Br Paul Noonan Formation Centre, Tamale: FALLING FOR KINTAMPO

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

FALLING FOR KINTAMPO

Tamale is a mostly Muslim city, so the number of Catholic religious is relatively small. Recently the male and female religious decided to form one representative group, and one of the first things done by the new association was to invite all religious and novices for a picnic day at Kintampo Falls, nearly three hours south of Tamale on the main road to Kumasi. The Falls are found just beyond the limits of the savannah country of northern Ghana, in hilly, green countryside.

The highlight of the day was enjoying the falls by getting under them! At this time of the year, as the rainy season approaches, Tamale is usually hot and sweaty. Frolicking under the falls and enjoying the cool, fresh water was a delightful change, and great fun as well. Of the other religious, only two of the Sisters and one priest went in, so the Christian Brothers’ group certainly led the way.

All this aquatic activity developed a good appetite, so we did justice to the lunch that followed. It was a great first outing for the year.

The lush, green beauty of the Kintampo Falls reserve.

Checking out one of the higher falls.

At the lower falls – from left, Lawrence, Dominic, Philip and Emmanuel.

Almost as good as surfing! Br. Titus with Sisters Margaret and Donata.

Getting seriously soggy!

Paul and Lawrence trying to persuade Sisters Rejoice and Mary to come into the water.

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?”