Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: The Feminine Face of God.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The Feminine Face of God.

As the world celebrated Labour Day, the novices engaged themselves with discovering another face of God - the feminine face of God. The two day workshop will not be easily erased from the minds of the novices as it was another time to discover and experience a new perspective of God.

The workshop was facilitated by Sr. Irene, BVM, accompanied by her twin sister, Cathy, and a friend of hers, Dr Mary Walbridge. Prior to the class the trio re-counted the ordeal they had on the way due to the mechanical problem with the car, making their journey from Kumasi to Tamale last sixteen hours. Finally the formation team had to rush to their rescue and drive them up to Tamale from where they were stranded.
The workshop began in a solemn way that you can equate to a retreat, and it was very engaging and spirit-transforming.

We began from what we knew which was very comfortable. God is a mystery; God is a father, no dispute there! But as we progressed, there came what seemed to be a bombshell - the feminine God. It was uncomfortable to face the issue of a Mother God. Some of us were dumbfounded and awe-struck at the mention of the feminine God. This led us to spend time looking at the traits of our mothers – their loving, ever present and caring nature and equating that with the character of God. After a whole day of discussion, short personal reflections and praying with the Bible we were convinced that truly the divine has feminine characteristics. We had the opportunity to share our thoughts and reflections at the community’s evening prayer.

Day two of the workshop focused on “Wellness”. The day began with Dr. Mary taking our blood pressure. Following that Sr. Irene introduced us to Tai-Chi. The apex of the day was the introduction to stress management techniques which were absolutely new to us.

Were not our hearts burning through the workshop? For these two days, it was actually fantastic to be part of this workshop. To me it was more than discovering who the mystery God is – it was about knowing myself and my position.
We say M’phya [thank you] to Sr. Irene and her companions for opening our eyes.
(Sydney)

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?”