Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: The Feast of our Lady of Perpetual Help

Sunday, June 27, 2010

The Feast of our Lady of Perpetual Help

This Byzantine icon was painted by an unknown artist in the 13th Century. The picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is painted on wood,with background of gold. The painting isn't meant to be one of beauty but holds a message instead;"You can come to me". With an open hand and a gaze fixed on the viewer Mary invites the faithful to Jesus.

1 comment:

dave said...: O Our Lady of Perpetual help and St. Joseph teach me(us) how to work better. If there are gaps in my(our) professional formation that need be filled, please hastily obtain for me(us) such help that I(we) may become competent and work hard to foster the kingdom of God on earth. Amen.

Provide for us O St. Joseph and my Mother all other things that I(we) might need, especially those that I(we) am not aware of. You are such a good father. May you always be honored universally! Amen.; April 11, 2012 at 10:41 AM

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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?”