Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: Thank you Br Michael Colasuonno

Monday, March 30, 2009

Thank you Br Michael Colasuonno

Michael spent the month of March with us here in the Novitiate in Tamale. His was a inspiring and energising presence in our community. He shared his wisdom, knowledge and vast experience with us even as he braved the heat and high 30 degree C temperatures.

The month has gone by quickly but the words have sunk deep into our hearts. His contribution will be remembered for years to come.
Michael has been a frequent visitor to the Novitiates in Africa. This was his last trip to Africa in his role as the "roving formator." His visits will be missed, and many a brother in Africa will remember his varied ways of measuring energy levels!

We wish Michael well as he returns to Dublin today enroute to take up his his next assignment in New York in May. We are sure he will bring the same energy and enthusiasm to the elder brothers as he did to the younger!

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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?”