Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: Sun and Sunson in November

Monday, December 2, 2013

Sun and Sunson in November

Lawrence, Francis, Dominic and Desmond are smiling - the fruits of the reteat maybe?

Somewhere around mid-October, someone threw a switch and the rains stopped in Tamale. By November the hot sun was back, and things were drying out. The end of the year was in sight, and the time had come for some 'time out' to be with the Lord and to reflect on the journey that had brought each of our nine novices thus far. Br. Con was also part of the retreat group - he had a longer journey to reflect on!

We were fortunate to have the peace and quiet of the SVD Pastoral Centre near Sunson village, about two hours east of Tamale. Our retreat was led by Fr. Jesus-Maria of the Missionaries of Africa. A Spanish missionary with much experience of Africa, especially in Zambia, Fr. Jesus had a great fund of stories to go with his depth of biblical knowledge. His presentations opened up new perspectives on familiar scripture passages, while his stories and anecdotes grounded the teaching in real life.

Whether in personal prayer time, in celebrating Eucharist and Reconciliation, or in the quiet reflection of the retreat days, it was a rich and energising time with its own special meaning and significance for each one.

As the first year of novitiate came to an end, and as the three-month pastoral placement in early 2014 loomed, it was a good moment to have this time aside.

Fr. Jesus-Maria (r.), breaking the Word with the novices.

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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?”