Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: Elmina Fishing Village

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Elmina Fishing Village

The day we went to Elmina we were greeted by huge hordes of colorfully clad people standing on every available space. As much as I wanted to believe that they were lining the roads to welcome these visitors from the north I knew there had to be another reason.

The sight and the crowds were quite overwhelming. Having parked the mini bus we got out to explore this rather awesome sight and it was now clear to see that it had something to do with the myriad fishing boats.

The loud music and the natter of people added to this rather peculiar festive atmosphere. The sight fascinated me. On asking a bystander I realized to my amazement that this was no annual festival but a daily occurrence. Every morning (except Tuesdays) the village gathered to welcome their menfolk who had spent the whole night out on the sea fishing…and what a welcome they got!

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What do we want this novitiate to be?

There is a saying that goes something like this: “If we don’t do what we believe in, then we’ll end up believing in what we do”. Without a vision that is authentic and alive to guide our actions, then we can settle for rationalizing the status quo or what is convenient and comfortable.
One of the first things the new team in Tamale did was to spend time beginning to articulate its vision of a novitiate beyond the basics laid down in our Constitutions. Here are some elements of what we came up with:
Novitiate is a journey, a process that involves KNOWING, EXPERIENCING and CHOOSING.
It is an INITIATION into Christian Brother religious life, so a “rite of passage” into a new identity, a time of learning and testing.
Novitiate confronts the novices with the Brother’s vocation as a call to brotherly solidarity and community, not to privilege, status and security.
It involves exploration of the basic values of faith and vocation, and the challenge to embrace these out of personal conviction and free choice.
Novitiate means understanding that a religious vocation makes a claim on the whole of the person and his life, including his inner life, his relationships and his professional activity (ministry). Furthermore, it challenges the novice to see the dynamic inter-relationship of these areas and to learn what their integration means.
Novitiate is a time of DISCERNMENT. The novice learns more deeply who he is, and what this Christian Brother life is. There is a constant back-and-forth movement between these two poles as an answer is sought to the question, “Is this where I am meant to be? Is this the life that will enable me to find my true self in God?”