The mission makes us live – Pre-chapter NOUA
From October 23 to 29 in Ouagadougou, the Pre-capitular Chapter of the North-West Africa entity, NOUA, took place. It brought together 17 sister-delegates, including the entity leadership team. We had the joy of welcoming two sisters from the General Council: Juliana Karomba and Marie-Carmen Ocon from Rome, as well as Marie Ange Ndayishimiye, translator and Clementine Mukampabuka, secretary. The preparations for this meeting took place long before, and ended with the Ignatian retreat accompanied by the writings of our venerable Mother Marie Salomé. The retreat was led by our sister Angela Kapitingana. We are grateful to her. 26 sisters took advantage of this retreat. Many other meetings and events also occurred: First of all, the first vows of 5 novices and the perpetual vows of Sister Agnieszka brought together a number of NOUA sisters. It was a great joy to meet again after several years without meetings because of the…
In joy and thanksgiving
Consulted for the meaning of the word “jubilee,” the little Larousse tells us: “To express great joy”! Yes, but what joy? That of the kids playing ball in the yard? That of the girls who tell stories of their last judo lesson? or that of the lucky winner of the national lottery?… Well no, the joy we experienced in the community of Sceaux on Thursday, October 6, 2022, is on another level. That day, Sr. Agnès Nouyrigat and 4 members of her family; Sr. Rosemarie Bordes (who had already celebrated her jubilee on August 15 in the nursing home where she lives); Father Emmanuel Lengaigne (Provincial Superior of the Missionaries of Africa) and the entire community of Sceaux were gathered to celebrate the jubilee of Agnès (50 years) and Rosemarie (60 years). Quite naturally, the preparation for this great day was organized around these two themes: joy and thanksgiving.…
A meeting that awakens our charism
While on vacation for a few days with the Poor Clares, I received a request from my friend, the mother abbess: “Marie-José, I need you. I have just had a phone call from Secours Catholique who will accompany a young African girl who will be staying with us for a day or two.” The young African arrives. She lives in the same hallway as me. At one point, I walk past her room, see her door wide open. She is sitting on the bed and rummaging through her backpack. Beside her, the unfolded sheets. ” Can I help you? We’ll make the bed together.” She warmly thanks: “I did not know this method of making the bed”. Then she tells her story: “I am an orphan–no father and mother. I lived with my grandfather and went to school until my grandfather died. There was no one left to pay and I…
The seeds of “Laudato Si”
Since July, two “Laudato Si” circles have begun to sprout in our community, one for adults and one for young people. The beginning is weak and humble. We do not yet see the path clearly but moved by our conviction “… that Africa has an important contribution to make to the world, we choose to participate in making it a reality” (excerpt from the MSOLA’s raison d’être), and trusting in God, we launched the call. The response was a nice surprise, people came. The young people asked to meet every two weeks and the adults once a month. The young people came on the 21st and the adults on the 27th of August. We are nourishing the ‘listening to creation’ with the resources from our congregation and different organisations, in a special way with the letter of Pope Francis for the time of creation and the Encyclical “Laudato Si”. In…
A Muslim lives the charisme of Lavigerie
A Muslim lives the charism of Lavigerie We share with you a marvel of God’s action, the presence of his Kingdom among us. Yahya Sall, a young Muslim from Mauritania, fights for the rights of undocumented and out-of-school children, as well as planting trees in his neighbourhood, supporting migrants and foreigners, widows and children. Through our sisters in Nouakchott, he has become a reference person in the neighbourhood for those who are voiceless and without support. He himself says that he is now a missionary: “What touches the human being also touches me”. Sensitive to the suffering of others, recognising that he himself is limited, he believes that God is beyond our limits and that with Him everything is possible. When a poor family or a sick mother turns to him, he replies that he personally has no means of helping them; but he promises to tell all the people…
The Tabaski festival in Burkina Faso and Mauritania
Le Tabaski est célébré par les sœurs avec leurs amis musulmans dans les différents pays. Voici deux témoignages. Les SMNDA fêtent le Tabaski à Ouagadougou Comme chaque année, la Commission diocésaine pour le dialogue islamo-chrétien s’est préparée à aller saluer nos frères musulmans le jour de la fête de la Tabaski, 9 juillet. Avec joie, les sœurs Clémence, Agnès, Georgette (de passage), Leticia et les pré-novices, Ancile et Emily se sont jointes à la commission pour les différentes visites. Nous étions très heureux de vivre cette journée de rencontre et de fraternité. J’ai été très touché d’être appelé par mon nom par l’Imam Alidou Ilboudou qui prêchait à l’Université de Ouagadougou. Il me tendit la main pour me saluer et nous remercier de notre présence. Les photographes en ont profité pour nous prendre en photo. Les photos ont commencé à circuler rapidement sur les réseaux sociaux disant qu’une religieuse catholique…
Unity is possible
On August 14, I took the road around 6:00 p.m. to go to Oran to participate in the week-long Taizé Tlemcen session. I arrived in Oran late at night to continue to Tlemcen in the morning. I was well received by our sisters in the community of Oran. On August 15, I went to Tlemcen with Sr. Jeanne d’Arc, Sr. Clémentine and a friend of our Sisters from the community of Oran. It was a great joy for me to be with them. We arrived in Tlemcen at noon and joined the others for the Eucharistic celebration. It was a beautiful celebration animated by good songs in different languages. It was only a beginning and an opening of joy that accompanied us throughout the week by deepening the life of Taizé. We were about 70 in number. They were students, monks, nuns and a couple with their 3 children. We…
Testimonies from the “Come and see” in Rwanda
In Rwanda there were two sessions of “Come and see” and here we share three comments from the participant. The first two testimonies are from Butare and the third from Kigali. “Dear sisters! Receive our greetings from Rwanda in Butare community! We are very grateful to God for the warm welcoming we received from the sisters, the joy and happiness we have experienced with them. We were touched by their openness during the three days of session. We were also happy to see them living together from different countries, cultures and with different ages. This increased our desire to continue Journeying with the sisters and to join them. We were seven young women. We finished our S6 this year and we are waiting for the result. Care for us in your prayers. Each one of us was very touched by the MSOLA Charism and apostolic work, like working against Human…
Becoming a formator in Missionary and Vocation Animation
From Sister Bouda Julienne, Ukusijoni Community, Uganda From the 30th of July to the 4th of September, I participated in a workshop on Formation, organised by the Association of the Religious in Uganda (ARU) – Arua Branch in Lodonga, Northern Uganda. By formation, we were reminded that by the nature of our religious consecration, we are formators in our different ministries, though the majority were formators in their various institutes. We were 28 participants including the animators, from 10 Religious Institutes. The formation consisted in presenting to the participants the ARU- Formation Resource Book and its Guideline. We were taught about ecclesiology and charisma of consecrated life according to the teaching of the Catholic Church. The main objective of this meeting was also to gather the religious of the Arua diocese to know each other and live the motto of the ARU: “No longer strangers but friends” Jn: 15.15, and…
Pre-Chapter in Montreal, 22-26 August 2022
In Montréal, from August 22nd to 26th 2022, we have celebrated our American Pre-chapter with leaders Maite Sanz de Pablo et Florence Mwamba Malunga and many sisters from Canada and the United States. Here are some extracts with the sisters’ reflections: “This moment of grace allows us to look together how have lived the orientations of the General Chapter 2017 and the orientations of our post-capitular Chapter: “Bearers of hope, listening to the voice of the Spirit, let’s move forward together towards the peripheries.” “GRATITUDE: … Finally, the real gift of gratitude is that the more we are grateful, the more present we become. This is our boundless wish for our gathering.” “LIVING SOME CHANGES OF SEASONS: The change of seasons has been characterized by the changes in our own being as persons, as we continue to grow in age. Ageing brings a lot of challenges to many of us.…