Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: The Month of the Rosary

Monday, October 12, 2009

The Month of the Rosary

Our community was not left behind on 1st October 2009. We joined the local parish to mark the start of this holy month of the Rosary. The grotto was in order with a lot of decorations especially around the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
As usual the celebration did not commence at the scheduled time, but beside the excuse of African time, there were many reasons as to why it never started on time. Anyway we started the celebration with the rosary itself and were invited to meditate on the luminous mysteries. In between the decades, the choir led the congregation in a solemn Marian song which they sung gracefully.
At the beginning, there were only a few parishioners but as the time flashed by, the number kept on growing. This was a sign of faith and it highlighted how people are dedicated to their faith. All the parishioners around me were totally immersed in their rosary and I hope that they will continue with same energy praying the rosary throughout this month.
The priest encouraged the gathering to continue asking Mary for her abundant graces. He went on to read some of the graces that are likely to be achieved if one prays the rosary daily in faith.

This day was also the memorial day of St Teresa of the Child Jesus. A Carmelite nun who dedicated her entire life to the service of God. She passed away at a tender age but she did something remarkable that is still remembered to date.
The youths were challenged to check out how best they are of service to the ever changing world. St. Teresa of the Child Jesus was suggested to the youths as a role model they should try to emulate.

(Otieno)

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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?”