A Belated Bye-bye to Father Bob

It was on the news in late January (29/01) that I heard that Father Bob of South Melbourne said his last Mass. I thought that there would be some kind of mini miracle that would allow him to stay and continue to work but no, he had to go.

Lutheran Pastor Munchenberg of Adelaide planted a seed 20 odd years ago when he was my teacher of religion. Nothing happened. It didn’t grow into a big tree. Then after Christmas 2009, I decided to contact Father Bob via email. I was requesting a prayer for Melbourne Zoo elephant, Dokkoon who was due to give birth to baby Mali. To my big surprise, I received a reply from Father Bob who asked if I would like to pray with him and I thought, “What? Are you sure that you have the time to pray with me?” He did also mention a prayer for animal friends. Not sure if I have to pay for the prayer, I wrote back to reject his invitation as politely as possible. Now, despite not entertaining a prayer session with this kind hearted priest, I did gain something. I felt loved and mattered in the cut off world that I was living in. It was all that was required for that little seed to start growing.

The one time I had been to Father Bob’s Mass was probably Ash Wednesday, 2011. He was running a few minutes late because he was enjoying a midday bath. ROFL. There were only a few of us gathered there that day. Little did I know at the time that he wouldn’t be there again when I return someday. I even used to daydream that I would finally get married at St Peter and Paul. LOL. The little St Francis on Lonsdale was where I normally went to because it was closer to home. May be Father Bob could come all the way to Kota Kinabalu to say Mass over here. How does one go about arranging that?