Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: June 2013

Friday, June 21, 2013

Paul Noonan All-Stars?

The Christian Brothers have a great tradition of passion for sport, and their schools have produced many outstanding sportsmen (and maybe sportswomen too?). More importantly, an interest in taking part in sport and games lends itself to developing a healthy and balanced lifestyle. So exercise and games are a regular part of the novitiate life.

The current novices have shown enthusiasm to test themselves on the football field against external opposition. Our first effort, against a team of Divine Word Missionaries’ seminarians ended in dejection as we were badly beaten 5-1.

However, since then, two games against the youth of our parish have reflected a growth in the skills and organization of the team. The first game, on the feast day of our Founder, Blessed Edmund Rice (May 5), saw us victorious 3-2. Then we took on the students of St. Charles Lwanga school, and won an entertaining game 5-3.

A recent re-match with the parish youth underlined our improvement. Against a team that some observers saw as individually more skilled, we prevailed 3-1, thanks to a powerful first half (in which all three goals were scored) and strong teamwork. Despite some injuries, the novices limping around the next day were smiling broadly!

With only nine novices, however, we need the support of some of our friends and Brothers from outside our community. The last game saw the participation of three of our Brothers from the neighbouring Choggu community – thanks to Sonny, Paul and Bonaventure. The two novices with the FIC Brothers have also helped us when they have been available, as well as some local friends who often come to play with us during our regular weekday afternoon matches.

Sport can be a power for good, but it can also bring out the worst in people. The enthusiasm and good humour of the novices have ensured an enjoyable and friendly spirit to these games. Long may it continue!

Earlier in the year - Training Hard.

The team lines up before its second clash with the parish youth.

Lawrence provides a safe pair of hands and a cool head at the back.

It looks like the ref is reading the Riot Act to both teams before kick-off!

Our secret weapon! Martin’s imposing physique in the defence is big obstacle for the opposition.

Children from Catechism groups in the parish came to support the novices who are their teachers.

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?”