Joseph Foroma – författare

A collection of light hearted jokes for today. They are all in good taste and meant to uplift spirits and rejuvenate you as you go about daily chores. Like most, they may otherwise dissipate into thin air. They are symptomatic of and betray a society from which they originate. Enjoy the read and laugh your tears out.

The story of Bernadette Soubirous is one of hope, forgiveness, humility, perseverance, love, repentance and the boundless fountain spring that is God''s mercy. Invaluable for the pilgrim.

Lourdes is like a field hospital is where the injured and the weary come to have their wounds washed and attended to and lives saved; where they come to encounter compassion and love after a phase of immense pain, uncertainty, near misses and anxiety; where they come to seek temporary refuge and rest so they can resume their journey towards safety, comfort and peace. The Holy Lourdes Sanctuary too has to be for you and me the field hospital of Our Lord Jesus Christ together with His Mother Our Blessed Lady. Here we all come and return to be healed of our ills both physical and spiritual. Our wandering from place to place on this earthly journey ought to lead us in the direction of the field hospital of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Mother, Our lady of Lourdes. For therein truly lies the heart of God''s mercy.

Bishop Munyongani was a gifted preacher, a teacher, a servant leader who loved and embedded himself within his people and above all, who was devoted to and served the Lord with his heart and soul. He touched the lives of multitudes of people both young and old during his time and this is ably narrated and illustrated in the text. His outstanding service in the priesthood culminated in his being sent by the Bishops'' Conference to England in 2008 to serve the Zimbabwean Catholic community there as its inaugural Chaplain.

Starting out from humble origins at his rural home in Zimbabwe God called him to the priesthood from which he never looked back or wavered. His priesthood lasted 40 years, serving 4 of those as a bishop. One of his key messages was that we live our lives taking each day as if it was the last so that should He come calling we would be ready and good to go. His outstanding service in the priesthood spanned roles as parish priest, Lecturer at the Seminary, inaugural Chaplain to the Zimbabwean Catholic community in England and Wales His mission often extended beyond serving exclusively Catholic communities.

The memory of this icon should not merely dissipate into oblivion. A preacher par excellence who kept reminding his flocks that when The Almighty comes calling at everyone''s door if they would be ready and good to go.