Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: Our Novitiate Community in Nyankpala

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Our Novitiate Community in Nyankpala

Antiree!!(Good evening)

When John, Pascal, Wycliffe and Samuel formed community two Months ago we set for ourselves as community Goals-
* To discover ourselves and grow in union and communion with God, through our ministry, our community and our prayer.
* To seek God in our Brothers in community
* To foster the vision of Bl. Edmund Rice

Our greatest challenge has been striking a balance between community goals, ministry goals and personal goals. And although all three demand a great deal of time and energy we can sense that some balance has been achieved.

Our house is situated in a very quiet environment surrounded by trees and greens especially after the fall of much needed rain. We live among the workers of the Government Research Institute. Most mornings we are awakened by the ladies carrying big containers going in search of water. Water is such a big problem here that I wonder what meaning World Water Day holds for these women and children.

Our mission statement is to extend the love of God to our brothers and sisters on the margins. We are involved in teaching at St. Monica Primary and Junior Secondary School, we teach Catechism and animate the Youth of the parish, and we have started an Edmund Rice Group at the University of Developmental Studies (UDS).

We thank God for giving us this opportunity of being in Nyankpala. Our efforts at ministry are highly appreciated by the people we interact with. Initially it was not easy. The great poverty the people are experiencing can be seen easily. In School it is not uncommon to hear the students say, "brother there was no water”, “we have not had breakfast”, “my stomach is paining". It is sad to see young children having to go through this. Many of the children come to school with torn uniforms and tattered shoes. Despite all this they are wonderful kids and have given us much joy.

(Samuel Munyua Ngumi)

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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?”