Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: Looking in the eyes of a Child

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Looking in the eyes of a Child

One day I was watching the children playing with clay soil and I was amazed by what I saw. I looked at one of the children and what I saw in his eyes was determination and courage as he was manipulating the clay soil. I was impressed by his power, vision and ability in handling the soil. Because each brick the child was making from that soil was important so he had to handle it carefully. I noticed that he was focused and determined to perfectly achieve his mission.

From this short experience, I learned to be focused, determined and courageous in my work, I believe it takes the whole village to raise a child; all the people are involved. And my involvement with children especially those who are under privileged demands an open heart and love to do the work.

Children are a precious gift from God and we are privileged to play a part in making the future better for these children. As we all minister to these children in different areas, my prayer is that we may also be ministered to in our involvement with the children. It might look as if we are doing it in a little way but that same small way might make a big impact in the life of a child.

Jackson Mubela

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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?”