away in a foreign land, several years ago, Fr. Joe was my confessor. Now many years on, he is an auxiliary Bishop! God’s ways are certainly beyond man’s. In Fr. Joe I saw mildness and gentleness, qualities that are rare in our world today; qualities not so much associated with maleness yet so much needed to heal the hostility of our present society. I may not have been in a hostile environment then, but I was definitely experiencing hostility from within. Encounters with Fr. Joe were just what I needed, through him God touched the deepest part of my being with healing gentleness and mildness, and I certainly did not remain the same. Now I firmly believe I am called to cultivate these sentiments and to share them with those I am bound to encounter in my community and ministry. Bishop Joe on the other hand is leading God’s flock as a servant leader following his predecessor, Jesus the gentle and mild. I am sure that is part of the reason why God chose him to shepherd His flock as a bishop. Let us all emulate the gentleness and mildness of Jesus in word and deed!!!!

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  2. Yes he is the Coadjutor Bishop of Garissa, the one whose question to the bishop every morning is, "have you woken up again?"

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