VOCATION
STORIES
VOCATION PAGE
Vol. XVI
No. 1
JANUARY
Beginnings
By Fr. Vincent and Fr. Marnie
This month Comboni Missionaries Fr Vincent and Fr Marnecio newly arrived to the Philippines introduce themselves by sharing with World Mission readers their amazing life story that brought them here, from now on they will contribute monthly to World Mission Magazine.
Going to the roots
I always enjoyed making research about my family. I do this because I want to know who are my ancestors, where do I come from, and who am I. This has helped me to appreciate more the positive side of my family history and to learn some lesson from the negative side of my family history.
When I researched on the roots of my Dad’s family, I discovered many interesting aspects. First, I discovered that my great, great grandfather who lived in the 1800 was a traditional healer (medical doctor). He was well known in those days in Zululand (Republic of South Africa). Many people will come from all areas to consult him; even tribal chiefs and also he cured the King. He served and saved the community from much sickness. He was Duke and he had thirteen wives.
My great grandfather Masoja whom I was named after had two wives. In the beginning of the 1900, he became a Catholic and he migrated from Zululand to Lydenburg, north east of the R.S.A. to work in the coalmines. In 1925 my great grandfather met the Comboni Missionaries and then he worked with them; that in 1928 when the Comboni Missionaries founded another mission station in Glen-Cowie, 200 km from Lydenburg they asked my great grandfather to migrate with them to this new mission, to help them. Since then my family has been throughout in link with the Comboni Missionaries. My grandfather became a teacher and taught at the mission in Glen-Cowie founded by the Combonis. Unlike his father, my grandfather married one wife. He studied Theology and in 1985 he was ordained a Permanent deacon and serves in my home parish still at the age of 80. My father studied and worked in the mission in Glen-Cowie, and he also has one wife (my mother).
Missionary feeding
I believe that the long history of contact my family had with the Comboni Missionaries gave birth to my missionary vocation. I was born in Glen-Cowie in 1976 and baptized three months later by a Comboni priest. I grew up in that missionary atmosphere, seeing many missionary priests and brothers working and dedicating their whole life for the good of my people. All the missionaries were foreigners, but they spoke very well our language and very rooted in our culture. They were kind missionaries, always smiling and very helpful to all people. I always admired them, dreaming to be like them, because they were prayerful and happy missionaries.
In 1990 when I was 14 years old, I attended a vocation recollection, which will always be memorable to me, because it was for the first time in my life to attend a recollection. I was given a book of the life of St. Daniel Comboni by the Vocation Promoter and I read it within two days. I was moved by the passion of Comboni for his mission in central Africa. From that time my missionary vocation became stronger and convinced that God was calling me to become a missionary.
Signs and wonders
Above this I also had signs that confirmed my vocation. In 1991 four men entered my home, three with guns and one with a long knife. I was at gun point and I thought that was my day of existence. They took away our car and few things and drove away. In this event I experienced that God preserved and spared me for something, to be his witness of love.
Another sign that confirmed my vocation is that when I was young I was very active in the life of my parish, always available to help and to give my time to those in need and always accompanying the Priest when they go to the chapels for mass.
Prayer life in my family was an everyday experience and I believe that also shaped my vocation and increased my desire to want to serve God. All these signs assisted me to make a good discernment about my vocation. In 1994 at the age of 17 years old I entered the seminary of the Comboni Missionaries in South Africa and studied Philosophy for two years. Soon after completing the studies, I was accepted in the Novitiate in Uganda (east Africa) in 1996. After two years I made my first religious vows, professing to God to follow Christ as poor, chaste and obedient for the mission according to the Charism of St. Daniel Comboni. In 1998 I began my Theological studies in Rome (Italy) and completed successfully my studies in the year 2001. In the year 2002 I made my final vows, consecrating my whole life to God and for the mission. On the 16th of November 2002, I was ordained a priest in my town in South Africa, being the first missionary from my parish. One month after my ordination I left my home, my parents, my only brother, friends, relatives and country for new mission in the Philippines. I am happy to be here to serve as a missionary and to share my faith I have received from my ancestors.
Fr. Vincent Masoja Mkhabela, MCCJ
SHARING FAITH
Happy New Year to everyone! This is our first encounter in this magazine especially in this section, Missionary Vocation. Beginning from this issue we will be together with my confrere, Fr. Vincent Mkhabela from South Africa. We will be working in the vocation promotion in the Comboni Institute here in Asia. We will continue sharing our faith.
As Pope John Paul II says, “The Church looks to the young or rather to the church in a special way sees herself young in you as a group and each of you as an individual.” The Church really needs enthusiastic young people. No wonder, with our qualities such as enthusiastic, full of zeal, joyful, active are special gifts from God. With our qualities we can be an encouragement and vitality to all if these are being channeled in proper ways.
Allow me to introduce myself, I am Fr. Marnecio Coralde Cuarteros from San Juan, Bato, Camarines Sur; I belong to a very simple and religious family. When I was a child I have learned to value the prayer life. My mother used to encourage and tell us especially during night time, to put our hands together clasping and pointing it up as we begin to pray. A lot of curiosity, I used to ask her, “why we had such simple gesture of faith?” She just said, “You know, we need to recognize God. The source of life, the source of everything. We need too to lift up our life to God and allow him to direct us what he wants us to be.”
As a child I just trust in it and takes patience and wisdom from my family to bring about all these wonderful possibilities in keeping my faith alive. I grew up; I studied in the university and finished BS Agriculture as my university degree. Everyday as I looked around with my surroundings taking nature; I realized a lot of awe and lessons about life. From the air that I breathe, I don’t see it but I breathe it. Like the faith is a gift from God but I must respond to it. So with the trees, to make them fruitful - we do something like digging, nourishing with fertilizers to make the nutrients available for their growth and trimming towards the goal of independence like choosing friends, deciding which school I have to attend, thinking myself and has a deep desire to know spiritual realities and the universe.
As I moved on to my young adulthood, I accepted responsibilities no longer for myself alone but for the others and to the society at large. In fact, I was already working in one of the government agencies when the WORLD MISSION Magazine came along my way. At the back page of it, questions were asked and an invitation “Are you a young professional? Would you like to spread the gospel in the world? Come and follow me! ” I was touched with this statement. I have to ponder the message of the gospel, going deep within me, catching the beauty of the message it brought and its richness with all its possibilities to bear fruits in me. I pondered and prayed over it, taking time with a spiritual guidance of my parish priest. I even recalled my meaningful personal encounter of Mother Teresa of Calcutta some years ago in our Archdiocese, the willingness to commit oneself totally and definitely to follow Christ.
Faith continuous; it is always an initiative of God as I responded to enter the religious missionary life. For vocation, if it is true and authentic, we feel the serenity and joy. It is unconditional love from the Lord. A gift given, a treasure beyond price.
For my formation in religious missionary life, I was sent to Kenya, East Africa. Being in an international community for four years, I have learned the value of living together with people coming from different countries of the globe and its richness of the people with their multi-cultural background. We have learned to journey together with tolerance, respect and understanding believing that there is only one God who called us individually and to have fraternal communion with one another. With my experiences with colored people, I mean different races it widens my horizon in life; there were also great concern about the peoples’ suffering - the AIDS, the sick people with malaria, the tribal and civil war and poverty. God has given me the opportunity to share this joy, the faith of selfless love to others that I was able to listen and give support when needed to understand the different realities of life.
In my vocational journey somehow is always a relationship. There are things I never thought I can do, knowing my own limitations with God things become possible. His truth, goodness and generosity can never be exhausted. Along the journey there are moments of triumph and difficulties that I did experience as a human person yet faith survive and flourish.
As I looked back, sharing faith means to go back to the roots that prayer is a constant search of the Absolute God - the source of vocation that we want to follow and to share.<WM
FR. MARNECIO CORALDE CUARTEROSCopyright©2003 World Mission Magazine
Write to Fr. Vincent and Fr. Marnie
Comboni Missionaries 282Roosevelt Ave
1105 Quezon City M.M
Philippines
Tel. 414-3164/372-5859
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