Gabrieli was one of the first catechists of the country (Zambia).
Being old, he now remained in the village. I often went to visit him, to talk and improve the language I was learning. I always found him sitting in his lounge chair made with animal skin, praying the rosary …
If he was absent, it meant that even in a village far away … someone was sick, often very ill. So Gabrieli took his stick and went to see him, to help him in his suffering…or dying. He had always kept his Shepherd’s heart.
One day I found him lying down, with a high fever … He told me: “Go and tell the Father to bring me communion!” When Father arrived he was kneeling down. Father tried to tell him to stay in bed but … “No, I am receiving my King!” Every day the father came until one day he saw that Gabrieli had gone to meet his ‘King’.
It was like a national mourning… people came from more than 50 km on foot to mourn and be at the funeral!
“I am the Good Shepherd;
I know my sheep and my sheep know me;
as the Father knows me …” Jn. 10:14-15
Sister Genevieve Delucenay, Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa
To read :
An old catechist
Fioretti from Zambia 1
Fioretti from Zambia 2
