‘This is an important day for our community,’ said Father Pierre yesterday, 28 September, in Ngaoundéré, Cameroon, at the beginning of his homily, ‘because it is the start of the catechetical year for the students, but also the day of the sacraments of initiation into Christian life for “Papa Mathieu”.’
Yes, thank you Lord for this event. I have been walking with ‘Papa Mathieu,’ a former leper, for several years. Currently, five days a week, I bring him a meal and dress the bandages on his left foot, whose toes have been eaten away, with the other two days being taken care of by the Sisters Servants of Mary.
Last August, during a short hospital stay, he expressed to a young priest who was accompanying the ‘blue sisters’ to care for him his desire to be baptised: “I am old and alone, I have no one. I believe in God and I see that the sisters are taking care of me…” Since expressing this desire, he was eager to receive the sacrament.
Finally, when the big day arrived, he had to be carried to the car to take him to the church. How handsome he looked, dressed in white by Sister Isabelle and her three novices! Such conviction in his answers to the questions translated for him by Rebecca in Fulfulde, following the priest’s questions concerning, among other things, the Creed: ‘Yes, I agree with everything you say.’ How radiant his face was, with his lit candle held by the two fingers remaining on his right hand!
And although he can no longer dance, as soon as the song in Mboum, his native language, was sung, he had not forgotten the shoulder shrugs of his traditional dance and the wiggling on his chair.
Today, ‘Papa Mathieu’ can no longer walk with his cane to the side of the road to beg for a mango, an avocado, peanuts depending on the season… or a coin. From his doorstep, he continues to call out to passers-by on the road, as he can now only move around on his bottom.
Mathieu’s joy was overflowing, and so was mine and that of Bouba, his godfather, who had taught him some elements of our faith, on the advice of his father, who was a former student of our sister Marie Paule Havard, then in Lam, Cameroon – now in Briouze, France, and a catechist for adults, particularly elderly women, at the request of Bishop Yves Plumey. Bouba and I had begun to take care of him together. There was also great joy among the older Christians of Marza, a village in the commune of Ngaoundéré, and the young priest Cyril, who came especially for him to concelebrate Mass in our parish. And what a coincidence that this event took place on the day when we read Luke’s text about the rich man and the poor man named Lazarus at Mass!
May the Christians of our parish have heard the words of our parish priest asking us ‘not to let him go to sleep without eating, along with all the many “Lazaruses” in our neighbourhoods…’
Sister Marie-Thérèse PUECH, Daughter of the Holy Spirit – Novitiate Community of Ngaoundéré. CAMEROON
Published on 6 October 2025
