Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: A visit to ministry sites

Thursday, March 5, 2009

A visit to ministry sites

Excitement galore and curiosity were the highlights of the day as the novices set out looking forward to see their ministry sites. We left at 8:00 am accompanied by our three formators, each with a group of novices. What a ‘red carpet’ welcome we received upon reaching our various destinations. I’ve never seen such in my 22 years of existence. The workers, the inmates/patients, students and teachers they were all just a wonderful crowd. Even before being introduced, we chatted as if we’ve known each other for decades.

It’s a pity this coming Friday is a public holiday, but we are all looking forward to the 13th as it will mark the first day of our ministry. Talking about Friday the 13th (known as the bad luck day) I hope and believe nothing bad will happen to us. One could tell that upon returning, the novices were at ease and relaxed as each one of us were ready to share about the day and our experiences as we enjoyed first hand a taste of Ghanaian welcome, hospitality and friendship.
(Jordaan)

No comments:

Post a Comment

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?”