Looking From Above!!

Just the other day i was looking at Google Earth and here is what our Novitiate looks from above!! The satellite picture is a couple of years old and probably was taken in the dry season. Things are not that bad when the rains are here!!!

Springs of water in the desert!!!

In an email in the not too distant past i was sent a reflection by a good friend of mine in Cape Town. She has been so faithful in sending me reflections every month even though i have been very tardy in my response. Little does she know how her reflections bring life in arid lands allowing springs of water to flow!!

I share below a poem by Joyce Rupp that was part of the reflection.

Good Shepherd, who finds the lost one,

the "me" I have known has disappeared.

Will I ever recover the person I have been?

Will I ever find and feel good about myself again?

Will i discover who I am, and who I am becoming?

Protect me in this great vulnerability.

Assure me that I will come home to myself

even though my “self” may be different.

Silence my impatience.

Calm my worry.

Restore my joy.

Solace my distress.

Help me to befriend my new self

with tender hope and welcoming love.

Searching for Oneself -- Joyce Rupp

(Vivek)

Compassion, Solidarity, Commitment

“I came that you may have life and have it to the full”
….. But many people in our world do not enjoy life to the full!

On the 16th of April, the novices of the three brother Congregations in Northern Ghana namely the Presentation Brothers, the Christian Brothers and the Brothers FIC came together for a day at the CB Novitiate for a workshop facilitated by Br Donal Leader cfc and Br Dennis Claivaz fpm.

Through Power Point presentations, inputs, discussions and role plays we were brought to an awareness of Edmund Rice International (ERI) which through compassion, solidarity and commitment upholds the rights of the child, the fundamental right to education for all, and eco justice.

As we listened and watched in us was awakened …
*the reality that as educators we are agents of social justice and as such should, through a rights based approach, strive to uphold and restore the dignity of the child.
*the awareness that promoting social justice is an essential element of Edmund Rice education
*the realization that we at the grassroots should speak out for justice and empower those without a voice to challenge oppressive structures and to initiate change.
*the fact that silence was not an option in the wake of injustice.
*that Human Rights is the foundation of freedom and that if we want peace we should work for justice.
*that “It is not sufficient to be with the poor, without also engaging in the struggle against poverty.”
*that we are called to move from mere acts of charity and good works to social action and advocacy; from charity to solidarity.
*that we share in God’s dream that all humanity is called to have life and have it to its fullness.

(Jackson, Julias, Casimir)

Easter Dinner

This post is a bit late in its posting but when we are at the mercy of erratic internet connection and occasional power cuts we might be excused!!
All our young men on community experience came together at the novitiate for dinner on Easter night. It was wonderful for all to gather together and share stories ... at times the level of noise made me wonder if it was Easter or Pentecost!! The Spiirt was definetly there!!
We began with a short prayer around the table and then moved in to our supper... sharing bread and wine, food and stories!!
It was truly a wonderful night and Eucharist was celebrated and lived!!

Our Novitiate Community at Shekhinah

Salaam aleikuum!!!

Greetings from Paul, Phelix, Belden and Fredrick! We're privileged to have this opportunity to share our lived community experience with you. As we set out to live community we set as our vision:
-To strike a balance between Community Life, Prayer and Ministry.
-To make ministry one of our principal means of Evangelization.
-To initiate new/ extra ministry namely teaching the young pupils both in and around our premises.

To achieve the above mentioned vision is a struggle. We are striving towards achieving these goals by being together in Community, prayer, ministry and having time for one another. Theoretically, it is easy to say 'Community Life' but practically it is a daily struggle. As our Constitutions say, “It is in the daily living that the challenge of community life manifests itself.” Our zeal and enthusiasm as a Community enables us to know each other’s principles, attitudes, behaviors and character.

We integrate our activities as a Community by praying together and our prayer is always centered on our daily experience especially in ministry. This leads us to be in tune with the divine we encounter in the poor. “God is more readily found at the broken edges of our world”

Through Community, we affirm and challenge one another either at community meetings, meals, recreation, or in the sharing of our lived experiences. This is a growth towards living Community Life.

We strive to be in solidarity with the marginalised through the following ministries: Shekhinah out-reach services which include cooking and supplying food to the destitute and mentally challenged on the streets. Working in the Dispensary, helping out in the operation Theatre and, constant visits to the HIV/AIDS patients and those suffering from leprosy. Our own initiative has enabled us to have remedial classes for primary pupils from P1 to P6 in the afternoons and early evenings.

In conclusion, all these wonderful experiences lead us to encounter Christ in our daily life. Indeed Christ ministers to us through the marginalised. We believe we are striving to mirror the Discipleship of Jesus and Bl.Edmund through our lived experiences and our daily encounters.
May Jesus continue to live forever in our hearts.

How can i doubt the resurrection?

I was going to tell you my story

But waves of pain drowned my voice.

I tried to utter a word but my thoughts

Became fragile and shattered like glass.

Even the largest ship can capsize

In the stormy sea of love,

Let alone my feeble boat

Which shattered to pieces leaving me nothing

But a strip of wood to hold on to.

Small and helpless, rising to heaven

On one wave of love and falling with the next

I don’t even know if I am or I am not.

When I think I am, I find myself worthless,

When I think I am not, I find my value.

Like my thoughts, I die and rise again each day

So how can I doubt the resurrection?

Tired of hunting for love in this world,

At last I surrender in the valley of loveAnd become free.

“Rumi: Hidden Music”, translated by Maryam Mafi and Azima Melita Kolin (2001, p98).

Our Novitiate Community in Nyankpala

Antiree!!(Good evening)
When John, Pascal, Wycliffe and Samuel formed community two Months ago we set for ourselves as community Goals-
* To discover ourselves and grow in union and communion with God, through our ministry, our community and our prayer.
* To seek God in our Brothers in community
* To foster the vision of Bl. Edmund Rice

Our greatest challenge has been striking a balance between community goals, ministry goals and personal goals. And although all three demand a great deal of time and energy we can sense that some balance has been achieved.

Our house is situated in a very quiet environment surrounded by trees and greens especially after the fall of much needed rain. We live among the workers of the Government Research Institute. Most mornings we are awakened by the ladies carrying big containers going in search of water. Water is such a big problem here that I wonder what meaning World Water Day holds for these women and children.

Our mission statement is to extend the love of God to our brothers and sisters on the margins. We are involved in teaching at St. Monica Primary and Junior Secondary School, we teach Catechism and animate the Youth of the parish, and we have started an Edmund Rice Group at the University of Developmental Studies (UDS).

We thank God for giving us this opportunity of being in Nyankpala. Our efforts at ministry are highly appreciated by the people we interact with. Initially it was not easy. The great poverty the people are experiencing can be seen easily. In School it is not uncommon to hear the students say, "brother there was no water”, “we have not had breakfast”, “my stomach is paining". It is sad to see young children having to go through this. Many of the children come to school with torn uniforms and tattered shoes. Despite all this they are wonderful kids and have given us much joy.
(Samuel Munyua Ngumi)

Life bursts forth from a parched Earth!!!

Brought forth from a dry and arid ground by one shower of rain some days ago plants have come to life, flowers have bloomed .... what promise they hold!! The fragile flowers and the tender fresh green leaves dare us to wonder at the mystery of life which burts forth with such splendour on a seemingly unsuspecting world!!

As Belden C Lane says, "So uncommon is it for us to grasp the beauty and mystery of ordinary things that, when we finally do so, it often brings us to the verge of tears. Appalled by our own poverty, we awake in wonder to a splendour of which we had never dreamed."

So on this Holy Saturday here in Tamale there are signs of New Life and Easter splashed all around us upon this Earth "crammed with heaven" where every common bush "afire with God" is proclaiming the gospel message ... He is alive!

Our New Congregation Leadership Team (CLT)

Congratulations to our Brothers who have accepted the responsibilty of guiding the Congregation over the next 6 years. For the first time in our history we have an African brother on the CLT.

The new CLT has Br Philip Pinto (Congregation Leader), Br Jack Mostyn (Deputy Congregation Leader), Br Francis Hall, Br Victor Dean Kamara and Br Peter Dowling.

I found the song by Joyce Johnson Rouse used to accompany the video on the CLT website very appropriate so here they are along with our message of active and prayerful support to our Leadership Team ...

"I am standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before me.
I am stronger for their courage; I am wiser for their words.
I am lifted by their longing; for a fair and brighter future.
I am grateful for their vision; for their toiling on this earth.

We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us.
They are saints and they are humans;
they are angels, they are friends.
We can see beyond the struggles and the troubles and the challenge;
When we know that by our efforts things will be better in the end.

They lift me higher than I could ever fly.
Carrying my burdens away.
I imagine our world if they hadn’t tried.
We wouldn’t be here celebrating today.

I am standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before me.
I am honoured by their passion; for our liberty.
I will stand a little taller; I will work a little longer
and my shoulders will be there to hold the ones who follow me."

Our Novitiate Community at Gurugu Jalapa

Since the 15th of January we (Casimir, Julias, Jackson, Sonny) have been experiencing what it is to live in a Christian Brother community here in Gurugu Jalapa. Two months have passed and we have come to the realization that the objectives we had set ourselves though not easy are attainable as long as we, as each individual and then as a community, strive towards them and work together.

Our pre-set mission goals included:
*trying to be responsible for one another
*deepening the relationship among the four members of our community and the outside community.
*seeking to balance our prayer, community life, ministry and extra community activities.

We may be yet far from realising these goals to their full potential. Nevertheless, we are satisfied to have developed good dispositions toward them. It is worth having such an experience away from the novitiate house and the formators. In their absence we have realized what each of us is capable of on the one hand, and on the other we have been learning from one another.