My soul magnifies the Lord! …
With the Magnificat, I thank God for his trust and love for me and for all the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa.
“I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done unto me according to your word.” This is the theme I chose for the Eucharistic celebration. By my baptism, I entered the great family of God and became a prophet and disciple to follow Christ. What is essential for me is trust, acceptance to walk in the light as in the darkness with faith in the Risen Christ. I thank the Lord for the gift of religious missionary life.
On the eve of this important ceremony, I was so happy to welcome our sisters from Ouagadougou: Hortensia, Agnes, Nathalie and Caritas as well as the father of our sister Nathalie; also Brigitte from Mali and Thérèse from Ghana; from Bobo-Dioulasso: from the Novitiate six novices, three sisters and two aspirants and five Missionaries of Africa. After preparation for the Mass, there was a time for welcome and family prayer.
The feast was for me a chance to meet with many people in my family, in our Small Christian Community (SCC), and in the parish. It was 16 years (1999) that the parish had not celebrated final commitment so it was an opportunity to do Missionary Vocation Animation (MVA) and help people discover the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa.
The celebration was beautiful. I am happy to answer “yes” to the call that the Lord addresses to me. And I count on the prayers of everyone to help me affirm my commitment day after day through the mission entrusted to me.
I received the advice of Monsignor Gabriel Sayaogo that encouraged me to trust in the Lord. Here is what he said in his homily: “Your commitment to follow Christ in a life of poverty is symbolized by the calabash. In addition to being used by whoever holds it, the gourd is a vessel that receives whatever you put in it: liquid and solid, hot and cold, grain and dust … Its vocation is to be filled. Today you present yourself before God as an empty calabash. You recognize that God alone is your wealth and you expect Him to fill you with whatever is necessary for your mission. Keep that trust and you will never lack anything.
I called upon the youth to open the ears of their heart to respond to God’s call. The celebration continued with a meal that gathered parishioners, priests and religious for a joyful time. May our Lady of Africa, pray for us. How can I repay the Lord for all he has done for me, I will take the cup of salvation by invoking the name of the Lord!!!
Sawadogo Clémence, Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso
Clémence is named to Kinshasa, RCD.
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