Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: September 2011

Sunday, September 25, 2011

A DAY OF FUN AND GAMES WITH THE KIDS

Saturday, 10th September, was a special day for us Novices and the children around our Sagnerigu neighbourhood. It was the first time we have been able to host a day of fun and games at Br. Paul Noonan Formation Centre for local children. We entertained 35 kids up till early afternoon on what was the final Saturday of the long school vacation. We were able to offer the children a fun day just before they returned for the new school year.

All the 13 Novices facilitated well, with plenty of games in small groups. We were grateful for the assistance of a Muslim friend, Rafik, who came to help us with translation, as not all of the children know much English.

Monday, September 12, 2011

PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT

PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP

Sexuality is one of those topics that is of vital interest to almost everyone, yet is often not talked about openly. So we were delighted to be visited recently by Brother Donal Kirk, the Deputy Province Leader of the Africa Province, who took us for a Psychosexual Development workshop in early August. We were joined for the workshop by the novices from the F.I.C. Brothers, which made for more interesting interaction.

The focus of the workshop can be summed up by reminding ourselves that the word “sex” comes from the Latin word “secare” which means ‘to cut off’. It refers to the fact that as men and women we are divided, or cut off from each other, by the reality of sexuality. We come into this world unhappy, crying, aching, longing, not at ease, hungry, experiencing disconnection as we leave the mother’s womb. We long for reconnection; we spend our lives searching for this.
The search for God and the search for human intimacy come from the same source-----our sexuality---the energy for relationship. My desire to spend an hour in prayer and my desire to spend an hour with a friend over a cup of coffee come from the same source.
The workshop raised many questions, provoked much recalling of personal experience, provided new insights, and left us all realizing how a life of celibacy as a Christian Brother does not mean somehow leaving our sexuality behind.

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?”