Just a few days' ago Fr Giorgio Massa IMC celebrated his Golden Jubilee. He was ordained priest on 23 December 1967. After his ordination he was in London for a short time before arriving in Cape Town (South Africa) where he had been sent for further studies. In the mind of the superiors he would then be sent to Kenya or Tanzania. Just that, in 1971 the Consolata Missionaries started a pastoral presence in the country in what was then the "Prefecture of Volskrust" (became "Diocese of Dundee in 1983).
Between that time and 2011 he spent most of his time in the Diocese of Dundee: Piet Retief, - Pongola, Damesfontein, Embalenhle, Madadeni... He also served for a short time in Mamelodi (Archdiocese of Pretoria) and Daveyton (Archdiocese of Johannesburg).
Back in Italy he was appointed to Plati in Calabria and ... in 2014 he was appointed to our Diocese of Manzini (Swaziland). As he sometimes jokingly says: "I divide my week between being a nanny to the bishop and serving the parish of Our Lady of Sorrows".
As we have known each other since 1994 when I arrived in South Africa, I was very much aware that "he would not allow me" to organize a celebration for his golden jubilee. That is why I did it without telling him. With the support (complicity?) of priests and religious sisters, we came together at Our Lady of Sorrows the day before the anniversary.
He was busy confessing people for Christmas and therefore never saw us arriving. By the time he finished we were all there. He could not say no. It would be a simple and familiar celebration: Mass, few speeches by Fr Rocco Marra IMC in the name of the Consolata Missionaries, Fr Peter Ndwandwe in the name of the diocese and Sr Teresita Schiavon OSM in the name of the Mantellate Sisters at Our Lady of Sorrows. All followed by lunch.
"We are here to celebrate Fr Giorgio's call to the priesthood and these first 50 years of service... in Italy, the Republic of Cape Town (!), South Africa and Swaziland.
We could not avoid celebrating this because the first thing we celebrate is God's call in him. We celebrate God. We praise God. The initiative was God's. It started in the diocesan seminary but then moved to the Consolata Missionaries and from there he spent most of his life away from “home” or finding himself at home in different parts of the world.
We also want to celebrate God's work through him. Each one of us priests reveal something of God to the people we serve. In Giorgio's case we see:
- the God that is the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep. Giorgio tries to know the people, to understand their situation, to help them find a way to move forward. He cares for each person and family. Few priests probably have visited each family three times in a short space of time as he has done;
- the God that never gives up. On Sunday evenings when he is back in Manzini he shares with me about his weekend at the parish. A number of times he feels frustrated because some of the initiatives he takes do not produce fruit. He does not give up. He tries to find a different way to achieve his goal and a number of times he succeeds. Not always but he never gives up;
- the God that comes to us with the truth. Giorgio has never been very diplomatic. He tells things the way he sees them. One might not like it but quite a number of times one has to agree that there is truth or some truth in what he says. Generally speaking people are aware he says it not to hurt anyone but to help others grow;
- the God that reveals himself in his Word. Giorgio always cares about helping people come closer to the Word of God. He prepares. He reads. He tries to understand. He looks for examples. Sometimes he himself struggles with the Word and he has to negotiate his personal journey with the journey of the people. It is beautiful that 50 years of priesthood never made him a “professional” of the Word. He still feels challenged by the Word and helps the people to be challenged too.
Click below for photos of the event (Flickr)
