Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: Christmas Prayer

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas Prayer

"Land of Zebulan! Land of Napthali! Way of Sea beyond Jordan! Galilee of the nations!

The people that lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who lived in a country of shadow dark as death a light has dawned."

Long before all ages amidst the dark chaos
chosen, selected from the nations,
God began creation - the artist -
In the secret womb depth of a mother
fashioned...formed...knit together...
to burst forth on an unsuspecting world life...
...anew.
And how God laughed!!!

My prayer this Christmas for each of us is: May our hearts become the sacred crib, the birthing place of God-among-us. For peace and justice for all will only become manifest in our lives when we awaken to the divine design that has made each of us an emerging Emmanuel.

How many people were disturbed by the news of the birthing of Jesus? Mary was troubled, the shepherds were disturbed and Herod was deeply disturbed... are we disturbed by the birth of Jesus in our lives in every moment of every day??

May the New Year bring you every blessing and the disturbing peace and joy of Christ.

(This was sent me by Br Michael Colasuonno)

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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?”