Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: A DAY OF FUN AND GAMES WITH THE KIDS

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.

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?”